Lafite laptop won’t turn on

O

Odcrane

Member
Hi all,

My Lafite laptop is failing to turn on. Firstly the hinge on the right hand side broke. The screws holding the hinge to the chassis tore out of the plastic case. This levered up the casing and exposed the motherboard slightly. The laptop still worked but a few weeks later it has now decided to fail to turn on.
I don’t know anything about laptops but through watching a few YouTube videos I’ve done a bit of troubleshooting. I’ve tested certain areas of the motherboard with a multimeter and am getting a 19v reading on all connections I’ve tested.
I have a theory that the cause of the failure to turn on is the broken hinge might have damaged the motherboard or wires immediately next to it. There is a black wire next to the hinge that is connected to the motherboard with a small lug- the other end of the wire was taped in with the multiple tiny wires of the lvds cable but wasn’t connected to anything- not sure if it was previously wires in to the lvds pin and was ripped out by the hinge. Am also wondering whether this wire not connected to anything might be a red herring and the problem is elsewhere.

I’m hoping somebody might be able to tell me what the function of that loose black wire is and is it supposed to be connected into the lvds pin? It would be strange if it were just taped in with the lvds wires but not actually attached to the pin itself?

I would really appreciate somebody shedding some light on this. I’ve posted a photo of the broken area. FYI the power button is on the keypad immediately above the offending area.

Oliver
 

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O

Odcrane

Member
Hi thanks for taking a look at my post. I bought the laptop about a year and a half ago. The holes in the plastic that the hinge screws go in to appear to have gradually been worn and finally the screws have ripped out and the hinge has come away. See photo below of the bottom casing being pushed down by the broken hinge.
B49C9862-095B-4B81-AB75-68AD34B03C4D.jpeg
 
BlessedSquirrel

BlessedSquirrel

We love you Ukraine
Odcrane said:
Hi thanks for taking a look at my post. I bought the laptop about a year and a half ago. The holes in the plastic that the hinge screws go in to appear to have gradually been worn and finally the screws have ripped out and the hinge has come away. See photo below of the bottom casing being pushed down by the broken hinge.View attachment 15859
Click to expand...
But how did the hinge break in the first place?
 
O

Odcrane

Member
Sorry I will try to describe it better. It is quite difficult to describe. The Hinge itself isn’t broken- the aspect of the laptop that is broken is the connection between the hinge and the laptop. One side of the hinge is connected via screws to the screen, the other side of the hinge should be connected to the casing of the half of the laptop that holds the motherboard and keyboard etc. It should screw into black plastic holes but the screws have ripped out of the holes in the black plastic. I guess that this has happened because of wear. I don’t believe there was any one event that has caused the screws to rip out of the screw holes.
One further thing- the side of the hinge that is connected to the screen is also supposed to be screwed to the bottom case- so the three are held together. The screw hole in the aluminium bottom case has however somehow become too large so the screw just passes through it so the case isn’t held to the hinge.
Not sure if that makes sense to you? Like I say it’s quite difficult to describe.
 
BlessedSquirrel

BlessedSquirrel

We love you Ukraine
Odcrane said:
Sorry I will try to describe it better. It is quite difficult to describe. The Hinge itself isn’t broken- the aspect of the laptop that is broken is the connection between the hinge and the laptop. One side of the hinge is connected via screws to the screen, the other side of the hinge should be connected to the casing of the half of the laptop that holds the motherboard and keyboard etc. It should screw into black plastic holes but the screws have ripped out of the holes in the black plastic. I guess that this has happened because of wear. I don’t believe there was any one event that has caused the screws to rip out of the screw holes.
One further thing- the side of the hinge that is connected to the screen is also supposed to be screwed to the bottom case- so the three are held together. The screw hole in the aluminium bottom case has however somehow become too large so the screw just passes through it so the case isn’t held to the hinge.
Not sure if that makes sense to you? Like I say it’s quite difficult to describe.
Click to expand...
Ok, I wouldn't mess around, you paid for warranty that's still in effect and covers stuff like this, just call PCS on Monday (call don't email) and raise it with them.

Don't settle with damage like that, that's crazy, that's exactly what the warranty is for.
 
BlessedSquirrel

BlessedSquirrel

We love you Ukraine
Odcrane said:
Unfortunately I don’t have a warranty as I bought the laptop second hand.
Click to expand...
Ah, ok, I would still give PCS a call as that's not something we would know without having the same laptop in front of us.

They should be able to advise you, I would also ask them for a quote to fix it, they may or may not be able to help you out more reasonably than you imagine.
 
M

matt4

Bronze Level Poster
Hello,

Were you able to get this fixed? I had the same issue and no replacement motherboard no longer manufactured.
 
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