Laptop automatically turns itself off! - fixed

[cahj]

Just for those interested:

I have a Medion MD9783. Had it for a while. After a few months, the computer started to automatically turn itself off, when under load. The fan would go nuts, and the noise was incredible. I tried everything (softwarewise) with no luck. Clean install and all that.

I did a bit of research - seems quite a common problem (for laptops). Most people just send their laptop in, and get it fixed. But still no real solution.

So I got the assembly instructions of the net, and pulled the heat sink off. The heatsink was fixed with thermal tape. But it had blisters, and was in no way in contact with the CPU. Well, I fixed that, by scapring that shit off, and applying Artic SilverIII instead.
Just for good measure I put some on the GPU as well (its in contact with a heatspreader).

I put it all back together, and it works like a charm. The fan almost never turns itself on now, even when I am playing 3D games...

I hope this helps those with similar problems.

[dogwomble]

I'm glad that was you and not me pulling that thing apart.

I've only every pulled one laptop apart - an old Compaq Armada - and it was painful. And then it turned out that the upgrade I needed to do was easier to perform than I first thought.

[cahj]

Its actually not that difficult if you have the disassembly instructions. It showed me step by step what to do to get to what. Pretty easy.

Its another thing completely to find those instructions, but I got lucky...

[dogwomble]

That was the problem. HP/Compaq didn't seem particularly forthcoming with the disassembly instructions ... either that or I just didn't know where to look. Either way, I had to work it out myself and I was trying to pull the whole machine apart when all I needed to do was flip the keyboard up!

Incidentally, it was a RAM upgrade from 64Mb to 128mb that I was trying to do.

[utopian]

I'm having problems where the battery will not work. It's not that it's dying and won't absorb any power when recharging, it's that it just doesn't want to work at all.

I'm guessing that something's come apart but I haven't yet found a screwdriver that will fit.

Oh well, some day soon.

[dogwomble]

Are you sure it's making proper contact?

[utopian]

That's what I meant when I said it's come apart. Guess I should've stated what had come apart.

[spurr]

cahj - any tips on good places to find disassembly instructions?

I'm about to have a stab at pulling apart a Toshiba Satellite 1730 to replace the fan and some sort of instructions or diagrams would no doubt make it easier.

[cahj]

Sorry, I cant remember where I got mine from. I just 'Goggled' for my laptop type, and after some time, I came across upon some model variations, which allowed me to download the instructions.


But I think I just got lucky.

I honestly wouldnt recommend anyone to pull apart their laptop (least of all without instructions). Those things can be difficult to put back together. It turned out to be really simple with mine (MD9783), but again, I think I got lucky.

[dogwomble]

Yes, I've made the mistake pulling open a Compaq laptop to do a RAM upgrade. Turned out to be a really simple operation (just had to flip the keyboard up) but I couldn't find any disassembly/reassembly instructions. As a result, I started going the wrong way about it and started pulling the whole thing apart. Big mistake! These things are a complete bastard to put back together again ... although I managed to work it out in the end.