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[King Zultan]

That sounds like hard drive or memory failure - something's not right when it starts pulling data to wake up.

The Hard Drive on my last computer went out and this one is doing none of the things that the other computer did in the end so I don't think it's that.

I've never head problems with memory in the past so I'm not really sure what it would do but wouldn't it not run like normal if the memory was going out?

What do you mean by pulling data on wake up?


Also I was using it earlier and my leg hit the cord and instead of it just unplugging and swapping to battery like normal it turned off, which is making me lean more towards some kind of issue with the power system, with the worst case being that it's something on the motherboard going out.

[wierd]

it sounds like power regulation issues to me.

The fix for it is probably more than they want to invest though;  Reflow solder on the power connector, and replace the power cord, and the internal battery.

If problem persists, check the capacitors on the power regulation circuitry.

[King Zultan]

I've found the cord and the internal battery and now I've got to order them, and lucky for me I found out the power connector isn't soldered to the board, I haven't checked it yet but at least it'll be easy enough to replace if it's damaged.

But over the weekend there were new developments on this front, such as the computer randomly turning off then a few seconds later it'd turn back on, didn't seem to matter what it was doing when this happened, then after a few times of that it would get to the thing that says windows was starting then turn off only once getting to the desktop which didn't change anything as it immediately turned off afterwards, and it doesn't seem to matter if it's only on battery or the cord as it happens ether way, so the problem seems to be more than just a crappy battery and failing cord.

While researching stuff to see if I could figure out what's happening, and I saw that people mentioned a failing CPU could cause similar things to happen, and it got me wondering if that might be it, the only thing they mentioned that I haven't experienced are blue screens

[wierd]

When was the last time the thermal compound / thermal pad was replaced?

After a few years, thermal pads dry out and become crispy like a potato chip.  When that happens, they stop working, and work more like an insulating blanket.  Be very careful with metallic compound based thermal media, it can cause shorts. Get a good ceramic one.

[King Zultan]

I don't think it has ever been changed, I was intending to replace it when I pulled the thing apart to check the power connector. Luckily I've got some on hand, I just have to figure out where I put it.

Can the thermal paste being bad cause abrupt power loss even if the computer hasn't been on very long?

[wierd]

It can cause the system to shut down due to reaching the critical thermal threshold set in the bios.

Less amusing: I have seen an i5 suffer actual hardware damage from cumulative damage from overheating, due to bad thermal paste.  It could boot DOS and other operating systems that dont check a specific set of self-diagnostic features of the CPU, but Linux and Windows would instantly halt or bluescreen.

Since yours is not instantly halting and bluescreening, I think it might just be thermal paste, or a power irregularity.

[King Zultan]

Turns out the paste wasn't the only issue because when I went to check the temps in the BIOS the computer lost power as soon as I pushed the power button, and through the process of elimination I eventually figured out that it was the motherboard, the part I was hoping wasn't the problem. Oh well nothing to be done except replace it, I've ordered and it's on the way along with all the other bits that were discussed.

I'd like to thank both of you for your help figuring this out.

[AzyWng]

I'm trying to get my wireless controller to connect to my computer, but when I make the controller enter pairing mode and then open up Bluetooth, it isn't listed. I just get a bunch of names I don't recognize. I happen to be using Linux (Xubuntu specifically - some kind of problem happened with EndeavourOS and I had to install something else), if that helps.

[delphonso]

The out-of-the-box bluetooth configuration on most distros has some issues. I'm posting to remind myself to pay attention to any solution posted. I've also fixed it in the past and don't remember what I did.

[LordBaal]

Hi fellas long time no see! Hope all of you are alright. Yesterday my wife had a DVD disk she wanted to see and the only reader in the house is on her laptop. We had literally years without using a DVD so it wasn't surprising the drive wasn't working. The hardware was detected, the drivers properly installed, everything working well, just not reading. So I of course took the drive out to check the connections, uninstalled and installed drivers, check for firmware updates, fiddled with the Windows registry and almost lost what little hair is left in my head.

After about 2 hours then it finally hit me, I took a clean cotton cloth and gently cleansed the lens, it started working again.

[King Zultan]

Good to see you back!

Also good to hear that you figured out the problem with the DVD drive.

[AzyWng]

Turns out I was having problems with the controller because I'd misremembered how to put it into pairing mode. I didn't need to just turn it on - I also needed to hold down the pairing button until the controller's light flashed rapidly, then it'd show up in Bluetooth.

[King Zultan]

Is there a way to fix a laptop keyboard?

It was working fine until I had to pull it out to replace the mother board in the laptop, I removed it as gently as possible but now the 3EDC and down arrow key don't work, some times but not very often I can get the 3EDC keys to work but the down arrow refuses to. Is there anything to be done besides replace the keyboard?

[LordBaal]

For the sounds of it, it seems like something individual of those keys, so I would discard an issue with the flex connector. Just to be sure I would try removing and installing the keyboard again very carefully, to see if the issue is solved.

If not then is likely those specific keys got an issue when the keyboard was removed. It is a membrane keyboard?

[Starver]

If nothing else, removing the keyboard to check for LB's answer gives you better view in on the key-fixings. The 3EDC combination makes me think it was flexed a bit in its removal/replacement, but sounds like it wasn't an actual break if 2WSX and 4RFV aren't notably deficient (I'm assuming the down-cursor is a similar point fault). Worst case: the membrane (if it's that) got torn a little bit, but could 'just' be slightly rucked up in the wrong place, in a reversible

Is the connector (which is unlikely to be broken/partly disconnected, given the limited mapping of errors) long enough to operate the keyboard 'popped out'? Much learning may be gained by manipulating the loosed keyboard from above while peering in from the side. Or, failing that, delicately 'feeling' out the difference. Removing any rogue hairs or skin/dandruff residue might be necessary (if such detritus wasn't actually problematic until you jiggled it out/in its seating), although it's also very possible that unwise prodding and poking can have caused your damage. (I've got a little 'rubber hook' tool, somewhere, that I find most efficacious in clearing out everything from key-back voids to USB port sockets. Almost the right match of softness and firmness, thin enough to get into places even a pin can't (which could damage things, if not used carefully) with sufficient reach/looping to be useful.)

There are so many subtly different proprietorial features to laptop keyboards (all trying to be thinner but still functional, and with varying ideas on firmness/resistance/etc) that it might just be easier to go for a factory-new replacement, but I wish you good luck with resolving what I hope is a far less involved fix.