Unresponsive Dell XPS m1530 laptop. No boot screen.

[techtrainee]

Hi. I'm new here, but I come to you asking for help.
My Dell XPS m1530 is having an issue and won't work properly.

Example:

Turn on, no boot screen. Fans at first sound as normal, then they sound as if it's in sleep mode. Not off, but almost.

So far I've tried everything I can think of:
Cleaning the inside, turning it on with and without the battery, letting it stay on for about 15-20 minutes then trying again, pressing Fn while it turns on, holding Ctrl Alt and Del while it turned on (worth a shot), and taking it apart then putting it back together (I'm pretty sure it's put together the right way).

To help you figure out the problem, here's what I know about it:
The screen connection isn't the best, so you can only get a clear picture when you have it at a certain angle. I know what you're thinking: hook it up to another monitor. Already did with no luck. It's about 3-4 years of age, although it works well for me. And it's a hand me down from my brother.

If there is any way you guys can help me, I would very much appreciate it!

 

[Tmagic650]

Does connecting an external monitor work properly?

 

[techtrainee]

The monitor does work. I used it before and I also used the monitor on the laptop when it was working.

 

[dernt]

Unfortunately failure to POST could be caused by any number of things. The only thing that you can do is reseat the ram modules and see if that works. But by the way you have explained

The screen connection isn't the best, so you can only get a clear picture when you have it at a certain angle

Makes me think the video may have gone out. So I'm not more help on this.

 

[Tmagic650]

If an external monitor works dernt, the laptop is posting. The problem is with the LCD Display or inverter

 

[dernt]

I know what you're thinking: hook it up to another monitor. Already did with no luck.

 

[Tmagic650]

Look at post #3

 

[techtrainee]

So I reseated the RAM. Nothing happened. What should I do now?

 

[Tmagic650]

The LCD panel has most likely failed. What does this mean? Have the LCD panel replaced

 

[techtrainee]

You're probably right. But I think it might be a Video Card fail. Is there any way of checking for that?

 

[Tmagic650]

The video chip is part of the motherboard. If an external monitor still works, the video chip is still good

 

[techtrainee]

Well, the monitor doesn't display anything from the laptop. So there's reason to believe that the video card is crap. If it is though, like I said before, how do I check for that? If I can't check for that, where can I go to get a repair job done?

 

[Tmagic650]

You will have to have the motherboard replaced. Here's an example of the cost:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=dell xps m1530 motherboard

Approximately $150 for the motherboard and $75 for labor

 

[techtrainee]

oh... Thanks for the help! $225 seems to me to be rather expensive. I think I might just sell the laptop for its parts and invest in a newer laptop. Thanks for the help, though!

 

[Tmagic650]

Okay, you're welcome

 

[techtrainee]

Update:
So, I took the laptop to bestbuy for a free 5 minute diagnostics, and it turns out they said that the motherboard was shot! You guys were right. Thank you for your input, and I will definitely bring other computer concerns here in the future.
Cheers!

 

[Tmagic650]

Okay thanks...

 

[Mike Myers]

There is a ton of information in this forum that explains how to fix the problem. I tried it a few days ago, and one hour, using a heat gun, the problem seems to have been fixed. Here's the new link I entered earlier today, with the link to the older discussion with a complete explanation of exactly what to do:

https://www.techspot.com/community/topics/dell-xps-m1530-boot-up-problem-solved.191004/

Briefly, you remove the fan assembly, and deliberately let the NVIDIA chip overheat by running the laptop with the NVIDIA chip exposed. The screen will come back to life. You then carefully heat up the NVIDIA chip with a 600 degree heat gun, heating it for about a minute. You need the solder connections for the NVIDIA chip to "melt" together again. Put the whole thing back together again with the heat transfer compound on the CPU and NVIDIA chips, and everything works like new.

It has now been almost four days, and I've done all the Windows updates, and other things. The laptop is still working perfectly. It's a 2008 laptop - lasted for four years before it broke. Maybe it will last for another four. Technically, yes, it is "fixed", but I don't yet know if I trust it.....