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Post by Lighthouse on Apr 13, 2014 12:30:34 GMT
The other day screen suddenly went black. So here is what I've tried. (all items tried and tested before use to make sure they were working)
Plugged in an external monitor. replaced HDD, RAM, tried USB keyboard. New charger,
Tested all the origional items on another laptop and they are fine.
So what doesn't work, Screen Graphics Audio keyboard USB ports
Sounds like a half dead motherboard to me, any ideas ?
p.s., the HDD, Optical drive, and fan all fire up.
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Post by warlock on Apr 13, 2014 13:14:30 GMT
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Post by Lighthouse on Apr 13, 2014 13:38:21 GMT
Interesting Joe. I'll see what I can find this side of the pond.
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Post by warlock on Apr 13, 2014 14:00:01 GMT
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Post by GuiltySpark on Apr 13, 2014 15:21:21 GMT
If the external monitor worked with it, then I would assume on board Graphics/Video chip/card. May as well be a dead MOBO if it is.
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Post by irvsp on Apr 13, 2014 15:28:53 GMT
The other day screen suddenly went black. So here is what I've tried. (all items tried and tested before use to make sure they were working) Plugged in an external monitor. replaced HDD, RAM, tried USB keyboard. New charger, Tested all the origional items on another laptop and they are fine. So what doesn't work, Screen Graphics Audio keyboard USB ports Sounds like a half dead motherboard to me, any ideas ? p.s., the HDD, Optical drive, and fan all fire up. Have you tried booting either a rescue disk or another bootable disk? Take out the battery and only use the power cord? Is the RAM connection OK? Try reseating them? Do you hear any beeps when booting?
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Post by Lighthouse on Apr 14, 2014 6:18:52 GMT
Thanks Irv, tried all those (multiple times) and no go Also not getting any beeps.
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Post by GuiltySpark on Apr 14, 2014 20:59:50 GMT
If the external monitor worked with it, then I would assume on board Graphics/Video chip/card. May as well be a dead MOBO if it is. Should be if external monitor never worked then... If it does work then most likely Inverter.
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Post by Lighthouse on Apr 15, 2014 6:09:40 GMT
The inverter is only needed for the screen. The external monitor works fine on my other laptops. And have no audio either. Music CD goes into the comp fine, spins up, but using the media buttons results in zilch. i also tried a USB audio adaptor, again, nothing.
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Post by GuiltySpark on Apr 15, 2014 15:33:55 GMT
Hold on a moment lets get some perspective so I'm clear on the problem.
1. Screen went black so you tried an external monitor and you could see the desktop. Correct?
2. Was the sound working previously? If so how long ago?
3. Did you ever have Beeps before? (some machines don't make any noise)
4. Does the display look like it's still there on the laptop screen only very very dark? (if so it could be the backlight bulb)
5. Do the lights (if any) function on the laptop?
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Post by Lighthouse on Apr 16, 2014 5:45:25 GMT
1. Incorrect. Could not see the desktop on the external monitor (but the monitor did not show as "not connected" so obviously it recognised the comp was there)
2. Sound always worked before.
3. Once had 2 beeps (RAM not seated properly).
4. No, screen is totally black.
5. Lights illuminate on KB, but KB does not appear to function. The media lights above the KB illuminate, and 1 at least does it's job (eject CD)
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Post by irvsp on Apr 16, 2014 14:17:23 GMT
Thanks Irv, tried all those (multiple times) and no go Also not getting any beeps. If I understand correctly, some stuff does work? - Your Keyboard lights up?
- At least one key, the CD eject, works on the keyboard?
- Nothing visible on the laptop screen?
- Nothing visible on an external screen?
- You swapped power supply and no change?
Question 1, on the external monitor, when you use it, if the laptop is off and it is connected and you turn on the monitor, one usually would see a logo for the monitor and the no connection. Do you see this?
Question 2, with the above condition set, usually the monitor will go into a 'sleep' state. Some will turn the power indicator to another color or off. Does this happen? Question 3, with the above monitor 'off/sleeping', and I assume you see the power indicator as a different color, if you power on the laptop, does the power indicator change? If the answer to 1 and 1 is yes, and no to 3, your video is probably dead? If all 3 are yes, I'd say you have a power problem, possibly internally a Capacitor has died. Open the case if you can and able to see the motherboard. Look for bulging ones. Suspect one of the power voltages is not working, and since you swapped power bricks/supplies, one can rule that out (but not the connector, that could be partially loose even?). On voltage comes into the laptop, but along the way it is split into a few different voltages, and there is possibly where the problem is. However, I could be wrong. A schematic and a voltmeter might be your best friend here . Some sites to look at: notebookschematic.com/?tag=dell-studio-1737-schematicwww.doocu.co/pdf/search/schematic+for+dell+studio+1737www.parts-people.com/index.php?action=category&id=148&subid=246notebookschematic.org/product/schematic-motherboard-for-laptop-dell-studio-1737-quanta-gm5b-pacino-intel-discreteuma-rev-b2a/www.repairalaptop.com/dell-studio-1737-laptop-schematic-free-download/www.insidemylaptop.com/disassemble-dell-studio-1737-laptop-replacing-dvd-drive/ (basically how to open case) ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-products/esuprt_laptop/esuprt_studio_laptop/studio-1737_service%20manual_en-us.pdfwww.compdefinition.com/dell-studio-1735-laptop-notebook-schematic-2blog.parts-people.com/category/dell-studio-1735-1737-repair-manual/I've seen some reports of the DC Jack board being bad. It is fairly cheap, ( www.parts-people.com/index.php?action=category&id=148&subid=246&refine=dc+power+jack, $20 USD) and might be worth a try?
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Post by Lighthouse on Apr 17, 2014 11:16:18 GMT
After much contemplation, I think what happened was this, the inverter died (not with a whimper, but with a bang) and backflashed the system. It seems that that killed the data lines but not the power lines. Thus MB, CPU, GPU, etc, all dead (or some semi dead). Thus not worth the money to repair. I will not lose sleep over it.
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Post by Admin_Vistamike on Apr 17, 2014 11:57:10 GMT
*MY FEELING IS THAT YOU ARE NEARER ON THE MARK* One thing to look at is this. Boot the machine in the dark, can you see an image really feint in the background? If so, that IS the inverter and not worth a repair cost wise because you can't see the other damage it may have caused. Replacing the inverter will not correct other problems.
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Post by Lighthouse on Apr 17, 2014 12:02:06 GMT
Thanks Mike, that was my conclusion also.
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