Computer Shutting Down

[Tigger29]

Stumped here too.. I do know that if you're running on AC power only (without a battery, or with a bad one) and you unplug the cord, it will power off immediately.  I'm wondering if there's some kind of connection issue with where the cord plugs in at the motherboard... in conjunction with a bad/worn battery as well.  I've heard of the solder breaking for the receptacle.

Try jiggling it and see if you can get it to act up.  Also see if the A/C power light turns off a split second before this happens...

[BowHTR]

Stumped here too.. I do know that if you're running on AC power only (without a battery, or with a bad one) and you unplug the cord, it will power off immediately.  I'm wondering if there's some kind of connection issue with where the cord plugs in at the motherboard... in conjunction with a bad/worn battery as well.  I've heard of the solder breaking for the receptacle.

Try jiggling it and see if you can get it to act up.  Also see if the A/C power light turns off a split second before this happens...  the light stays lit the whole time.

The laptop is just over a year old. I can unplug the cord and have up to 5 hours on high performance, if I enable the battery saver I have up to 7 hours. The battery is still good.

[CRYPTIC]

A friend of mine ran across this kind of problem and went to the builders web site and researched the problem. He found out there that others were experiencing the same type of thing. He got a RMA and sent it in they told him it was the vid chip on that particular motherboard. They could replace the vid chip or motherboard he got it back with no bill or what they had done,but the problem was fixed. His was just out of warranty about 3 months. The builder of this laptop was MSI and he had it back within two weeks. This was his wife laptop and does not see a lot of gaming from her but the grandson, 8 years old does play on it.Laptops are not up to the task of serious gaming at long periods of time.Yes there are some that are built for gaming but they are not your best choice for a lot of reasons.

[gyrene81]

Hmmm... 

What brand/model of laptop is it?

Check the AC adapter cord for a bulge, kink or narrow spot near the end that plugs into the laptop and or near the brick. Could be a short in the wire.

Take the battery out. Run the laptop just off the AC adapter.

On just the AC adapter gently wiggle the end that plugs into the laptop.

Last but not least, with the battery out and AC adapter unplugged, carefully pop the keyboard out and check for dust everywhere. If you feel confident that you can safely open the case, do so and clean it out. Be very careful with the ribbon cables.

[BowHTR]

Hmmm... 

What brand/model of laptop is it?  Dell Studio1537

Check the AC adapter cord for a bulge, kink or narrow spot near the end that plugs into the laptop and or near the brick. Could be a short in the wire.

Take the battery out. Run the laptop just off the AC adapter.

On just the AC adapter gently wiggle the end that plugs into the laptop.

Last but not least, with the battery out and AC adapter unplugged, carefully pop the keyboard out and check for dust everywhere. If you feel confident that you can safely open the case, do so and clean it out. Be very careful with the ribbon cables.

[Skuzzy]

Gyrene has a point.  Heat could cause a shutdown to occur.  Does not take much dust to make a laptop overheat.

[BowHTR]

Gyrene has a point.  Heat could cause a shutdown to occur.  Does not take much dust to make a laptop overheat.

Even on first startup?

I have a fan that blows air on top and under the bottom of my laptop to keep it from getting to hot.

[Skuzzy]

Yes, but if the laptop gets clogged with dust balls, no amount of air blowing from the outside is going to help cool it.

[gyrene81]

BowHTR without wild assumptions it is possible that the damage has been a progressive process. The video chip on that system is probably using a passive cooling heatsink with the fan from the cpu creating airflow. Also the fans and heatsinks inside a laptop are very small and what would be an insignificant amount of dust in a desktop is a large amount inside a laptop. Even with your external cooling, you're not dissipating the internal heat effectively. Like blowing cool air on a hot rock wrapped in insulation, the surface will be cool to the touch but the rock is still hot inside. A cpu can reach 100 degrees in 30 seconds without a heatsink and fan, in a minute it can reach critical temp and either shut down or fry. From your description, you may have a fan that is not circulating properly...but that's just a guess without being able to look at it myself.

What happened when you tried to run the laptop with just the ac adapter?

Was there any effect when you moved the connector?

If it runs no problem on just the ac adaptor and moving the connector has no effect then you can rule out the power supply and the solder joint on the internal ac connector.

If there are no noticeable bulges or kinks in the power cord from the "brick" to the connector then you can rule out there being a short in the wire.

[BowHTR]

BowHTR without wild assumptions it is possible that the damage has been a progressive process. The video chip on that system is probably using a passive cooling heatsink with the fan from the cpu creating airflow. Also the fans and heatsinks inside a laptop are very small and what would be an insignificant amount of dust in a desktop is a large amount inside a laptop. Even with your external cooling, you're not dissipating the internal heat effectively. Like blowing cool air on a hot rock wrapped in insulation, the surface will be cool to the touch but the rock is still hot inside. A cpu can reach 100 degrees in 30 seconds without a heatsink and fan, in a minute it can reach critical temp and either shut down or fry. From your description, you may have a fan that is not circulating properly...but that's just a guess without being able to look at it myself.

What happened when you tried to run the laptop with just the ac adapter?  still the usual cutting off

Was there any effect when you moved the connector? still the usual cutting off

If it runs no problem on just the ac adaptor and moving the connector has no effect then you can rule out the power supply and the solder joint on the internal ac connector.

If there are no noticeable bulges or kinks in the power cord from the "brick" to the connector then you can rule out there being a short in the wire.

[gyrene81]

If moving the connector from the AC adapter without the battery installed causes the system to shut down, then it is highly probable that you have a short on the AC adapter connector attached to the motherboard. Not uncommon, not easily fixed either.