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From: undisclosed on 18 Apr 2010 11:20

Many of you have Gateway MA3 / MA7 (MX6xxxx / MT6xxx) notebooks that
don't power on at all. Some of you have replaced your jacks, only to
find out that the problem remained.
This problem is due to a short in between the layers on your board -
but a skilled technician can still repair it. Precision Division in
Clearwater FL repairs this problem in the Gateway MA3 / MA7 notebooks. I
think they do it for about a hundred, but you'd have to call and check.


--
rob001
From: BillW50 on 18 Apr 2010 12:31
undisclosed rob wrote on Sun, 18 Apr 2010 08:20:59 -0700:
> Many of you have Gateway MA3 / MA7 (MX6xxxx / MT6xxx) notebooks that
> don't power on at all. Some of you have replaced your jacks, only to
> find out that the problem remained.
> This problem is due to a short in between the layers on your board -
> but a skilled technician can still repair it. Precision Division in
> Clearwater FL repairs this problem in the Gateway MA3 / MA7 notebooks. I
> think they do it for about a hundred, but you'd have to call and check.

Very interesting rob. And what is the reason for this do you think?

1) Abuse of bumping the jack a bit too often?

2) A manufacturing defect?

3) Leaving a weak battery in the laptop which pumps out excessive
current and heat from trying to recharge a weak battery?

4) Or something else?

Another fix if it supports a docking station, is to use a docking
station instead. And I have found this bypasses the problem completely.
And just ignore that burning smell. As whatever is burning will burn
itself out in a few hours and disappear (especially with that 6+ amp
power supply that comes with the docking station). And it will continue
to work fine for many years to come. And those docking stations can be
found for about $30 on eBay.

--
Bill
Asus EEE PC 702G4 ~ 2GB RAM ~ 16GB-SDHC
Xandros Linux (build 2007-10-19 13:03)
From: undisclosed on 18 Apr 2010 13:22

BillW50;1767341 Wrote:
> undisclosed rob wrote on Sun, 18 Apr 2010 08:20:59 -0700:
> > Many of you have Gateway MA3 / MA7 (MX6xxxx / MT6xxx) notebooks that
> > don't power on at all. Some of you have replaced your jacks, only to
> > find out that the problem remained.
> > This problem is due to a short in between the layers on your board -
> > but a skilled technician can still repair it. Precision Division in
> > Clearwater FL repairs this problem in the Gateway MA3 / MA7
> notebooks. I
> > think they do it for about a hundred, but you'd have to call and
> check.
>
> Very interesting rob. And what is the reason for this do you think?
>
> 1) Abuse of bumping the jack a bit too often?
>
> 2) A manufacturing defect?
>
> 3) Leaving a weak battery in the laptop which pumps out excessive
> current and heat from trying to recharge a weak battery?
>
> 4) Or something else?
>
> Another fix if it supports a docking station, is to use a docking
> station instead. And I have found this bypasses the problem completely.
> And just ignore that burning smell. As whatever is burning will burn
> itself out in a few hours and disappear (especially with that 6+ amp
> power supply that comes with the docking station). And it will continue
> to work fine for many years to come. And those docking stations can be
> found for about $30 on eBay.
>
> --
> Bill
> Asus EEE PC 702G4 ~ 2GB RAM ~ 16GB-SDHC
> Xandros Linux (build 2007-10-19 13:03)

It's not from heat. Repeat plugging/unplugging of power adapter into DC
jack caused damage in between the layers, causing a short in between the
layers. In some cases, the damage is so severe that it's unrepairable.
That's usually only when the board has been tampered with, like when
someone who doesn't know what they're doing rips the unit apart and puts
an iron to it. Don't do that, at least not if you ever want to see your
laptop working again.


--
rob001
From: BillW50 on 20 Apr 2010 10:02
In news:041d3454b5ced840c3fb3d45e346f9c1(a)nntp-gateway.com,
undisclosed typed on Mon, 19 Apr 2010 15:26:07 -0700:
> I would probably solder your fan to a 5V rail - that would be the best
> option. I usually do that with notebooks that run notoriously hot.

Yes that would be a good idea and should work. I too had some ideas. One
was to underclock the CPU. That way it could never create enough heat to
hurt the CPU anyway. And in many cases, underclocking by 30%, you
usually don't even need the fan anymore either. Although on these
Gateways, I haven't been able to control the core voltage yet.

Another idea is they make thermal switches. So I take a working one and
increase the CPU temp and monitor the heatsink temp with a probe and
find the temp which the fan kicks on high. Then buy a thermal switch for
that temp or a bit lower. Then when the temp goes high, 5v then would be
applied to the fan.

I found an article (it is old though) that suggests the CPU temp is
measured by a thermal diode within the CPU. Here is the link:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article37-page1.html

> As far as the keyboard connector, I'd have to see it. Sometimes I can
> pull them off of salvage boards. Sometimes I use cut plastic to use
> as a substitute, then secure it with two drops of high temp glue. I
> see that a lot with the Sony notebooks.

Yes true. The one that I had taken the clip out of I am not really
using. Now it is missing a CPU too. If I am going to get it going again,
it needs a CPU and then something needs to be done with the keyboard
ribbon cable.

> If you have other specific questions, feel free to email me at contact
> at precisiondivision

Ah thanks! And if you want to get a hold of me, just change KOM to COM
in my address in the header.

--
Bill
Asus EEE PC 701G4 ~ 2GB RAM ~ 16GB-SDHC
Windows XP SP2 (quit Windows updates back in May 2009)


From: BillW50 on 19 Apr 2010 13:52
In news:029d8791b59833982a854a8b4d8ef3ad(a)nntp-gateway.com,
undisclosed typed on Sun, 18 Apr 2010 10:22:40 -0700:
> BillW50;1767341 Wrote:
>> undisclosed rob wrote on Sun, 18 Apr 2010 08:20:59 -0700:
>>> Many of you have Gateway MA3 / MA7 (MX6xxxx / MT6xxx) notebooks that
>>> don't power on at all. Some of you have replaced your jacks, only to
>>> find out that the problem remained.
>>> This problem is due to a short in between the layers on your board -
>>> but a skilled technician can still repair it. Precision Division in
>>> Clearwater FL repairs this problem in the Gateway MA3 / MA7
>>> notebooks. I think they do it for about a hundred, but you'd have
>>> to call and check.
>>
>> Very interesting rob. And what is the reason for this do you think?
>>
>> 1) Abuse of bumping the jack a bit too often?
>>
>> 2) A manufacturing defect?
>>
>> 3) Leaving a weak battery in the laptop which pumps out excessive
>> current and heat from trying to recharge a weak battery?
>>
>> 4) Or something else?
>>
>> Another fix if it supports a docking station, is to use a docking
>> station instead. And I have found this bypasses the problem
>> completely. And just ignore that burning smell. As whatever is
>> burning will burn itself out in a few hours and disappear
>> (especially with that 6+ amp power supply that comes with the
>> docking station). And it will continue to work fine for many years
>> to come. And those docking stations can be found for about $30 on
>> eBay.
>>
>> --
>> Bill
>> Asus EEE PC 702G4 ~ 2GB RAM ~ 16GB-SDHC
>> Xandros Linux (build 2007-10-19 13:03)
>
> It's not from heat. Repeat plugging/unplugging of power adapter into
> DC jack caused damage in between the layers, causing a short in
> between the layers. In some cases, the damage is so severe that it's
> unrepairable. That's usually only when the board has been tampered
> with, like when someone who doesn't know what they're doing rips the
> unit apart and puts an iron to it. Don't do that, at least not if you
> ever want to see your laptop working again.

Fascinating rob! Say do you work on the motherboards? If so, ever seen
one that reads the CPU too low by 20�F or so? Thus it allows the CPU to
overheat because it thinks it is running cool anyway so no need to kick
the fan on high and thus allows the CPU to slowly cook itself to death?

--
Bill
Asus EEE PC 701G4 ~ 2GB RAM ~ 16GB-SDHC
Windows XP SP2 (quit Windows updates back in May 2009)


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