Steps to diagnose & solve laptop "won't power on"

yyz100

Having experienced tablet "won't power on", the solution which was not usual (and Acer.com community did not solve), let me summarize the steps, to help people in future with such problem.

 

Sppose you know battery had some charge, but yet won't power on

(You can jump to setp #4 if u know battery had almost no charge or has been in hibernate mode for quite some time such that battery charge could drop to level where Power Settings would shut off tablet)

 

Try

1. Power on button 

    (a)  normal holding of a few seconds

    (b)  hold for 30 seconds

2. Power on + Volume UP ... hold for 30-60 seconds       (awakening from deep sleep mode)

3. Power on + Volume Down ... hold for 30-60 seconds  (awakening from deep sleep mode) <-- usually it's this Down Volume , but also try the Up direction.

4. Plug A/C Power cord into wall and tablet.

    (a) does the LED power light orange, light as flashing or steady ?  ... let it continue for some time, as the AC power cord works AND is recogized by tablet) 

    (b)  if LED does not come on then   <----------- THIS WAS MY PROBLEM

          i.  test AC power cord with volt-meter .. and check Power cord for any frays in wire

          ii. open cover of tablet

                A.  check wire to battery is connected , u can discnnect and reconnect .... try #1 again (maybe just some simpe loose cnnection for whatever reason)

               B.  use voltmetter to test circuit board wiring where AC power cord gets connected .. use 2 points and see if there is some power reading

               C.  for me, both A and B were working, so it was something else.

                    In my first post of the problem, i listed some possible solutions, hoping someone would comment.

                    I named this as "electrical item / main battery"   ... concept was correct, but terminology needs refining, so here it is....

                     Eavery tablet/latop has a capacitor operating at a very low voltage (say .3) which keeps the internal clock and some other bare-minimum processes running, even when tablet / laptop turned off ..... so this was the problem i had as this component registered no power at all.

 

 

Note there could be other components not working, but this is reason for not powering on.

If there is some power and you hear / see some action when the on/off button is pushed, ... but computer does not make it through whole start up process, then problems could be (just outlining briefly, as here my main point wanting to address was the lack of any power):

(a) BIOS  settings

(b) disk sector problems  or bad operating system software (corrupted / damaged)

(c) RAM

(d) display ... perhaps some electrical hardware , or backlight (if screen remains black through start up process and you hear it working, as you would be familar after some time as to how your computer starts up)

 

 

Hope this is helpful to resolving your situation quickly, reducing stress / frustration / angst / etc.