M17x R1 dinosaur - mobo & charger replaced, wall power still defunct.

Machine specs and context for problem: I have an upgraded M17x R1 (formerly original motherboard, Intel Q9100, NV 680m, 8GB DDR3 @ 8-8-8-24, Samsung 850 Pro SSD primary, WD secondary) which recently partially survived a power outage, consisting of multiple surges, in my apartment. It was powered off, however, was plugged into a hefty 2 year old Belkin surge protector which still works, so I originally assumed the outage had nothing to do with the symptoms.

Symptom: It won't recognize wall power. I originally thought that my charger must have been the failing part, in spite of the blue ring. Maybe a fuse blown. It's failed once before, due to wires fraying near the 19.5v port. However, the computer doesn't say it's using a "non-standard charger" like it has in the past with a failing OEM charger; the BIOS beeps and complains it's on battery power only. I first tested the charger, drawing about 15 Watts with big lab-grade resistors, so I initially concluded the mobo was damaged. I swapped it out for a Dell certified refurbished. Same problem. So I replaced the charger. Problem persists: no wall power recognized - multiple wall sockets have been tested (and no, NOT on any power strip).

What else is even involved in the charging process? What else could be the problem? I checked the power port solder points on the refurbished mobo before I put it in. They look, and the port felt, solidly attached. Did I randomly get a bad mobo, w/ a bad controller? I'm at a total loss for what other component could even be involved here.

 

To clarify, this is the original M17x R1 (2009), not the 2013 version that some people on this forum seem to believe is designated 'R1'.

 

I take it none of the lights turn on when you plug it in without turning it on?

I have had problems with my m17x r2 in the past with the charger, and I had to go into the BIOS and tweak the certified charger option under "Power" (Press F2 key a bunch after you turn on computer, and it should get you there). That allowed me to start running off the power brick again. If you've already exhausted other options (sounds like you have), it could possibly be a problem with the battery charging circuit. If your whole mobo was replaced, I'd guess it's either the battery itself or the internal power port on the laptop (the box on the inside behind the adapter hole).

You may be able to hear a whining noise when you plug in the laptop. That's a sign that voltage is getting to the mobo and battery. It might be really quick, but if you listen carefully you'll hear it.

 

Thanks for the reply!

The lights don't turn on, no - regardless of battery in or out. It'll still turn on with the battery plugged in, as that has about 40% charge remaining. My BIOS are.. or, I guess *were*, licensed by that "Phoenix" company, ver. A07, which as of 2013 was the latest possible, but the new BIOS are still A07, just through a different company; there's certainly no power brick settings in there. No humming noise - I've never heard one before, but I'll try again and put my ear really close tonight.

FYI, the power port is mounted directly on the mobo, soldered directly to the board - I mentioned in the OP that the contacts appeared solid. This appears to be a solid state problem. But if I replaced mobo + charger.. regardless of battery in/out, the machine doesn't behave like it's plugged in.

The fact that you have a setting on the R2 for the power brick... wow, I wish I'd taken the leap and gotten a new R2 mobo, CPU, and sound daughter board now. This R1 cr@p is ridiculous.

 

my first suggestion is if your unable to get power when plugged in is check under one of the hard drive bays, i think it was hdd0 but i could be wrong so check both, look for a melted spot of the plastic sheet they have covering most of the motherboard. my r1's power plug kept breaking down (the data line frayed) and i kept repairing it till one time i accidentally reversed polarity and that blew out the charging chip that was under one of my hard drives, burning a hole in it and leaving a scorch mark on my hard drives label. its just a thought since it sounds similar that you cant get power from the wall but you can run off battery. i also noticed that when i plugged in the screen would brighten just slightly but it would never charge or say unsupported adapter.

 

I will listen for a hum, and I'll take a look at the original mobo, and the current (refurbished) one, as well, looking for melted points. Thank you! I'd never thought of this before.

icey_kitsune, exactly how did the power plug "keep breaking down", as you say? The data line frayed.. inside the charger cable? Or is there a wire connection somewhere on the mobo that I'm unaware of?

Thanks very much, both of you, for your suggestions.
~Tim

 

I'm home again, so I'm writing this on my phone - I'll be brief. I see no visible signs of scarring or charring on the newly installed refurbished motherboard under the disk drives, nor anywhere on the original mobo. There are no noises coming from the installed motherboard when plugged in, regardless of the battery being inserted or not.

Any other ideas? I mean, this, what's happening, seems literally impossible atm. The only thing I can imagine is that the Dell refurbished mobo is bad in the same way that my original was. Because this is crazy. I have a $2.5k bookend here and I need to at least find out what part is failing before I can gut this and sell the parts.

Wild theories, anyone? I want to hear about aliens recalling the soul of my machine at this point. Conspiracy theories? Anybody?

 

not sure on other ideas from me. i mean you could try to see if while your in the bios and plug in the power if it brightens even slightly but dont want to drain what little power you have left. the other option is if you have a volt meter check the voltage on the power adapter (inner shield to outer shield, center pin is data). if the power cable is the same model as your old one and outputs the right voltage it might have a bad data output.

as for where it was breaking down was near the plug, the blue light would still be on but id have to wiggle the wire behind the plug (part which would go into the back of the system) to get it to detect the plug was the correct device (once you get the data line for a short time it will remain correct until you unplug the unit, then it will require a new data line to charge) the way i fixed it was to remove the rubber casing, clear out some epoxy (which killed the blue light pcb) then shortened and resoldered the wires which worked for a few times but eventually i got the lines backward once and that blew out the charge chip which was under one of the hard drives.

 

I actually replaced the motherboard first because I had tested the original charger and seen no voltage drop when drawing 12-15 Watts. I figured it therefore had enough oomph to at least make the motherboard complain about a non-standard charger, should the mobo not actually be at fault.

I have now looked at the old motherboard underneath the black plastic sheets, and it certainly appears to be in tip top shape. I can't quite follow the charging circuit.. It's hard to see exactly where the voltage regulation goes, whether it's near the DC jack or the battery, or kind of half and half, here and there. I was trying to follow the circuit with my multimeter, but I can't even see voltage past the first set of 4 FETs, so my assumption is that they're turned off when the system isn't in a good state.. Such as sitting outside the chassis on an electrostatic bag with no CPU or RAM inserted.

I'm afraid that removing the new mobo and CPU heatsink to look at that circuitry will probably end in equally inconclusive results. Thoughts?

I do have a coworker who has offered to test out my chargers on a Dell laptop he has at home, so I'll get them to him next week; I'll know Tuesday night if they work. In which case.. Let's brainstorm here. Let's say they both work fine. What other components are involved with the charging circuit? Is the CPU consulted in any way? RAM? The machine is designed to still post and give hardware codes (flashing lights) about poorly seated RAM and CPU, etc. It's made to function at that basic level, even in the case of those failing. Thus, using wall power seems to be independent of those things. Graphics cards.. I mean, I can remove it, but everything from there and further down my list of "things that might be involved during post that can screw this up".. They're all peripherals. There's no way the system's reception of power has anything to do with that, right?

Thanks again for the input, guys.

 

well i dont know for sure where all the voltage circuitry is, all i know is when i found the burned out chip and told some friends they searched forr it and found that it was a battery regulator or something which was under one of the hard drives which was just near the battery connectors. im not sure if it is what is causing your problems, id suspect the power adapters at this point but other than that no clue, i dont think the cpu/ram/gpu is needed for charging since you can charge with the system off but im not an engineer. if the power adapters come back as working then yea i really thing its the motherboard is just fried, you can try to bake it to get it to resolder any parts that might be loose but not sure.