Pre post power on off loop

[sjuanie]

Gateway MD2614u laptop, vista home premium service pak 2 64 bit. AMD Turion X2 Dual-Core Mobile Rm-72 2.10 GHz 3 gigs ram.

I repair computers on the side in hopes of going full time, but am always learning, this one has stumped me. I repaired this once before because when restarting or turning it on, it would go into a power on power off loop not reaching POST, fans turn on, lights on, then restarts on and on. The first time I researched it, it was what I thought at the time a software update that fixed this problem, which it did, no further issues. I returned it in good working order, only to get it back 2 months later with the same prob. Reseated everything, took everything out to see if it would POST, no good. Then, reseated the CPU again and bingo, started up, ran great. Restart, same prob. Battery out, AC in, AC out, Battery in, same prob. Reseated CPU again and once again it started, loaded, all good, restart, same prob. Reseat CPU and back in business, you get the picture. I left it alone for awhile, customer was in no hurry and told me to take my time as I work with him at my regular job. So here we are a month later and I am digging in again. Power on, same prob, try unplug CMOS battery, no go, Battery in AC out etc. no go, so it's late and I am getting tired, CPU trick, except I only take the heat sink off, leave the CPU alone, put the heat sink back on and were up and running again. I know this makes no sense at all, and I know the heatsink wasnt the reason. Could it be the power button, the customer was complaining about it when it started acting up again, I have tried so many things, I do remember having to hit the power button a few times to start it when it did boot. Another thing I noticed this time, at one point, the AC in without battery gave no power or maybe it was the power button, because later on, and as I type, AC is in only and its up and running. Any ideas?

Thanks,
Steve

 

[NYJimbo]

I repaired this once before because when restarting or turning it on, it would go into a power on power off loop not reaching POST, fans turn on, lights on, then restarts on and on. The first time I researched it, it was what I thought at the time a software update that fixed this problem, which it did, no further issues.

Can you give more info on what software you updated or fixed. No software other than a BIOS update would fix a non POSTing computer. Doesnt make sense that a O/S related patch/upgrade fixed a machine that was not reaching POST.

 

[coco3_man]

...Doesnt make sense that a O/S related patch/upgrade fixed a machine that was not reaching POST..

Better question..how do you patch an O/S when the machine won't post?

Time for the auto cpu inserter to be installed.

Tom

 

[sjuanie]

Ok, I wasnt good at record keeping in the beginning, I have tried so many things with this thing that I have lost track, I have learned. The updates were your typical Windows updates for a laptop that has been disconnected for about a month, about 39 updates, mostly security updated. I googled this problem in the beginning hours upon hours, one of the suggestions was a windows patch, again, I was trying so many things, I dont remember what it was, it may have done nothing at all. As far as how did I patch, I can reseat the CPU and it will start up normal, everything operates normally until I restart the computer, then the problem starts over again. Here is how frustrating this has become, instead of reseating the CPU, it was late one night, I couldnt find my small screwdriver to unseat the CPU, being tired, I just took the heatsink off, then replaced it, and the computer fired up as normal and ran as it should, a restart started the problem again, so off to bed I went. It will not POST with or without RAM, CPU, Hard drive, optical drive etc. I have tried all combinations, the only thing that gets it up and running again is reseating the CPU, and then it runs great, no errors, no BSOD, nothing, it runs as if nothing is wrong?

 

[sjuanie]

I must add, the customer had it for a good month in working order, the first complaint before returning it to me was he had to keep hitting the power button to get it to run, not power on, but load windows. The customer isnt much help as far as explaining things to me, so I cant be sure if what he says is actually what was happening.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[NYJimbo]

The customer isnt much help as far as explaining things to me, so I cant be sure if what he says is actually what was happening.

+1. This is the hardest part when doing intake from a customer. Almost half the time they either lie or completely mistate what they were doing or what happened.

Last week a customer dropped off a laptop that was obviously suffering from overheating. When I asked him if the machine was hot when it shut down he said "No, it was cold, that's the weird thing." But when he picked it up I told him I installed a temperature monitoring program and right there he told me "Yeah its been running very hot lately". I hate moments like that because I just want to stop the client in his tracks and recount what they said before, but I just let it go. As long as I get paid I dont care what they tell me.

 

[NYJimbo]

Because this is a laptop there are more steps to removing a cpu and reseating that a desktop. With desktop you can leave the chassis open, flip a lever, pull the cpu, reseat, close the lever and try the boot.

In your case though I wonder what other steps you must take before getting a good boot. Can you tell me what steps like this:

1) try to boot, no good.
2) remove this
3) remove that
4) etc..
5) reseat cpu or cooler
6) reverse steps
7) try boot.

These extra steps, if any, may be the reason you can boot, not really the cpu or heat sink reseat. Can you be specific in what physical actions you must do to get the cpu/sink reseated before rebooting. I mean anything you remove or disconnect ?

 

[sjuanie]

Bottom cover off, unscrew heatsink, turn screw to unseat CPU, I was taking CPU out at first, then tried a simpler approach by just turning the screw to unseat with the same results. Screw the heatsink back on, leave the bottom cover of case off, I have used just the battery, just the AC adapter, both, it doesnt matter. Hit the power button and it fires up with no hiccups, all programs operational, I can leave it on with no problems, as soon as I restart, the problem restarts. Now like I said, the first time I fixed it, or thought I did, I could restart multiple times without any problems. My Son worked for Geek Squad, he went to Stereo installations because of Geek Squads practices, he was too honest and didnt like to reformat or send it off at the drop of a hat, he is currently majoring in the IT field. He has never come across anything like this either, this isnt my sole source of income, so I spend more time troubleshooting than I should, my point is, I have spent weeks researching this. I sometimes wonder what I would do in this situation if this was my sole source of income, time is money, I would have lost by rear on this one.

 

[NYJimbo]

Bottom cover off, unscrew heatsink, turn screw to unseat CPU, I was taking CPU out at first, then tried a simpler approach by just turning the screw to unseat with the same results. Screw the heatsink back on, leave the bottom cover of case off, I have used just the battery, just the AC adapter, both, it doesnt matter. Hit the power button and it fires up with no hiccups, all programs operational, I can leave it on with no problems, as soon as I restart, the problem restarts. Now like I said, the first time I fixed it, or thought I did, I could restart multiple times without any problems.

Dont forget the first fix and this fix may be unrelated. Just saying.....

Anyway, just to clarify you are not just doing the heat sink, you are unlocking and/or reseating the cpu each time to get a good restart ?.

I cant find a picture of that motherboard, but if what you are saying is correct it sounds like some kind of voltage drain or reset in one of the phases of the power circuits to the CPU. I dont think its the CPU but it could be.

If its possible to slap in any CPU, even something slightly compatible it would be a good idea. Other than that you could be chasing something with power to the CPU (coils, mosfets, mosfet drivers, caps, whatever) that need to drain OR that the cpu retains some state because its locked in and when you release it the voltage drops or something resets.

Thats all I got at this point, providing what you have to do each time is unlock or reseat the CPU.

 

[sjuanie]

You are correct, not just the heatsink, reseating CPU is what I do to get it up and running. Now, I am no expert(yet), but if it were the CPU, would it run normal at all, the times when I do get it running. What do you think of Voltage settings in BIOS, I was thinking of looking into that, once I reseat the CPU. I have reset CMOS battery too, just an FYI. Thanks for your response by the way. Visually, Caps look ok on the board.

Steve

 

[NYJimbo]

You are correct, not just the heatsink, reseating CPU is what I do to get it up and running. Now, I am no expert(yet), but if it were the CPU, would it run normal at all, the times when I do get it running. What do you think of Voltage settings in BIOS, I was thinking of looking into that, once I reseat the CPU. I have reset CMOS battery too, just an FYI. Thanks for your response by the way. Visually, Caps look ok on the board.

Steve

If you can get a good boot I would reset the BIOS to factory defaults. If you think its possible (and safe) I would also upgrade the BIOS. But this is a weirdo. I dont think the client would know how to (or even be able to) mess with the BIOS to where it would need a CPU reseating.

 

[sjuanie]

Well, he is from the island of Fiji, he had the Techs there look at it, this was prior to me fixing it the first time, they couldnt fix it, I did, so I was a God for a bit..LOL. He also carries one of those travel electrical current adapters with him since the electrical current is different in Fiji. I dont know what those techs in Fiji did, I can tell you they left a few screws missing. I think my next plan of attack is to image the drive, reset Bios defaults, then I will flash it if resetting it doesnt work. What keeps spinning in my head is how it runs when I reseat the CPU, like a charm, so some of these theories just doesnt make sense. You would think I would have some issues with it while it is running and I dont.

Steve

 

[sjuanie]

Update: Ok, so reseating the CPU is no longer working, I took the CPU, RAM, CMOS battery out and it does the same exact thing, no beep codes, nothing. I cleaned the CPU after reseating didnt work, put new Artic Silver on it and still nothing. Motherboard? Just strange, it's almost like a car that needs a jump start, once you start it, it runs fine. I was attempting to make an image so I could flash the Bios, thinking maybe thats the prob.

 

[MrUnknown]

I would replace the motherbard and stop messing with it. lol