Dell Latitude D800 only STARTS on battery

[davidh10]

The laptop will not start if it is on its dock or if the power adapter is plugged in. You have to disconnect the power adapter (or undock), start the laptop on the battery, and then plug the adapter back in. After that, the battery charges as normal. If you try to hot swap the battery, the laptop dies instantly. It will not start or run on the adapter alone but the battery charges just fine. Power jack is not loose. I removed the power panel and made sure the connector was seated. Anyone seen this before?

 

[Ashir]

How was the docking station supposed to work?, if your answer differs from what you described, then the problem start there. Some dockins stations does not allow turning on with the laptop connected to a docking station.

Also, seems like the motherboard is kinda damaged. If you can't start the laptop with the power cable connected then it's one of two: or the MB is damaged or the power cable is. Try with another, if still can't start your lap, then is probable that the MB was somehow damaged.

 

[davidh10]

You can ordinarily start the laptop from the docking station or hot dock it. The battery charging circuit seems to be OK but there must be some other sensing circuit that is preventing startup from an AC power source be it the dock or the PA-10. The battery will charge normally even when the laptop is powered down. Power from the AC adapter is not getting to the motherboard, only to the battery, so the laptop is basically running on the battery all the time and the charging circuit is able to stay ahead of the battery drain.

 

[davidh10]

I was able to remove the battery and the laptop kept running today. It will restart from Windows like that but will not restart if shut down without reinstalling the battery.