Dell laptop power supply Wiring diagram

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?) Hi, I'm attempting to wire in a different DC power jack (the original broke and direct replacements are not available except by purchasing a new motherboard) on an Inspiron 8600 and thought that it would be a rather straight forward project. The size N coaxial power jacks available at Radio Shack will fit nicely in the chassis in place of the original. As I was determining voltages and polarity of the power plug I was surprised to find a second voltage present. I have voltages of approximately 8VDC and 20VDC present with one common lead. On the plug end the 8 volts is from the center pin to center barrel and 20 volts from center barrel to outer sleeve (which I assumed was just an RF shield). Can any one enlighten me what's going on with the second voltage? Any one care to share their story of a successful resolution to a broken power connector on this model (third party replacement jacks are available for other models)? By the way, I've heard the same jack is found on Inspiron 5150, 8500, 500m, 600m, and Latitude D500, D600, D800. Thanks, Al T Spokane, WA -- -- All incoming and outgoing mail is checked with Norton AntiVirus

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?) "Al T." <> wrote: >I'm attempting to wire in a different DC power jack (the original broke >and direct replacements are not available except by purchasing a new >motherboard) on an Inspiron 8600 and thought that it would be a rather >straight forward project. You've discovered the third power supply connector for modern Dell laptops. This third lead is used for communications between the power supply and the laptop, so that the laptop can ensure it's got a valid, legal, OEM Dell power supply, and what it's power capacity is. I have no idea what the communications protocol between the two is, but I know Dell laptops will reduce charging current (and extend charge time) when operated with 65W instead of 90W power supplies, will refuse to charge if operated from a non Dell supply, etc.

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?) wrote in message news:... > "Al T." <> wrote: >>I'm attempting to wire in a different DC power jack (the original >>broke >>and direct replacements are not available except by purchasing a new >>motherboard) on an Inspiron 8600 and thought that it would be a rather >>straight forward project. > > You've discovered the third power supply connector for modern Dell > laptops. This third lead is used for communications between the power > supply and the laptop, so that the laptop can ensure it's got a valid, > legal, OEM Dell power supply, and what it's power capacity is. > > I have no idea what the communications protocol between the two is, > but I know Dell laptops will reduce charging current (and extend > charge time) when operated with 65W instead of 90W power supplies, > will refuse to charge if operated from a non Dell supply, etc. > > Let us know if you find out anything else! Thanks for the reply, William. Now I have conflicting stories as to whether or not it will charge with the center pin broken or not connected. I read a post of an instance on an 800D where the center pin completely broke off and yet the AC adapter continued to function, albeit with "Unrecognized Power Adapter" messages. I also had a reply this evening on a Dell sponsored forum that one can disable such messages in the BIOS 'Adapter Warnings: Enable/Disable' option. Leading me to hope that I can get by without tying in that odd pin and just using the 20 volts. As a last resort I can always hardwire the adapter to the MB or use an ungainly external 3 lead connector wired to the MB but of course would rather not. Guess I'll try the coaxial connector without the center pin and see if it'll work since it fits so well and looks like it belongs there. I'll drop a note with the end results but it may be a couple of weeks before it gets reassembled and tested. Thanks, Al T.

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?) "Al T." <> wrote: >I read a post of an instance on an 800D where the center pin >completely broke off and yet the AC adapter continued to function, >albeit with "Unrecognized Power Adapter" messages. Let us know how it works, and if it will charge the battery in that state. IME it will operate, but refuse to charge the battery with a

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?) You can get a kit that converts your laptop and your adapter to a different

I have a simmilar problem with my D600 in that the power jack is toast. I however, do not want to attempt to de-solder and re-solder this jack - I am not a soldering export and would be afraid I would damage the board.

Has anybody found success? I also have this identical problem with my inspiron 8600. A power dock station sort of thing seems easy enough to build, but does anyone know how?

I do have an open Dell D600 and see that the 4 contacts are grounded to a shield for the MB. You cannot use them to power the laptop.

I am an electronic technician and after checking this power supply out I found that the barrel connector has 3 parts. The inside wall is positive (19volts) the outside is negative and the center pin is not even a volt but does send the signal to tell the laptop to start charging. I disconnected the center pin and the laptop will work while plugged into the wall but will not charge the battery. I normally use a radio shack N connector but since that only has positive and neg. it wont work for these. If it were my personal laptop I would simply use an external 3 prong connector and let it hang out the back of the laptop and plug it in when I needed to charge it. But since this is a customers PC I will simply resolder the loose jack and return the PC to him. Problem is, this is the 2nd time Ive done it. Im sure it will come loose again. (he has kids and pets that knock the unit around) There really is no other solution except to find a 3 prong connector that will mound flush to the back of the laptop and cut the cord and fabricate a new 3 prong connector. I am going to look into parts that may be feasable. Hope this helps. If you live in Maryland and need your laptops power jack repaired/replaced, please email me at

i've tried to desolder my old power jack but seems to be really hard to get the 4 shield connectors to come off the motherboard - could anyone who has tried it please advise on how to do it - am using a solder gun with the temp set at 790 F and still having issues with this. thanks

Best to avoid all the hassles with Dell power supplies by avoiding Dell Vostro in the first place. My Dell is just over 12 months old and Dell can't even tell me what the power adapter pinout is! They say "it't not a Dell, it's made by someone else". What?? This is the power supply stamped "Dell" that came with the Dell laptop. I went through 4 different department until the last one said "you are out of warranty, we'll have to charge you for this call". Dell laptop reviews: Horrid. Don't buy well. Did my own research and came up with the following (took apart the connector and got the laptop going but it won't charge). The silly power supply has three pins. The outer and inner portions provide the 19V, the inner pin just let's the laptop know "time to charge". Why can't they do it like all other laptops?? You can't easily use a third party adapter.

I have been trying to adapt a stock 65W (2-Wire) Sony power adapter to replace a dead 65W (3-Wire) Dell adapter. All your posts were helpful and then I found a site which describes in detail the 3rd wire power adapter I.D. circuit. The following site is a must read before you will understand the rest of my post:

OK, I'm a newbie and I see this post/problem is a bit old, but here you go: Any advice that I post here is NOT to be taken lightly. I am NOT a professional. I AM pitbull when it comes to "Getting it done" So use CAUTION with anything I post here! Use my advice at your own risk! I will not be held responsible for anything that may go wrong when using my suggestions! Dell uses a logic circut in their chargers. If your charger is defective or you try to purchase a cheap aftermarket charger, it will not charge the battery. If you disable the adapter warnings in the system bios, it still will not charge the battery, it will just shut off the warning. Every laptop battery I have ever seen has an EPROM chip inside to turn the battery off after a predetermined time. They do this to protect themselves against law suits, if the laptop bursts in flames or whatever, from an overheated , defective battery. I read on the web that some guy in Russia or somewhere, will sell you the plans to make an EPROM reader/reprogrammer, but honestly, who's got the time? And is it worth the risk of burning your house down? C series batteries are going for 50 bucks on Ebay, NOT 150.00 You can get the exact replacment DC jack on Ebay for like 6 bucks. [D series, C series whatever] Dell DC jacks are a pain to replace, because they have like 6 or 8 pins. You CAN do it, but it's rough. I use a liquid flux that comes in a magic marker looking pen, with a dabber on the end. This stuff makes ALL soldering and desoldering a LOT easier. [I use it on ALL soldering jobs] You will say to yourself "Why didn't I start using this stuff years ago?" You will think you just purchased a new soldering iron, it works that well. It's made by Kester and the PN is #186. Dealing with the multiple pins: I do use a solder wick to get started. Flux the wick and get off as much solder as you can. Then I prop the mainboard on the bench so the jack overhangs the edge. I put a weight on the mainboard to hold it. I grab the jack from underneath with a pair of pliers. Flux the pins and move the iron around the pins and you will see the solder start to flow. Pull down on the jack [with the pliers of course] I try to work the outside edge first. Get the main two tabs flowing. [the heavier tabs] If you can get those to loosen, you can then insert a flat screwdriver beween the jack and the board. You can then keep pressure there and continue to heat. You should be able to pop the jack off. The PC board is resilient. It may even bend a little from the heat. But you have to be a little careful not to dislodge any small chips near where you are working. Just a note: I exploded a brand new Weller soldering gun,doing these repairs. I held the switch on for so long trying to heat everything, it literally blew up right in my hand! Well not explode exactly, but a loud pop and sparks flew out and everything. USE CAUTION! If you can't get it at first, let everything cool off before continuing. Another option is to cut the jack off with a pair of diagonal cutters. I ground a pair down the be thinner at the tip. You are not reusing the jack anyway. This way you can heat each pin seperately and pull them out. Then wick out the holes, install the new jack, apply some flux and resolder. If you do a lot of this type of work, invest in an SMD soldering station. I picked mine up for like a hundred bucks. It uses hot air, just like they do at the factory. It allows you to heat ALL of the pins at once and the jack pops right off. And it's great for refloating video chips and whatnot. Just saying.

i have latitude d600 but it can't turn ON and i have check the RAM and other removable components they are ok. using battery or AC i found out that the switch have a voltage of 5volt. Pls can anyone tell me why it is not powering up or what might be wrong?

I wish I had read Jimbotime17's post earlier because I did EXACTLY the same thing to get the DC jack off of a D600. Another thing that helps (I did not use his magic liquid flux) is to put new solder on each of the 9 posts. This helps the solder flow better when you use solder wick to remove it. A solder puller did nothing to help because the two rear pins that flank the signal center pin have a huge amount of solder on the component side of the board. I had to use solder wick on that side for those two pins as well. Put unit in a rubber vice and used the pliers to gentle work the whole assembly side to side to get it free. The use of the small flat blade screw driver is imperative to get the center two pins in the middle of the jack loose. It appears that DELL crimps the 4 outer shield case pins inward before they solder. This makes removing it a BXXXXH to get free. But if you go slowly and use a pin tip at 750 deg and work quickly, you can visit all the shield pins and start to move the whole jack to the inside of the board. The 3 pins at the opposite end where the mating plug goes in are the last to come free. Be very gentle with them. I found that the center signal pin has no direct connection to the MB!!!!!! It has no plating in the via and the top and bottom surfaces have a stand-off radius from the pin. My guess is that they use rf transmit to other surfaces in the board to take that 1-wire bus to a chip somewhere on the MB. I used fine needles on a multimeter can could never find a connection to any of the chips or 2pin parts anywhere in the 2" neighboorhood of the DC jack. If someone has a schematic and/or a layout of the MB, it would be wonderful to post here where the center wire goes to. Hopefully I did not remove the center-signal trace, but examination under a good traveling microscope showed nothing in the via where it connects to the MB. I bought the DC jack on eBay for $3.60 and should be here tomorrow. I am going to "double" my chances of getting the new jack to work. I am going to put three silicon wire leads that connect to the ground, +19.2DC, and the center signal pin in parallel with the jack when I install it. I will drill a small hole in the back plastic cover and route these to the outside. When I reassemble, I can monitor the signal line looking for the signal that "laptop-junction" so well described in his post. My only fear is that the center signal line may not get to the receiving chip to get the Power Supply ID information. I will let you know how it turns out.

OK, I probably should have read to the end before posting. Sorry about that. I have a Vostro 1510, it works great, we don't have any real problems with it, so I did not renew the extended warranty. Just about that time (of course ;D ) , the power adapter became so loose, that it has become almost impossible to charge because the power cord keeps falling out. I realize that this is a known problem, from researching the issue on some other sites, that Dell handles by sending out new power supplies like they were candy, but the power supply isn't the problem. In looking more closely at the jack, it is apparent that the problem is a design flaw in the jack. It has several small metal pieces around the inside that used to stick out slightly and hold the power cord in place, over time they have become flat, and no longer hold the cord in. I am assuming that means that I am going to need a new jack if I don't want to make myself crazy keeping track of how charged the battery is. I wanted to find a diagram of the pins in order to make sure that the jack and power supply are both in good condition, and that there aren't any broken pins in hopes that I could find a way to actually fix the problem, before going to the next step and figuring out how to replace it. So far the only advice that I have seen on fixing this problem is to stick some tape onto the tip of the power cord, but that didn't work. I would be very greatful for any guidance that you may have.

LGW, If your only problem is that the power supply is intermittent and that by applying pressure that you can get it to charge the battery and keep the notebook powered, then you only need to "beef up" the the "inside" ring of the power supply. Some people do this with very thin shim tapes (like.001 inch berylium foil). This is risky because it could come loose and short to ground. Another way is to put flux on the inside ring, then very lightly put a thin coat of solder to the inside ring (this is the one that applies +19.6 volts to the system). The center pin is only to bring in a signal on a "one wire bus" that tells the maker and amperage of the power supply during bootup. Hope this helps. Replacing the DC jack is a real pain if you are not skilled in soldering.

The diode "like" device that others have mentioned in prior posts is actual a single wire serial data chip that is programmed to provide the validity and current capability of the supply to the motherboard. This is why you cannot get a docked laptop to run using the basic 65W supply rather than the 90W that comes with the dock or port replicator. Failure to provide valid data from the supply to the motherboard will prevent battery charging and the CPU will be idled back to minimal functionality. A few universal supply manufacturers such as APC and Targus actually provide connector "tips" that include the requisite device programmed with the correct data for proper operation but most do not and simply will not work correctly./
Bob Fay

I have a question and an idea. first the question: Doesn't this P|ss you off??? I am so angry at companies that spend more money in R&D figuring out ways to scroo the customer than they spend on researching the actual product! Can you imagine how much extra money went into the design of this "Feature"? I'll tell you, less money than they would make selling Power supplies to the dumb sheep that are us. You can bet that there is a spread sheet somewhere deep in the basement at Dell that details this whole scenario. And they even worked out the loss of sales due to bad press. I am deeply offended by companies who act in this manner. My idea.... Has anyone heard of an altered bios? this is the obvious solution I would think. If the bios could be altered , it would solve the problem at the source. UPDATE:

Got the new DC jack into the motherboard with no problems. Soldered silicon wires to the ground, +19.2DC, and to the center pin to monitor the signals. I tested the old DC jack compared to the new DC jack: result: absolutely nothing was broken or missing on the old DC jack. So tearing off the old DC jack to fix the "battery not charging" problem was for nought. The new system performs exactly like the old system. The problem is that the center pin of the DC jack does not have a measurable connection to the motherboard that I can determine. If there is anyone out there who knows where the center pin goes to on the motherboard, please let me know (a picture of the chip it goes to would be GREAT). But I did find a work around. I got a docking station and connected it to the computer. The docking station uses the same DC supply with a center pin. In this case, the unit works fine and charges the battery and runs the laptop with no problems. So if anyone knows where on the double row of pins for the docking station where the DC supply center pin goes, that would also solve my problem because I could run a wire from my replaced DC jack to that docking station pin and then the CPU would know that a "valid" DC supply is connected. I have found on the Web a .pdf file that claims to be a schematic diagram for the D610 computer. I have searched that diagram for where the Vin connects and looked for anything like the center pin. Cannot find a signal that represents that function. If somebody knows what Dell calls the center pin signal, that would be a definite advance. SO IF YOU CANNOT CHARGE YOUR BATTERY: try using a docking station (a common type fits all D600-630 systems) and be sure your power supply is at least 90 watts. If that makes your system work, you definitely know your center pin has been disconnected.

On the D600, the 3rd pin goes thru L77, which is mounted close to the power jack. I have not looked where it is on the D610. L77 is located on the underside of the board, to the left of PV3. You can hardly see the lettering, there is a tin glob right where the 77 is etched, you can see the L properly. I think if somebody can get the clock back up, I could figure out how to give the permissives to the Maxim battery charger chip. I would need to remove a couple of transistors, and bypass them. Those are to give the current reference to the charger. the D600 can take either a 65W, 90W, or a 130W power supply, but this info comes form the power supply itself. I can remove these selections, and make it so that it is fixed to 65W, it would take longer to charge the battery, but it would accept any power supply after this. The next step is to enable the charger when the AC is plugged in, I can do that, but my missing link was to get back the processor speed. 600MHz was not my type of processing power. If anybody is interested, let me know, I can go in more details. Now, I said I think I can do it, but I have not tested it yet! Where can I get that utility to crank up the speed? And one last thing, tjcooper, how can I find the schematic diagram for the D610?

Ladygreenwitch, If you always will use the same charger on this "hurting" unit, you could put the thin solder coat on the external chrome metal sleeve of your power supply. This is much easier to do that to put the solder on the internal metal sleeve of the laptop connector. A lab tech can do this in about 3 minutes time and you should be able to test if the system is more reliable at this point. If you get too much solder, then a thin metal file can remove the excess with just a few strokes. DO NOT use the Las Vegas repair facility called Laptop Repair (I think that is the correct name). They ripped me off on eBay for a DC jack repair and said all my other boards were failing and I needed a new graphics display card etc. The $150 repair ended costing me $450 (more than the cost of an eBay replacement unit) and when my technicians looked at their work later, the HAD NOT EVEN REPLACED ANY BOARDS or the DC JACK. Sadly I found this out later than eBay permits feedback. If I had the time, I would start legal proceedings against them because it was all fraud, plain and simple. So do be careful who you have do the work. Ask for references and check with the BBB.

General update: Several of you have PMed me and asked where I found the .pdf of the Dell schematic. By accident I found the page again and will pass it on to you. This site has many different types of Dell laptops for which they have schematics. Please note that these are most likely "Chinese copy" schematics since English is not the native language of whomever drew them. They do not have the chip layouts so you won't know which chip is where. If anyone finds a diagram for D600 with component layouts, please pass it along here. The entire Dell community could use this help. http://www.laptopschematic.com/dell/page/4/

This is not very elegant, but is none the less exactly what I did to get that stupid power jack off my motherboard. I took my dremel tool and cut the back off the bad jack, keeping very light pressure to not bend the motherboard or stress it in any way. I basically worked with tiny snips and dremel till I got it down to just pins and then it was easy to unsolder each pin. Yeah, that is why they call me crazy, but it worked. My husband calls me 'the bull' and covers his eyes when I do things like disassemble my laptop.

This topic has been closed by Aford10

i want to buy a laptop but am confused that which one is best sony,dell,hp or acer?

Dells seem ok. I am very fond of Acer myself. Personally not fond of HP, they had some issues a while back with video chips overheating. A guy working with me has worked on quite a few sony laptops and says they are junk.

Dells seem ok. I am very fond of Acer myself. Personally not fond of HP, they had some issues a while back with video chips overheating. A guy working with me has worked on quite a few sony laptops and says they are junk.

Best answer selected by aford10.

This topic has been closed by Aford10

when i have e-machine on sometimes another motor clicks on no dirt or dust is that ok

Motor? You mean another one of the fans turns on? Some energy efficient fans kick on when needed.

Go to the manufacturer's website, and look for a flash utility. If they have one, download and run it.

I have owned a Compaq Presario R3000 for about 2 years now and I've been having this extremely annoying issue lately. The computer keeps going into battery mode (the screen is darker) even with the power cord plugged in. I thought it was the power cord so I went out and bought a brand new plug. No such luck. I really have to shove the plug into the computer to get it to recognize the cord itself, and even then the screen turns bright for about 1 second, then goes back to battery mode. This is quite irritating since I use this computer all the time, and can't properly charge the thing unless by some miracle the screen stays lit.

Nope. System board needs to be replaced. If its under warranty, bite the bullet and have it fixed.

Hey sys2021; Having the same problem you are with my Compaq R3000. The damn battery light on the front representing the power always turns off and I pull the plug out and then push it back in and have the same results as you. Went to HPs website and downloaded the latest BIOS software:

Well; The CMOS update didn't solve the problem. I am going to attempt to open the thing up and see if the plug may need to be reattached to the motherboard. Will keep you updated.

I can't believe I'm hearing this. I am having the same annoying issue and thought as well that it was the power cord. I went and bought a new one to the tune of $110. Everythign seemed to be okay for a couple of days. I travel between multiple offices and home on a daily basis and therefore use my laptop extensivley. Somethign peculiar about mine is that when this issue starts happening, it will continue for about 30 minutes, with me inserting and pulling the cord in and out with the same very annoying result. After that it seems to be okay. Is there anything that can be done to resolve this issue???

Ok; Confirmed that it is the plug on the motherboard. I opened up and resoldered the middle pin to the mother board and everything is fine now.

For those of us lacking both the tools and expertise to solder the pin back into place, what are the other options?

Not sure, since I have not looked into the other options. As far as the tools are concerned, the soldering iron can be picked up at Walmart for around 5-10 bucks, however, it does require a bit of patience and caution to get the pin soldered back on.

Brett: I have the same issue but haven't figured out how to get to the power connector - mother board side. Would you tell me how to remove the key board / top cover to access for soldering? Thanks a million! Doug McCullough

o get to the keyboard, remove the thin silver top portion of the case above the keyboard. Its rather delicate, but if you pry up one piece you can slowly snap the rest of the piece off. Then there are 4 screws underneath, remove those. Once those are off, you have to carefully unhook the ribbon cable below the keyboard from the motherboard. when you are at that stage, just use a fine tool to gently push the brown security clip forward on the sides of the ribbon and it will slide out easily, just do the reverse to hook it back up. However, this is the 4th machine of that model that I have tried this on and the pin was only the issue one of them having power problems. Good luck though!

Thanks a million! Will let you know how it goes...Doug

I have tried a couple of times... can't find the silver strip you are referring to ... is it on the keyboard surface side or on the front/side/back side? Thanks... desparate..Doug

Doug, it is on the keyboard surface side. The strip covers the entire upper portion of the keyboard surface and includes the top portion of the hindges as well as the power button. I would start on the outside of the case up where the Warning sticker is, work gently across the top including the hindges. It should pop off pretty easily...just be gentle.

Thanks ... I caved in and went to Computer ER...they charged me $30 to pull apart and solder...works great! Thanks for pointing me in that direction though... Doug

Don't forget to remove the three screws on the bottom of the computer that hold that strip on.

I consider myself skilled enough to solder a pin to a board. However, I cannot read the brief instructions posted here and locate the power connector on the motherboard. Here's what I've done: * Removed screws from underside of laptop that retain the plate above the keyboard. * Removed plate above keyboard. * Removed 4 retaining screws for keyboard * Removed keyboard * Looked and looked for the connector in question... where is it?

Yes...I was referring to the power connector, not the power button. I was not able to even get my top portion off as far as you show here... so I carried it to a "Computer ER" and they soldered it for me for about $30... looking back on the attempts to access and the time, I'd have to say it was worth the $30 for sure. I know I could solder it IF I could get to it. That was my challenge. Now I am keeping my batteries (yes, I bought an extra one prior to understanding the power connector was my problem) charged, carefully plugging in my LT overnight to keep them up and running off batteries for the most part...just to avoid the danger of popping the solder loose again. Thanks everyone for your info and input. For those of you like me that haven't been able to get it open all the way, I hope you have someone in your area that can. It is certainly much less expensive than a mother board replacement.

The bottom covers can be removed in 3 pieces (counting the CD/DVD drive and not counting the memory cover, hard disk, battery, etc.). 1. Remove the CD/DVD drive ( 2 screws, it slides out of the side). 2. Remove the smaller bottom cover over the processor/fan.

So what was the point of me disassembling the keyboard?

Don't blame me! The only reason I found out about the 3 screws holding the top strip is that I noticed that one of them was about to break.

I wasn't blaming you.

I would have been tempted to cut an opening in the silver case part and to try to solder it through the hole. But, with my luck, there would probably be something important right there.

Here is how to disassemble it, and a link to the maintainence manual, which explains the process of disassembly in detail

I am deeply indebted to you for finding this.

Phil, I completed the repair. The factory solders were obviously "cold solders". All connection points were loose, and dull gray in color. Also, the sound on / off switch on the right side of the machine stopped working about 6 months ago, and the switch solder connection had come off the board. I fixed that also, and then vacuumed all the dust out, reassembled the machine and now it works like new. Make sure you wear a anti static wrist strap connected to your home ground when doing this work. Print the important maintainence manual pages and follow the instructions. The maintainence manual kind of sucks, as you have to jump around in it, and some things are incorrect. For example, just before you take out the main board assembly, there is a black connector that has to be disconnected, the number of screws is incorrect, etc. Also, it is a good idea to put fasteners for each part removed into a separate small bowl or other container. When putting the top strip back on, work from left to right, ensuring that the center clip is snapped before the right clip is snapped in. I did not do that and the center screw would not go in until I took the strip off and put it back on. One more thing. My combo DVD/CD drive did not have a ribbon cable, just a connector inside, including power, I suppose. Take all 4 screws out behind the drive, or it wont come out. Then gently pry the drive out. If you are too forceful, you will break the drive bezel, like I did. Your model might be as shown in the manual, but mine was not. The entire repair took about 4 hours, with breaks and a few brews. I would not trust anyone else to do it. Most of the time was just figgerin' out how to do it from the manual. Actual work was about an hour. I used a weller WE550 soldering station, Temperature set at 73. Ripped apart link

Phil, Did you get it done? If so, how did it go?

Mine slid out easily, sorry to hear about yours. I hope a broken bezel is not too large a price to pay for restoring usability to your laptop.

Phil, The bezel still snaps in, just is not as tight as it should be. I just can't pull on it. I never did anyway. I have posted pictures with my first entry. I hope this helps everyone out. There are 85 entrys for new power supply connectors for the R3000 on Ebay, so I am pretty sure that that this is a widespread problem.

Hi Guys, Thanks for the info I was able to repair one today. Took me some time to figured out how to remove the mainboard from the case. Then i found the pin was borken in the socket near the end. A bit of wire and solder did the trick.

thanks for all the useful info... my presario R3000 is having the same problem, the battery won't charge anymore and the power supply is not working for longer than 10 seconds... quick question though... did you have to change the power connector (jack) or was it a matter of just solder the loose connections shown in your picture? thanks again!

I initially intended to change the connector, but the PC would not charge at all at one point. So I immediately took it apart and found that all four solder points were bad from the factory. I resoldered them and it is great now.

Hey all, im havin the same problem with the solder on my power connection. I have the whole bottom side of my laptop taken apart but cant get to the connection because of the metal housing that the fan is attached to. I undid all the screws and still cant get it off. Are there screws from the top??

J, Yes, there are screws from the top. You don't have to take the fans out. Take the whole motherboard out. See my posts on Aug 05. I have links to the manual, etc. The manual states exactly how to disasssemble the unit, althought you have to jump around in the manual a bit. I have also posted pictures of the disassembled PC and areas to be re-soldered. This is a factory defect from Compaq. The repair will take a few hours, as this is PC is known to be one of the toughest to take apart. Just take your time and be patient. There is also one wire that has to be dsiconnected just before the motherboard is removed, that is not documented in the manual.

Thanks, I took 4 hours out yesterday to do it, my first time taking a laptop apart, hopefully my last.. But not sure if it did the trick or not, it is working better but not like it should be, im thinkin I might have a bad battery tho.

Everyone, Regarding JFrizzles last post, if you do this repair, it is a good idea to use a small bowl or container to hold the screws for each part disassembled. That way, you should have a good chance of getting everything back together using the correct fasteners. There are a LOT of screws to be removed and replaced. If you look at my posted photo of the disassembled PC, you will see that I lined up the parts somewhat in the order disassembled and there is a a small plastic bowl near each part, containing the screws for that part. See my August 05 posts.

Guys, Absolutely brilliant forum- the problem was fixed within £12 and 3 hours of work. Basically, purchased a power jack for the R3000 from Ebay, got a soldering iron and pulled the laptop apart (it's a pain that you've got to remove EVERYTHING to get to the power jack though!) Put it back together and voilla, issue sorted. Thanks to all for uploading the info regarding this issue.

Kas, Thank you for saying so. I do pride myself on being a very thorough electrical / electronics engineer and have not let any so called 'tech support' persons touch my hardware or software installations. As condition of my work with multiple employers, I have insisted that no individual, other than myself, touch my computers. I rarely post to forums, but after seeing the state of poor assembly of components to the R3000 motherboard by Compaq, I felt compelled to help all of the other folks who are experiencing the same problems, which Compaq will not acknowledge. They simply blame the user. That is not right, and is not ethical. Compaq / HP should be ashamed of their poor engineering and assembly. I guess that is what you get for $.5 per hour assembly in China. They wave solder the SMT components, then have the pin through components hand soldered by individuals that do not know or perhaps do not care about a good solder joint. I opened another electronic component made in China last week, and discovered that every single solder joint was a cold solder.

This information may or may not help everyone else, but I have had almost the exact same experience. I bought my Presario R3000 in (close to) June 2004. It worked fine for the first year, with the exception of noisy fans, which were fixed after a call to Compaq. After almost a year of normal use, the computer would switch to battery power for no reason, but it would switch itself back to AC power with no intervention. But a month or so of continued use, it would switch to battery power and require somone to unplug the cord and plug it back in to achieve AC power. This happened rarely, and I didn't think much of it. Now I know I should have, because my warranty expired shortly thereafter. For a few months, the computer's ability to hold AC power slowly degenerated. Eventually, I would constantly have to replug the cord. Then, the battery stopped charging. I presume this is because the battery had cycled so many times due to the inability to hold AC power. The computer would not even turn off with the battery in. I would have to physically remove the battery in order to turn on the computer. Because of the power problem, the computer followed a progression of: 1. shutting off after a long period of use or while I was away; 2. shutting off after slightly moving the power cord or computer; 3. turning on for about 10 seconds before shutting itself off; 4. not turning on at all. After 2 years of owning the computer, I finally ponied up $200 to a repair shop, which was cheaper than Compaq's asking price. The computer worked like a champ for about a month afterwards, except for the fact that the battery wouldn't charge. But after that first month, I am now running into the same problems, and it's getting worse and worse. I know this is a long post, but as many of you have experienced, this is a frustrating situation. Reading your posts have made me even more angry. I thought the fact that my computer started having problems after the warranty expired might have been a coincidence, but after reading your posts, I know better. Compaq must find this so convenient. If my hard drive failed, or my RAM failed, I would simply replace it. But power issues are completely different. So on this note, is anyone interested in starting a petition? This may seem radical, and trust me, I'm usually the one shaking my head at picket lines. But Compaq should not be allowed to get away with this. We all know now that this problem is not a coincidence. Companies that make products that people depend on with their life, and which they expect to last for years, should be held accountable. This type of "marketing" should not be tolerated. So if anyone is interested in starting a petition, please email me at .

hey thanks or all the help. I have spoken with HP/Compaq and they have refused to take responsability for the defect. I am in lawschool, and this little defect has caused my computer to shut off during two separate final exams. I am doing the initial research for a class action suit against HP/Compaq, and am gathering information from people who have had this problem, or who know someone with this problem.

I'm having the same problem but lucky enough for it to stay on long enough to accomplish things. Then, I'm not sure if it's because of heating up, I can't get it to stay on (with the electric cord) to some extent it seems to need a push then other times seems to need to cool off. Today I decided to do something about it, this has been going on for well over a year now. In any case, I hate to buy a new electric cord if it's not going to solve the problem. I'm so worried that it might be the mother board, which is what my son is expecting. Have you had any success with your laptop? Please give me good news. Thanks, Mary[/b]

This problem can be fixed in 15 minutes (assuming you don't care about appearance of your laptop): I read all responses, thanks you everybody, many people had useful tips. I myself am a design EE who deals with similar problems on everyday basis. The problem is: COLD SOLDER JOINT POSITIVE PIN OF DC CONNECTOR TO MOTHERBOARD. Solution is to touch it with a soldering iron. In order to do that you have to gain access to motherboard which can be done in two ways: 1) 4 hour job as described by couple of people before 2) use a drill to crack the plastic case from the top (you still have to pry off that plastic mask with power on button after removing 3 screws from the bottom as described in one of previous responses) You don't need to worry about damaging the motherboard - there is a thin steel shield right under the top plastic cover and above the DC connector (motherboard) itself. However you will have to cut that shield a little bit too. There is atotal of 4 pins (3 for ground and one for positive voltage). You can touch all of them with an iron but it seems that only positive pin is the problem (the one closest to the center of the board). I know that a picture is worth a thousand words but didn't know how to attach them to my response - if someone can explain how it can be done I'll be more than happy to do it.

Please add me to your list, it's sure not fair of them to take responsibility for the defect. I've spent too much money as it its on compaqs and they owe me. Thanks for any type of info on this problem.

Everyone, I resoldered all 4 pins and added a bit of solder, for more strength. All four pins on mine were cold soldered. I am surprised it lasted 1.5 years. A good solder joint should be shiny, not dull. Excess flux can be cleaned off with rubbing alcohol.

Hello.I am expecting a non-charging r3000 to come in this week. Reading the posts around the net regarding this issue, it seems to come down to the dc connector mostly. Thanks for all the info you spread here, the job is extensive, but can be done. I was thinking about the following possibility: the main pin of the dc inlet is rather short, in terms of lenght until the motherboard soldering joint. Can't I just put a copper tube that fits the center pin into my soldering iron's tip socket, shove it over the center pin, hold it for a while to get the heat to reach the soldering joint and solder the joint like that, at least the center pin? Or is the temperature to much for the socket's base itself? EDIT: found on another forum: buy a HP XC1000 all-in-one media cable, or a docking station if you do not want to take the laptop apart. Your power adapter will then charge the laptop through the docking port, as the media cable or docking station is supposed to be connected to that.

HP xc1000 Notebook All-in-One Media Cable power cord issue My son solved the problem. Can't believe it took so long to be directed to the solution. This new cable gives you an alternative port in which to put your a/c connector. Works like a charm, absolutely no problem and in fact easier now to use it in conjunction with the television screen as it's monitor. HP xc1000 Notebook All-in-One Media Cable app $80 including the s&h.

My son solved the problem. Can't believe it took so long to be directed to the solution. This new cable gives you an alternative port in which to put your a/c connector. Works like a charm, absolutely no problem and in fact easier now to use it in conjunction with the television screen as it's monitor. HP xc1000 Notebook All-in-One Media Cable app $80 including the s&h.

Some on ebay, mostly from
http://www.techexcess.net/ , scroll down, $99,99!!!

When you go to that webiste and click on that link it doesn't take you anywhere that you can buy the cable so I guess they are out. Any other suggestions?

They are running out fast everywhere. They had several for sale on ebay (techexcess) last weekend, saw a lot of 17 but shipping was too much ($200) from Canada too this weekend. Keep watching ebay, they sometimes do come up as XC1000, DV318A, all-in-one media, etc. Seems teckexcess noticed the rarity of the cable, you can find them pulling back a lot off ebay, once they found out they could ask what they want for it. (see google's cache) They asked me $280 for a cable, dock and shipping! "Demand is high, stocks are low, so prices go up, they explained me".
Docking stations are still available, starting around $50 on ebay, as another option.

I don't think my computer will work with a docking station. I don't see anywhere it would connect.

Thanks Que.

We have had the same problem with our R3000. We disassembled the computer, but couldn't find the loose solder joints. We're not too handy with hardware and tools. I called HP and they offer to refurbish the compter for $300. They sent me a shipping box via FedEx. I returned the box the same day to them. They had it a day and shipped it back to me. I called them Monday and had my computer back on Friday. For the $300, they installed a new Motherboard, fixed the built-in mouse pad and cleaned the keyboard (which has some sticking keys).

I want to thank all those who posted on this issue. My R3000 had the same problem that others have experienced. I live in Vermont, and so there is not a wide choice of expertise available. I considered doing the soldering fix myself but did not have sufficient confidence. I went to a local repair place that had already dealt with a Presario with a similar problem. Their fix was to open the laptop and attach a pigtail plug and adapt the power supply cord to attach to it. It is working fine. The cost of the repair (most of this labor for opening the computer) was $130. Perhaps not ideal, but at least I am back in business and the replacement battery I purchased is charging nicely.

Don't think it is a "too much job". If you already have succesfully opened other electric devices, it is not as hard as it looks, specially with the guides in this thread. Soldering did not fix my computer, changing the capacitors might, but I just put it back together after a second total strip, so that is for the next saturday.

i have bought a new baatery for 60 bucks and i charged it for 6 hrs. i turned my comp on. It was on ac power at that time.<<< I checked the power management thingy. THE lil blue battery was 100% charged so i unplugged the cord to see how my new battery works... and as u proli knoow. my comp turned off. 60 $$ aaaagh

if u have answers or wanna talk bout stupid bateries worth 60 bucks im me: heres my aim sn herms023

heres a tip for all of u who dont want to buy new bateries, comps etc. USE A PIECE OF PAPER (to make it tighter) WHEN U PLUG THE CORD INTO UR COMP> WORKS FOR ME

Hey guys....looks like this problem with the power cord is very common......and it doesnt surprise me a bit considering what i saw on my motherboard last night when i opened my laptop...the soldering was pretty bad, not only for the power pins, but also for other connectors on the board. Anyway, I had time only to fix up the middle power pin (which looked like it lost its solder). Anyway, if you read the first page of this thread, you will get all the information you need to open your laptop and learn where exactly to solder. And FYI, you HAVE to pull apart the entire laptop - COMPLETELY - till you can see the power connector pins on the top side of the motherboard. It might sound tough, but it was quite simple to do....however, it was very time consuming for me as it was my first time opening a laptop. The manual provided by HP Compaq is all you need....and disassemble each part in the order given in the manual...that's all. Here's a review: Remove in order: battery hard disk combo drive strip cover (the strip which has the power button on it - above the keyboard - this one is a tough cookie if your afraid of breaking the piece, but just pry it open from the top after removing the necessary screws under the laptop and ur all set) keyboard display (LCD) Base enclosure (the bottom casing of ur laptop) speaker heat sink and then finally....MOTHERBOARD Beware, they're a lot of screws, and although the guide was really detailed and i was extra careful about not forgetting any screws, I still missed ONE screw....basically coz I now have a small silver screw left in the box of screws i removed when i first opened the laptop. My advice: if you are confident about opening your laptop, and know somebody who can solder the pins (I got an electrical engineer friend of mine to help - but you could do it yourself too!!!), this is the best way to go since you save a LOT of money. Also, this way, you get to remove and blow away all that nasty dust that accumulated over the years. Cheers and good luck

Hey guys, I found this forum and I too have a Compaq Presario R3000. I wish I had found this page a long time ago but all is well. I too had this problem a year after I purchased my Compaq (it seems as if after the manufacturer warranty goes out everything goes wrong). Same problems except I had to push in my power connector with force until it finally gave out. Fortunally I purchased extended warranty from the store I bought it from and I had my laptop shipped and repaired within a week. They told me it was just something that had to be soldered and all was great.

Wow I have been searching for days trying to figure out why my compaq turns off unexpectedly (battery died long ago). And this is definetely the same problem! What a great releif to find links to a dissasemble guide since I couldn't find out how to remove the top/keyboard to get the mainboard fully out.

Hi Everyone! I am the guy that posted the manual and all my disassembly pictures. Just thought that I would give an update to the 18K+ people that have viewed this posting topic. The solder joints are bad in a lot of places. Two days ago, I plugged my headset into the R3000 for the first time, and guess what! Bad solder joint. When I fixed the power jack solder joints a few months ago, I also fixed all of the bad solder connections for the sound pushbuttons that had magically stopped working, but did not do the audio plugs. For now, I am not going to take it apart for that. Today, at work, it appeared that my external power supply died, because the green light was out. When I got home I looked at it and checked the output voltage, which showed zero volts. Then I slammed the power supply on the counter and the light came back on briefly and I had 18 volts output for a few seconds, so I knew that it was not dead. Being the solder joint persecutor, I took it apart and guess what! Bad solder joints all over. 30 minutes to fix that one. If I was paranoid, I would suspect that a pattern is developing. In general, there does not appear to be enough solder on high power joints, the solder pads are not big enough for high power joints and all components that interface with the outside of the case, and the solder joints are cold for many connections. It is just a matter of time before they give out. Shame on you Compaq!

ok quick question did you guys all take out the entire mainboard when you did the power jack solder or did you just remove the back casing to get at it? I have a r3120 so while it's slightly different the design is bascily the same but I can see the power jack without taking out the motherboard (from underneith, not keyboard side)

I took it down to the level specified ing the manual. This constitutes "ripping it apart". The correct way to do it. Good Luck!

So does the HP DL516a is an expansion base for the r3000 resolve the power jack issue for people? If it does, please let me know!!!!

Hi, I have tried this technique of the positive pin. However, even before this was done, I have a connection to the 3 ground and positive. Of course the positive shouldn't be touching the ground. Could this be the jack itself? I don't see any possible connections with gnd and + fom the board other than the 4 pins.

Stranger, I have the same problem with my Compaq Presario R3000, purchased May 2004. For the last several months, the connection to the AC power stops. If I take the AC plug out and shove it back it, just the right way, it starts charging again. I was about the purchase a new power cord and maybe a new battery when I found this form. My next action is to call HP, but if they don't take care of the problem, I'll join your class action suit. I am more annoyed than I might be, given I had to replace the hard drive 4 months ago. Thanks,

So I am having the same problem as everyone else, and with the help of these posts was able to successfully disassemble my computer with no prior experience. I got to the motherboard and took a soldering iron to the 4 pins referenced on the 1st page. I got the machine back together and working and I think I have at least improved the power input problem. Here is my question though - do I need to actually put additional solder on or around the pins, or is what I am trying to accomplish just to remelt the existing connection. Hope that question even makes since, as this is my first ever soldering attempt.

Hi, the solder used is a tiny bit, some extra will add to the secure fitting of the joint. I think it breaks by default because of lack of a proper attaching caused by the soldering method (cold solder) and by using a too less amount of it. Cold solders are fragile, shouldn't be used on joints like dc-inlets that suffer from force being put on them.

I, too, just completed my power jack repair on my Compaq R3240US, thanks completely to the helpful posts here. Since I, too, had never soldered anything in my life, I was somewhat at a loss as to what to do, even after reading this. I tried heating up the pins and then putting the solder down as per the instructions, but no matter what I did, they didn't get hot enough to melt the solder. Finally, I ended up melting the solder directly against the iron and letting a little plop drip down on to each pin, which I'm sure was the wrong way to do it -- but it ended up doing the trick anyway. As for remelting an exiting connection, there was almost no solder on my pins at all, so there was nothing to remelt. I melted and scraped away an incredibly thin film that might've been solder, but there was so little of it that it was really impossible to tell. Seems Compaq's workmanship was less than stellar on this machine.

Hey all, This is my first post here. I've been reading this thread with interest and I think I have a similar problem, although it may be a little different. My battery has pretty much died on my Compaq Presario R3000 and now only last for about 20 seconds. Sometimes when moving the laptop around the power cord becomes a little loose at the back and all of a sudden the laptop turns off - no warning of batter low. I originally put this down to an old battery but having read this thread, could it be an issue with my plug on my motherboard. I'd appreciate any comments on the above scenario and whether it is the same or different to what people have been experiencing? Allt he best,

Well, the power cord on my machine has always been a bit loose, and it does come unplugged pretty easily if I move it around. I've heard the same from others, so that's normal, I'd say. As far as the shutdown issue goes, yes, I'd say your battery is probably dead. Mine only lasted about a year, and again, that seems to be about the norm. The shutdown does happen very quickly, without warning, once the battery gets bad. Mine shows as 99% charged, but then almost immediately drops to 3% ten seconds after I unplug it -- which is enough to trigger an instant standby or shutdown. So, if it works when it is plugged in, and only shuts down when the machine is moved and the plug comes loose, then you're probably looking at just a battery issue. If, however, your laptop is shutting itself down sporadically even when you have not moved the computer, you may be dealing with the same power cord issue as many of the rest of us have. But either way, it sounds like your battery is dead.

Hey all, I jave had the same problem with my R3000. I dissassembled the computer down to the motherboard and tried to solder the 4 prongs. I heated each prong but couldn't get the solder to stick - This is a first try for me so maybe I just need practice.

You better resolder it good, heat them up long enough to get all the solder molten. A good solder is shiny and smooth. If it looks dull and has a rough surface, forget about a good connection. Add solder if you have to, there's not much on it right from the factory. Is your battery still charging, does it run off battery?

Hello, I'm from Croatia Europe, and i have the same problem with power jack. And i like the idea about law suit, so let's kick their ... . Anyway, i've decided to fix it by my self, but i do not know the real name of power jack (serial number, manufacturer or something), so i can look for it around here and replace it... I just hang up off the phone talking with the service guy, who told me that if the problem is just for soldering, than the soldering part would be around 30$ but if it's not enough just to solder it than i would have to change whole board...which is more than stupid. Because they are doing it only with original parts, and it's not possible to order any single part except whole board. So i would like to get it to him. And if it's true that they don't have it in this country, i'll order it from e-bay or something. So if anyone can help??

You may not need a new power jack. Have you tried resoldering the jack to the board, as per the instructions in this thread? That might fix your problem. I'd try that before ordering the other part, unless you're in a hurry.

I think, that, because off long time applying power core and trying to fix it in somehow, anyhow, the little contacts inside of jack has been broken. I opened the laptop, two days ago, just to see if I can easy approach to the jack, I just opened the top plastic, where the jack is supposed to be, and saw it inside little better. I really think it's broken. And after that i found this web site... i've been looking on the e-bay, but can't find any international serial number or name or anything... I'll try to print a picture, and try to buy it with it, but dimensions would be fine... is it 2,5 mm center pin??

The jack is not accessible just by removing the top plastic part. You have to disassemble the whole laptop to get to it, as per the instructions provided earlier in this thread.

Hey all, I came across this while doing a google search for what's going on with my computer and I think I'm having a similar problem. I actually have an R4000 model but I'm not sure if that makes a difference. Basically what happened is I picked my computer up off my desk [power cord still plugged in] and the computer just cut off. So I unplugged the power cord and put it back in and the computer seemed dead. [No light in the front to indicate it recognized the power cord] nor would the computer turn on. So I attempted to turn the computer on without the power cord. The computer turned on just fine with a full battery charge. So while the computer was on and functioning I tried inserting the power cord again and my computer went dead. I tried this several times, all with the same response. So in a nutshell any time the power cord is plugged in my computer goes dead. Does this sound like a computer issue or an issue with the AC adapter. I called Compaq/HP tonight to try to troubleshoot and of course I'm over my warranty by 45 days. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Candy_girl, that sounds like a different problem than the one discussed here. Is the battery charging when the computer is off and connected to the power supply?

No, anytime I plug the power cord into the computer when it is on it cuts the computer off and it goes dead. And when I plug the power cord in when the computer is already off it does nothing. The light in the front indicating that the power cord is in doesn't light up. And if I try to turn the computer on when the power plug is in it the computer won't come on [almost like the battery is dead].

Looks like a short between your powerline and ground of the board or connector. Check the adapter plug and cable, where the cable goes in the plug, for breaches. Got another adapter from a friend maybe, to try?
It might also be the center pin of the dc-in connector, touching ground inside the case. Is the center pin loose? (Try to wiggle it with tweezers, but with the battery out!) More serious if you dislocated the whole connector, and maybe damaged the board itself. I guess you should find someone to take it apart, and do a check/repair, if the fault is not in the adapter plug or cable.

Just wanted to write in that I've been having the same power problem with my Compaq -- an increasingly common switch to battery. The thought of taking the laptop apart was not pleasant though I've done that with prior Compaq models before, ironically for bad power jack connections. Despite the trepidation I had from all your descriptions I went ahead and tore it apart. There werent more screws that I thought were necessary and things came apart fairly modularly. There werent a lot of little extraneous tiny pieces -- the keyboard, the back panels, the screen, the motherboard, the disks, not too much more. I soldered the connector even though I really didnt see cold solder joints. More like maybe inadequate solder. I tried to put my 40w iron to it and all it did was warm up the board. The power planes sucked all the heat away. It was really frustrating to have to leave my eviscerated laptop on my kitchen countertop while I went to hunt for a more powerful iron. I tried to be vigilant about static especially in this dry winter humidity. I pretouched metal shielding before grabbing any given module. I applied an 80w iron and reflowed the power connectors. Honestly felt nothing would work when I put it all back together. Its just how it is you know? Out of an array of some 30-40 screws I was left with two to spare. Isnt that always the way?

Hi guys I too have been suffering from the r3000 power cord issue so I decided to take the advice on this forum and take apart my laptop to solder on a new connector that I managed to get hold of on ebay. Everything seemed to go well until I re-assembled my laptop and found that when I turn it on the only things to light up are the power lights on the power button and the front of the laptop, the light on the touchpad and the charging light on the front. The screen remains blank and there does not seem to be any communication with the hard disk. The HD light flashes on at start up but then goes out and nothing else happens. One of the fans seems to power up too. I spoke to Compaq who have said it'll be $299 for on site repair which i really cant afford right now. Any help or suggestions on this would be very much appreciated Thanks

Hi, looks like some connector forgotten or some short? Have you checked the cable that goes to the screen, tried an external monitor, see if it will boot from a knoppix live cd, or any other cd or dvd that will boot, a linux version of some kind? Did not forget to put the memory back?
Of nothing helps, you could take it apart again, just leave the processor + frame and heatsink, memory, and an external monitor attached, and try to start it up.

Thanks for the reply I stripped it all down again and had a good look at the connections. Turns out I'd not noticed that the CPU needs to be locked in place using a screwdriver so it was just sat on top of its connection. Doh!! Anyways. I now have a perfectly operational laptop that charges quite happily. Lets hope it stays that way for a while!

hello all... i have had the same problem with my compaq r3000, and just today i finished soldering on my new power jack that i bought off eBay, and guess what! the battery charrges fine now! great... except now, when i turn on my computer, the screen stays black. the fans start up and the usual lights go on and such. i can eject the cd drive. everything appears to work fine, except the screen stays blank. in order to make this was the only problem, i plugged in my monitor, however the problem persisted. now, i know the fn + F4 key combo is supposed to switch between internal lcd display and external display, however, this did not help (i had never used this feature previously, so i cannot vouch for its reliability). i have since taken the computer apart and put it back together again with the same result, even after following the PDF manual to the letter...

Hope for you the memory isn't seated right, or the processor isn't put right in the socket. Next thing could be a corrupted bios. The other option is you shorted something, and/or killed the video, which is bad coz it means another motherboard is needed.

oh boy... yea the memory is in correctly and so is the processor. i have no idea about the bios or video however... both sound serious. any suggestions on what i could try to check these? thanks.

About the video, an external monitor, but you already tried that. No need to push keys, workes right on boot up if nothing is wrong. You might want to check the internal cable to the lcd. Bad contact maybe, can prevent monitor-out too, but rare. About bios corruption, see if an attached usb-floppy drive is trying to read when you hold the FN and B key on powering up. Alternative keys: Windows-key plus B key. If lucky (drive light comes on) unzip a bios rompaq (biosupdate file) with winzip or winrar. Keep unpacking till the rar files are all unpacked. Put the phlash.exe, the bios.wph file (rename it to that if named different) and the minidos file on a bootable floppy and let the computer boot from that usb floppy drive with this disk. If nothing, take the whole board out and try to get it working out of the case.

thanks for the quick reply... no i cant be sure i reseated the processor (it's a P4) correctly, as this is the first time i have done it. i did everything in the service manual, including the heatpaste. i did leave it on while soldering however. i did not do the job however, my neighbor who is an engineer did it for me. i watched him, and he didnt come close to the processor. is there some way it got corrupted by heat or something? i have a usb floppy drive, however i could not boot from it. ill try getting it to work out of the case.

For P4's: solder the positive pin on both sides of the board! Hope this solves something, but I'm afraid not.

positive pin? you mean of the charging jack? or on the processor? sorry, im a software guy, hardware is sort of a mystery to me... thanks

The already resoldered jack, the positive pin (lead) needs to be soldered on both sides of the board with Pentium 4 models.

i'll take a look at the soldering job. it would be odd if this was the problem though because the new jack charges the battery fine, so the original problem is solved. i am beginning to believe that i broke the tiniest piece on the motherboard, which is preventing it from working. i tried another CPU on the montherboard and got the same effect. if i took the motherboard to a local computer place (not BestBuy or CompUSA) does anyone think they would be able to be able to tell what part of the motherboard was malfunctioning? (if that is even the problem)

I am having the same problem with my R3000 as well. I tried soldering the 4 ac connection points, and it seemed to improve the problem at first...but went right back to the same problem within a day. So I took it apart again and tried it all again (repeated this a few times) and now it won't light up the charging light AT ALL. Is it possible I overheated the motherboard around those connection points?

Hardly anything there that could suffer from overheating, but I didn't watch you solder it, so...Don't know what tool you used, or if you cared about static discharge when touching or soldering the board. Better check again, always solder P4 board's dc-in (positive lead) on both sides of the board. You could take the board out, attach the adapter and see where you can get a voltage, on the charging leads in the battery compartment? Is there power on the most left and most right copper contacts of the docking port?

Well, I got a little aggressive on about the 3rd attempt (since what I was doing didn't seem to be working). lol. I went ahead and touched each solder point to liquify them again, and it seemed like I felt a metal pin or something in the first three (that are in a row, closest to the edge of the board), but didn't feel anything in the one towards the back of the dc jack. The solder gun is just a cheap pencil shaped gun with a sharp point.

That's the positive lead you are missing! lol It broke off? Push it through from the other side when the solder is molten, !!!!HOT!!!

Next time I tear it down, I'll give that a try. I did fold up some paper and stick it under the dc jack to hold it firmly against the board though.

Update: I went through it again, and it's a little better now. At least it's back to a point where I can press the cord to the side when it's plugged in and it charges (wasn't doing anything before). I do think I MIGHT know what I've been doing wrong now though...but I wanted to check on here first.

If the solder didn't get hot enough, or the joint is moved before the solder is hardened out, the solder will turn dull. It will handle like a paste, rather than a flowing liquid like it should. The trick is to heat up the parts that need to be joined long enough, then add solder (and not before), so it will turn right into a flowing liquid when touching the hot parts. Keep the soldering iron in place till the flow stabilizes, then remove the iron, and don't move anything for about 10 seconds. When you have to add more solder, first heat up the joints until the solder already there is fully molten, then add more solder, wait for it to fully flow, etcetera. The positive pin should stick a bit through the board, should at least be noticeable, like the 3 negative pins sticking out a bit. Remember to solder both sides of the posit. pin to the board.
Hope my english is a bit clear.

Thanks for the post. I can see I was doing a few things wrong. The solder was a fully flowing liquid...but I wasn't really heating up the pins before adding the solder...although I probably did heat up the positive pin a little while feeling for it the last time (the iron seemed to stick to it a little). I didn't see that mentioned in any of the other posts, so I didn't know I was suppose to heat the pins up. I don't think my positive pin was ever sticking all the way through the board though, and the dc jack appears to be flush with the motherboard...so maybe it was broke from the factory? I have to press my soldering iron tip down into the hole (which melts a little of the plastic around it) to even hit metal. The other three do stick through the board.

Add me to the list. This forum helped me fix the same problem. I bought a new socket on ebay a few months ago but when I got it I wasn't able to get the thing appart enough to get to the soldering point. With the info here I was able to get the motherboard off, and replace the socket. I had trouble getting the old one out until I decided to gently pry it from the board. It came right out, so you know the solder wasn't done right. I replaces it and soldered it well and it's now 100%.

I heated the pins up and it didn't really make a difference for me. I believe the dc jack is just bad (probably because of the positive pin I guess, since it must be broke off)...so I went ahead and ordered a new dc jack off ebay. I'll try the new jack before I open the All-In-One Media Cable (assuming I get it from Hong-Kong ok)...then I'll just sell the Media Cable if I get the new dc jack to work.

UPDATE: - I got the new dc jack I ordered off ebay today and installed it, and the problem seems to be fixed! It took a little time to heat up the solder and remove the bad jack and remove enough solder to get the new jack in...but everything it working great now!!

I have been dealing with this nightmare for over 6 months. I bought a new battery, power cord and , most recently, paid a tech almost $400.00 to fix it. He said he took the machine apart and put in a new AC adaptor. I'm having the same problem; the battery gets some power, but none going to the PC. My question is, could this guy have put in a new AC adaptor without soldering it to the motherboard? If I'm having the same problem, is it likely he did anything?

He may have done a bad job on soldering the jack, if you have a Pentium board it needs to be soldered on both sides of the board, the positive dc-jack's pin that is. Almost $400 is excessive, you pay less for another working complete laptop. Some power to the battery might indicate the contact to the board is okay, but other components (capacitors, shottkey voltage barriers) have gone bad.

My R3240US got the the point that it would charge the battery if left off with the cord jiggled just so to turn the front lightening bolt orange for an hour, or run the PC on battery if powered up, but the short in the power cord was too tenuous to run the PC on AC in, no matter how I tried and tried to adjust the cord. I'm sharing my quote posted recently at takeitapartDOTnet, followed by my 25 minute fix at the end. Having had some experience and background in such actions (class action and other legal maneuvers) I wouldn't hold my breath. Unless someone can demonstrate an implied usability beyond the warranty period, my hunch is we are chasing a losing cause. This is called Caveat Emptor - Buyer Beware. From all the posts it appears that HP/Compaq upheld its warranties during the limited warranty period. I recall that this laptop was initially a bargain at less than $900 which compares to over $2,000 for the last X-series Thinkpad I purchased over three years ago, but is still going strong. To make the automobile analogy, we bought Yugos where others bought Buicks. That was a risk we were willing to take at the time of our purchases, and probably must accept now. That said, I am not a satisfied consumer and I can guarantee that I will not be purchasing another HP/Compaq laptop in the near future, nor will I be recommending them. Right now my NEW battery is charging up just barely on the laptop. When it is done, I will be backing up the entire PC and then taking apart the old battery and direct wiring it to a 110V AC to DC transformer. I'm pretty sure this "tampering" will void any action I would otherwise have, but at least I will know definitively whether or not I can continue to run this PC or or not with the slight mod. If it doesn't work, I still can go back to the pictures at the top of this post and try to re-solder the power outlet. The following link to a HP Limited Warranty might be good bedtime reading for some:

If you have a pentium the cpu should be locked by turning a screw, sounds like you did not fasten it. If it is amd, it is unlikely you missed the locking with the lever, because the heatsink wouldn't fit with the lever up. If pentium, and reseating/securing cpu and memory doesn't help, you still might have an issue with the positive pin of the dc-jack, as it needs to be soldered on both sides of the board for pentium compaqs/hp's. If you have a 120 watts power adapter, they tend to go weak over time, some solved charging/running @ the same time issues with a 135 watt model.

Thanks for the info. Before the fix, the PC was working only off the battery and only for a few minutes. I'm noticing today that the battery will only charge to about 25%. the light doesn't stay on for long - just flickers.

If the soldering (both sides of the positive pin to the board) still doesn't give you running off the ac adapter and a known good battery only charges partly, I would suspect the internal power circuitry malfunctioning. Capacitors, voltage regulator chips. Odd thing is it seems to work okay off a battery, but shortly because the battery is bad or loaded partly. Don't you know anybody with a Compaq/HP model adapter with the same or better, a higher wattage? Some shop near that would let you test one?

Thanks for the tip! That was it!!! I have a Pentium and the problem was most certainly the CPU lock. Once I removed the cover, it was apparent that I got it half way connected. That was stalling the POST, I'm sure. Must have been that speed test I was performing to get it fixed. At any rate, add 3 more minutes to this project and call it a success. I appreciate all the posts to this forum as they proved very insightful on my second attempt. Fondly,

Thanks for your help. I don't think the guy that "repaired" this knew what he was doing. If he did replace the AC adapter, he probably didn't solder it properly. He still won't return my calls, so I'm calling the place where I bought it (they recommended this guy) and appealing to them to help me. I don't know anyone with an adapter that's compatible with the PC, so no way to try that. I'm beginning to think it would be cheaper, given what I've already spent on this, that I may have to bite the bullet and buy a new one, rather than dump more money into this. I can't believe HP won't take any responsibility for all the time and money the masses have wasted on this problem.

I just came across this forum. I own a R3360 and had this problem a couple years ago. Luckily, the lappy was still under Best Buy's 3 year warranty and was fixed (replaced motherboard). So far so good. I use this machine for work full time and I'm careful when inserting and removing the plug. Everything has held up great; no charging problems, no loose buttons. I guess there's hope for me. The only issue I had was a noisy rear fan. I was able to easily fix that by removing the fan itself and applying a little 3-in-1 oil to the shaft. Worked like a charm and has for a few months now. Very quiet. If my adapter does decide to go, I'm not worried, as I have already taken at least the bottom off before. I've taken other laptops apart fully, though not this one...yet. I'm also handy with a soldering gun. I may even purchase the media cable just to be safe and put less wear on it (since I use an external monitor most of the time unless I'm traveling).

Well, the power jack is working great still...but I went to hook up to a dialup connection (normally just use the wireless broadband) and the modem doesn't seem to be working now?

@rpeters, newer revisions often have improvements. I have 2 boards here, same part number, different video chips (440 versus 420), the one with a later date code has extra capacitors just in front of the second fan connector. If they were smart, they resoldered the new board's jack before fitting it.

Selliot, My hunch is the little black and red plug that goes into the modem (a separate mini-board in there somewhere not near the modem jack itself) didn't snap-lock. It is ever so subtle a connection. Pull it out and reconnect it until it snaps into place. On another note, I didn't replace the power jack, just re-soldered it. I am having second thoughts about not spending the extra $0.50 to get a new, tighter female adapter and would recommend that extra cheap insurance step to anyone else; 1> replace jack and 2> resolder to MB. Having said that, the PC works great and has now for almost a week. Jeff

Ok, you're probably right...maybe it just didn't snap in all the way. There was ONE that attached to a mini-board, and it was always difficult getting it reconnected, because there were things in the way which made it hard to work it in there, and I bet that is it. I'll give it another try.

Well, didn't fix it. Hard telling what I did. lol. Oh well, everything else seems to work just fine though.

I haven't used my laptop modem in over a year. Do you know whether or not it worked before you started the project? Maybe you are just now uncovering an issue that was sleeping there all along.

The other end of the wire (they don't show) goes to a little connector in the same space under the keyboard, close to the back left side:
modem card

Checked it out and took a real close look at the connector that connects to the modem, and the wires were broke. I guess they broke while unplugging and plugging it in. I couldn't remove it from the keyboard side because the cheap, crappy screws strip too easy and wouldn't come out.

Hi again, The tech that "repaired" my PC called me back after more than a week and only after I left a message stating that I would report him to the State Attorney General's office. He was as nasty as could be and said that he had put in a new AC outlet because mine was split and beat up from my "fiddling with it". I never fiddled with it - I plugged in the cord and tried to get power. I asked if he noticed that the original was cold soldered to the board, and he had no answer. I don't think he did anything but restore Windows. At the point I gave it to him, I had bought a new power adapter, and I think that got the PC running. (the old one was really beat up) But, I can guarantee he didn't leave it on long enough to notice that there was no power going to the PC. He told me, initially, that my hard drive had to be replaced, but didn't mention it yesterday. He also said that he didn't charge me any labor to install the new power outlet. So, according to what he said, he charged me $390.00 to reload Windows plus the cost of the hard drive.

Probably a date code on that harddisk, he did not gave back the old disk??? A tech could see if a new adapter was placed, old one has most likely Foxcon written on it, where batches of these boards were assembled (partly, rest at Hannstar) and he could see how it is soldered, but that needs taking the board apart again.

When I was running on strictly AC (as I had to remove the old battery to get the PC to work at all) I learned pretty quickly that the power socket was so unreliable that I had to maintain constant pressure against the cord to keep the PC running. Eventually, even that failed, the power popped/dropped and I was forced to reboot. Even I knew this was dangerous. Needless to say, it only got worse and finally, as I was repowering, the power dropped aagain nd the drive crashed with it. It required an F-disk. What I am saying is I had the same experience where the continued power-cord issue crashed the operating system and rendered the hard drive temporarily dead. Generally, dead drives simply require an F-disk, not replacement, but even that is not unusual.

If he even replaced the drive at all. Booting from a dos cd or usb stick, and typing fdisk/mbr indeed fixes shutdown drive corruptions most of the time. LYNN1219, check the harddrive for a date code. If it is about 2 months older then your purchase of the laptop, it is the old one most likely. Ask for the old drive, try to get it back.

Hey, thanks for the info. He didn't give me any old parts and, as he hung up on me yesterday,I doubt I can get them. I'm having a reliable tech look at it next week, so I'm glad he'll be able to tell if this other guy replaced anything at all.

You are about a week ahead of where I was. Mine was just like that, but in addition, it had a dead battery. I was forced to run it on AC for a few days while I awaited the new battery - there in was the fatal blow. Once I had the new battery, I was forced to charge it and then run until the low battery warning alarmed. It wouldn't charge and operate both at the same time so I would have to shut down to re-charge, wait and go at it again. From here, all it took was COMPLETE removal of the MB, $5 and a 5 minute stop at a TV/Appliance repair shop where they did the re-solder of the power. Now I wish that I had replaced the 50 cent outlet too, but no biggie.

I feel your pain! I have been going through this for over 6 months, and I can't believe how many people are having this same problem with these units. I haven't been following this for very long, as I just found this site about a week ago. What is HP's response to all of this? From what I've read, they deny that there's anything wrong with the manufacturing of the unit. I also saw a blog from a law student who was looking for people to participate in a class action suit. Did anything come of that? I live in Colorado Springs, and there's a huge HP facility here. I'm tempted to write a letter to the Editor of the newspaper and relate this whole story and see if that gets them interested. If so many people are struggling with this and spending so much money before they get to the source of the problem (batteries, power cords, etc.) HP should be exposed for the cheap, corporate cronies they are. I worked for them years ago, and this would not have been acceptable to them then. Obviously, their philosophy of always keeping the customer happy has changed.

Do you know where I can order a new wire that connects the two modem plugins?

try thinking outside the computer support and repair world. The first place I went when my MB needed resoldering was a TV repair shop. They handle micro solder every day. I would simply take the damaged cable, complete with ends, to an electronics shop and slip them a $5. They should be able to put it back together for you; better than the original. If that doesn't work ask them who can or go to Radio Shack and find the ends you need and repeat. My hunch is it will be back together in no time and at little cost and inconvenience to you. Whatever you do, don't start at the big box stores; they'll hammer you in time wasted and fees.

Ok thanks, I'll check out radio shack to see if I can find the end there. I just assumed I could get a new wire for a few dollars...but doesn't sound that way. lol.

Another idea is to call or go to a local PC repair shop (again, avoid the big boxes as they don't retain "junk" like us smaller, and I would say more exerienced support dudes do) that may have taken an R-3000 in as junk or simply been left behind by previous owners who got sticker shock on the repair cost...they do that to walk away from the diagnostics fee. Given its apparent planned self-destruction, there are probably plenty sitting around on back racks being parted out. Trust me, the modem cable/wire is not in high demand. Probably any Compaq or HP sourced modem cable should work. Try calling first and then suggest e-mailing a photo of the damaged one sitting next to a ruler to match ends and scale required. Although I haven't seen the results of yours, I still think a sharp electronics shop can fix about anything.

Thanks, that's good advice. Only problem is that the tech that supposedly did the work won't send me an itemized bill. I remember what he said he did, so I'll convey that to the new tech and see if he can verify it. I appreciate all your help!

I spent long hours on HP chat and finally got them to ship/repair/return for free. In the course of that chat I pointed them towards this forum, mentioned that many people have been having this issue, and asked if there was a recall on it. They admitted that it was a "known issue", but said that there was no recall on it. When I asked how a recall could be set up, they said it would not, because not all the computers had this problem. When I asked if there were any known pattterns about the manufacture of those that did have the problem, the person finally elevated it, and I was supposed to hear from the supervisor. Instead of that, though, I got an email and a shipping box in the mail. I won't bore you with my further misadventures as I tried to back up my computer, but suffice it to say I finally got that done and the computer is supposed to be back by 1/31, hopefully repaired.

I'd love to see your transcript. I thought of contactng HP, but given that so many people already had and got no satisfaction, I thought it would be a waste of time. About time they took some responsibility for this.

So I followed the superb details listed throughout this thread to take the laptop apart, solder the 4 points and put it back together. It does the same thing it did before 'attempting' to fix the problem. When I connect the AC adapter to the Laptop the power light(Lightning bolt) lights up for around 2-3 seconds and then goes off. If I disconnect/reconnect the cable it does the same thing, on for 2-3 seconds and then off. When this occurs you can see Windows detect a power source and the battery icon disappears from the systray, 3 seconds later it of course, pops back up. I can't figure out if I truly had the issue with the solder points being weak or if I have another problem. I did not want to spend the money on a new adapter if that was not the problem.

Bad battery, bad power adapter (unlikely if laptop works okay with the adapter), internal circuitry going bad -leaking capacitors-voltage barrier switches-etc.

I, too, had the same issue with the power cord/soldering/MoBo. I contacted Compaq/HP...told them that my notebook had a KNOWN issue. I was afraid that since it was a year out of warranty they'd give me grief about it. Instead (and hold on to your hats!), they sent me packaging material, overnite, to sent the notebook to them (again, overnite). They replaced the motherboard for free (as if it were still under warranty). As an added bonus...I had a column of dead pixels on my display. They replaced the lcd panel for free, as well. I think because the paperwork said 'warranty', the tech saw the dead pixel issue, and assumed s/he was to fix it as well.

Hi, Thx to everybody for all the informations about this problem. Now I know it comes from the pin of the power jack. For the moment I still can use my laptop so I don't need to try to fix it yet. If u r annoyed by the screen getting clear and dark and clear... It's very easy, unplug the jack then on u r keyboard press fn and clear (F8) to put the light at the maximum, then plug it again and press fn darker (F7). Then when u r pc will be off power or on ac power the light won't change. Of course disable the alert in control panel/power. It won't solve the issue, but u will be able to use u r pc without beeing annoyed by alert and screen light going dark and clear all the time.

Not sure if this applies to my problem or what, but here goes: I have to hold the cord in a specific way to even get the charge light to come on. WHen I try to power up, I get the power light on for about 6-7 seconds, and then nothing. During this time, I can't feel/hear any physical activity from the laptop at all, no HD spinning up, no fan, etc. I can't get the laptop on at all, because the battery is dead. Does this sound like it could be fixed by resoldering the power jack?

Been there. That is exactly the same I had. Then I got "smart" and removed the battery which allowed it to run on straight power-cord....until it dropped during a HD write and crashed the HD (hard drive)....new battery arrived, and I rebuilt the HD, it worked for another 10 days until the power socket completely failed. My adivce is to stop now, and purchase a new socket on e-bay for about $10 including shipping, and then disassemble, take the new socket and MoBo to an electronics shop and have it resoldered on. I am kicking myself for having made the two mistakes of running it in a compromised state and for not replacing the original socket (which I will be doing soon as the same problems is creaping back). Good luck. Remember my tip above which is if you unscrew all the screws and leave them in their respective holes and lift the plastics straight upward with screws still in location, it goes back together in a fraction of the time with no leftover screws. Electronics shops might say they don't work on MoBos, but if you bring just the MoBo without any of the plastics or laptop components, they will gladly do it. The just don't want to be responsible for messing up a $1,000 laptop. I told the guy I wouldn't blame him if it didn't fire up and that in its present state, it was a broken, worthless circuit board like any other sitting on his bench.

Problem is it won't run at all now, on battery, or with battery removed. Am I past the point of no return possibly?

Take a deep breath. You are not at the point of no return yet. The problem is pobably that the power jack is so compromised that it can't transmit enough power to the MoBo to operate the PC. Additionally, it is either too degraded to charge the battery or the battery is now dead which is not directly related, it just doesn't help matters. To prove this, leave the PC off, but try to charge the battery over night by adjusting the cord just enough so that the lightning bolt comes on and you can leave it unattended with the bolt on. The see if it will boot once it charges. If it does, your problem is in the power jack in the rear still and the PC is OK except for that.

Well, that's what I tried last night. I THINK the battery got charged all the way, no way to tell tho, meter leads won't fit to test it. Laptop will do the exact same thing when on battery only, with adapter unplugged. Perhaps the jack solder points are too weak now to transmit enough current to fully charge the battery, as you said. In the process now of ripping it apart to check out the power jack.........lol

It's amazing how everyone is having the same problem. I immediatly thought It was my powercord. I was searching for a new one when I came across this forum. I hope the new Compaq's aren't having these problems either. It's pretty redic and uncalled for. Thanks to all the people for the help atleast. I hope everyone else was able to get their computers fixed. I have to say this will be my last Compaq.

No luck yet, resoldered the connections, and nothing has changed. Starting to get really depressed now.............lol

Hi, I don't know if you read the previous posts, but one blogger wrote that he called HP and told them he had a known problem with his R3000. Amazingly, HP said they would fix it and sent him packaging for his laptop overnight. They sent it back to him fully repaired at no charge.

Ripped the whole laptop apart, and luckily read this forum. So waiting for my soddering iron to heat up and then i am going to pray it fixes the problem... Wish me luck here i go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No luck whatsoever fixing it. Called support and was told I'd have to pay $390 to get this fixed, even tho it's a known issue. Steaming mad right now as I look at my 11 pound paperweight.

Dell laptop power supply Wiring diagram

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