Laptop won't boot after using car adapter--what did I break?

[katefields]

I have a Dell Inspiron 9100 that worked fine until I went on a trip and used my car adapter (PowerLine mobile AC outlet purchased from Wal-Mart).  It wouldn't charge the battery when the laptop was on, but it would if we hibernated it.

After getting to our desitination, we plugged it into a wall outlet and got an error message saying there was an "Unauthorized Power Source".  After following the instructions to go to the setup menu, I didn't know what to do next.  I didn't change anything and just went on with the boot up.  That happened a couple times.

On our way home, we plugged it back into the car adapter and had the same result as before, but it wouldn't charge at all.  I think it did actually pull power from the adapter, though, and displayed the "On AC power" icon in the tray.

Then I put the laptop on Stand By.  This seems to have really messed things up.  Now when I press the power button (while plugged into a regular wall outlet), the screen flashes once, the keyboard LEDs flash once, the power LED comes on, and I can hear the hard drive spinning (normal sound, nothing unusual about it.)  The battery LED used to flash intermitantly, but now it does nothing.  When I press the power button again, everything turns off.

If I take the battery out and press the power button while the laptop is plugged in, it does the same thing.

On the battery is a picture of a battery with five small LEDs next to it.  I'm assuming this is a meter to show how much power is left in the battery?  When I press it, all five LEDs light up.  If I press and hold it, all five light up and turn off, then four come on.

I called Dell to get some help, but of course my warranty just ran out.  Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks so much.

[quaxo]

Wow... um... hard to say where to start with this.

If there's nothing important on the computer, I'd try the recovery CDs. You will most likely lose all information on the system when you do this.

[patio]

Remove the battery and unplug it from the wall for an hour.
Plug back into the wall and let it set for awhile...1/2 hour or so.
Leave the battery out.
Then see if it powers up properly.
If not unplug it and hit the power button a few times unplugged and then plug it back in and try again.

If it still doesn't work at this point replace the battery and leave it plugged in overnight and try booting in the morning.

If none of this works i'm afraid you will need Dell's assistance as the car adapter was either the wrong voltage and or polarity and it needs a shop...

[quaxo]

If none of this works i'm afraid you will need Dell's assistance as the car adapter was either the wrong voltage and or polarity and it needs a shop...

Agreed.

[katefields]

Thanks, all.  Still working on it.  I will try to post the results and how we end up getting it to work again once we do.

[patio]

Gotcha...Good Luck and Welcome to CH !

[katefields]

Well, I got a new adapter today.  I plugged in the laptop with it and went out for a couple hours.  The battery light came on, but it came on green, not yellow.

When I got home the light was out.  I turned the computer on and had the same results as before--screen flashes, power light and fan come on, no signs of life from the hard drive.

Now I'm really, really suspecting it is the battery because when I push the battery icon on the battery itself, none of the LEDs light up anymore, which I'm guessing is an indication that there is no charge left in it.  If that's the case, it should be charging when I plug I brand new adapter up to it.

So, now to try a new battery.

I was talking to my brother a couple nights ago and he explained to me why using the car adapter fried something, and how the power surges that come and go when pressing and releasing the accelerator provide an inconsistent current.  Apparently my cheapy Wal-Mart converter couldn't keep up with it.  Ah well.  I now know better.

[katefields]

Long time no write. I just got the new battery today. (It had been delivered to a neighbor's side door and sat there for a day or so, apparently.)

Just to recap what's been happening: After plugging our laptop into our car's power converter, we began noticing the following problems:

-an error message that we had an "Unauthorizied power source"
-The USB ports would no longer charge one of our cell phones
-The computer would not charge while turned on, but would if we hibernated it.

At one point I put the computer on Standby (something I almost never do) and it hasn't woken up since.

So my question was, "Is this thing just stuck in Standby, or is it a power issue, or is it something much more expensive?"

Here are the steps I've taken:

-Bought a new adapter. No change.
-I took the keyboard off the laptop and unplugged the tiny little internal battery, then plugged it back in and put everything back together. No change.

My latest attempt was to try a new battery. So I got it today, put it in the laptop, plugged it in and went away for a while so it could charge. I came back, pushed the power button, and... nothing. No change at all. It still flashes the screen and the LEDs once, I hear the fan turning, but there is no cursor, no sound. The ONLY difference I noticed this time was that I heard a slight noise from the hard drive, like the wand (or whatever it's called) moving and hitting something.

So that's it. I am at a loss. If anyone has any suggestions, I will gladly take them.

I'm going to try to plug it back into the car and see if that does anything.

[Dias de verano]

I think it's clear you are running out of options apart from taking it to a repair company.

[patio]

I'm going to try to plug it back into the car and see if that does anything.

This would be the LAST thing i would try as it's what caused the issues...

[Dias de verano]

I'm going to try to plug it back into the car and see if that does anything.

This would be the LAST thing i would try as it's what caused the issues...

It would be as logical as trying to cure your burned hand by putting it back in the fire.

[katefields]

Yes, I guess that doesn't make much sense.  My thinking was that if it said the wall outlet was an "Unauthorized power source" after using the car adapter, maybe it would ONLY recognize the car adapter now and it would get it out of what could possibly be a perpetual standby.  Oh well, no such luck.

Anyway, I took the laptop over to BestBuy yesterday and was directed to the Geek Squad. A technician turned it on, listened to it, and plugged it up to a monitor (which displayed exactly what the laptop did--nothing). She said it was really bad and she suspects the motherboard is indeed frying or fried.

But then she said something that I'm not sure about. She said it would be cheaper to just buy a new laptop than to replace the motherboard. Is this true? I looked at the price list on the wall, and the most expensive repair listed was $299. I turned around and looked at the display of laptops behind me. The cheapest one was about $649. 

So she sent me on my way and said I could sell the laptop for parts on ebay.

Another thing that puzzled me is that she didn't even ask if I wanted to recover any data from it. Repairmen, if I were in your shop, isn't that a logical next step?

[Dias de verano]

Did that price include labour ("labor")? I expect she meant that for an older laptop you are spending a big fraction of the price of a new laptop, to get an old one working, with its part worn hard drive, etc. New ones have much more performance per buck. If everything was fried, not just the motherboard, it would not make sense to repair it.

[patio]

Geek Squad could care less about losing your data...in fact they inadvertantly wipe more drives daily than a reconditioned HDD facility by accident.

If you want to recover your data you can purchase an 2.5" to IDE connector shown below...

           

About 10 bucks.
Then you simply hook it up to a working Desktop and copy/burn your data to your heart's content...

The only good advice they gave you is that that MBoard is probably dead and laptops do cost quite a bit to be repaired.
Good Luck to you whatever you decide.