Pismo...first no power, now nothing

[Brandt]

My pismo began acting up about 6 months ago when I got back from vacation, plugged it in and it wouldn't boot. I finally took out the power cord and tried again and it booted. I hadn't had any problems since, until last weekend.

Again, it wouldn't boot, with or without the battery in.

I figured it was the bad solder problem in the AC card, so I dismantled it down to the card and found that it looked intact with no play in the AC connection. All cards had been removed at this point.

I reassembled it and tried again. Nothing.

I ejected and reinserted the battery so that I could see the flashing single LED, then tried again, and it booted. I removed the battery and it kept running.

However, there is no picture. LCD is completely black.

I powered down using the power button and moved the laptop and yoyo adapter to where I have a CRT display. I hooked it up and plugged the AC adapter in.

Nothing happened when I pressed the power button. I ejected and reseated teh battery and tried again. Now it booted, but there still is no picture. There is also no sound.

I also plugged in my speakers. No sound. I turned them all the way off, took them off mute and pressed the mute button on the KB. Nothing.

I power cycled. Still no sound. I pressed the mute button on the kb again. No sound.

I ejected the battery to test the AC stream status. The laptop died.

I tried again. Now it won't fire at all. I've tried to boot with and without the battery inserted. The battery test button fires the LED, but the computer won't boot.

Based on these issues, I'm wondering if it is still the AC Card, the PMU or the CPU card.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[heyclement]

Holysmoke... seems like the problem is in the computer itself 'cause if the battery is firing the LED but not the computer. Well, I'm no expert on this, just hope that you didn't fry your CPU or motherboard along the way. that would be bad

 

[Osiris22x]

"Based on these issues, I'm wondering if it is still the AC Card, the PMU or the CPU card."

heyclement: These are all parts inside the laptop, so he knows the problem is in the computer itself (not sure where else it would be).

I had a similar issue with an iMac once (didn't boot, and when it did there was no display), and resetting the PRAM fixed it. I don't think this will work in your case, as it sounds like a power issue. Hope you figure it out!

 

[Brandt]

Okay, I found the problem. I took the laptop semi-apart again and found that the CPU wasn't properly seated. I pushed down harder and felt it catch, then reassembled and powered back up. Same symptoms as originally...no power, LED flashes when I push the battery check button.

While moving the laptop I heard a snap. Not a plastic snap. An electrical snap. I examined the cord and found that it had arc'd (and had been arcing) so badly that there was now a 3mm gap between both the outer braid and the inner wire. I pulled and the plug snapped off at about 15mm behind the connector.

I resoldered it (messy job) and it worked for a while, but the braid frayed again and it is now completely toast.

I've dismantled the power supply and have built a new cord for it. I'll be reassembling it tomorrow to see how it works.

Thanks for your input!