I never thought this would happen to me...

Been away from these forums for a while with the m9750 being all the hype, but I've just experienced the unthinkable with my very own m7700 . With my low P4 clock speed and 6-series nvidia card, i never thought my AW would ever crash like those with higher P4 clocks and 7800 GTXs.

About a week ago, my laptop just "shut off" when it was idling. The blue On light stays lit around the power button but the screen stays black. No keyboard shortcuts draw any response although Fn+F2 still controls the fan. I force shut down the laptop fully by holding the power button. Over the next few days, the laptop started fine but would experience the same crash at random times.

Last night, I was using my email and the laptop blacked out again the same way. I started it up and as I was typing my password to login to XP, it crashed again. Since then, I could not get it to start again. The battery indicator light does not turn on when I press the power button but the blue light around the power button does. The harddrive activity indicator blinks a few times before turning black. The screen never turns on. Meanwhile, the optical drive constantly makes a noise as if it's trying to read a newly inserted disc.

I have tried removing the battery and putting it in again multiple times, same with all 4 sticks of memory. I've moved the optical drive to the 2nd bay but it continues making the same noise. The problem may be the battery itself but I have no way of knowing how to diagnose it. I have long been out of warranty so I have not tried contacting AW.

I am leaving for college in TWO DAYS and I'm extremely worried. If anyone can help, it would truly be appreciated. If there's any place I know I can go to for support, it would be these forums.

Is it likely to be the motherboard if my laptop died gradually over the course of a week as opposed to suddenly crashing and never starting up again? If it's true, then my greatest fear has just been realized. The D900T motherboard can't be sourced anymore am I right?

damn this really sucks. I have two days before leaving for school and the lead time for the D900T from RJtech is 1-2 weeks. Plus its pretty damn expensive and you can never be sure it'll last very long anymore...

does anyone have the link to the thread of the step by step tutorial of installing a motherboard in the m7700?

^ oh omagian, it was you who posted those pictures.
I just found out that my audio dj still works and sound comes out of my speakers. Does this mean the mobo isn't dead??

Ah ic. I'll order a new mobo around christmas and install it during winter break. Omagian ill most definitely come to u with questions on installation later on. Thanks everyone for your wisdom.

BFisch06 thats probably most practical thing to do, but I feel quite attached to my m7700 and I really do not need much more performance for my computing needs.
Also, I have never installed my own motherboard and would like to give it a shot. Would I have to reinstall every driver from the AW site once I install it? and would I need insulating paste for the cpu?

Dam thats gonna take alotta work. If it dies again after the mobo swap I think I'll cry...