Is my motherboard shot?

Curtis W

Estimable
Mar 2, 2015
4
0
4,510
I have a laptop that is having some boot issues. First, I usually have to reset the date/time in the bios when I boot. Second, when I shut down the laptop I cannot boot it back up. There are not any lights on (charging, power, etc.). I can boot it by removing the battery and power chord momentarily. Once I reconnect the battery the lights come on and I can boot. Once again, getting the date/time error. My first thought was the CMOS battery but I replaced the battery and it didn't fix the issue.
 

Curtis W

Estimable
Mar 2, 2015
4
0
4,510

I opened it up to change the CMOS battery. There was a little bit of dust on the fan that I blew off but it really wasn't very bad. I don't think this is the issue, but thanks for suggestion!
 

BadAsAl

Distinguished
When it is booting, can you go into the BIOS and check the battery and AC adapter health? I know most Dell's have that in the BIOS. If it says the battery is normal and the AC Adapter shows a wattage, i.e. 95W then everything there is okay. If either are different, like battery says low health or AC Adapter says unknown then you may need to replace either one.

How does it behave if you just leave the battery out and run on AC only? You get normal boots and restarts?
 

Curtis W

Estimable
Mar 2, 2015
4
0
4,510


The BIOS does not have any battery monitoring. It does not show the status of the battery or the AC Adapter or any wattage's. However, there is a diagnostic tool in the BIOS that I ran that came back with everything successful including the battery and the AC Adapter.

The behavior is the same without the battery in place. If it is only plugged into the AC adapter it still will not boot after shutdown until I unplug it temporarily.