[Quigsby]

Hello laptop users! I don't own a laptop, but a friend gave me a ring and he had quite a problem so I thought I'd post here to get some ideas.

Problem: The user hits the power button on the laptop, and nothing happens. No BIOS, no nothing. He then waits a few minutes, tries again. It boots up! Fully, in to Windows, uses it. No problem. If it goes in to Hibernation mode, it freezes. He powers it down. He hits the power again, nothing. Waits a few minutes, hits Power again, and it boots up!

Weird, huh?

Coming from a background in desktops I thought about a motherboard battery, but I'm not sure. Could be a failing power supply, but I don't know what type (if any) they use in laptops. Any ideas?

[juane414]

Wow, this is a tricky one. The only power supply laptops have are the external ones built into the power cable. I'm sure that there is some sort of device that determines the flow of electricity from the battery to the system. I don't know what that would be called though. Is the problem the same if the laptop is plugged in and running on battery, or is it limited to one or the other?

I would try swapping batteries, or running with the battery removed while plugged in. Also try running on different ram sticks if possible. Is the laptop in question under warranty? How old is it?

[Quigsby]

Originally Posted by juane414

Wow, this is a tricky one. The only power supply laptops have are the external ones built into the power cable. I'm sure that there is some sort of device that determines the flow of electricity from the battery to the system. I don't know what that would be called though. Is the problem the same if the laptop is plugged in and running on battery, or is it limited to one or the other?

I would try swapping batteries, or running with the battery removed while plugged in. Also try running on different ram sticks if possible. Is the laptop in question under warranty? How old is it?

Thanks for the reply. I'm having him try switching the RAM out. He's tried it with battery in, with it out, battery in plugged in - no help any way.