5-2Troubleshooting Procedures
5.3. Troubleshooting Procedures
The built-in self test program and the disk resident diagnostics program (PC-Doctor) are useful tools
in computer troubleshooting. However, if the computer has a power, keyboard or display problem,
you must first solve this problem before running diagnostics. If the computer powers up and displays
messages on the LCD or emits a series of beeps, skip to Paragraph 5.3.3 for further instructions.
5.3.1 Troubleshooting a Power Supply Problem
If the computer does not power up when the Power Switch is pressed ON, you most likely have a
malfunction in the power subsystem (loss of power at the AC outlet, faulty AC adapter, discharged
Battery Packs, or faulty Power Supply on the Main Board). With a power problem, all LEDs are
extinguished, the LCD screen is blank, the system does not respond when the suspend switch is
pressed several times consecutively and no drive activity can be heard. The computer is unable to
load software and displays no visible signs of activity. To fault isolate a power problem, check the
following:
• AC adapter and Battery - Plug in the AC adapter and double-check all connections on the
adapter and computer. Ensure that the Notebook Power switch is set to the On position and
that the system is not in Suspend or sleep mode.
• Measure the voltage at the AC outlet or plug in a known good appliance (e.g. a lamp) to verify
that voltage is present. If the voltage is ok, try replacing the AC adapter.
• Check to see that the battery packs are installed correctly and that the battery charge indicators
on the front of the battery packs indicate the batteries are charged (try using a new battery pack
if batteries are discharged).
• If the AC outlet voltage, AC adapter, and battery packs test normal but the computer will not
power up, try disconnecting the display cable from the base (refer to Chapter 6 for disassembly
instructions) then connect an external monitor to see if a short in the display assembly has
occurred.
5.3.2 Troubleshooting a Display Problem
If the LCD remains blank when you turn on the computer, and the status indicators light, check the
following controls on the display):
• LCD suspend mode - press Shift to terminate Suspend mode.
• Brightness set too low - press Fn-Up Arrow keys to increase screen brightness
• Notebook Set for External Monitor - press Fn-F12 to switch to the internal screen.
• Faulty LCD - Replace the LCD panel as described in Chapter 6 of this manual.
Table 5-1 contains fault isolation information for Display Problems on the notebook. Symptoms are
listed along the left side of the chart and the various Display FRUs are listed along the top of the
chart. Within the body of the table are the probabilities of each of the FRUs causing that particular
problem. For example, a single display line on the screen is most likely caused by the LCD Panel or
Display Cable; other components have a low probability of causing the problem.