Mrs mik brought her laptop downstairs last week, and although the lights came on when it was switched on - nowt happened.

Had a chance for a quick look tonight - I assumed the screen had gone, but plugging it into an external monitor doesn't bring anything up either.

Reseated the Ram. Nope.

Reseated HD. Nope.

Powered it up, and you can hear the HD give a quick servo "zeep" as if it is trying to read, but it is nott followed by the sound of the HD spinning up. Just silence thereafter.

If the HD is borked, would I get NOTHING on the screen? I'd thought I might get something, but then realised I have nothing to base this perecption on.

All help appreciated

Updated November 22, 2012 at 7:23 PM

I take it you've taken the battery ooot with the power unplugged too?

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You Sir, are rude, arrogant and selfish. And so is your son.

Yes.

Battery also has LED's power display, so know it is fully charged.

If you try booting with no hard drive attached and still get nothing on the screen or external monitor the mainboard is borked. Probably time for a new one.

Carl.

Just tried that.

Dead as a dodo.

It's a Samsung that turned 2yrs old on Tuesday this week - was really hoping it wasn't completely fubarred.

Just double check all the fans can spin and are connected.

Pull the HD ou and stick it one of these, see if you can access it?

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The Evo forum really is a shadow of its former self. I remember when the internet was for the elite and now they seem to let any spastic on.

IaFG Supercharged Muppet Division

Only other thing is to remove both the memory and battery and try it directly off the mains, nothing and yes it's dead. Still have the receipt? Remember everything sold in the EU has to have a 2 year warranty, so if there is proof of purchase the retailer will have to deal with it.

Just read it was over 2 years, that's real bad luck.

Carl.

Updated November 22, 2012 at 10:35 PM

Will give that a go tomorrow.

Will also call retailer and see what they say.

I've seen motherboards on sale for <£100.... bad idea? Laptop was £400 2yrs ago, so it doesn't appear to be an "economical repair", but when it worked it met requirements.

mik said...

Will give that a go tomorrow.

Will also call retailer and see what they say.

I've seen motherboards on sale for <£100.... bad idea? Laptop was £400 2yrs ago, so it doesn't appear to be an "economical repair", but when it worked it met requirements.

If you are confident in your own abilities, can find a good stripdown and reassembly guide along with a board with a guarantee go for it. I have a Dell XPS here that needs a new board (well known to fail) and if I could find a board for sensible money with a guarantee I would do it. Cheaper than a new one and it would still perform well enough for what I would use it for.

Carl.

If you do decide to replace the mobo by yourself, be prepared to get very scared in the process of doing so.

Dr Carlos said...

Only other thing is to remove both the memory and battery and try it directly off the mains, nothing and yes it's dead.

Just tried that - same result.

Will try calling Samsung this afternoon - I've ordered a cable for the drive so I can try and pull files off, but I'm no expert in this area.... so purchasing and swapping out a motherboard probably isn't a realistic option.

mik said...

Just tried that - same result.

Will try calling Samsung this afternoon - I've ordered a cable for the drive so I can try and pull files off if it spins.., but I'm no expert in this area.... so purchasing and swapping out a motherboard probably isn't a realistic option.

--

The Evo forum really is a shadow of its former self. I remember when the internet was for the elite and now they seem to let any spastic on.

IaFG Supercharged Muppet Division

mik said...

Dr Carlos said...

Only other thing is to remove both the memory and battery and try it directly off the mains, nothing and yes it's dead.

Just tried that - same result.

Will try calling Samsung this afternoon - I've ordered a cable for the drive so I can try and pull files off, but I'm no expert in this area.... so purchasing and swapping out a motherboard probably isn't a realistic option.

I would have thought the drive will be fine, the spin up and head check you can hear would indicate that. If you hear the 'zeep' noise followed by a ticking it would usually indicate actuator failure and if it didn't spin up the actuator check would usually not happen.
It does look like you can get a fairly basic for functional and branded laptop these days for about £300 so maybe that's a better option.

Carl.

I'd buy new rather than repair. New laptops can be really cheap.

Just called Samsung and they reckon it was only a 12-month warranty, so at least I don't feel so bad that it failed at 24-months + 2days

Their locla approved service centre can diagnose / quote for repair for £36 (inc VAT) - which they take off if they then fix it. (wow! )

Decisions decisions.....

A local firm to me can sort laptops cheaply. User Friendly in Galashiels. They just fixed my desk top for £40 and you post your laptop to them in a jiffy type bag. I know they will be a lot cheaper than Samsung and even if they just put your files on a dongle and post that back....?

Ask to speak to Sam if you want to give them a ring and ask about how to go about it.

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What would Daddy Pig do?

mik said...

Just called Samsung and they reckon it was only a 12-month warranty

This is illegal, all goods sold in the EU must by law come with a 2 year warranty, even Apple had to comply with this.

Carl.

My Lenovo Thinkpad did this and it turned out to be motherboard failure so back to the factory it went for a two week holiday.

unzippy said...

Pull the HD ou and stick it one of these, see if you can access it?

Cable arrived this morning - currently pulling the files off the HD THANK YOU UNZIPPY!

Mrs mik currently has an eye on a Sony Vaio as a replacement - will go and have a look in Currys (even if we don't purchase there).

Any downsides to the above? (form is probably playing a bigger part than function in this decision).