Laptop repair mission

[emperor76]

Hi, so I've been given a laptop for repair, it's someone I know and they said they're not bothered how long it takes or if it's repaired so it's pretty much my project now and I'm not giving up until it's done, even if it costs me in parts. It's a Samsung R530, the screen won't show anything, the power light comes on (both on the power button and on the lights under the mouse pad, the mouse pad itself also lights up. I can't see any sign of the hdd light at all, but I did notice the lights flash on the dvd drive (guessing it's checking devices on power up possibly). There is a creaking noise I noticed on the right hinge, but trying both vga and hdmi connections on an external display did not display anything. I've tried taking out the RAM one by one and trying them in different slots one at a time, also tried my leptop memory in it. I tried listening for the noise of fans thinking if the cpu is running, it would need a fan of some sort, I can detect a faint noise but no air being blown out, I'm wondering if it's the motherboard which I see is about £80 second hand but I would like to be sure before spending that money.

 

[IAntDemo]

Well first thing is first, it could be the screen, plugging a VGA lead in does not always show on a screen, especially in bios, not all the time... cracking noise near the screen makes me think it possible is a new screen, but no air being pushed out is telling me either you haven;t had it on long enough to heat up so the fans turn on or it's a problem their but still, it would show a screen post and an error about a fan, besides that a screen maybe your first choice, unless you take it apart and have a clean and check all the wires are attached.

Lucky you, I have one of these laptops and screens which is bascially a used one which doesn't work, but the screen does and it still has memory and cpu+fans.

So if you're in the north west and would like the parts don't be to worried to ask, I can drive (not free but cheaper then buying the parts)

 

[emperor76]

Well first thing is first, it could be the screen, plugging a VGA lead in does not always show on a screen, especially in bios, not all the time... cracking noise near the screen makes me think it possible is a new screen, but no air being pushed out is telling me either you haven;t had it on long enough to heat up so the fans turn on or it's a problem their but still, it would show a screen post and an error about a fan, besides that a screen maybe your first choice, unless you take it apart and have a clean and check all the wires are attached.

Lucky you, I have one of these laptops and screens which is bascially a used one which doesn't work, but the screen does and it still has memory and cpu+fans.

So if you're in the north west and would like the parts don't be to worried to ask, I can drive (not free but cheaper then buying the parts)

Thanks, that would be handy, but I'm in Scarborough, so I'm guessing that's quite far. I do plan to open the whole thing and check it through for any visual signs, an update on the information though, I've just been told the person who borrowed it just reported there not being sound through the speakers when he last used it, yet he could get sound through headphones, I did consider it not being on for long enough, but my other laptop instantly starts blowing out cold air all the way through to windows start up, I've noticed another laptop that. I have however decided to leave it on for a while now to test this. Is there no way it could be the video on the motherboard?

 

[jmacavali]

What happens if you take all the RAM out and turn it on?

 

[emperor76]

What happens if you take all the RAM out and turn it on?

Hi, just tried, absolutely nothing, I was hoping I would get some bleeps to tell me the RAM wasn't in, I don't know if you should or not with laptops, I'm sure desktops do don't they?

 

[jmacavali]

Yes, and you should get the same thing on the laptop. I'm leaning towards the motherboard. I don't really know if it's worth the effort to replace a laptop motherboard, as I've never done it. Seems like it would be a lot more work.

 

[emperor76]

Yes, and you should get the same thing on the laptop. I'm leaning towards the motherboard. I don't really know if it's worth the effort to replace a laptop motherboard, as I've never done it. Seems like it would be a lot more work.

I would like to have tried as I need to learn how to repair them, I think a job like that would give me a wealth of knowledge, but it would be expensive, I rang a local computer shop who said they can do a repair without replacing the board, and even though I would be dissapointed I didn't repair it myself, it's above anything I'm capable of, and it's not a skill I'd like to learn on someone's laptop

 

[jmacavali]

Well, FWIW, there's a point every tech has to say "I don't know". I actually think it's an underappreciated skill. Every tech has a different skill set and it's important to recognize your own skills and knowledge and pass jobs on to another tech if they are better suited. I don't mean to downplay the idea of "trying so you can learn" but there's a time and place for that and, as you correctly identified, this might not be that time or place.

 

[emperor76]

Well, FWIW, there's a point every tech has to say "I don't know". I actually think it's an underappreciated skill. Every tech has a different skill set and it's important to recognize your own skills and knowledge and pass jobs on to another tech if they are better suited. I don't mean to downplay the idea of "trying so you can learn" but there's a time and place for that and, as you correctly identified, this might not be that time or place.

Thanks, well I've spoken to them, I don't think they're willing to pay much as it was only a spare, if it's more than they're willing to pay to repair then they said I could have it for £20 so I'll first of all see what they say in the shop, they said they would diagnose for free, they're pretty good in there, even gave me some thermal compound for free when I needed it as they didn't sell it. I did see a claim that it could be done in an oven, tell me it's not just me that thinks this is completely insane, it suggests taking off every component and putting it in to heat the solder and reflow, this can't be right surely

 

[jmacavali]

Well...ya it's said that it works. Most common thing you'll hear it for is the Red Ring of Death on an XBox. In theory, the solder melts a bit when it's hot and then cools when it's off and so it expands and contracts and it can develop small cracks. It's said that putting it in the oven will allow the solder to melt more thoroughly and fill in the cracks. I've never done it, but I've seen it online a lot and people say it works. As a last ditch effort....idk...I would never do it.