_root.dan Posted July 31, 2005 Posted July 31, 2005 (edited) About a year ago I acquired an old Gateway 2000 Solo 2300 laptop from a friend, who got it as a defect from a manufacturing company. It worked fine for awhile and now it won't turn on. I've tried taking out the hard drive and battery and putting them back in, but it still won't turn on. There are 3 keys missing from the keyboard (which probably doesn't make a difference with the startup), too. Also, the A/C adapter has worked fine, even though there was some electrical tape around part of the wire. I'm not sure what the problem is, so any help would be great. Edited July 31, 2005 by _root.dan Quote
stevevan Posted July 31, 2005 Posted July 31, 2005 I would start by making sure that you are still getting power to the laptop. Check the voltage on the battery and from the power supply. Oh...and welcome to the forums! Quote
Madmanmcp Posted August 1, 2005 Posted August 1, 2005 (edited) There are 3 keys missing from the keyboard (which probably doesn't make a difference with the startup), During startup a computer will go thru a system check and make an initial connection to all components, the keyboard IS one of these "POST" checks. IF it cannot find a keyboard it returns an error, usually a series of beeps. Now the problem could be something else but with the description you have given its difficult to say without having the computer in front of me. Do the lights for the power, hard drive, numlock or capslock come on at all. If they don't then you probably have power problems. If they do come on does the screen display anything, if not it could be a video or display problem. Do you get sounds at all, beeps during setup can be used to determine what the error could be. Edited August 1, 2005 by Madmanmcp Quote
_root.dan Posted August 1, 2005 Author Posted August 1, 2005 The lights for the power, caps lock, hard drive, and numlock do not come on, and I don't hear any beeps, so its probably a power problem then. I should probably test out the battery and adapter with a voltmeter. Thanks! Quote
_root.dan Posted August 2, 2005 Author Posted August 2, 2005 (edited) I took apart the laptop yesterday and tested out the battery, adapter, and power connection with a voltmeter. The adapter worked fine with 19V and the battery was totally dead, because it hasn't been charged. The power connection inside the laptop had continuity, but for some reason, even with the adapter plugged in, it had barely any voltage. It looked like something overheated and shorted out because there was this smokey, whitish haze inside the power connection. I'm probably going to sell the parts to it so you can check eBay soon if you want them. Thanks for your help! Post edited by TCH-Thomas. Please do not use the forums for advertising. Edited August 2, 2005 by TCH-Thomas Quote
Madmanmcp Posted August 2, 2005 Posted August 2, 2005 Sorry to hear that and good luck with your fire sale. Quote
stevevan Posted August 2, 2005 Posted August 2, 2005 Just out of curiousity (because I haven't looked in a laptop for a long time), is there a fuse somewhere in either the laptop itself or the power supply? (Hate to toss out a machince for a simple fix!) But I'd tend to agree with your deductions on getting zapped. Quote
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