Laptop Power problem

[khunter2]

Hi, my laptop (3 years old) won't turn on at all. For the past 6 months or so the battery won't hold a charge for more than 5 mins. The week before that started happening the battery was still giving me about 2 hours. Then it just started and hasn't stopped. I looked into it a little bit but had just bought a smaller laptop to take to class anyway, so I just left the older one at home plugged up all the time. That was the only problem with the computer- until now. 2 days ago I got back from class and the AC light was flashing on the computer and it wouldn't turn on. I took it off the port replicator and plugged it directly into the wall- no luck. Then tried without any AC, no luck. Then tried a different AC adapter that works, and still no luck. I'm not sure how this happened or why and was hoping y'all could give me some insight! The computer is a Toshiba Satellite Pro M15-S405
Thanks!

 

[Nodsu]

Try the thing with no battery.

 

[halo71]

And yet another Satellite bits the dust. I think Techspot should have a seaparate forum for Toshiba laptop problems. Just kidding, sorry for the ranting.....

 

[khunter2]

Yeah, I tried it with no battery and it still doesn't work. I have no idea?
And I agree, another one bites the dust. Although in it's defense, when it's operating correctly it's great- Not to mention when I bought it I was getting 5.5 hours out of the battery consistently! But yes, it has had it's problems!

 

[NCSUFrenchie]

Try a different power supply perhaps. I've seen dead batteries like that put such a draw on the power adapters that it eventually kills them.

And yes, I second the motion for the Toshiba forum... (at least they have the decency to sell their machines with the full set of recovery discs )

 

[Tedster]

never had any issues with mine at all - and mine is three years old. I also drain the battery periodically.

I also suggest a new power adapter.

 

[NCSUFrenchie]

Yeah, not every system does that to their power adapters, but I just saw one today which was a 3 year old HP with the huge 17" screen and a P4HT where the battery had died and it had taken the power adapter with it. Pretty sad considering the 90W adapters I had wouldn't power the thing. I kinda felt bad for the guy...

Batteries usually only kill the adapters when the battery dies because it tries to draw too much current when it can't charge.

 

[khunter2]

I have another power adapter that is the exact same and I plugged it in with that one and it didn't do anything. I know this power adapter works and so does the original one.

 

[NCSUFrenchie]

Ah, you might be looking at fried power regulators on the motherboard itself. If you have a multimeter, test the voltage coming from the adapters themselves. It should be somewhere around 19V (depends on the manufacturer, can go from 15 to 24V). But I'm putting my money on the regulators, sorry man.

 

[khunter2]

Ah, I guess if that is the problem (fried regulators) it's unfixable or probably not worth the money?
I don't have a multimeter but can get one to check. Thanks for the help.

 

[NCSUFrenchie]

Yeah, fried regulators usually mean the motherboard is dead. In laptops, manufacturers usually demand around $600-$1000 to replace a motherboard out of warranty. If you really liked your machine and think you can do it, you can always find one exactly like yours on ebay or something thats got a dead screen(or something thats not a dead mobo), and take that motherboard out and put it in your case.

 

[khunter2]

Well, thanks for the bad news- ha. Probably not worth it but I'll check out some prices on ebay- that's a good idea. Thanks for the help.

 

[khunter2]

UPDATE- my computer started working again today for no reason. I had left it off and unplugged for a few days and then tried it again today and it turned on while plugged in with no problems! Crazy Toshibas. I'm now performing an up-to-date backup. I guess we'll see how it goes. Thanks to everyone for your help