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    Gateway P-7811FX wont power on

    Discussion in 'Gateway and eMachines' started by elmc, Apr 1, 2012.

  1. elmc

    elmc Newbie

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    I was given this non working laptop.

    When it is plugged in, the charging light comes on.
    Pressing the power button does nothing. It wont turn on.

    I have disassembled it to look for any obvious signs of a spill or a spark, everything looks to be in mint condition.

    Can anyone guide me on how to determine what is wrong?

    Thanks
     
    elmc, Apr 1, 2012
    #1
  2. elmc

    elmc Newbie

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    I have an update,

    I stripped everything off the motherboard, plugged it in, and it turned on! I cannot get everything working now.

    When the watch battery on the motherboard is NOT connected, it powers up when I connect power. When the watch battery IS connected, it powers up once when the power is connected, then wont the second and all following attempts. The power button NEVER successfully powers up the computer, only connecting to power after disconnecting the watch battery. Also when it is running, I can not turn it off, or get any responce from pushing the power button, even holding it in. The battery measures 3 volts.

    I think the power button doesn't work. Do you agree?

    Also, Video only works on HDMI output. The display and the VGA output do not work. Does this mean the motherboard is at fault, or the display?

    What is my next step?

    I see that I got over 200 views with no responce to my earlier post. If no one wishes to help, please be kind and direct me to a forum that may offer help. Thanx.
     
    elmc, Apr 14, 2012
    #2
  3. micman

    micman Notebook Evangelist

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    I see your post here and I feel your pain, but I'm guessing I'm seeing it way too late to be of any help. I had the same-ish issue, someone gave me a dead FX and I wanted to diagnose and repair it. For mine, here is the thread I started: http://forum.notebookreview.com/gateway-emachines/635113-gateway-p-7805u-no-power-wont-boot.html

    You can see we had similar issues with power, however I can tell you that unplugging the CMOS battery (you called it a watch battery) or plugging it in made no difference in my case. I also never got it to boot like you did. However I have a new motherboard on order so it should soon be fixed, and I'll update my other thread once that is completed.
     
    micman, Aug 23, 2012
    #3