M70VN difficulty starting, blinking power light

Hi all.

I have an Asus m70vn-x1. Last night I noticed that after shutting the computer down the power button was pulsing blue and the little battery/AC indicator on the bottom edge of the keyboard was as well.

This struck as strange for two reasons: one; in the years I've owned this laptop I've never seen the buttons blink while the machine was off, and two; the blinking was closer to irregular but rapid flickering than a steady pulse.

Concerned about a possible short, I unplugged the machine and removed the battery overnight.

This morning, after plugging AC back in and returning the battery, the machine would not start. I removed the AC connection and the computer came on as normal. When I then plugged AC in, my OS detected it and functioned as normal.

Should I be concerned? Has anyone else seen this behavior? Are those lights supposed to blink?

Thanks in advance!

 

The lights can blink on yellow/orange if there is a failure with the charging circuit or AC adapter. They blink blue/green when on standby.

If it's an irregular blinking, it might be AC adapter failure or a problem with your DC jack. See if your jack is loose, and take a look at the LED on the AC adapter itself to see if it's blinking or throbbing.

Also take note of any weird lines or backlight flashing on your LCD - sometimes that will be the first indication of AC adapter failure.

 

Do you think an improperly seated battery could cause these symptoms?

Just tried to power up machine while on AC. Nothing. Took battery out and put it back in. Charging light lit steady orange as expected (not blinking white as before) and machine powered on properly.

 

It's possible, yes. If you don't experience the problem again that may be it.

 

Ah, it's not. But I did just figure out what's going on. The battery was a coincidence - it's my USB hub.

Just got a brand new hub. A newer tech 7-port, which I wanted to try because it pushes a full 500mA to each USB port. If the laptop is off and the Hub unplugged, all is normal. Plug in the hub, lights start pulsing. Unplug the hub, lights stop. Unplug the power supply from the hub, and all is normal.

Should I be concerned about sustaining damage from the hub, or just chalk it up to a quirk?

 

The G50 and G70 had a similar quirk with power hungry USB devices, did you try all the ports? Are they all the same?

 

The hub seems to be designed to be connected to the PC by one port - the type B port - using the provided cable.

If I understand correctly, wouldn't the hub be -less- hungry because it's powered?

What happens on the models you mention?

 

Sometimes they won't boot or power on.

I've had problems with powered USB hubs.

Try unplugging the USB cable and the power from the hub and powering the machine on. Wait until it starts booting to plug them in.

 

That does work (unplugging the hub and then attaching it)

It makes me nervous though - should I be worried about frying or igniting something?

 

Not really, if there is a power problem with the USB port, the machine will power itself off at worst to prevent damage.

 

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