# Laptop powers on but no HD activity, cpu fan stops after 3 seconds, no boot



## cnlpeterson (Dec 13, 2011)

When I try to turn my Gateway NV52 laptop on the cpu fan (or one near it) runs for 3 seconds and then turns off. 

No boot up, HD spinning or anything. It shows the power is on and there is power to the USB ports as well as the CD/ROM (which will still open and also spin for a little while when a disk is inserted) I cannot however get it to do anything else.


Have checked the power cord. It reads on my multimeter as putting out 19.7 v. 

Have checked the battery. It is good. Have tried completely draining the battery, some tests and then recharging battery.

Other things I have tried
1. the hard reset method where you unplug power, remove battery hold down power button for 60 seconds then
a. plug in power but leave battery out and try
b. put in battery and leave power cord unplugged
c. put in both battery and power cord

Have tried EACH of these multiple times. Also with a fully charged battery, a partially charged and a completely drained battery.

disconnected the keyboard,

hard drive, 

took out 2 sticks of 2 gb ram, took out just the second stick, then tried it taking out just the first stick (just in case I had the order wrong), then tried swapping the sticks with each other and tested, then yet again just the second stick and then tried with just the first stick. 

tried disconnecting the power button immediately after pressing it (in case it was a short in the wire somewhere that was causing the fan to shut down and the cpu and hard drive not to power up)

have cleaned the inside THOUROUGHLY with compressed air. There is very very little or no dust inside anywhere anymore.

have tried opening the screen as far as it will go and tested as well as testing after moving it back and forth several times and also tested with the screen open to various amounts. Have even tried to power up with the screen nearly closed/and closed. (in case it was a sensor problem with the laptop lid). Laptop would not start up or do anything while lid was closed/nearly closed.

looked for loose pieces of metal or bare wires that might be causing a short. Nothing found. 

all of these previous things have been tried seperately as well as in various combinations

I have done a lot of research on the net first but have been unable to find what might be causing this or what a solution might be (other than "time to call a repairman" or "your motherboard is probably friend dude" :grin

I am hoping some kind knowledgable soul is out there and can help me out with some ideas of what is wrong and/or possible solutions.

I feel like I am forgetting something but will post this before it gets too much longer.

Thanks in advance

Cameron


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## cnlpeterson (Dec 13, 2011)

No suggestions? Can anyone at least tell me what would normally cause a laptop to be able to "turn on" (and stay on providing power to usb and cd/rom drive etc.) but that does not boot up? 

Why does the cpu fan come on for 3 seconds and then turn off?

I forgot to mention that although I can get the laptop to turn on using the power button I CANNOT turn it off no matter how long I hold the power button. The only way I can get it to turn off is to disconnect the power cord AND remove the battery (or disconnect the power cord and wait until the battery dies. I did this once in order to see if having a completely drained battery might affect things). 

Please knowledgable people.... Anything? Any suggestions are better than nothing. I promise not to mock or make fun of anything anyone says.

Cameron


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## makinu1der2 (Jan 1, 2008)

Remove all memory and attempt to boot the laptop? Any error beeps present?


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