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  #1  
Old January 6th 20, 07:38 PM posted to alt.os.linux,alt.comp.hardware
Mike Easter
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Posts: 556
Default Old hardware

Boo hoo. My vintage '08 laptop died. It was branded eMachines D620,
but its heritage was Gateway acquired by Acer '07, and the name was dc/d
about 6 y later. Its hardware was a mobile Athlon 2650e, 2G ram incl
the Radeon graphics, 160G hdd, optical and ethernet in add'n to the
wifi. Cheap hardware purchased on sale running Vista.

It was my first laptop, all previous machines having been desktops, but
I wanted something for travel. Over the years it later got an
experimental Win7 installed which ran fine, and typically it ran various
linux distros from USB as live persistent.

I haven't toted it around for years. Nowadays my travel devices are a
chromebook, Blu android smartphone (no plan), and a ZTE clamshell
feature phone running some linux deriv.

It looks like something went south w/ the power; blackscreen, no bios,
AC will charge the battery (sometimes) but the power indication comes on
very 'erratically' (or not at all) and I don't think the hdd spins up.

Of some interest, there's a YouTube vid (I normally HATE vids) which
appears to show similar symptoms. The vid tech disassembles the
machine, multimeter determines that the power button contacts need
resoldering and does, reassembles with successful outcome.

I don't think I really want to do all that for this old laptop, but I
haven't completely ruled it out.


--
Mike Easter
x-posted to alt.comp.hardware
  #2  
Old January 6th 20, 07:56 PM posted to alt.os.linux,alt.comp.hardware
Rick Bone
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Posts: 1
Default Old hardware

Mike Easter wrote in news:h7hd5gFs799U1
@mid.individual.net:

Boo hoo. My vintage '08 laptop died. It was branded eMachines D620,
but its heritage was Gateway acquired by Acer '07, and the name was dc/d


So?
What's the problem?
You are a Linux user so just find another dumpster to dive in and I'm sure
you'll find another computer.
Linux users love bragging about the **** hardware that they run Linux on so
you'll be in good company.
You might want to reach out to RonB as he is a prolific dumpster diver.
Maybe he can give you some tips and tricks of the trade?
Good luck!
  #3  
Old January 6th 20, 08:38 PM posted to alt.os.linux,alt.comp.hardware
Mike Easter
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Posts: 556
Default Old hardware

VanguardLH wrote:
If it still has its original battery, that's too old for the battery.


I 'preserved' its battery.

Almost its entire life it was 'sessile'. I read somewhere that the best
way to prolong a battery's life was to 'adjust' its charge to about 35%,
then remove the battery and run on the mains. Occasionally, or if
traveling, I would charge it up to 100%, but then I would take it back
down to 35% and remove it again.

The battery seems to be healthy; and this situation doesn't act at all
like a battery problem. Before it got sick, it ran fine on the mains
alone. This dying business was discovered w/ the battery out. During
external troubleshooting, by 'fiddling' w/ the power situation and
leaving the power connected, I was able to charge the battery from amber
indicator to green indicator.

I also read a little article about how things on the D620 might act up
unpredictably w/ a dead CMOS battery, but I really don't think that is
the situation here, altho' I may look into how much trouble it is to
replace that. I have one around here.

--
Mike Easter
  #4  
Old January 6th 20, 10:28 PM posted to alt.os.linux,alt.comp.hardware
VanguardLH[_2_]
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Posts: 1,453
Default Old hardware

Mike Easter wrote:

VanguardLH wrote:
If it still has its original battery, that's too old for the battery.


I 'preserved' its battery.

Almost its entire life it was 'sessile'. I read somewhere that the best
way to prolong a battery's life was to 'adjust' its charge to about 35%,
then remove the battery and run on the mains. Occasionally, or if
traveling, I would charge it up to 100%, but then I would take it back
down to 35% and remove it again.

The battery seems to be healthy; and this situation doesn't act at all
like a battery problem. Before it got sick, it ran fine on the mains
alone. This dying business was discovered w/ the battery out. During
external troubleshooting, by 'fiddling' w/ the power situation and
leaving the power connected, I was able to charge the battery from amber
indicator to green indicator.

I also read a little article about how things on the D620 might act up
unpredictably w/ a dead CMOS battery, but I really don't think that is
the situation here, altho' I may look into how much trouble it is to
replace that. I have one around here.


So, the laptop used to work okay on A/C only (no main battery inside)
but now is flaky that way? You said you get a blackscreen. That could
be the lack of power, but it could also be the backlamp(s) burned out in
the monitor. Usually you can put a very bright flashlight against the
screen or pointed at it while nearby to see if you can see a very faint
image on the screen. That means the LCD panel is still working but the
backlamps are off. LCDs work by twisting to determine through which
pixels the light from the diffuser panel (spreads the light sideways
from the backlamps) get passed through the LCD panel. Although the
backlamps are usually replaceable, it requires dismantling the screen
panel, some soldering, and perhaps some butyl tape. Some suppliers sell
a kit with the backlamps, solder, and butyl.

However, as the backlamps go bad, more current is needed from the
inverter used to power them. That means the inverter might be bad, too.
Besides the backlamps, you may have to replace the inverter. With it
all apart, you don't want to do it all over because you replaced just
the backlamps but not the inverter. Yet those together can be pricey.
For a standalone (desktop) monitor, it would've cost me $80 to $120 to
replace the backlamps (2) and the inverter PCB depending if I got the
kit or not and if I got brighter backlamps. I decided to buy a new
monitor instead instead of trying to repair the old one and perhaps
failing in that attempt. Alas, your screen is integral to the laptop.
Sometimes you can find old units for sale but for parts. It doesn't
work but maybe the screen does. I've not tried dismantling the hinge
for the screen to the base of a laptop.

There are Youtube videos on how to replace backlamps in a laptop. There
look to be some for your model or similar. Just remember that the parts
you buy (backlamps, inverter board, butyl seals, etc) is a lost expense
if you fail in the repair. For that old a laptop, especially since you
already have a Chromebook, I wouldn't waste the money or time repairing
the screen.

The coin cell battery in laptops is usually a royal pain to replace.
Often the shell has to be dismantled: take the two halves apart, the
keyboard off, and the CMOS battery is on the top-side of the mobo
instead of on the bottom (which rarely has an access cover if on the
bottom of the mobo, anyway).

The CMOS battery keeps alive the /copy/ of the BIOS settings from the
EEPROMs into the RTC chip (where is the CMOS memory). Those are the
BIOS settings you use on power up. The EEPROM copy gets read only when
you reset the BIOS back to factory defaults. If the CMOS battery is
weak or dead, it can cause corruption in the CMOS copy of the setting or
they are lost (in which case the EEPROM copy should get copied back into
the CMOS copy). Make sure to put in a fresh CR2032 (likely type) whose
shelf life is a few years away.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KH4UyR27ocA

The author says just the keyboard needs to be removed to get at the CMOS
battery. That's easier than having to disassemble the shell to get at
the mobo. Alas, the coin cell battery doesn't just slide into a holder.
That would be easy. You have to get a coin cell battery that has the
leads and connector attached. That'll raise the price and lower the
availability. You could unsolder the wires from the old battery to
solder onto the new battery; however, you need to use silver solder and
silver solder flux with the stainless steel case for the battery. That
requires more heat, so you'll likely damage the battery. You don't have
the equipment to do a quick electric or tack weld. If you're lucky,
maybe they designed the holder with the attached leads to let you pop
out an in the coin cell battery.
  #5  
Old January 6th 20, 11:04 PM posted to alt.os.linux,alt.comp.hardware
Paul[_28_]
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Posts: 1,467
Default Old hardware

Mike Easter wrote:


I also read a little article about how things on the D620 might act up
unpredictably w/ a dead CMOS battery, but I really don't think that is
the situation here, altho' I may look into how much trouble it is to
replace that. I have one around here.


You'd be right to check it.

Because you've been removing the main battery pack, the
laptop doesn't have anything to bypass the CR2032 with.

As a consequence, if it is a CR2032, it will need to be
changed after three years of "storage".

The battery usually comes with a tether on the end.

Try and find a "take-apart" for the D620, so you can
visually confirm what it needs.

Paul
 




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