Our lad has just found his old "Acer" laptop (circa 2012 model).
mysteriously minus charger ??????
Anyway, I've retrieved it, plugged a charger in .... and nowt.
Is it possible the battery is completely ****ed and needs a while to "pick up" ?
Or shall I rip the HDD out and cut my losses :)
I had that with an old tablet. Wouldn't charge no matter how long on the charger. I clipped a power supply directly to the battery, charged with a IIRC 100mA limit to 3.5V, which took a while, but at least I could see that current was a-goin' in.
Then it worked, and has ever since.
Cheers
Leave it on charge for a while (though never unattended) and try booting it periodically when you go past. Chances are the battery that backs up the NVRAM and RTC has died but you can sometimes get them to boot. You could replace it but it might be simpler to take out the HD.
2012 isn't all that old. Most portables will run OK on mains with a completely dead battery in. It is the ultimate fate of most of mine after three or four years of fairly heavy use.
Yeah, that crossed my mind. Having been bitten before by finding "things in drawers" (that must have worked when I put them in, otherwise why did I bother ?????) I'll make sure the charger/adapter I found is actually working too. It's light comes on ...
My thoughts too. Looks like the screen is smashed (again !!!!!) but I can shove a Linux CD in and boot into that to then install a flavour of *nix for remote access ...
You should be able to power it up on the changer with the battery removed. (assuming the charger is making good contact, and is the right voltage/polarity/delivering adequate current etc.
Check for a flat motherboard battery.
Possible, but not common.
Or get a new battery, they arent expensive.
I have an Acer laptop of about that vintage where it developed dry joints to a processor, leaving it totally dead. Worth Googling the model to see if it is one of those. I did get mine repaired successfully, though, and it still works. Cost about £40.
Would that stop it powering up ?
Just an update that the charger is AOK - shade over 19V.
Lappie still dead :(
Love to know what the little scrote did to it ....
does uk.d-i-y need an answer ? It might come in useful one day. Like the
1999 IBM Thinkpad I took off a colleagues hand back in 2010. Powered it up once - worked fine - then stored safely in a wardrobe ... "just in case".Admittedly I couldn't tell you in case of *what* ....
It could stop it booting, probably not stop it from powering up to some extent though.
I have just helped a friend clear a house full of wardrobes, cupboards and even rooms and a garage crammed full of stuff that was working but obsolete when it was "stored in case it comes in handy". Much of it never owned by the householder but blagged when someone else was throwing it away. (Drills with defunct NiCd battery packs, VHS tape machines and tapes, floppy disks and round pin plugs seemed to be big favourites)
The problem turned into "Is this still scrap or has it now become very desirable due to age/rarity". The answer in almost every case is no - its still scrap.
Yup.
When did you last use a serial cable?
Floppy disc?
I am throwing out a full bin of (s)crap every week at the moment clearing out the house...
"When in doubt Chuck it out!"
A-MEN to that!
I just ordered a USB <--> serial adaptor!
I have a 2-port one of these, purchased for connecting my Mac to a
68000 SBC. After downloading an updated driver from the manufacturer's website (necessary since the software only came on one of those stupid small CDs - small CD? WTF?) it worked perfectly. But I've not used it for about 6 years.What do you need a serial port for?
I have about 30 of those here in the lab still in use.
But perhaps the term serial is misleading because even the most modern equipment still uses serial that's what the S means in USB C :-)
perhaps what was meant is RS232 or morse code.
Most programmable ECUs on cars still use them. With an adaptor to USB. Which isn't as robust as native serial. Think this is still the case with many industrial applications too - since you can still buy laptops with a serial port (at a high cost)
Yup. Not as robust as native serial. But usually does the job - although not all of them are identical.
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