Laptop Motherboard Issue!

[chuckery]

i have a dell inspiron m5030 laptop. when i boot it up, there's a blank screen, and beeps. 7 beeps to be exact, indicating that there's motherboard failure. i read a fix on dell's website, quoted as follows:

 

 

I was having the same issue with mine for a month, tried contacting Dell, nothing. For anyone still having this problem or for anyone who has just started having this problem, here's what I did. I tried an old Xbox 360 trick, I wrapped the laptop in a comforter, making sure to cover any air inlets on the laptop. I pressed power and let it run in the blanket for ten minutes. After that I let it cool, and did it again for fifteen minutes. I let it cool completely, then tried booting it up and it worked! Mine runs without any hiccups now. Also when I did the blanket, I disconnected the laptop's speakers so it wouldn't drive me insane.

 

 

i did this fix, and it worked! but now everytime i shut down my laptop afterwards, i have to do this fix to hop on. anyone have any suggestions for more of a long term fix?

 

 

thanks in advance.

[Plastic Nev]

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help,

That is the first time I have heard of a deliberate overheating actually bringing a motherboard back to life, however though I am not saying it is wrong, as it obviously worked for the first guy.

In your case, although it worked to some extent, I think the only full cure will be a proper diagnosis that it is indeed the motherboard at fault, and then a replacement motherboard fitting.

 

Please bear in mind the problem may not exactly be the motherboard, it could be RAM, hard drive, or some part of the graphics. Hence why I recommend a proper diagnosis first before replacing the motherboard. That diagnosis and full tests is not that easy at home, especially with a laptop, due to the difficulty of taking them to bits.

 

Nev.

[Vr5fx]

On-board graphics might be failing, which is directly connected to the motherboard. That make and similar are known to be decent sandwich toasters, as they love to get hot.

 

That is why over-heating temporarily fixes the issue. The solder under the chip has broken from repeated heating and cooling, when it overheats the connections make contact, meaning it works as long as it is warm.

 

If it is the graphics (had experience with this problem in the past) so I'd be confident in saying it is. Only a new motherboard will fix the issue for sure. However, it will happen again.

 

The price for a new or even used (used may have a similar issues) isn't really worth the hassle. You can buy a new reasonable laptop for around the £300 mark. (Avoid similar model to yours)

 

Download Speccy http://www.piriform.com/speccy/download/standard

 

Speccy can give you information like the temperature of the laptop.

 

Once installed open it up. Leave it open for around 10 minutes and check out the temperature of the CPU and Graphics. On the M5030 I looked at, the idle temps were around 60/70.

 

Let us know what they read. And we can go on from there.

 

-Vr

[Synapse]

There are one or two repair services for this fault -

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dell-INSPIRON-M5010-M5030-M5040-MOTHERBOARD-7-3-beeps-GPU-graphic-video-repair-/321177874537?pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item4ac7b17069

 

 

 

[chuckery]

thanks for all the support and replies guys. it really helped me come to a conclusion and resolution of this issue.

 

but lucky for me, this is a problem that is common reported with my laptop's model. since it's so common, and most likely dell's fault when it came to the hardware or assembly or whatever, they're willing to fix it for me, even though the laptop is out of warranty.

 

:)

 

thanks again for the support!

[KenB]

they're willing to fix it for me, even though the laptop is out of warranty.

Wow ....... that is good service :)

 

Let us know how you get on.

[Plastic Nev]

I agree with KenB, it is good service so I hope all will be well and wish you all the best with it.

Please let us know what if anything DELL tells you and the final outcome. Hopefully a fully working machine with no further problems.

 

Nev.