Inspiron 1526 black screen - boot failure

[LadyRP]

I did have one problem when I took everything apart, replaced the battery, and put it all back again. Only the left side of the keyboard is working. Any ideas? I did take it apart again (back to the keyboard ribbon), checked out the ribbon connection, and put it back again. But nothing worked. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[micman]

Originally Posted by chuckguy17

Update on 2 Problems:
wordswordswords

I think you should go with the cheapest option you can find for a 90w universal ac adapter. That way it will be usable for the unforseeable future should you decide you need to switch laptops.

Try the ac jack fix first before replacing the whole motherboard, but don't do either till you know 100% that the issue isn't your ac adapter.

Your dvd drive problem should go away when you fix the power problem. If it doesn't, report back and we'll tackle it from there.


@ladyRP: I think all you can do with that is make sure the ribbon is seated fully. Sometimes they just break and you have to replace the whole thing. I've had some keyboard scares like that before but it usually works again after I re-seat the ribbon cable a few times. Try to be very gentle with the casing when you put it back together so you don't disturb the keyboard connection too much.

To all the new members who have been helped by this, thanks for much for posting. Let me encourage you to stick around on NBR forums as you can learn a lot and there is a great community of people here. Keep reading and posting and help make this the best knowledge base for laptops anywhere in the world!
- Micman

[16mmjunkie]

Thanks for the help on my 1526....$ 4.69 later I'm working fine.Great pickup for 25 bucks

[Zootopia]

Having mostly the same issue with my inspiron 1526. When i power on with or without the battery in, the screen will flash on for about 1/4 of a second and then go back to a blank screen. Ive ruled out the screen by hooking it up to a monitor and to a tv with an hdmi cable. Im going to try the cmos battery next. The only difference is that the caps lock lights are not flashing and not on at all. The hard drive will start to spin when first powered on The only light that will light up are the touch volume and play,stop, skip track buttons do light up. Ive tried booting many times in a row with battery, and without battery with only ac charge and no luck with anything. Ill post the results after changing the cmos battery tomorrow. Thank you for the guide though, hopefully it will solve the problem.

[Zootopia]

Update on the laptop, everything is working great. The CR2032 battery fixed the problem. I installed Ubuntu 11.10 on it since the computer didn't have an operating system, but it works great now. Thanks for writing out the guide, i appreciate it alot.

[micman]

No prob. You know that as long as you have the windows sticker on the bottom of the laptop you can always reinstall using the key printed on it? You just have to use the correct oem version of windows which you can find through a stickied thread here on the software forums. Instructions are included in that thread, here:
LEGAL Windows 7 Download Links (Just like Vista before!!!)

[Bouncey_Bouncey]

Hey, i also have a Dell Inspiron 1526. however mine wont power up at all.. Ive had the motherboard changed 4 times by Dell and well just out of the warrenty and it goes completely off.. ive had it 18 months at the most.

The problem i have is when i try to power it up via the mains ( since the battery doesnt charge for some strange reason ) it wont power up and trips the mains adapter.. so i tried my adapter off my new Dell Vostro and it trips the charger on that.. however if i unplug the charger from the mains and plug it back in BOTH work on the Vostro but not on the Inspiron..
Im not 100% sure if the motherboard has gone yet again or not since the Inspiron was the first laptop i had ( and im normally a Desktop kind of person ) so when it comes to laptops i dont have a clue.

Anyone else know whats going on with this because i dont really want to replace it as my daughter said she would use it if i can get it fixed.

Cheers in advanced

[WARDIANE]

I replaced theCMOS battery and it ran fine on only battery power for about 45 min. Then is started to shut its self off and got very hot. What did i d
o wrong? Also no lights on the power button or number lock or scroll lock, the panel by the screen.
OK sorry fixed it wire for fan not plugged in.

[micman]

Originally Posted by Bouncey_Bouncey

Hey, i also have a Dell Inspiron 1526. however mine wont power up at all.. Ive had the motherboard changed 4 times by Dell and well just out of the warrenty and it goes completely off.. ive had it 18 months at the most.

The problem i have is when i try to power it up via the mains ( since the battery doesnt charge for some strange reason ) it wont power up and trips the mains adapter.. so i tried my adapter off my new Dell Vostro and it trips the charger on that.. however if i unplug the charger from the mains and plug it back in BOTH work on the Vostro but not on the Inspiron..
Im not 100% sure if the motherboard has gone yet again or not since the Inspiron was the first laptop i had ( and im normally a Desktop kind of person ) so when it comes to laptops i dont have a clue.

Anyone else know whats going on with this because i dont really want to replace it as my daughter said she would use it if i can get it fixed.

Cheers in advanced

Sounds like a short. This could be anywhere, but they are usually in the DC jack itself, or the small board the DC jack is on. Both are cheap to replace but not as easy as the CMOS battery.

Originally Posted by WARDIANE

I replaced theCMOS battery and it ran fine on only battery power for about 45 min. Then is started to shut its self off and got very hot. What did i d
o wrong? Also no lights on the power button or number lock or scroll lock, the panel by the screen.
OK sorry fixed it wire for fan not plugged in.

Glad you figured it out. I couldn't have helped you anyway without more detail, so glad you were able to piece the puzzle together.

[WARDIANE]

Now i have a problem. The battery worked like i said but now i gave it back to my friend and it just shut off he said and it will not power on at all. Will a broken CMOS battery holder prevent it from power on?? The comp worked while he was with me in my room and was working when i gave it back to him he was gone about 1 hour.