Plugged in, no lcd, running off battery works great??

[stuuked]

older dell laptop when its plugged into the charger no picture on the lcd, off the battery it runs great. anybody ever seen this happen before.

thanks

 

[bcastner]

See if there is a BIOS update available.

My honest guess is that junction point where the AC/adapter meets the motherboard is broken, and this requires a replacement motherboard.

 

[stuuked]

ouch, thanks

 

[bcastner]

Curiois - does the battery charge when the AC adapter is used?

 

[stuuked]

yes it does, it only lasts about 30 mins, its an older battery though.

 

[bcastner]

Go to the Dell site and download their diagnostic floppy image. It does a reasonable test of the power and battery issue.

 

[stduc]

Have you fixed the problem? If not - and - I'm only guessing here - Check to see if you have either a BIOS or Power or vidio setting that has got set to something like "use external monitor when on mains power". Or some such.

Just a thought.

 

[garebo]

To stduc: Good point!


Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[micker377]

I agree with bcastner:
I just got done with a cell phone that worked fine on the charger, but was dead on (good) battery . On dis-assembly, I found that the edge contacts on the charging port were cracked. When the charger was plugged in, it would "align" the board and it functioned OK. When the charger was removed, the pieces would slip and short out the phone. Can you check the charging assemnly? You might have a similar situation. (Just backwards).