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Dell Latitude D800 boot up problem

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by tschelby

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After a normal shut down my laptop won't boot. It begins to power up, the lights flash and then it just shuts down. The interesting thing is that if I put just a little bit of pressure above the keyboard on the left hand side it boot up runs normally, but when I remove the pressure it locks up. I have checked for loose screws, etc. but nothing seems out of the ordinary. I am worried that it is my motherboard. Any thoughts?

14 replies

by mayhem1969

I think on that model that the exhaust fan is located behind the monitor in that area. I don't know if your cpu is under that area or not. Your cpu may be overheating, if your fan is not starting, or you may have a bad connection at that point. When you press on it, it puts pressure on the connection, whether fan, motherboard, video, etc. and it works. I think your probably going to have to look inside and see what you have there.

by tschelby

The fan is located directly under where I apply pressure. I paid closer attention this time to whether or not the fan turns on when I just press the power button, nothing happens. But when I apply pressure the fan works fine. Does this mean it is just a casing problem (tighten a few screws and I am good) or a bad fan connection or is that just wishful thinking.

by mayhem1969

You mentioned that when you press down on the casing the fan works, but more importantly the computer operates like it should. This means to me that the fan is not operating and cooling the cpu like it should. I think your problem is overheating.

As for the cause I don't think its the casing. I think you have a bad fan, bad fan connection, or worse a bad MB transister or connection. You most likely will need to look inside. Sorry, but I don't think its going to be that easy.

by tschelby

Thanks for the response. How do I tell if the problem is a bad fan or a bad MB transister? I talked to Dell support and they are basically clueless. Not to knock all of Dell, but Dell China wanted to sell me a new motherboard, a new video card and a new CD-ROM to fix the problem. Thanks again for the help. If you can direct me to a website that could provide this kind of info (so I don't keep bothering you) that would be great.

by mayhem1969

I am surprised Dell didn't try to sell you a new computer. I do not see why a new video card or Cdrom would help at all. I think you will need to look into the case and check the connection. Look for scorching or other damage to MB. You may have a short in your fan. Unfortunately, I don't think there is an easy way to check the problem without some electrical testing equipment. It might be cheaper just to get a new fan.

I don't know of any websites that deal with this specifically. It's not a bother. I am intrigued now and would personally like to see you resolve it. I will give Dell credit their support website is pretty good and they usually have manuals listed online in pdf form to help with case removal if you feel qualified to do it on your own.

by tschelby

SO I removed the casing, according to the Dell Manual, and noticed that the cooling unit was extremely dusty and dirty. I cleaned it and tightened everything, but I didn't notice any other problems: no burn marks, etc. I tried the computer again and low and behold it worked. I will admit I was excited. I shut down, restarted and it worked again. However, after about 20 minutes (I was downloading updates as my comp has been out of commission for awhile) it just shut down. I tried restarting but ran into the exact same problem I had before. The lights blink and then it shuts down.

I have to say it was a little cruel of my comp to give me false hope, but at least I feel like I am getting somewhere. I am thinking I need a new cooling unit, thoughts?

by tschelby

So I waited for about and hour after shutting down the comp. and it worked. I noticed however that the fan that is connected to the cooling unit has stopped running. I am not unclear if I need a new fan (like you suggested) or a new cooling unit. thoughts? and thanks again!

by mayhem1969

That microprocessor cooling unit should just be a heat transfer system. I think on the Latitude 800 it's just a metal heat sink with a little tail like copper part that transfers heat over to the fan where it is blown out of the casing. I don't think there are any moving parts on it to fail.

It sounds like you have a short in the fan. It's definitely a heat issue. I would replace the fan first, since it's likely to be the cheapest solution.

by dave

I am having the same problem but its all the time so there is no chance for a heat up. I can press on the left side of the case and it will boot up but the keyboard doesn't work. I also received this one message ( you have inserted a module into the D-Bay attached to your computer, but this module will not functional if left in place. you should remove it now). I have not had anything added to the computer but I did have the power connector fixed by a repair guy. I put it back together. Any thoughts? Thanks Dave

by tedfeeney

I'm running into the exact same issue that you describe - failure to start up unless there's pressure on the left side of the keyboard.

The good news is that I've got all my important data backed up.

Still, I would love to keep using this laptop, and wondered if you found a solution. Any luck?

by dahouserocker

I have a Dell Latitude C-840 with the same problem and heres what I do, I sit the computer on top of a stack of post-its (about a two inch stack works)
You place the stack just under where the dock connector is, the unit is gonna sit at roughly a 15 degree angle and the weight of the laptop creates the pressure it needs to power up.
this is just a temporary fix but so far so good! this is one of the best Laptops Dell has produced and I have no plans of scraping it just yet.
with a 1.8 Pentium-4 and 1 gig of RAM running XP this thing outperforms some of my friends shiny pretty new units shipped with Vista that are all show and no go!
I'm looking into correcting this problem the right way and will for sure post what I discover along with the solution!

by tschelby

Sorry I have been out of contact, the net has been down for awhile. I am going to replace the fan and I will let you know the results. Thanks again for the help

by mulyadisusy

I have same problem like yours, when you see your laptop, under left side keyboard is a CPU cooling....
What you need is tighten all 4 screws of CPU Cooling little by little, and turn on your laptop, try it again and again until your laptop working properly. if you thing you tighten too much then you must STOP, it might damage your laptop if you over do it, if still not working for you, maybe your laptop have diferrent problem then mine.

Good Luck.

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