dead x31

[idoa]

First things first: hello everyone (my first post).

Now, my trusty x31 died a few days ago: no power, with battery or AC, or both. No LEDs light up, nothing whatsoever happens when pressing the power button.
Before that it had been acting strangely for a while - whenever I wanted to bring it back to life from suspend or hibernation I had to take out the battery and AC, plug them back in, and only then it would yield.
After a while this stopped and it wouldn't power up again no matter what. I spent a lot of time trying to figure this out, and eventually found this thread, and this one, which seem to describe problems identical to mine, i.e. some cold solder in the circuit meant to fire up the computer.
So after some very mild and cautious heating, as suggested, it actually worked, and I didn't power down the computer for about two weeks, until I had to two days ago (nevermind why).
Now this doesn't work anymore, and I wanted to ask you guys, before I just buy a new motherboard (taking it for repair would probably cost twice or thrice as much) if any of you knows how this can be fixed at home, I'd love to hear about it.
Thanks,
Ido

[charles.atcher]

I would suggest doing the heat treatment again, but this time use more heat. You may have not reached the right temp before for a complete reflow. A infrared temperature gun would be most helpful.

Look for the GPU reflow sticky in the T4x section.

[sojourner]

Hmmm, interesting situation. Glad you posted and welcome to the forum! Sounds like you've already rolled up your sleeves and jumped in!

Though I've not encountered this situation before, may still be able to help. When troubled by components acting up with heat (opposite of your situation) I've used a can of cool spray (bought at Radio Shack years ago). By spraying components one could see rather quickly which one responded; thus you could find the defective component. Following a similiar strategy you might be able to apply heat (via heat gun, hair dryer etc.) and see which area of the board responds. Once you find the area test further and see if you can narrow down to a specific component or trace or solder connection(s).

It can also be helpful to do a physical inspection of components (looking for obvious defects) and solder joints (cold, cracked joints) using a good magnifier (I use an Optivisor); and use lots of light. Cold solder joints are usually rather easy to fix if you have soldering experience.

Lastly, as a last resort, I've know guys who suspect a cold solder joint(s) to simply take the suspect area and reflow solder-joint after joint after joint. Sometimes you get lucky and hit the joint that was causing problems. And BTW, don't focus simply on bad solder joints because the problem may be a failing (or failed) component, like a fuse.

Hope you'll let us know what you discover and how you make out!

[idoa]

Thank you for replying, I completely missed that thread in the T4x forum.
I am definitely going to try another treatment.
sojourner: what do you mean "responded"? What am I supposed to see?

[sojourner]

Thank you for replying, I completely missed that thread in the T4x forum.
I am definitely going to try another treatment.
sojourner: what do you mean "responded"? What am I supposed to see?

The last time I used 'cooling spray' was to look for a defective part in a TV. When the TV warmed-up the picture went funny. By leaving the TV on and spraying suspect parts I was able to actually SEE the picture go to normal (thus identify the bad component, thus 'respond').

In your case I would heat-up an area and try pressing the power switch, if no joy (it doesn't power-on), move on to another area, heating it up and trying the power-on switch once again.

This may or may not yield what you're hoping for, but one other thought: I'm focusing on looking for defective components, cold solder joints etc following your thoughts in the initial post. Have you absolutely ruled out the dreaded GPU issue these machines sometimes have? Also, curious about this; do you use the dock with your X31? I've had my X31 apart and can tell you the GPU is actually quite close to the docking port. Every time I push the X31 into the port I cringe HOPING it will start ok because the MOBO does flex upon insertion ... and with the GPU right there ... well it seems like a disaster waiting to happen.

Fortunately there are FAR fewer reports of X31 GPU issues than T4x. But you may also want to try removing the screws holding your KB, lift the KB up so you can access the GPU, apply light finger pressure to the GPU top whilst pressing the power button (and praying)! And while you're at it, may as well try the same 'light pressure' technique on the Intel North? Bridge, which is also right there!

Hope you'll let us know how you made out.