Laptop rebuild, now no power on

[wh666-666]

Hi all,

Hoping some experienced users can help me out. After a 4hr stint im a bit frustrated.

Before ive stripped laptops down and rebuilt without a prob. This time the usb connection at the back was so loose it was wobbling off the mobo. Stripped it all down to bare pieces and removed the mobo. When i removed the heatsink the cpu came off attached. One or two pins were out by the fraction of a millimetre as well which i straightened with my fingernail and reseated the cpu with thin amount of paste, etc etc.

Used hot glue since its non conductive but i put the hot glue on cardboard until it cooled down and then put it on the mobo between the power connector and usb without knocking anything.

All the ports were secure so i rebuilt making sure connectors were all tight and snug. After screwing it all back together the charge light wouldnt acknowledge and it wouldnt switch on. Kept trying the power button multiple times but nothing. Suddenly it kicked to life although nothing being displayed for a couple seconds. Since then nothing at all

Help !?!

[proxops-pete]

Sounds like you may have damaged the CPU... got a spare matching CPU to try??

[wh666-666]

Yea the cpu had to be yanked out of the socket because the heatsink blocked the way to the socket locking arm. Ive damaged cpu's more in the past (almost flattened pins) and they've continued to work fine it was just this one was stuck so rock hard to the heatsink and just a couple pins were ever so slightly bent.

Is that refusal to power up or acknowledge the charger when off followed by a brief power up consistent behaviour of a failed cpu? I was just thinking if it was just the cpu at least it would acknowledge the charge? So you dont think using thermal paste instead of tinfoil tape (which i thought would be fine to use but i dont know if laptops dislike paste) or the glue round the power connector is a likely cause?

Il try digging up a spare cpu but its a 2.8ghz celeron d on a pga478b. I dont know if ive got anything around to match it with since its a laptop processor. Thanks for the help and any other suggestions are welcomed. Gonna take it apart again later when ive got a spare few hours to try and troubleshoot.

[wh666-666]

Update:

Just got home from work after an evening shift. Even though its midnight i just crossed my fingers and tried it again and woo it powers on! Posts and ive got windows loaded. Power connector and usb ports are rock solid now instead of wobbling. So i think the cpu shouldnt be an issue but in the next day or two il stress test the cpu with orthos and memtest the ram to check alls healthy.

A few noticeable issues have arisen though. I havnt checked all the ports/drives yet so i dont know if there are any more:

- Front strip lights arent coming on. Power/charging or any others. Loose plug maybe?

- Mousepad and buttons not working, again loose connector possibly?

- Power connector working and fitted snugly but has to be positioned where its not fully inserted but just under a millimetre (out of a possible 1cm) inserted. Maybe the centre pin is a bit too recessive. Not important though.



The fans (yes two heatsink fans and a third system one ) are very loud! Dont know if this is by design or somethings getting hot under the cover. Il get the system specs and post them online so if anyone knows the laptop they can give me advice.

Thanks to pete for the help so far, and anyone else who can help on the above issues please feel free to post.

[proxops-pete]

If it is a P4 based laptop, the fans will be on ALL the time since they get very very hot... is it a P4 based one?

[epartsbarn]

You may also have a loose solder connection underneath on the usb port causing the board to short. Thats where I would check since you glued it.

[wh666-666]

Hi all, thanks for all helping out. The cpu is a celeron but i think celerons are based on p4's or kick out a similar amount of heat ?? Il just leave it because it isnt too vital.

Anywayzz i sorted out the front light problem and mousepad. Removed the keyboard and there are two ribbons from the front restpad, a big one which carries the data from the mousepad which was plugged in and a little one which provides power to the mousepad and front lights. Inverter really had to be pushed down but a-ok now. Double checked all of the solder points and everything looking fine.

But i did learn one lesson, after glueing, even hot glueing its best to leave the glue to set rock hard for a good 12-24hrs else it can cause all kindsa problems like the initial no power on i got!

The only niggling thing left is the power connector but ive seen it on loadsa laptops where they just dont connect very well. Once its in the right place its ok. Ive replaced the charger since the old one was rusty inside the pin adapter (no idea how the old ex user caused that!) and giving the laptop back to the current user tonight with a ram upgrade as well

Current specs:
- compaq nx9010
- celeron 2.8ghz cpu
- ati onboard
- 256mb stick ram (192mb system ram) - upgraded to 768mb ram (700 system ram)


If i had been charging proper prices it would have probably been un-economical to repair but as its just a favour for a neighbour just asked for money for the parts and a bit on top.

Thanks to all for the help and even though the thread is resolved, hope the info can help someone else in the future.