Gateway NV52 not powering on

A few days ago I was given a Gateway NV52 that wouldn't load Windows Vista correctly, so I was asked if I could fix it. I didn't want to go destroying all of the data and I didn't have a password to get into the recovery options so I left it alone for a few days.

Now the thing won't power on at all, all I'm getting is a blinking Blue power LED whether or not the battery is in or not. I think I might have left it on battery power while it entered its boot-fail-reboot-fail-reboot-startup recovery phase, I remember it stopping on the "Windows could not fix this startup problem automatically" but never got a chance to turn it off, so I'm thinking the battery must have went out to 0%

But that shouldn't keep it from turning on now, should it? It doesn't even seem like the battery is charging. I've gone through everything I could think of (apart from trying to take out the clock battery, which doesn't seem worth dismantling the entire computer to get to).

 

Err, after letting it sit for a day or so, plugging it back in now gives a Blue Light for the battery, although looking at the online manual, there isn't supposed to be a "Blue" light for the battery LED, only Red and Orange.

 

Could be a bad internal power jack or a bad AC adapter. If you could charge up the battery somehow and see if it still works off battery power, that would narrow the problem down quite a bit. If it's the power jack, that would prevent the battery from charging. But you say you're getting indicator lights to light up, so that's encouraging. That means the unit is getting power from somewhere, though it could be the run down battery.

BTW, even if Windows and or the hard drive are completely trashed, the machine should still do a POST, so i doubt it's any kind of software problem.

 

It doesn't seem to power up with the battery in or not, and it doesn't seem to be charging anything either, AC with battery, battery only, AC only, none work. Sort of seems more like a hardware problem that wouldn't let it boot before now.

 

Have you tried using a different power adapter? That might be worth investigating. Otherwise if that's not the problem, it's probably gonna involve some internal repairs and might not be worth the present value of the machine if it were to be repaired.

But on the bright side, at least you'll have a spare hard drive, memory, and optical drive. And possibly the screen could be salvaged.

 

I wouldn't mind that, but I already have a laptop, and this Gateway isn't mine to be messing around with too much, otherwise I would have cracked it open and investigated farther into the problem.

Ah well, I'm pretty sure she'll understand.

 

I was given a laptop to look at by my girlfriend that was having similar problems, but was not able to fix it.

I was sure it was a bad power jack, so I sent away for a new one, took the whole laptop apart, soldered it in, and reassembled the thing and it still would not run off AC power. However, it will still run off the battery.

These things are not as easy to work on than desktops, unfortunately. Sorry i could not be of more help.

Still, if the thing is broken, and she does not want to pay to have someone else to work on it, what does she have to lose by having you take it apart?

 

I have the Gateway NV25 also. it did the same thing on 1/22/10. I used it on Saturday night, then my wife used it, and then we left it plugged over night to charge the battery. The next day it would not turn on. I also see the blue battery light on the front (whe the cord is pligged in). I did install Windows 7 on it, before this happened. Now it seems to be dead.

I called Gateway and spoke with a person that I could not understand. He was no help. After some basic testing, I was told to leave the laptop plugged in for 6-7 hours and then call back (to recharge the battery). I then retold him that it died after we had left it plugged in to recharge overnight, so I have already done this part, but no I need to do this again and then I need to call Gateway back.

After searching the internet I am finding that other are having this same problem. The dates of the problem seem to be in the 2nd and 3dr week on Jan 2010. Any help is welcome.

I no longer he the "tone/sound" when I plug the power cord in.

 

I also had this problem. I turned it off and it would not turn on. I found the solution. First, extend the laptop screen as far back as it will go. Don't just stop the screen at a ninety degree angle. My laptop screen pulls back to about 135 degrees. Now press the power button. It should start up.

Why do I think this works? Well...I used to own an older model thinkpad that had a short "male" connector on the screen, that when the screen was folded down would enter into a "female" connector on the base of the unit and trigger sleep mode on the unit. This is how the system could automatically hibernate when the screen was closed. The little male connector broke off, and I couldn't get the system to wake up, because the connection to tell the laptop that I had the screen up or down no longer worked. I couldn't even power it up. I had to take an ink pen and push the connector through the female end to indicate to the motherboard that I'd opened the screen before it would even turn on.

It appears that the same type of mechanism is built into the long BAR under the screen of the NV52 and somehow it can't determine when the screen is open or closed. If it detects that the screen has not been opened, it won't power up. This safeguard prevents the laptop from being turned on mistakenly while closed up in your laptop bag. Extending the screen back resets the mechanism and it should turn on. Sorry for the long explanation...

 

Hi, had a similar issue, only mine would semi-power on. The power led would light blue(the battery led was blue as well) and there would be a hum from the machine starting,but the screen would not turn on and it felt like the hard drive wouldn't engage either. While I haven't attempted the screen trick yet(Im at work all day) it seems like even then the hard drive should at least make its usual startup noise. Any thoughts?

 

I have the NV52 and after I shut down my machine it also woudn't turn back on. A blue battery light, when plugged in, was the only thing working. Turns out it was the power button wire (Part # 50.WBM01.002). Replaced the wire and everything is back to normal.