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[SOLVED] Dead motherboard? What do you think?

4218 Views 10 Replies 2 Participants Last post by  night_shift, 
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Hi guys,

I reckon this is a dead motherboard - what do you reckon?

Laptop: Sony VAIO PCG-7R1M

Symptoms:

- Powers on
- Black Screen
- CD Drive spins up
- HD spins up for a second, stops.
- Caps/Num/Scroll lock lights all on
- Battery not charging nor recognised by laptop
- No sounds.
- Fan doesn't spin up (at least not yet). Chips are getting warm though.

Have also tested:

RAM - works fine in another PC, working RAM in broken PC doesnt fix it.
Hard Drive - Working fine on another PC
External Video - No signal to external monitor
Have removed battery, holding power button to discharge etc etc.

This only really leaves the CPU or motherboard. Is there an easy way to test if a CPU is faulty without transplanting it to another machine?

I can possibly hook the LCD screen upto another laptop but I have a hunch it isn't the problem (tell me if I'm wrong!).

Much appriciated! :pray:
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Re: Dead motherboard? What do you think?

Anyone?
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Re: Dead motherboard? What do you think?

Hi

Laptops are not easy beasts to fix as PC's. Have a read at this procedure, you have come to the obvious conclusions. In my experience the components dont fail but the solder joints on the motherboard go dry (open circuit).

There are ways to repair motherboards, professionally and home grown. Have a read at the procedure first, this will give you an idea where you stand at the momemt.

Fault Finding Procedure
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Re: Dead motherboard? What do you think?

Thank you for your response.

Well I've followed all of the steps in the trouble shooting guide, including replacing and reseating all available components. Still nothing minus the 3 green led's.

As suspected, it must be a dodgy motherboard. The problem is Sony don't supply individual parts (even to vendors!) - they want me to ship it to them for the pricely sum of £470 (who in their right mind would pay that?!)

Does anybody know of a good supplier for new VAIO motherboards (replica or genuine). There are plenty of second-hand ones on eBay but they carry a £140 price tag! :upset:

The daft thing is Sony are probably losing money by being so inflexible with their parts - they only have to ship it out which only involves basic admin staff!
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Re: Dead motherboard? What do you think?

The price of mobility :rolleyes:

You dont get replica boards, it would have to be new or refurb, but still at a cost. Sony dont loose out, the laptop is designed around the mobo as one complete package, sold as a series/model unit for a year or two then its basically redundant, Sony move on with the next technology upgrades and this ships as the next series/model.

You could get the mobo reballed (reflow) at a professionable level at a cost, there are also some home grown methods that work (I've tried these). If you can afford it I would buy a new unit and sell the old for spares.

If buying from new, then there are operating rules that can lengthen the operational life of the unit.
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Re: Dead motherboard? What do you think?

Argh, what a shame. Thing is a new laptop is out of his price range right now.

Is re-balling always successful or ever worth it in the long run (i.e. will it last at least 6 months?). If so, what sort of company would be able to do it?

I tried a homegrown method of reballing a dodgy xbox motherboard with a heat gun before - needless to say I failed miserablely!

Thanks Night_Shift!
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Re: Dead motherboard? What do you think?

Have a look at this post its quite interesting. Here.

I've used a heat gun and liquid flux on an old Acer, its been running as a test machine since last August.
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Re: Dead motherboard? What do you think?

Very interesting, thank you for that.

It's in the oven - just cooling for a bit and then I'll stick it back together (fingers crossed!). I'll post back with the result!
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Re: Dead motherboard? What do you think?

Fingers crossed here as well.
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Re: Dead motherboard? What do you think?

Unbelievable! Followed the instructions by baking it in the oven and it is now working! Will do some tests on it but for now it seems fine!

£140 - saved! Thank you! :pray: :pray: :pray:
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Re: Dead motherboard? What do you think?

This fault is a common thing on laptops. The price of mobility :rolleyes:

If you run the laptop on a flat surface and give the cooling path a blow through every other month, this will guarantee a longer operational life.

I'm pleased this worked for you. Drop pamook a post and let him know how you got on and tell him I'm recommending his procedure as a last solution.

Good luck for the future.

Steve :smile:
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