hello all;
i've got a few laptops on my bench right now, one is this alienware 17. the laptop is a reliable, solid machine... once it powers on. it's finicky to start though.
history: it came to me with no battery installed. it passed all stress tests, and it appeared to be golden. when the OEM, used battery arrived, i popped it in and sent it off. long story short, it came back, and i can see why. with the battery connected, it only boots about 1/3 of the time.
symptoms: pressing the on/off button will cause brief fan spin and LED illumination, then the machine cuts off. sometimes it will attempt to reboot itself, other times i'll have to press the on/off again.
occasionally it boots fine on first try, sometimes 5 or more tries.
testing: i noticed that the CMOS battery was ajar, and the retention mech wasn't working. it's now held in place with a bit of rubber between it and the chassis.
if i remove the battery, it seems to boot fine every time. this leads me to understand why it came in w/o a battery.
any ideas?
i've got a few laptops on my bench right now, one is this alienware 17. the laptop is a reliable, solid machine... once it powers on. it's finicky to start though.
history: it came to me with no battery installed. it passed all stress tests, and it appeared to be golden. when the OEM, used battery arrived, i popped it in and sent it off. long story short, it came back, and i can see why. with the battery connected, it only boots about 1/3 of the time.
symptoms: pressing the on/off button will cause brief fan spin and LED illumination, then the machine cuts off. sometimes it will attempt to reboot itself, other times i'll have to press the on/off again.
occasionally it boots fine on first try, sometimes 5 or more tries.
testing: i noticed that the CMOS battery was ajar, and the retention mech wasn't working. it's now held in place with a bit of rubber between it and the chassis.
if i remove the battery, it seems to boot fine every time. this leads me to understand why it came in w/o a battery.
any ideas?