Dropped Laptop doesn't boot

I probably don't belong here. If not, terribly sorry.

I dropped my Sony Vaio VGN-AW125J laptop, my foot broke the fall, but a portion hit a table on the way down. My AC jack was banged up, so I ordered the part from Sony. My computer repair guy said that the new jack hasn't made a difference and still can't get power. He said it wasn't the operating system since he pulled out hard drive and it still doesn't power up. My original symptoms were when I powered it up, it would pretty much shut down after a few seconds.

Is there anything I can ask my computer guy to check before we trash it?

Thanks,
Diane

 

Guess I should just bite the bullet and get a new laptop. Seems I'm in the wrong forum. Any suggestions on a good place to get some info?

 

i would wait more than four hours for someone to respond. a lot of us may not know about hardware diagnostics.

at least you can try (for now) pulling out the hard drive and getting your files from the hdd through an external adapter. im sorry i don't know anything about ac jacks...for one it could be that the dc jack in the laptop got banged up...check if it turns on with battery. if not, then perhaps the motherboard broke somewhere. you can try to get a replacement off ebay.

 

Good suggestions. I think I will wait it out. Just so hard not to have my laptop. I had it backed up with Carbonite, so I'm good there.

 

Your post is a little bit confusing. When you say the AC jack, are you talking about the AC connector that plugs into the wall? (which is not a part of the laptop itself) or are you talking about the DC connector that is mounted in the laptop itself?

When you pulled out the hard drive and it didn't power up, were there any lights and/or beeps at all, or do you mean that bios wouldn't come up?

 

I have someone who installed the "DC in Sub Assembly" that I ordered from Sony. This was the part that was banged up and thought to be the reason the laptop wouldn't work. What happens is, when powered up (with a charged battery and AC cord plugged in outlet) lights come on, VAIO is displayed for a second, then it shuts down immediately. I pressed f10 when I turn on, but doesn't do anything either.

I love this computer so much, I'm waiting to replace it until I know it's not worth saving.

 

Check the RAM modules. Perhaps one or both popped loose or became damaged when the laptop fell. If you have two modules, alternate between the two to determine if one has gone bad.

--L.

 

Yes. The obvious things to check, if your guy has the laptop opened up is that all connectors are full seated, that anything socketed like ram, hard drive, display, etc. are properly connected. Basicaly all mechanical connections. You have to plug the hard drive into another computer to see whether the problem is with the drive itself. If you can hold down the key that gets you into bios and reset the bios to defaults, this may help. Check if the battery and its contacts are still good. It's possible the battery was damaged or crushed or that its contacts are not seating well. You can also try pulling out the battery and running it that way, as a way of ruling that out

 

I have the laptop back in my possession, so without opening it up I thought I could give you a couple of more symptoms I've noticed. Remember that the AC jack on the laptop was replaced. I noticed that the light to charge the battery won't come on unless I really press the AC adapter in hard. When I took the battery out and put back in, it looked like it was going further in booting up. the VAIO window flashed, then a message with two options, one of them being Start Repair Process (or something like that). I pressed enter and a window came up that said "loading Windows files" with a bar at the bottom. It got a little ways and then turned off.

Hope this help to solve the mystery. I appreciate you time on this.

Diane

 

Did you let up on the AC adapter (plugged in to you're computer at back/side)? If what you said then it sounds like there is a loose connection STILL with the power.

Also, it could be that you have a bad/corrupt hard drive now. If it started loading but stopped and shut off that could be another symptom.

If you have a Windows or even a Linux install disc. Try booting the computer with the install disc in to see if it loads that. You don't need to install anything. Just to see...

 

My repair guy did say he ruled out hard drive problem. I should have mentioned that Sorry.

 

See if there is a bios reset or CMOS clear pinhole on the bottom of the laptop, if not, open the laptop and unplug the bios battery and plug it back in. Bios reset cures MANY of Sony notebook boot issues. I have seen this fix many Sony laptops.

Another thing is, was the AC adapter plugged in during the fall?
Was that what damaged the notebook connector?
If so, replace the adapter pack.

 

I think the jack was plugged in when it fell.

The other things you mentioned I will pass along to my repair guy. He may have already done all of them, but it wouldn't hurt to check. I will keep you posted so that if this ever happens to anyone else, there will be something to share.

The previous reply mentioned using the boot disk. I tried that with no luck. I put the disk in the drive and pressed F2 several times. Still shuts off almost right away.

 

It is acting like the battery has no charge.
(You pushed in the jack a got a little more charge).
Try pushing in the jack so that the battery light comes on for a while before trying to turn it on. It may be ok.

 

I have fiddled with the cord to get the orange charge light to stay on, so I'm pretty confident the battery is charged. Also, I do have a spare AC cord from another VAIO that has worked in the past with the laptop, and that isn't working either.

Just tried hitting F2 and booting computer with a boot disk. Got a blue & white screen to flash on that said BIOS but then it turned off after a split second.