Dead Inspiron 1526 with unknown LED trouble code.

I've an Inspiron 1526 that cosmetically is pristine condition. But it's completely dead. When the power button is pressed *absolutely nothing* happens. No lights, no sound from anywhere, not a twitch of the fan. 100% the same as if it's unplugged and the battery is out.

When I hold Fn and then press power, the NumLock LED blinks, the CapsLock LED is on steady and the ScrollLock LED is OFF. There's no pattern to the NumLock blink, just a steady even blink.

I've tried holding the power button for various lengths of time with the battery out then plugging in the charger, with and without holding the power button.

I installed a brand new Everready CR2032 CMOS battery when I had it apart to replace the broken power input board. Yes, I installed it the right way up. The old one read 0.6 volt.

After replacing the power input board, the battery LED went through the normal solid, blinking, off cycle. I let it fully charge before trying to turn it on.

I have another AMD CPU I know is good and compatible with this laptop. Temporarily swapping it in, no change.

I've told this to some laptop parts/repair places, who refused to tell me anything about what the problem may be. But they'd be happy to look at it for a $100 diagnostic fee. Feh! I can buy another 1526 for that, or less. One website has a list of various LED trouble codes *except this one*. I've looked online and apparently Dell either does not know what this LED code means - or refuses to say.

I suspect the mainboard got power spiked when the cord was jerked out and broke the power jack. But what if it's something less costly?