NP9150 Shutdown Fail

Today as I was about to start GTA IV, I double clicked Fraps and the instant after I did, the laptop shut off completely. I tried turning it on, but the blue light would shine for a second then turn off. I tried unplugging things and not using the battery but this kept happening. The laptop would not turn on and boot up. I did once see the Sager logo but shortly after it shut down again.

So I did this: opened up the back, repasted the GPU, took out the washers I had under the springs, and put the heatsink back on. I try the laptop again and bam, some how it works again. But now the part that scares me more:

I was panicking when the laptop wouldn't turn on, and after checking the underside of the laptop I opened the laptop cover and let go, only to find I was actually picking op the whole front side, and from there the laptop hit the desk hard from a good 3/4 foot height (laptop was off, before I repasted). It seemed like a large blow. Even after that it seemed the laptop works fine.

So now I have two problems: understanding what caused my laptop to fail, and now figuring out if any thing is wrong with it from the hard fall. What components can be damaged from that type of hit, and what tests should I do to make sure every component is working? I am currently doing a Check Disk, as the HDD is probably the most fragile and also on the front end of the laptop, the side that hit the desk the hardest. Man I am still really afraid I broke some thing, I won't be able to move on unless I know every thing is working right.

 

You crushed the GPU core with the washers? It seems to me the damage done was before your repaste. I don't think the drop caused it. Although the drop + washers and already strained core could have done it? Just making a guess.

 

The shutdown happened, and THEN the drop happened as I was opening the laptop screen after examining the power port looking for problems. Then after that I opened the back case and repasted and removed the washers.

Ok so I have done the following tests: Checked GPU and CPU temperatures, all good. Ran chkdisk, report states no errors found. Tried some long period Skyrim gaming, performance as expected and same as ever. Ran 1 pass in memtest86+, no errors. Ran HD Tune Benchmark and Error scans, no issues any where, write/read speed is as expected, all checks ok in health tab. Desktop performance is normal, fans are working and making no strange noises, DVD/CD drive is working properly, no cracks in the screen, all keyboard buttons functioning including backlight switching, battery is operating as well as it always has, no damages to the frame of the laptop.

I really expected to have problems. What this proves: Sager laptops are apparently pretty rugged. The frame is quite thick and strong and feels much more solid than any laptop I've used. Just don't put it through any thing on purpose!

In the end, this must have been just some kind of temporary power issue with the power supply or battery. Some thing shorted or some thing of that nature. A problem apparently most people have in fact, and an easy 50% chance way to solve it is to hold down the power button (without the battery in) for 30 seconds to drain all charge from the laptops components. I bet if I had done this properly, I would have had no problems getting booted up and would not have had to open up my laptop to repaste. Yeah, I did try it, but I only held down the power button for a few seconds. The time I took and me touching the metal components inside probably naturally discharged the laptop.