Acer Aspire 6530G - won't boot, only power button flashing

[niffcreature]

A lot of acers have 4 wires running to the actual power jack. Maybe 2 of them simply are shoddy and touching conductive materials?

[Dr.Colossos]

Hi niffcreature,

hmmm, the connections/connectors looked good.

If I am bored, I might dig deeper today, but I think it would be better to wait for the 7520G battery to arrive, and see if it runs on battery power - but as I said, I doubt the 7520G will arrive before early next week.

I'll see what I do ...

Thanks anyways - keep that suggestions coming

Cheers

[cashwo]

That is a capacitor between the graphics/wireless cards, cmos battery is between cpu and memory.
You may have found something faulty there because my power light works ok if I disconnect it. It might just be the cause of your flashing power light if it is charging/discharging rapidly.

[Dr.Colossos]

We are talking about this (red framed) thing, right?

If so, what to do about that? I am still new on the job, hehe. Electric circuits and switchings are not really what I am familiar with.

I tested it my multimeter, it had a voltage reading, but I don't remember its value ... around 2 volts, maybe, could be wrong, though.

Btw, is there a problem if I strip the laptop down to the bare motherboard, connect it to the power and hit the power button? Might this break something, granted I do not short something "manually"?

Thanks a lot for your help, guys!

Cheers

[cashwo]

Yes that is a capacitor 25v 1000μF, hard to properly test with just a meter but very cheap and easy to find if you want to replace it (any tv/radio repair shop).
From a quick look it appears to be smoothing the power supply to the graphics card. I suspect(not certain) you will get the same flashing light when using the battery to power the laptop.
Board will run fine out of the case, but if you havn`t done this sort of thing before you should find yourself a copy of the service guide before you start.

[Dr.Colossos]

Yeah, I have the service manual, and I already took apart several laptops - in fact, I did it so often with my Compal FL90s and Acer 7520s, that I am now in line for doing it blindfolded standing on my head live in a game-show, hehe.

Thanks for your help, I guess I'll be waiting for the battery to arrive, then do some more testing/taking apart.

Thanks a lot, again!

Cheers

[cashwo]

Good to hear you have the skills/manual. and more patience than me...would have been strripped and rebuilt a week ago if it were mine.

[Dr.Colossos]

Well, be sure, I do not have the patience, hehe, but I have another FL90 laying around all open with a new HD4650 to put into.

And I think it could safe me tons of time to first see if plugging in a battery would resolve the issues all together - so force myself to do so, as if I were patient, hehe.

Cheers

[Dr.Colossos]

[...]
I suspect(not certain) you will get the same flashing light when using the battery to power the laptop.
[...]

Hey cashwo, you were right, partially. With a battery from a broken 7520G, the laptop starts!

I only did a very short test this morning, I didn't had the VGA card and RAMs installed, but the power button came on and the fan started - it stopped shortly there after, but it looked/sounded VERY promising.

So, fact is, it starts on battery, but does not load the battery (or the one that come with it is dead, too) nor will it start with the power cord attached.

Easiest thing would be to check if the power adapter is broken. I guess I could use anyone with the same volt and current output to test this, right?

But what to do if the same happens? I can't run into the next electro market and get myself an Acer internal power cord/power jack, or whatever might be broken ...

Cheers, and thanks a lot for your help!

[Dr.Colossos]

Okay, I put in RAM and video card - first, it didn't really boot, for whatever reason.

I was fiddling around some more, basically doing nothing, and now it boots ?!?!?!

The fan spins, then it takes a while, it spins up again, and it posts. Maybe the delay comes from using a non-default vga card.

Anyway, it still only works on battery power. It also works with battery inserted, and power supply connected. I think it even charges the battery when its connected to the mains. At least the lights indicate that, and when booting Ubuntu 10.10 from an USB drive, Ubuntu also indicates that the battery is being charged - however, I didn't have the time to really see the battery bar increasing, just the symbol changes.

Anyway, when removing the battery and plugging in mains, the flashing power button is back.

I am trying to get another adapter - anyone with the same volt and current output will do, right? Given it fits the power jack of course.

Any other suggestions/ideas what could be wrong?

Thanks in advance!

Cheers