Solved! Fried laptop via HDMI (bad electrical wiring)

chanher

Estimable
Mar 28, 2014
6
0
4,510
Short story short, I fried my Dad's laptop at a hotel when plugging it into the TV via HDMI. Sparks shot out immediately when plugging it in along with smoke and a burning smell. Through research, I am certain it was from bad electrical wiring at the hotel, as the HDMI cable has been tested as functional (before and after the incident).

Now the laptop won't boot. It is a Samsung NP300E5A-A02UB. Windows 7.

When I press the power button it immediately "turns on" with a solid blue power button. No beeps. Nothing on the screen, but it does get slightly darker.

The fan spins.

The Samsung HDD light, which is supposed to light up when the laptop is accessing the HDD, is NOT lighting up.

I removed the HDD and plugged it into my desktop via docking station. The HDD appears unharmed and is functioning.

Copper parts of the motherboard appear to be "singed". Pictured below:

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It is my guess that I need to replace the motherboard. However, any further troubleshooting I could perform is beyond my (limited) knowledge. Can anyone confirm that the motherboard is shot or any additional testing I can do? Thank you so much!