Magnetic sensor/switch issue on Asus G53SW-XN1 when closing the lid

I ordered my ASUS G53SW-XN1 from newegg back in August. When it arrived it worked for the first week or so and then I powered it off and didn't use it for two weeks afterwards. But then the problem occurred that it just wouldn't power up. It was practically impossible for me to RMA it because it was out of states and had to resort to some other means. For days it lay dead and I had no idea what to do with it. Scouring the internet in desperation I came to a clue that led me to the touch pad ribbon issue. I opened it up removed it form the connector and voilà! it worked. And since then a month has passed I am using it without the touch pad, status indicator LEDs and the lid closing functionality. But I got fed up and tried to make it work cuz other than the touch pad; the status LEDs and lid closing functionality are a must.

I have tried to reconnect the ribbon and it works as long as the lid is not closed. If I close the lid while it is running the system goes to sleep or whatever option is selection in the window's power options but when I resume all the lights are lit, the keyboard illuminated and the HDD working, in shot the system keeps running but the display just vanishes, its black screen. And if I power off the system it wont power up again. Now that I have come to know and I am sure of it that it was never the touch pad ribbon problem but it is the magnetic field sensor issue. Again, I started the gruelling search on the internet and yet again I stumbled upon a solution from some fella who used some mild magnet and rubbed it at the lower right area of the touch pad where the lid magnet comes in proximity when lid gets closed and it worked for him but I am still not clear how it is done. I mean how and where exactly to rub the magnet and which type and size of magnet should specifically be used to rub it and in which state on or off to rub it and for how long and in which direction etc. Too many questions I know. But I am in a dire need of help here, remember it will be a real drudgery for me to RMA it from outside the states and will have to wait for like 2 to 3 months to get it back. Not only I'll have to spend extra bucks but also have to cope with the trepidation of getting it back dysfunctional. You never know so I want to try every other safe option before RMAing it finally.

I'll be grateful and much obliged if guys who know about it or have fixed this issue, post the steps they did to make it work or any other solution that might work. Thanks in anticipation.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v152/grungeboy/laptopmagnet.jpg

this is a pic of one i have laying around. shown next to a headphone jack for scale. it's a very small, very powerful magnet. there are two in your laptop.

one should be in the area under the trackpad, and the other should be around the webcam in the lid. a paperclip and a string will help you find them. put the paperclip on a string and dangle it in those areas, you should see the magnet grab them.

old laptops used to have a physical button that would be pushed down by the closing of the lid, this would cut power to the lcd panel. nowadays they use magnets. somehow yours is telling the computer the lid is shut when it's not.

taking a magnet to the one in the bottom/base of the laptop should tell it you've opened it back up. sounds like yours is magnetized to something else.

try to use a magnet on the bottom on and see if that fixes it, otherwise you might have to RMA it. remember it's never good to have magnets around other things that use magnets because they might become magnetized to the wrong field.

 

I have had the EXACT same problem and it drives me crazy! I cant RMA because I HAVE to do my coding homework for my college classes. Its so irritating to deal with. One time i had to press the power button no less than 50 times to get it to turn on. And once it did windows tried telling me that it had an unsupported display adapter after a few seconds it "found" Nvidia GTX 460M and installed it. As soon as I get some money im buying a desktop and sending this thing to ASUS. I have 16 gig ram in mine and an SSD, should I take these things out before I RMA and put back the old ram?

 

Yeah sure, no point in taking any risk. Besides if you have installed the fourth 4GB ram module you must have tore down all of the system to get in, which means you have void your warranty, as far as I know. I may be wrong about the warranty thing but it will be much prudent of you to pull out whatever you have added, modified or upgraded over the default configuration. You don't want any one messing with your SSD, do you! Besides you also don't want anybody imputing your engineering skills for the fault which almost invariably exist in this model. Its like an innate defect which, I cannot fathom why, haven't been fixed.

 

you're talking about a defect in a system that every notebook maker has used for like 10 years. i mean yeah it sucks, but how did the issue start? out of the blue or did something happen?

and you're upset because you can't send it in because it's the only computer you own? that's not asus's fault. honestly i only own my asus laptop too, but that's because i gave my desktop to a friend of mine. if you need a desktop for coding, pick one up on the cheap.

i understand it's frustrating to buy something and have issues with it, but when you can't even send it in for them to fix, you really can't complain about that. use the warranty, that's what it's there for.

 

@juggar


1) If you still dont wanna cope with the RMA thing you can fix it yourself. If you have a usb mouse or any other usb pointing device, use it in place of the touch pad, disconnect the touch pad ribbon and then you wont have to press the power button more than once. But keep in mind you will not only loose the touch pad capability but also the status indicator LEDs functionality in the front and the lid close functionality. That's a compromise you may have to make if you cannot RMA it due to lack of a spare PC to be used for your study stuff. I have done it myself and it works with the aforementioned compromises though. Well here is the link to give you an idea:

http://btoforums.com/showthread.php?t=3126


2) If you cannot live with the compromises that you may have to make in the first solution then there is a second solution which still evades the RMA thing. But you'll have to find the touchpad membrane and replace it yourself. Here is the link, if you can manage to get it yourself:

http://www.asusparts.eu/index.php?cPath=67674_73347_199593_220444_221025

Here is the link to the page on a thread where this thing is discussed:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-reviews-owners-lounges/570676-asus-g53sw-owners-lounge-93.html


3) The third solution which still won't compromise on the functionality of your laptop and still won't involve RMAing it of course, is that you tinker with the magnet sensor/switch which resides under the palm-rest. It is situated on the same assembly as the touchpad membrane and the touchpad ribbon carries its signals. There is a powerful magnet to the right of the camera at the top of LCD lid. You can ascertain its position by any pin or key that is attracted to a magnet.

Now when the lid closes the sensor/switch senses a magnetic field and sends a signal to the system for the lid close. When the lid opens the sensor/switch detects that there is no magnetic field and thus sends a signal to the system to tell it the lid is open and the system display can be turned on and if the system is powered off the system can be powered on when you press the power button.

Now there is actually a problem with this sensor/switch which doesnt come back to its normal/default state once the lid is opened and makes the system believe the lid is closed. It can be due to the fact that something is magnetized near the sensor/switch or it itself is magnetized. This can be rectified by rubbing a mild intensity magnet on the spot where the lid magnet comes in proximity on the palm-rest when the lid closes. I haven't done it myself yet but here is the link where a guy did it and it worked:

Power button issue on Asus G53SW-XN1 - [H]ard|Forum


To get a complete idea of the problem just read this thread:

http://www.asusrog.com/forums/showt...SW-XN1-when-closing-the-lid&p=39023#post39023


I sincerely hope your problem gets resolved with or without the aforementioned steps and of course without RMAing it. Good Luck

 

Thanks for the help. I think I will buy a cheap desktop($500) and then put my G53 back to default config as I have the original RAM. Thankfully my G53 at least works but for the next few weeks I just have to be careful about closing the lid. When I got this laptop about a month ago I sent off the warranty registration card but it got returned to sender. Do you think they will take the laptop without the card or should I try sending it again? As I do have about a month before I can RMA it. I wish I lived a little closer to Atlanta Georgia because then I could go to a repair center there. Many thanks for all the help!

 

Well first of all in my perspective a cheap desktop should not exceed $400 and not $500 with LCD monitor. You are having it as a backup PC which will do your basic coding and multimedia work and probably entry level gaming as well. Your best bet is going a dual core Phenom II X2 555/560 Black Edition ($90) and an AM3+ socket mobo with integrated graphics ($60) combo. Although you don't need a quad core for your mentioned use case scenario but if you want the extra bells and whistles you could go quad core bulldozer FX 4100 Zambezi for under $130. You can always upgrade your performance adding graphics card, ram and SSD later if you wish so.

I dont have much experience in warranty claims and RMA stuff but I think as far as RMAing is concerned it depends where you got yours from. Mine came from newegg and without a warranty card. If I need to RMA it I just need to generate an RMA request and include a copy of my valid invoice/receipt, they'll have the record of my purchase anyway. If I am not wrong, if you have redeemed the MIR on this purchase then you cannot RMA it to newegg rather you'll have to send it in for repair to ASUS directly. If you have picked it up from Amazon I think a valid receipt will suffice for warranty claim/RMA too. If you have picked it up from somewhere else I dont know you might have to register your warranty first to avail it. As far as you have purchased it from an authorized seller you should not be worried. But nonetheless do some research into it and find out yourself. Where from did you purchase yours?

You can never be more careful so give it another shot. You have another month till you RMA it so do register your product and warranty card, then RMA it with the pre requisites and copy of valid receipt.

 

Did you call Asus and ask how your RMA would work ?
Maybe it's not as bad, and they can send courier to your door to pickup the laptop.

We had the same problem with ours, we took out the trackpad ribbon and put it back in about 1/4th of the way in, and both the power button and trackpad would work, but forget about closing the screen as it would reset everything.
In the end we decided to RMA the unit.

 

I bought it from Newegg so I assume all will be ok with it. Thanks for all the help.I figured I might have to buy a pre built desktop from bestbuy or staples becausr thsoe are the only 2 stores within 50 miles of me that have any decent computers. I cant wait for parts to come in because of homework and stuff but I can get a quad core(AMD A-8) desktop with 23 inch LED 1080P LCD for 500 so I think I may bite the bullet. Btw I go to WCU which is around Asheville NC area so I really dont have many places to buy from. I really wish I lived in Charlotte NC again because they have everything you can think of.

 

@ sumik I did the same as you did but this is only a half solution to the problem and is very frustrating not to be able to close the lid. I think many more have gone through the same problem and only a few have been able to diagnose the real cause of the problem. After much gruelling search I got to the base of the problem and it has got nothing to do with the touch pad ribbon or power button.

All the problem lies in the lid closing and the real culprit is the magnetic field sensor/switch which gets activated when the lid closes and doesn't go back to the default state or doesn't send proper signal to the system when the lid opens which makes the system believe that the lid is still closed and thus the power button does not work. Removing the ribbon is a half solution that forces you to compromise on touch pad , status indicator LEDs and lid close functionality. If you put the ribbon back in the system, the laptop works fine as long as the lid is not closed. But as soon as you close the lid the same magnetic field sensor/switch fault occurs. The solution is very very simple. In fact much more simple than removing or inserting back the touch pad ribbon.

1) If you have previously removed the touch pad ribbon, all you need to do is just put the touch pad ribbon back in all the way into the connector and lock it. Now just to check the system, close the lid and then open it up, now press the power button the system wont turn on. You can skip this step if you haven't tweaked/tinkered with the touch pad ribbon earlier.

2) Keep the system off, lid should be open and the battery in. It doesn't matter if the power cord is plugged in or not but its better if it is plugged in.

3) Ok now take a paper and put it on the palm-rest to the lower right side from the touch pad. To give you an idea, this is a 2 inch x 2 inch spot under the small sticker that says "New Revision Certified Design" and lies between the touch pad and the large sticker that shows system specs and features. Furthermore this is the very spot where the magnet in the LCD lid (located to the right side of the camera) comes in contact/proximity when the lid is closed.

4) Now take a light magnet with medium intensity, shouldn't be too strong or big and rub it in circles on that 2 x 2 inch square spot where you have placed the paper. Do this for a minute or two.

5) The paper is only optional but it is recommended as it would save the palm-rest from scratches if any.

6) Press the power button and voilà! you are done.

Moving the magnet in circles over the target area neutralizes or demagnetizes the problematic material, which can be any material near the sensor/switch or the sensor/switch itself.

Now do whatever you feel like. Close the lid while running, put it to sleep while running and wake it up by opening the lid and pressing any button, the system resumes normally and the display reappears. Now you only have to press the power button once when you cold-boot it. Power off, close the lid, open the lid and power on without worrying. And no need to go through the drudgery of RMAing it. This is such a simple solution to a problem that appears so big at first. In fact this solution doesn't even require you getting into the system by removing/lifting the keyboard and tweaking with the touch pad ribbon. Just moving a magnet in cirlcles over the area where the magnetic field sensor/switch is situated somehow rectifies the problem in that sensor/switch. I have done it myself and my system is working perfectly. I am happy now because I dont need to RMA my G53SW for repair. Those of you who are experiencing this problem, should atleast give it a try and then give their feedback. Good Luck Guys

 

Well it seems you don't have much of a choice there. I am not so sure that a pre-built model with the desired specs would fit into your budget but you should give it a try nonetheless.

I have just posted the solution to the problem in my previous post. If you feel confident you can give it a try. Who knows you might never have to RMA it and save you the hassle, and cash you are going to shell out, for buying a new desktop.

 

I have an observation regarding the magnet of ASUS G53SW. The magnet used in this model by ASUS, and probably other models in the ROG series too, is very strong, much stronger than the ones used in other laptops from other manufacturers. I campared the magnetic strength of mine with that of my friend's HP Pavilion dv6 and there is no comparison. Mine is so strong it attracts any material from a significant distance and holds on to the material with great force. You even have to apply a significant force to separate the material from the magnet. In comparison, the magnetic field strength of the magnet in my friend's dv6 is so weak that I had a hard time finding it in the first place. Other ASUS G53 owners will attest to that and this should give you a good idea about the strength of the magnet I am talking about.

Now this observation brings me to a hypothesis of my own.

1) Due to this strong magnetic field of the magnet housed inside the LCD lid, things are getting unduly magnetized when the lid is closed and thus causing problems.

Why I am saying this is because the problem first arose when I closed the lid and didn't use mine for two weeks or so. And my conjecture is that, due to the strong magnetic filed of the magnet in the lid the sensor/switch or any other material in the vicinity got magnetized and then opening the lid had no effect on it because the field was still there.

This also brings me to the other part of my hypothesis.

2) This problem may occur in future because the lid is closed and opened on a daily basis and sometimes the lid is closed for a significantly longer time, enough for the erratic behavior to set in.


With this observation and hypothesis, it boils down to two solutions I can think of:

1) Keep a handy magnet with you in case you need one if this problem shows up again.

2) Replace the magnet inside the LCD lid with a mild intensity/strength one. This is a permanent solution in my view.


Solution #1 is safe. It works as I have done it myself and there is no issue with it so far. As far as solution #2 is concerned I haven't done it myself and it requires a full tear down of the system to get to the LCD lid and then open up the panel and then replace the magnet. It still would involve trial and error but if this thing bugs me often I am going to go ahead with the solution #2 which would be a permanent fix.

 

Sadozai - awesome if this works. Best low tech solution I have heard in a long while for anything.

 

I have a problem with my Asus 1005HA that you might be able to help with.
The backlight stopped working a few days ago so I've took the screen surround off ad i've found that if I put my finger on the screen cable and keep it there the backlight comes on. Its not the cable as I only have to lightly touch it anywhere.
Any ideas are welcome.

 

If you don't have time to fix this issue properly and you don't want to carry a magnet around, try this:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=72314&stc=1&d=1320455671

Go into Power Options and configure "When I close the lid:" to "Do nothing". You won't be able to sleep or hibernate the laptop, but it won't keep you from restarting, either...

 

thats how I have it set but not helping. I've tried rubbing the magnet that I've took out of the screen frame around the area the switch should be but nothing either.
The only way I have it working at the moment is with a length of wire wrapped around the screen cable insulation with the other end attached to a radiator so I'm guessing its either a earthing problem or the earth is taking the magnetism away?

Edit: Magnetic switch seems to work as the led light on the switch go's out when I put a magnet on... it has no effect on the screen though.

 

Good troubleshooting on your part! It sounds like you're experiencing a different problem, since the magnet method IS working for other folks and you have indication that the magnetic switch is working on your laptop, but startup still fails. I agree that it sounds like a grounding issue. Are you sure the outlet you've plugged into is properly grounded? Or do you also get this behavior on battery?

 

That's whats even stranger, even with my extra wire thats keeping me up and running at the moment if I run on battery the backlight go's out. But if I plug a monitor in, the laptop screen AND monitor work in battery mode.
Its a really strange one.
If I've been on it a few hours and put my hand near the keypad the screen flickers. I must be full of static!

 

Sadozai,

I find your experiments and discussion about this issue really interesting...well done! Your hypothesis jibes with the behavior that you and others have experienced, in that the failure of the switch seems to occur after the laptop has been closed for awhile.

But virtually every laptop sits closed for at least a few weeks between assembly and delivery to a buyer. If it were only a matter of the strong magnet having too much time to magnetize a nearby object, most units would have this problem. But since it's relatively rare, I have to think that there must be another factor involved...something specific to the affected machines.

My first suspect would be the switch itself, not the magnet. I believe these are known as reed switches....in the proximity of a magnet, the tiny "reeds" inside a sealed tube move into or out of alignment/contact, such that they open & close a circuit. I'm guessing some laptops have a defective switch that isn't appropriately sensitive to the magnet. If this is the cause, your magnet solution works because you're manipulating the switch into it's opposite position, something the integrated magnet can't do. Furthermore, if this circuit uses a pin in the touchpad cable, that would account for the impact of removing the cable....it cuts the circuit completely and voids the action of the switch.

If any of that is accurate, I suppose there's good news and (maybe) bad news. The good news is that it identifies the defective part causing the problem. The bad news is that part is likely integrated into some other perfectly good component, so the only way to replace the switch is to replace that component. And that means either buying a part (for the DIYer) or RMAing the whole laptop.

Do you feel this "add-on" hypothesis is compatible with yours, and with the faulty switch behavior you've seen? (Of course, it's also possible the magnet is affecting some adjacent component, and THAT is what is disrupting the switch function....and the switch is not faulty.)

 

I don't understand? Is it just the LCD backlighting not working or the entire display not working. I mean is it the backlightng issue you are facing or the black screen issue with no display whatsoever.

 

I presume you used the LCD lid magnet for demagnetizing/neutralizing when you rubbed it. I think its not a good idea to use the lid magnet, reason; they are usually strong magnets and secondly these magnet are actually used to register a lid close action when the lid comes in proximity to the magnetic field sensor/ micro switch so using them may worsen the situation. That is instead of demagnetizing/neutralizing the problem area or sensor or switch they may aggravate it. So use a mild magnet.

Secondly its not necessary that the same thing applies for you. Yours is a different model and the mechanisms may vary vastly. From the look of it it looks to be some other problem a problem at least I don't know anything about because I haven't come across such a scenario.

You need to completely explain your situation right from the start till the end. How did it occur? In what state does it work and in what state it doesn't. Relate to the G53SW problem scenario if you can. What is the lid close and open action effect on the system state. Have you tried to disconnect the touch pad ribbon to see if it works etc. As you stated it seems there's something wrong with the screen bus cable (ribbon). If that is the case you may have to replace the whole screen or the bus cable(ribbon) if you can.

 

Interesting observations and a very well put add-on hypothesis. It is not only compatible but also supplementary.Thanks for adding to it. I didn't consider this facet of the problem which you have rightly pointed out. And that should also explain the high rate of problem and DOAs we have witnessed.

"I'm guessing some laptops have a defective switch that isn't appropriately sensitive to the magnet."


I suspect the same problem, a configuration issue with the sensitivity of this switch can be an issue.

 

Unfortunately, I doubt that it's actually "configurable," if that's what you meant. My guess (and it's only a guess, based on what I know about reed switches) is that it's just a piece of hardware that is spec'd to work within a certain magnetic field variance. I don't think it's so sophisticated as be software configurable, so that only leaves two possible states: functional and defective.

 

. . . but you might be able to physically tweak it a little.

 

How? These kinds of switches are sort of like fuses, in that the "reeds" are inside a sealed tube or container. A really tiny container. If the unit is defective in a way that, for example, the reeds don't move as freely as they should inside there, I can't see a way to tweak that. You can't get to them.

 

I didn't mean to tweak the reeds, sheesh. I meant that maybe the position of the switch could be moved a bit or maybe something like foil could be placed between the magnet and the switch so wharever is getting magnetized in there wouldn't.

 

You are right its just a component that cannot be configured. I know its not like a variable resistor that can be tweaked with to vary its resitivity but configuration entails a lot of factors. Factors like the distance from the magnetic source, position on the assembly PCB and that is actually what I meant. You are also right its not like a software configurable thing because then it had to be little more sophisticated with on-board ram, flash, registers and probably ALU etc, I think I am getting into microcontrollers, ASICs and embedded systems. Anyway sometimes things as simple as a sensor switch that could have only two possible values/states like on or off, logic low or logic high, can be configured through the hardware by using external components that change its threshold levels and biasing values to determine new operating values. So either the sensitivity of this switch be tweaked or its position be tweaked or something be added in between to get it to work properly, just the way it is intended. This is all configuration in my perspective.

 

Yeah there doesn't seem much to tweak with in this case. So it boils down to two cases either functional if the switch is working probably or dysfunctional if its not working properly and in the later case replacement is the logical solution, no tweaking with the switch or tinkering with the touch pad assembly.

Rightly said. I second that.

 

Its just the backlight, this video shows it better .... I've pulled a bit of the screen cable out of the bezel and touching it, my other hand is on a metal radiator

Video - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting

 

Hmmmm...

Well, nice video clip, that explains a lot. I presume that this problem is with the back-light cable not the LCD screen (data) cable. Now there are two possibilities I can fathom right now:

1) The cable has a track i.e a conductor path that is broken or worn out, so when you touch it the continuity is getting re-established and the thing is working. I am not very sure of this possibility though. What you can do now is that instead of touching it with your hand use some plastic or wooden piece or any non conductive material and touch it with that thing. If it still works then this might be the case and you may have to tinker with this cable connector on the motherboard and in the LCD lid. Or you may have to press this cable permanently at the problematic spot with some adhesive material. Or, which may not be possible, you may have to replace this cable if the design permits.

On the contrary if it works only when you touch it with your hand the second possibility is more likely...

2) There is a capacitance issue in the cable. When you bring your hand close a certain amount of capacitance is generated among the conductive tracks (sounds like the case of capacitive touch screens) which solves the problem. It may be due to a loose grounding/earthing or a lack of it thereof or a loose connection somewhere in the concomitant chain. What you can do is make sure of the grounding/earthing from the chassis. If you have a mulitmeter you can ascertain the ground conductor in that cable at the connector, if its exists, in the LCD lid and then ground that contact manually to the chassis ( main body where the motherboard is housed). If you can only work with the connector on the motherboard and not on the LCD assembly then you'll have to try this at the motherborad end where the cable from the LCD lid connects to the motherboard. Find the ground pin in the connector and then manually ground it to the chassis with some conductor wire.

If the problem still persists you can try another method that involves a lot of trial and error. But you might get lucky, who knows. If you can get a hold of some low value capacitors (1uF or less) rated at atleast 12v, capacitors can operate on any voltage below the rated one so its value should not be less than the highest voltage you are connecting with, they should be the pin type not the SMD type and they should be the ceramic ones that don't have polarity, not the electrolytic ones. Now find the low, 0v i.e. ground pin at the LCD cable connector and the high which I don't know in your case maybe 3.3v or 5v or 9v or12v. In case you find multiple levels try each one, one by one. Now connect the capacitor between the 0v pin and the high(5v/9v/12v) pin and see if it works. Beware do not tweak or disturb data pins if its only the back-light problem, you should only do it with the biasing pins that is used for back-light powering in the LCD, this pair is also termed as GND and Vcc/Vdd pair. You can also try this method in other combinations like in one way connect a capacitor between low (0v) pin and chassis and in the other way connect a capacitor between high (5v/9v/12v) pin and chassis. Its sort of a hit and miss fluke which may work for you. A capacitor used in such configurations where only low power DC biasing is involved is safe as for as I know, you are connecting the capacitor in parallel not in series, so if it gets open circuited its no issue but if it gets short circuited it will be an issue, but that might never happen because you are dealing with low power and low voltages and as far as the capacitor is working properly you don't need to worry. Do it for a number of capacitors. If it works you are good, otherwise you'll have to look for some other solution that works for you on a permanent basis.

 

Thank you for that answer, I don't think its the cable as I can touch it anywhere where I can get to it and it lights up (nothing happens if I touch with something no conductive) At the moment I have a length of wire around the insulation then going to ground (this works only in AC mode). Odd times if I run my hand near the keyboard the backlight will flicker, other than that it works fine but it bit of a bodge .
I will have a go with option 2 once I've read it a few times so know I understand it.
Thank you

 

Frankly, John, this sounds like significant defect or malfunction in the laptop's grounding system. If you experiment too much with it yourself, you risk doing something that might potential void your warranty. I would describe the problem to Asus and RMA it.

 

Well from the look of it, its working in the AC mains ground. Not a convenient solution I guess. Why dont you try the same thing within the notebook system, I mean wrap the wire around the insulated cable and ground it with the notebook chassis. By the way, the nature of this defect is very peculiar; one I haven't come across to date.

That's some really creepy mess you got there. How irritating when you type!

BrodyBoy is right. This thing might get ugly so you should RMA it if applicable or send it in for repair to some qualified professional. Fiddling with it might void your warranty and you may find yourself stuck in deep turd. If the warranty period isn't expired then I dont see a point in taking any risk unless its absolutely necessary. But again its your call, if you feel confident enough you should give it a try and apply all possible solutions/methods that make sense. That is how you learn, but if you don't try you'll never know.

 

Lol! I've never heard it put quite that way....but yeah, that's the gist of it!

 

Can you boot your g53 from keyboard or mouse?

 

Well there's been a long time since I posted anything here as I am still very busy...Don't see myself freeing up time for experimentation on my G53SW till March I guess but anyway I would still add something here that will be of some help to those who faced or are facing or might face this problem.

Since I discovered that the problem could be solved using a magnet, I went for it but I used a very mild intensity magnet so the problem kept reappearing and thus I was doing the same thing again and again. Consequently, I got fed up and wanted to get rid of this mess once and for all. Since I didn't have the luxury to open up the laptop and fiddle with it with my experimentation I tried some safe method first to avoid the troubles that might occur in fixing this problem.

This time I used a stronger magnet, like the coup de grâce and be done with it strategy. And the result was, I couldn't be happier, the problem seems to be fixed. Haven't had any issues since then, the lid close and open actions register instantaneously and never had to press the power button twice to power it up. Powering up from cold boot is also super snappy.

So, it all boils down to using a strong magnet to really eradicate this malady. Well that's the update to my previous posts for now. I am happy with the solution and its results. Well that was my two cents. Good Luck guys

 

That's great news! I hope other owners with this issue can use your experience to resolve it in their computers, too.

You can't power up from an OFF condition that way, though you can use those components to wake a sleeping computer.

 

I currently have this problem with my laptop. I can view it fine through HDMI connection with a external monitor. The magnet trick did not work for me. What I found weird was:

When I closed the lid, "Laptop Display" gets removed from the list of displays.
When I open the Lid, "Laptop Display" comes back to the list but the laptop display is not on, Just pitch black.

 

Which laptop do you own? The magnet and the corresponding sensor/switch positions vary from laptop to laptop. So if you have a different model/make, you may have to apply this procedure on a different location. You just have to figure out where exactly is the magnet in your laptop's LCD lid.

Secondly, you don't have the exact same problem, if it were then when you opened the lid nothing would have happened i.e the laptop should have remained in the previous state and would have shown the LCD lid is still closed. From your description of the weird scenario all I can understand is that it is not related to the magnet switch/sensor issue because in that case the lid open action after it had been closed would not have had registered ( laptop display comes back to the list) and the laptop would still have thought the lid to be closed.

I dont know what options you have chosen under the windows power options but to ascertain it for sure, you just have to choose " Hibernate" option under " When I close the lid" option. Now when you close the lid the system should go to hibernation, just wait till it powers off after the hibernation. Then open the lid and press the power button, if the system doesn't boot up then it is the exactly same problem, the magnet issue, but if it does then you dont have this particular problem. The rationale behind this position is that if the magnet switch/sensor is dysfunctional it won't register the lid open action and thus you cannot power up the system because the system cannot be powered up, no matter what, when the lid is closed, for obvious safety reasons implemented in laptops.

Another simple way to make it sure is by choosing the " Sleep" option under the " When I close the lid" scenario in the windows power options. Now when you close the lid the laptop should go to sleep and your external display should go black. Now open the lid, press any button, the external display should show you the windows login screen or desktop, that depends if you have password protection enabled for login. Now, once again close the lid and if the laptop again goes to sleep and consequently the external display would again go black then I am sure that you don't have the magnet problem. It might have something to do with the LCD or lid assembly. Maybe loose connector/wiring/grounding or a damaged cable, you'll have to dig deeper to get to the real problem.

 

I would like to add: I sent my g53sw in because I got fed up with the magnet issue, and low and behold not only did it come back fixed, it came back with a different trackpad part! I have had no issues with this since. I can verify that the metal on the back of the trackpad has been changed at least in the part they used on mine, ymmv.

 

Yeah you are right about that. That metal strip on the back of touch-pad holds the buttons' assembly as well and it is where the magnetic switch/sensor should be with respect to the magnet position in the LCD lid.

 

hi, i just wan to share my experience on my g53
i owned g53 for 3 months
for the first time i switch on the laptop (just out of the box), it is actually showing me black screen. i thought it may be loading, so i left it for 15mins there still showing black screen. so i decided to close the lid and restart again, and voila everything went well. so from that time on, i thought the magnetic sensor may be wrong. but i dont bother to it. for the past 3 months it has been no problem until a few days ago. when i trying to play a game for about 2-3 mins, the screen blackout. i have to close the lid and open again which temporally solve my problem. i thought it may be due to driver problem as i just install a new one, i system restore it to earlier time, but it still occur. sometime when i press alt+esc it can return to windows normally. please take note that, the screen blackout only occur during gaming, not on other time like in windows, startup or movie. then just now, the problem surface again, this time when i press alt+esc, there is no response at all. when i tilt the screen to certain angle, the screen come back for a moment, then off again. while i accidentally press my finger on the right side of touchpad, the screen suddenly went alive. when i leave my finger it off again, which remind me of this forum which i read b4. so i give it a try y placing a magnet on top of the right side of touchpad. without delay, the screen went alive. my question is, from my experimentation, is the magnet sensor really cause the problem?
if yes, why when i press it with my finger, it can show on??
and this problem only occur to me during gaming.
hope some expert can share their opinion here
thanks

 

I registered an account here for the sole purpose of saying that this immediately fixed this infuriating problem that I've been having for over a year now, and to express my gratitude to you for figuring this out. A clever solution, an insightful diagnosis, and a straightforward post laying it all out; I applaud you, good sir.

 

This magnet fix, would it work for my issue?

I have a G73jh that does not recognize when the lid closes. It will not sleep when closing the lid. This has happened ever since I RMAd a year ago for a faulty screen.

I just RMAd it again and they seemed confused and replaced the screen again, with the form included in the returned laptop reading as if they logged the RMA with last year's issues and not the problems I described this time.

Would rubbing a magnet on my laptop fix this? Would it be the same area?

Thank you for any help.

 

I contacted support to tell them what happened, explaining that my settings are to sleep when closed and it does not, and they replied that it sounds like it could be a setting. They don't seem to be familiar with this issue, so I don't exactly have faith in their support to send it back again. Anyone have any ideas?