I bought a refurbished Dell chromebook, and used it for several months, taking it apart a few times.
One day, I took it apart, and pulled the motherboard out, because I was curious if I could modify it, maybe change the ram, even though it’s not meant to be changed.
When I put it all back together, it wouldn’t boot, not by opening the lid, not by pressing the key, nothing. I figured I shocked the board (since I neither own nor use any antistatic gear), and it was bricked.
After a few months of sitting around, I tried ro turn it on again, just out of curiosity, and it booted like everything was normal.
Does anyone have any idea what could have happened?
Tldr: Chromebook I thought was bricked started like normal after months of sitting ¯\_ (ツ) _/¯
No, it was unplugged. It was fully charged when I thought I bricked it, and it was at 9% when it booted again. That makes me think it was running in some way, but the system time was still at the same date…
I have had two laptops fail to boot. one needed ram removed and put back in…not that you could do with yours. the other needed power button held down for 45 seconds as a hard reset.
Did you try plugging it in initially after you disassembled it and reassembled it? I’ve found on chromebooks that the embedded controller doesn’t seem to wake up until the charger is plugged in after unplugging the battery. Could it be that you initially didn’t plug it in before trying it months ago, but months later you figured the battery would be low after all that time so you plugged it in finally starting the embedded controller?
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INFO: Was it charging the whole time?
No, it was unplugged. It was fully charged when I thought I bricked it, and it was at 9% when it booted again. That makes me think it was running in some way, but the system time was still at the same date…
It’s a ghost. Always sleep with a vacuum.
Good advice 👍
I have had two laptops fail to boot. one needed ram removed and put back in…not that you could do with yours. the other needed power button held down for 45 seconds as a hard reset.
Maybe sitting unplugged for months worked as a hard reset? ¯\_ (ツ) _/¯
Did you try plugging it in initially after you disassembled it and reassembled it? I’ve found on chromebooks that the embedded controller doesn’t seem to wake up until the charger is plugged in after unplugging the battery. Could it be that you initially didn’t plug it in before trying it months ago, but months later you figured the battery would be low after all that time so you plugged it in finally starting the embedded controller?
No, I didn’t plug it in initially, but I also didn’t plug it in when it started, until I saw that the battery was low