I've been trying to get to the bottom of why this notebook won't power up at allhttp://www.notebookforums.com/images/smilies/huh.gif. Here's what's happening:
Got the notebook from a friend, came with no power adapter and no battery. I tried substituting a known good adapter from another laptop, same 19V, a bit less power (90W). I've done this before on other laptops and they'll crank up OK, even if they require a bit more than the adapter is rated for, only for a brief test, as the adapter run hot if left for a long time.
Anyway, when the adapter is plugged in, all the top panel buttons light up for just a moment, then go off, except the power button remains on, and the front lip Power and Plugged In icons stay on. Pressing the power button does nothing, nada, zilch. No fans, hard drive spin-up, blank screen, absolute death silence. The same adapter (non-HP) runs other laptops just fine.
I hate to give up on this one, it's a great older notebook, HUGE screen, two 1 GB sticks on-board, 160 GB hdd, not beat up. But I don't want to dump a bunch of money on it or throw parts at it unless I'm sure of the problem, and if it's worth fixing. I read through HP's troubleshooter section, it doesn't cover this situation or this notebook. Whaddya' think? To get it going, I MAY need a new power adapter, but I'm thinking it's not at fault (eb-Y generic) and a battery. If it turns out to be a zorched mobo, then I'll probably just end up (sob!) scrapping it and pull the RAM sticks and hdd to donate to another machine.
Got the notebook from a friend, came with no power adapter and no battery. I tried substituting a known good adapter from another laptop, same 19V, a bit less power (90W). I've done this before on other laptops and they'll crank up OK, even if they require a bit more than the adapter is rated for, only for a brief test, as the adapter run hot if left for a long time.
Anyway, when the adapter is plugged in, all the top panel buttons light up for just a moment, then go off, except the power button remains on, and the front lip Power and Plugged In icons stay on. Pressing the power button does nothing, nada, zilch. No fans, hard drive spin-up, blank screen, absolute death silence. The same adapter (non-HP) runs other laptops just fine.
I hate to give up on this one, it's a great older notebook, HUGE screen, two 1 GB sticks on-board, 160 GB hdd, not beat up. But I don't want to dump a bunch of money on it or throw parts at it unless I'm sure of the problem, and if it's worth fixing. I read through HP's troubleshooter section, it doesn't cover this situation or this notebook. Whaddya' think? To get it going, I MAY need a new power adapter, but I'm thinking it's not at fault (eb-Y generic) and a battery. If it turns out to be a zorched mobo, then I'll probably just end up (sob!) scrapping it and pull the RAM sticks and hdd to donate to another machine.
