Asus Zenbook UX21A Will Not Power On

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Kallaste

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Oct 10, 2014
4
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4,510
My Asus Zenbook laptop suddenly will not power on. I thought maybe the charger went out and it just wasn't getting power, but I replaced it and no change. What should I test or replace next?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Solution
Since that unit doesn't have an easily removable battery like a normal laptop I wouldn't worry about the battery removal. The power reset doesn't usually work anyhow, only in the rarest circumstances but I always recommend it first, just in case.

If you have power to the led on the AC adapter but no power led lit on the unit itself, it's almost definitely a power issue with the jack (Where the AC adapter plugs into the unit and then routes power to the battery and motherboard) or another internal component. If it was the CPU or motherboard the power led on the unit generally will be lit one color or another even if there is a hardware problem. At this point I don't think it's something you're likely to be able to DIY fix but if you are...
Are you getting a power led on the laptop itself when it's plugged in? Have you tried it with the battery only? Maybe try unplugging it, removing the battery, press and hold the power button for 60 seconds and then reinstall the battery and cord to try it again? Are you getting any beep codes or are is the cooling fan coming on at all? If the answer to all of those is no, then you've probably got either a dead cpu or the power jack inside the laptop that connects to the battery and motherboard has a broken solder point. It's fairly common on units that have ever had even a short drop.

If that's the problem you can probably have it repaired at any electronics shop for under a hundred bucks. If it's the cpu or motherboard, it's going to be much more.
 

Kallaste

Estimable
Oct 10, 2014
4
0
4,510
Thank you so much for your reply. There is no led on the laptop to indicate whether it is plugged in, but there is an led on the charger unit to indicate that IT is getting power. It is on. The only led on the laptop itself is next to the power button, which turns on when the unit turns on. But I press the power button, nothing happens to this led or the screen--it does not turn on. No beep codes, no fan, nothing: it's like it isn't getting any power at all, even though the charger says it is getting power.

The battery is internal. I did take the case off to check for water damage (unlikely, but I do have a young child at home, so I thought I'd check), and saw nothing that looked wrong. Of course, I am way out of my depth with this. I have experience working on desktop hardware, but this is the first laptop I have ever had an issue with, and certainly the first ultrabook. I don't know what to do next.

Are you saying I need to take it to the shop? Is ther any further testing I can do on my own?

Should I take it apart again and take out the battery, as you mentioned? I wasn't sure that would apply to an internal battery . . .

Thank you again!

 
Since that unit doesn't have an easily removable battery like a normal laptop I wouldn't worry about the battery removal. The power reset doesn't usually work anyhow, only in the rarest circumstances but I always recommend it first, just in case.

If you have power to the led on the AC adapter but no power led lit on the unit itself, it's almost definitely a power issue with the jack (Where the AC adapter plugs into the unit and then routes power to the battery and motherboard) or another internal component. If it was the CPU or motherboard the power led on the unit generally will be lit one color or another even if there is a hardware problem. At this point I don't think it's something you're likely to be able to DIY fix but if you are confident you can try googling your model and disassembly, there are usually a few Youtube videos for most units that show you the basics and then you can look for anything obviously damaged.

It would still likely require a repair shop procedure though if you are unfamiliar with electronic repair. I know that's not what you want to hear, but unfortunately it's probably the case unless it's still under warranty. You might want to double check with ASUS tech support though as it might be a slight possibility that if the battery is shorted the led won't light and that would just require replacement of the battery. It's a possibility anyhow.
 
Solution

Kallaste

Estimable
Oct 10, 2014
4
0
4,510
Thank you, this is extremely helpful. I thought myself it could be a problem with the jack, since there is no power to the unit at all, but again I am unfamiliar with laptops so I didn't know what if anything I could do myself to repair it. I think I will do as you suggest and take it to a shop. At least it probably isn't a CPU or motherboard issue.

As for Asus, they were almost impossible to deal with when I had a warranty, and that just expired, so I won't bother with them again. I had another charger that went out out a few months ago due to the wire getting crimped in a drawer (I didn't know that was why at the time, but I figured it out later), and they were supposed to send me another one, but never did. I called them about five different times and each time they sent me somewhere else. I ended up just buying a new charger at Best Buy. Oh well, I guess that's not too bad, since it turns out I did ruin that charger myself. But I still learned a thing or two about their customer service.

I really appreciate your help, and will update the thread after I get this fixed to confirm what the issue was for future reference.
 

naklers

Estimable
Oct 17, 2014
1
0
4,510
Hi,

I have a similar problem with my UX32A, yet in my case I get a led on the charger's male jack. On pressing the power button the 3 usual white leds (power, caps lock and HDD) light on and some fan seems to start as well, only for the laptop to produce one short "beep" and die down.

What could be my problem?

Thanks!
 

Kallaste

Estimable
Oct 10, 2014
4
0
4,510
Well, I finally got it fixed and it was the jack, like you said. I put it off for a while and just used other computers, but I finally took it into a local shop. Unfortunately, not only did they scratch the nice metal case (had a nice little chat with the owner about that, but what can you do?), when I got it home I realized that the date and time is now resetting whenever the charge is allowed to run out, and also the speakers aren't working. At first I just hoped it was the CMOS battery as far as the time, but with the speakers not working too, I am wondering if there is something that wasn't reconnected that would affect both.

I'm really hoping they didn't screw up my motherboard.
 

techguy7

Estimable
Jun 13, 2015
1
0
4,510
Asus Zenbooks have a horrible horrible design flaw. The power button is part of the keyboard, so if your keyboard stops working, you can’t turn on the laptop. Specifically I have theReplacing the internal keyboard is not an easy task at all, there are about 60 screws and a dozen connectors you need to remove to get to it. ASUS did a horrible job here, with such a vulnerable hard to replace keyboard which is unfortunate because it’s an amazing laptop. The power button should always be separate from the keyboard. Normally I would have popped the ssd in another computer but these are dual raid 0 ssd’s, not an easy data recovery task. ux301-dh71t, and a single drop of water fell on my “up” key. Due to the keyboard not being water resistant this drop of water eventually corroded the keyboard circuitry, killed a bunch of keys around it and eventually the power key too. There is no other way I found to turn on the laptop, other than opening the back cover and short circuiting 2 pins on the keyboard connector (wide blue ribbon). In order for this to work you need to have the notebook partially open otherwise it won’t turn on. Be very careful not to short circuit other stuff. I was able to get it to turn on by short circuiting the 1st pin and the 4th 5th or 6th (not sure exactly since they are so small). The first pin would be the one closer to the power button side. I then connected a usb keyboard and proceeded to download my data. Replacing the internal keyboard is not an easy task at all, there are about 60 screws and a dozen connectors you need to remove to get to it. ASUS did a horrible job here, with such a vulnerable hard to replace keyboard which is unfortunate because it’s an amazing laptop. The power button should always be separate from the keyboard. Normally I would have popped the ssd in another computer but these are dual raid 0 ssd’s, not an easy data recovery task.
 
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