Dead Inspiron 9300

I have a Dell Inspiron 9300 which refuses to start. No fans, no battery/power light. No motherboard error beeps. Absolutely dead. I've tried both the mains adaptor and battery (which I can rule out as I have spares of both), and have opened it up and reseated everything to no avail. I think I can also rule out overheating. Last time I used it it was running fine - no loud fans etc. - and the airways and fans aren't clogged with dirt.

Questions are:

. Is this *definitely* going to be a motherboard issue? Is there anything else that could be the culprit?

. If I have to replace the motherboard, are there any upgrade options? Will any of the various Inspiron 9400 motherboards drop in so I can run a dual core chip?

Any advice appreciated.

 

This would definitely sound like a motherboard issue, however, another thing that could be is the power plug has come off of the motherboard, and the battery is flat? I'm not too sure...

I wouldn't think a 9400 motherboard would fit in the 9300 though you never know.

These types of things are a trial and error thing, especially since the problem is not properly diagnosed, in other words, it may be the motherboard, but it may be something else. You would have to try a new motherboard...

You might as well take it in to a computer store and get the techs to look at it for you.

 

With the battery and AC adapter unplugged, hold down the power button for 30 seconds. This flushes the battery memory.

Make sure your AC adapter is known good as with the battery. Try with a friend's AC adapter that is known working.

After that it could be the motherboard, I don't know if you want to spend the money to fix such an old laptop..

 

As I said in the OP, definitely not the battery or PSU. Tried with multiple known working batteries and PSUs.

There's a replacement board en-route from eBay (£80), so we'll see if this cures things.

Yes, it is an old laptop, but as I don't game on it, it's fast enough for my needs. Also, Dell don't look to have any 17" machines with 1920x1200 LCDs for sale in the UK, and the resolution on the 9300 means it's a keeper unless I really don't have any other choice...

 

It's a happy ending. I replaced the motherboard yesterday, cleaned out the fans and airways and reseated the heatsinks with a bit of Arctic Silver. The only casualty was the tiny modem plug which I broke trying to unplug it from the old motherboard. Not a great loss.

Other than having to reset the system clock, everything booted up with no issues and I'm back in the game.

 

Good to hear. Make sure you stress out the entire system with like Prime95. Nothing like spending all that time and effort and it dies in 2 weeks.