Gateway MX3230 laptop power Issues

fatalend · 08-10-2008, 01:48 PM

My sister brought me her old laptop to see what was wrong with it to try and fix it. It is a Gateway MX3230. I press the power button and the blue power light shows. I can hear the harddrive spinning. After about a minute one of the fans inside comes on and I can feel warm air come out the side. The issue is that the screen is not displaying anything, at all, and when I press the button to open the DVD drive, it does not open. Also when I hit numlock or capslock, the light for either is not coming on. Can anyone help?

**TriggerFinger** · 08-10-2008, 03:57 PM

Hi,

Try hooking it up to an external monitor. Also make sure vents/heatsink are clean. Blow out the dust or any particles that is obstructing the air flow in the vents/heatsink.

It would also help if you can provide more information. Ask your sister if she recalls how this all started.

Given the description of the issue, it looks like a corrupt BIOS which can also mean a dead motherboard.

Slartibartfast · 09-17-2008, 12:14 PM

Hi,
I have the exact same problem. Laptop worked perfect one day, and
the next, on pressing the power button, all that happens is the blue light. I took it to several places, and it seems the motherboard is the problem. I haven't investigated further at this point, but interestingly enough, just a few days after I brought the laptop to the repair place,
another person came with the exact same laptop (gateway MX3230) and the exact same problem. This blog is the only place on the net, though, where I have seen someone describing this problem too. I was
hoping someone would have found the root of the problem and have a fix! I was even hoping there might be a recall by Gateway.
I found on the net new motherboards for $500, and for $200 (but in the
US, and they don't ship to Canada -Boohoo!) so I am losing hope of finding a fix at less than half the cost of the laptop...

So please. let me know if anyone finds out more about this problem!

08-10-2008, 01:48 PM	#1 (permalink)
fatalend Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 1 OS: Windows XP SP 3	Gateway MX3230 laptop power Issues My sister brought me her old laptop to see what was wrong with it to try and fix it. It is a Gateway MX3230. I press the power button and the blue power light shows. I can hear the harddrive spinning. After about a minute one of the fans inside comes on and I can feel warm air come out the side. The issue is that the screen is not displaying anything, at all, and when I press the button to open the DVD drive, it does not open. Also when I hit numlock or capslock, the light for either is not coming on. Can anyone help?

08-10-2008, 03:57 PM	#2 (permalink)
TriggerFinger Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: USA Posts: 11,791 OS: Vista SP1, XP SP3, PCLinuxOS2007	Re: Gateway MX3230 laptop power Issues Hi, Try hooking it up to an external monitor. Also make sure vents/heatsink are clean. Blow out the dust or any particles that is obstructing the air flow in the vents/heatsink. It would also help if you can provide more information. Ask your sister if she recalls how this all started. Given the description of the issue, it looks like a corrupt BIOS which can also mean a dead motherboard. __________________ DBAN - Memtest86+ - BartPE - Linux LiveCD - ImgBurn - HDD Diags - Disk Copy HOW TO BURN AN ISO FILE

09-17-2008, 12:14 PM	#3 (permalink)
Slartibartfast Registered User Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 1 OS: XP and Vista	Re: Gateway MX3230 laptop power Issues Hi, I have the exact same problem. Laptop worked perfect one day, and the next, on pressing the power button, all that happens is the blue light. I took it to several places, and it seems the motherboard is the problem. I haven't investigated further at this point, but interestingly enough, just a few days after I brought the laptop to the repair place, another person came with the exact same laptop (gateway MX3230) and the exact same problem. This blog is the only place on the net, though, where I have seen someone describing this problem too. I was hoping someone would have found the root of the problem and have a fix! I was even hoping there might be a recall by Gateway. I found on the net new motherboards for $500, and for $200 (but in the US, and they don't ship to Canada -Boohoo!) so I am losing hope of finding a fix at less than half the cost of the laptop... So please. let me know if anyone finds out more about this problem!