Question Asus Laptop not booting, but keyboard backlight flashes

[adithyagenie]

Hi. I have a ASUS FX504GD Laptop(i5-8300H, 24GB RAM, GTX 1050, Asus BIOS 317, 250 GB SSD and 1TB HDD) . I had a keyboard dust and spill issue where if I press a key, say "7" it would type in "7mdk" sorta thing. I took it down and started cleaning.
While I was at it, I also reapplied the thermal paste. I have done all this before and it usually goes smoothly. But not this time.
I tried booting it but it didn't. I tried all the common fixes(Checking RAM, SSD, power button connections, battery). But still it didn't boot. No signs whatsoever. Fans didn't start up, no lights and display.
I tried draining out the charge from the mobo(by removing the battery and holding the power button for a min). When I plugged the battery back in, I was able to see a brief 5 second flash of all the keyboard backlights and the power button light. That was weird but still upon booting it, nothing.
Also, while plugging in the AC adapter, usually a light glows indicating my laptop is getting charged, but now there is no light.
Has the spill fried or short circuited the board? Well, I cannot see any burnt spots or smell anything weird.

What may have caused this?
I'm desperate. Please help me out.

 

[AlHuneke]

I see a lot of "I took my laptop apart and now it's broken" posts. Did you use static electricity (ESD) precautions? You might have "zapped" something. I hate seeing all the youtube video where no precautions are taken. Kind of like running the same stop sign every day. You can do that for a while and never get hit but one day..... You might have to send this machine back to the factory for service. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

 

[adithyagenie]

I see a lot of "I took my laptop apart and now it's broken" posts. Did you use static electricity (ESD) precautions? You might have "zapped" something. I hate seeing all the youtube video where no precautions are taken. Kind of like running the same stop sign every day. You can do that for a while and never get hit but one day..... You might have to send this machine back to the factory for service. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

Yes, I did take the precautions. The thing is I'm able to get to the uefi start screen now if I drain all the charge out of the motherboard, but if I use it like normal, i.e. just turning on with a full battery, nothing happens

 

[AlHuneke]

You might try loading a USB with diagnostic software (you can find that on the internet), booting from the USB and running the diagnostic. I suggested that exact course of action to another person a few days ago and they found, and fixed, a RAM problem. The difference when the battery is connected or not is weird. So if you unplug the battery (I don't know what you mean by "draining the charge" the UEFI screen will come up but if you shut down, plug in the battery and start again it won't come up? I assume you are hitting whatever key needed to start the UEFI screen.

 

[adithyagenie]

You might try loading a USB with diagnostic software (you can find that on the internet), booting from the USB and running the diagnostic. I suggested that exact course of action to another person a few days ago and they found, and fixed, a RAM problem. The difference when the battery is connected or not is weird. So if you unplug the battery (I don't know what you mean by "draining the charge" the UEFI screen will come up but if you shut down, plug in the battery and start again it won't come up? I assume you are hitting whatever key needed to start the UEFI screen.

Na, I'm not hitting any key, not even the power button. If you disconnect the battery and just plug in the ac adapter, it automatically boots up till the asus logo and shuts down automatically. Draining the charge is basically disconnecting the battery and ac adapter and pressing the power button for a minute. It removes all the electrostatic charges in the motherboard. I did check the ram and the ram slot. They were perfectly alright. I have my pc for service, it's been 2 days and they still haven't figured out the problem

 

[AlHuneke]

A couple of comments. There are no "electrostatic charges" in the motherboard. If the battery is pulled and the power cord is not plugged in, there is nothing left but the little CMOS battery on some machines. Any capacitors that may hold a charge will drain off quickly unless the designer was a total dufus. If you are messing inside the machine and not taking static electricity (ESD) precautions, you may induce electrostatic charges and blow out components!

Checking that the RAM is plugged in well is not the same as running a RAM diagnostic. The RAM could still be defective. The reason for suspecting the RAM is that initial startup doesn't depend on RAM operation (sometime there is a quick RAM test but not always). Shortly thereafter, RAM is used starting with the boot process and an error in the RAM operation could cause boot to fail.

 

[adithyagenie]

A couple of comments. There are no "electrostatic charges" in the motherboard. If the battery is pulled and the power cord is not plugged in, there is nothing left but the little CMOS battery on some machines. Any capacitors that may hold a charge will drain off quickly unless the designer was a total dufus. If you are messing inside the machine and not taking static electricity (ESD) precautions, you may induce electrostatic charges and blow out components!

Checking that the RAM is plugged in well is not the same as running a RAM diagnostic. The RAM could still be defective. The reason for suspecting the RAM is that initial startup doesn't depend on RAM operation (sometime there is a quick RAM test but not always). Shortly thereafter, RAM is used starting with the boot process and an error in the RAM operation could cause boot to fail.

I just went to the service center and they said that the motherboard was damaged. They said it costs a 1000 dollars which was unreasonable. Also I did take was precautions by sitting on the floor and grounding myself

 

[AlHuneke]

I agree that is pretty steep. Is this an ASUS service center? Do they offer factory service? A new machine like yours costs less. You might be better off with a new machine that you upgrade with some of your existing components.

I'm curious as to what kind of floor you were sitting on and how you were grounded. I do all my work on a workbench with an antistatic mat (grounded) and wearing a grounded wrist strap. Second best option is to lay aluminum foil on the kitchen table. Work on that mat keeping one finger on a ground point in the machine. Lay any parts removed on the foil. Try not to touch any circuit board traces or component leads. And try not to wiggle around too much!