Sudden PC failure

One of my two Dell XPS M1330 PCs failed abruptly last evening. It simply would not powered up despite being connected to a viable power supply (same power supply powers the other M1330 normally), the same power cord that came with the PC. I last used the PC 10 days ago and it did not display any "warning" signs that something was amiss. After using it, I simply closed the lid and have not opened it until last evening. It has not been dropped or physically traumatized. No lights appear on the screen or the keyboard, and no lights appear on the back of the PC, except for what appears to be a power level signal on the battery's back--when pressed, the light appears and seems to indicate a full battery level.

I know likely the only way to diagnose the problem is by a qualified technician disassembling the PC. I'm just curious as to what are the plausible possibilities for the PC's sudden failure. Thank you for your attention and any advice or suggestions.

PG

 

Dell XPS 1330 huh?

I would guess the power socket broke off the mother board (or is sitting there loose).

Good luck.

 

NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS...

That would be my guess.

Google Dell XPS 1330 and faulty 8400m and see.

 

Sudden failure of the 8400M GS wouldn't be impossible, but it isn't likely given the nature of the defect in that GPU. Did you notice any display flickering or anomalies in the last few days?

 

Thanks for the responses. I haven't noticed any signs or anomalies (flickering of display, dysfunctions) before I tried to power up the PC in vain last evening. This is what surprised me, that the failure was sudden without any prodrome. Incidentally, the nVidia 8400M GS was replaced under warranty 2 years ago and since then, I have been careful to operate the PC with a cooler to prevent overheating, which the Dell technician speculated contributed to the GPU failure. Of course, I don't if the Dell technician was right, but for whatever it's worth, I kept the PC running as cool as possible--prior to this, I have never used a cooler with my notebook PC's.

Thanks,
Ken

 

Id put more money on the power socket cracked or broken. A faulty GPU gives crazy stuff on the screen and doesnt cause the laptop to not power on.

 

+1.

If it doesn't work off either the battery or adapter the problem lies with the power into the motherboard or the board itself.

What was your machine set to do when the lid was closed? If it didn't sleep/hibernate/shutdown correctly it may have overheated whilst closed.

 

If you know someone with the same laptop, try swapping batteries. If it works you have a bad power jack. If it doesn't work you probably have a dead motherboard.

 

Thanks to all for their advice and suggestions. I have a near-identical M1330 (in fact, the one I am using to post this), so I followed Greg's suggestion and tried swapping the batteries. Unfortunately the PC remained silent when I tried to power it up again. I'm intrigued by Sphinx's comment that the power socket on the motherboard is cracked or broken (and Tilleroftheearth suggested a possibility it may have simply come loose). Can the power socket be replaced by a user who knows how to access the motherboard?

Unfortunately, Nankuru's suggested scenario seems very plausible. I haven't used this PC for several months because of a dead hard drive and my delay in replacing it, so I honestly don't know if I set the "lid closed mode" to hibernate. It's certainly very plausible that the PC remained on when I closed the lid thinking it was hibernating and overheated.

If the motherboard is fried, I presume I'm better off buying another PC, especially with the nVidia 8400M GS GPU integrated into the motherboard. I'm open to any suggestions to salvage the PC.

Thanks much to all again for their advice.

Ken

 

Sadly if the battery you swapped has a known good charge and the laptop didnt power up you most likely have a bad motherboard.

 

replacing the power socket is very easy. you do need to solder but it is just a bit and even a kid could do it. you have many videos how to on the web. ebay has many power sockets for sale.
I would try to known if that is really the problem in the first place. if it is the socket problem, great, replace itm fix it. if it's not, report back.

 

If with a good battery and no AC it would not boot then just replacing a power socket will not do the trick. The problem with the solder issue of the 8xxxm is actually keeping it cool. nVidia's own solution to extending the life of the chips is actually to get them hot and keep them that way.

What this does it not alow the solder joints to become cold by constant cycling between hot and cold rapidly. It will not make the chip last forever but extend the time before it sufferes the premature death. Actually running it on a notebook cooler, decreasing cool down time, is a bad thing for that GPU.

Now running it hot will cause other issues as well so as the saying goes, you're damed if you do and damed if you don't. This is why I so hate the idea of giving nVidia any more money when I buy a new system. It kills me to tell people that they are essentially out of luck....................

 

Thanks for the additional advice and comments. I tried booting the PC with AC alone and battery alone and with both in place and no luck with any of the three modes. The battery is good, it works with my back-up M1330. I briefly reviewed some videos on soldering and de-soldering power sockets and admittedly the soldering and especially the de-soldering intimidates me enough to look for a replacement PC rather than attempt the power socket replacement. My brother-in-law works with PCs in his career and the soldering/de-soldering spooks him a bit also. I really liked the M1330 that died, it featured a brighter screen than my back-up M1330. I'm thinking the XPS 13 is its direct descendant. If anyone has any suggestions for a replacement PC that is similar to the M1330, I'd appreciate any advice.

Thanks again,
Ken

 

A couple of thoughts: Perhaps you could find an Intel graphics motherboard cheaply and swap that in, avoiding the nVIDIA problem? I think it should be possible, but you'd have to check.

If you do decide to scrap your 1330, you could probably swap the screen/lid with the duller one in your other machine. And the best of the other components.

The XPS13 is the direct descendant of your machine, but things have changed a lot in four years so I'd take a look at other manufacturers too.

 

I have a M1330 with a 9 cell. It runs hot, using a cooler only makes it not "burn" my hands. So that will not kill it. It is not one of those GPUs that go from 50 to 90 every 5 minutes or so. This will do a constant ~70C.

It should be quite easy to repair any problems. You could even put the Intel GPU instead the nVidia if needed and it shoud be cheap (in Europe it's like under 100$ in 3rd party service).

Factory GPU lasts about 2 years. The replacement should run for about 3. I think it's not all that bad. Other than that I also like this little XPS. I think I had them all, from 13 to 17. I don't find them to be quite premium stuff, but they are nice. For instance my Lenovo works so cool and so good for years. It is miles away from Dell XPS I had.

Did you optical drive die? Mine no longer read DVDs. A new one could be around 100$ with labour. I hardy use it any way, so it was like new. No other laptop had this problem in the last 8 years.