Inspiron 1520 Problem [No Post]

Hi all,

My trusty Inspiron 1520 will not post thus can not access bios or boot into windows.
When pressing the power button, the power LED comes on for about 2 seconds, the hard drive tries to spin up and then it shuts down (there is no display on the screen).
Interestingly if I hold the function key (FN) when starting the system (I was clutching at straws at this point) the caps/scroll/num lock LED's illuminate with 3 solid LED's (no flicker) until the machine shuts off.

I've tried:
1) Removing battery, starting with AC power only.
2) Removing RAM, one 2GB stick at a time.
3) Removing WLAN card.
4) Unplugging CMOS battery, clearing capacitors by pressing the power button 20 times.
5) Google said to shine a torch on display to see if backlight has failed but there is no visible video signal

I've ordered a like for like bios battery from eBay for £3 so might help but i doubt it.
Google also suggested buying an inverter, I will probably do this as can source for £4~.

I've yet to try:
1) Installing the RAM that came with it 2x1GB sticks
2) Removing SSD & second HDD (i have a IDE optical adapter)

Has anyone here had this issue in the past?
Any advice greatly appreciated!

 

I don't think this is a CMOS battery or inverter issue... I think your motherboard has probably gone kaput, especially since you've tried that 1-5 already.

 

Thanks for the response, i think you are probably right.

Am i correct in thinking that the 8600M graphics card is built/soldered into the motherboard? If I'm honest, I'm unlikely to use this laptop for gaming anymore so I could just get a on board alternative off eBay.

 

It's not soldered to the motherboard. You can buy a new dGPU motherboard and reuse the 8600M.