Solo 9500 - doesn't boot

My CMOS battery diagnosos is wrong, replacement of it doesn't fix the fact
that my tried and true 9500 laptop wont boot. From line power or battery it
coughs a few times and dies after powering up. The strange thing is that if
I leave it fully powered on for about 2 hours it'll boot after turning it
off and back on immediately.

It's a mystery to the guy in the shop. He wants to replace the motherboard.
What do you thing? Regards, Denzil.

Denzil Hathway wrote:
> My CMOS battery diagnosos is wrong, replacement of it doesn't fix the
> fact that my tried and true 9500 laptop wont boot. From line power or
> battery it coughs a few times and dies after powering up. The strange
> thing is that if I leave it fully powered on for about 2 hours it'll
> boot after turning it off and back on immediately.
>
> It's a mystery to the guy in the shop. He wants to replace the
> motherboard. What do you thing? Regards, Denzil.

Too old to repair... Ben Myers

Denzil Hathway wrote:
> My CMOS battery diagnosos is wrong, replacement of it doesn't fix the
> fact that my tried and true 9500 laptop wont boot. From line power or
> battery it coughs a few times and dies after powering up. The strange
> thing is that if I leave it fully powered on for about 2 hours it'll
> boot after turning it off and back on immediately.
>
> It's a mystery to the guy in the shop. He wants to replace the
> motherboard. What do you thing? Regards, Denzil.

Let me rephrase that... Repair costs are very likely to be more than the
laptop is worth due to the labor of replacing an entire motherboard, a
true pain-in-the-ass job with almost all laptops.

A used Solo 9500 in A-1 condition is worth no more than $150. It would
be far more cost effective to find a working 9500 bottom chassis and
transplant screen, hard drive and optical drive onto the replacement.
With the right size of screen (14" or 15"), a 9550 chassis would work,
too, and it would be a small upgrade... Ben Myers

Hi!

> My CMOS battery diagnosos is wrong, replacement of it doesn't fix the fact
> that my tried and true 9500 laptop wont boot. From line power or battery
it
> coughs a few times and dies after powering up.

I'm not sure it is worth repairing it, unless you were to happen on a really
good deal for some guaranteed working or new old stock parts. You or your
repairman may end up throwing a lot more at it than it is worth.

If you were comfortable doing the work yourself and thought you get the
parts cheap, I'd say "sure, why not"...all you lose is your time and a few
bucks.

> What do you thing?

Have your repairman find and look at the DC-DC converter board. Nearly all
laptops have one. It generates multiple voltages to power everything in the
system from one or a few other voltages. With sporadic power up, or failure
to turn on at all, it's the first place I'd look. Since the machine still
tries to function, it could be something simple and cheap like capacitors.

But if I were you, I'd play it safe and get the machine started up. When you
do, make a backup right away, and consider getting a newer system.

William