System board also know as motherboard
A system board also known as motherboard or mainboard is the main circtuit board in any laptop. Unlike desktop PC system boards, laptop system boards come in thousands of different shapes and sizes. Laptop motherboards are model-specific. In other words, you cannot remove motherboard from a Toshiba laptop and stick it into a Dell laptop. All parts inside a laptop are connected to the system board, either directly via a connector mounted on the system board or through a cable.
In a typical laptop the following ports and components are permanently attached to the system board and cannot be easily removed and replaced without soldering:
1. Hard drive (HDD) connector.
2. CD/DVD drive connector.
3. Memory (RAM) slots.
4. Battery connector.
5. Keyboard connector.
6. Audio (headphone and microphone) jacks.
7. Volume control wheel.
8. USB ports.
9. Eithernet (RJ45 aka network) port.
10. IEEE 1394 (Fire Wire) ports.
11. Video chip and some other components and ports.
System board, processor (CPU) and LCD screen are the most expensive parts in any laptop. In some cases, when one of these three parts fails, it’s cheaper to buy a brand new laptop than replace the failed part. But each case is different so do your research.
The system board is mounted inside the laptop base assembly. In order to remove or replace the motherboard, you’ll have to disassemble the whole laptop.
SYSTEM BOARD FAILURE SYMPTOMS.
When a system board fails, you may experience the following most common problems with your laptop. 1. The laptop is completely dead. There are no LED light activity when you press on the power button or plug in a known good AC power adapter. 2. The laptop starts but the video output on the LCD screen or external monitor is garbled. Most likely this is related to the VGA chip failure. 3. The laptop turns on without video on the screen and the power LED starts flashing. 4. The laptop works fine with AC power adapter but will not charge a known good battery. If that’s the case, most likely there is something wrong with the battery charging circuit or DC power jack.
Laptop parts | Repair Man | 
December 26, 2008 3:45 pm
299 Responses to “System board also know as motherboard”
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Pages: [12] 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 … 1 » Show All
January 23rd, 2012 at 10:32 pm
@ subair,
First, I would test the AC adapter. Make sure the adapter outputs correct voltage.
It’s possible your adapter died and the battery doesn’t have enough charge to start the laptop.
January 23rd, 2012 at 10:25 pm
@ RUSSELL,
Yes, it’s possible. What happens if you remove the battery and start the laptop just from the AC adapter?
January 18th, 2012 at 5:10 am
i have toshiba satellite pro m70 laptop .its first i connect adapter led blinking after is not linght.,,how can i fix this
January 11th, 2012 at 8:09 am
I have a Toshiba satellite L300 and the battery charges when the laptop is off but when I turn it on and plug in a AC adapter it RESTART.. Does that have to do anything with the motherboard.. .
December 29th, 2011 at 2:30 pm
@ Lahveen,
The motherboard definitely can be replaced but is it worth it? You’ll have to search on the Internet for a new motherboard and see how much it is. Prices vary depending on the laptop brand and model.
December 28th, 2011 at 6:20 pm
Hi
Just replying to the previous message below. Yeah the charger is good I think it would be the motherboard? Do you know if this can be fixed or replaced? if so how much approx?
Thank you
December 28th, 2011 at 3:39 pm
@ Lahveen,
If the charger is good, most likely you have a problem with the motherboard or DC jack. I really cannot tell which one is failing without looking at the laptop.
Most likely your files are still safe. You can access all files using an external USB enclosure as explained in this guide:
http://www.insidemylaptop.com/recover-files-from-broken-laptop/
Just remove the hard drive, install it into the external USB enclosure and connect this enclosure to any other working PC.
December 28th, 2011 at 12:56 pm
Hi,
I have this dell laptop and its not working, I overheated it by accident and now it won’t turn back on at all. When i connect the charger on- its totally dead. I had this problem before but got it fix by a tech guy which cost me around $300. And its not my laptop so I really don’t want to get a new one as there are important files on it. Can you help me? what can I do?
December 12th, 2011 at 10:02 pm
@ Samuel,
Before you disassemble the laptop, try some simple stuff.
Have you tested your AC adapter? Maybe the AC adapter died and the battery doesn’t have charge. Can you test the laptop with another adapter?
December 12th, 2011 at 9:58 pm
HEllo I need help Please
I have a Toshiba M105-s3041 laptop… My computer turn on and then off. I want to try to remove the CMOS Batt But Its sold to the motherboard. How can i reset the bios, so i cant be clearly that is something else???
December 12th, 2011 at 2:36 pm
@ kmohan90,
Try reseating the hard drive. Maybe it’s not making good connection with the motherboard. If reseating the hard drive doesn’t help, this could be motherboard failure.
December 12th, 2011 at 2:32 pm
@ thena,
All files are saved on the hard drive.
If your motherboard failed, it shouldn’t affect files.
You can recover files using an external USB enclosure. Here’s how you do it:
http://www.insidemylaptop.com/recover-files-from-broken-laptop/
By the way, probably it’s not worth replacing the motherboard. Just buy a new laptop.
December 3rd, 2011 at 8:04 am
hello … my compaq presario cq40′s motherboard died already…but still not fixed yet….and if fixed it will the files and all the memory still will be inside the laptop ??
November 29th, 2011 at 7:39 am
Laptop:- Hp Pavilion dv6913tx
problem:- When i start the laptop,BIOS screen is visible,then a blinking cursor appears. sometimes after the appearance of cursor it restarts.somtime without presence of any cursor the screen is blank.
when Started:-After using laptop continuosly for several hours,it hanged.i shut it forcably using power button.
earlier also this problem occured,but it started after few days.
I checked HD,memory (even tried flipping),battery,fan.these are working fine.
November 12th, 2011 at 9:46 am
@ sotiris,
It’s possible the new motherboard is defective.
It should not start by itself when you plug in the AC adapter.
November 7th, 2011 at 9:56 am
I have a toshiba satellite a300 my previous moterboard died.. i ordered a new one but when i plugged it without a battery the fun turn in full speed whithout having pressed the power button. When i press the power button it completely shut down. When i used only the battery it does the same at hthe beggining and when i press the power button it loads normally but does not charge. I find out that when i use the sd slot it charges provided that the sd ligth is on… Any ideas?
November 2nd, 2011 at 4:35 pm
@ revan kumar,
I assume that another AC adapter is compatible with your laptop so it’s not the adapter problem.
First of all, I would try removing memory modules one by one and test the laptop with each module separately. Sometimes a failed memory module can cause that.
If the laptop doesn’t work with either module installed, probably this is motherboard failure.
Also, could be failed DC jack. Can you start the laptop if you find the right position for the adapter plug inside the jack? Wiggle the plug and try turning on the laptop at the same time.
November 2nd, 2011 at 4:32 pm
@ TP Verma,
There is no way I can tell what is causing the problem without testing your laptop with a known good battery.
It’s either bad battery or motherboard failure but you need another battery to find out.
October 19th, 2011 at 9:38 pm
Sir,
I am having dell studio 1450 laptop. The battery is now no more charging from charger. When I plug charger and press power button there are 4 amber light following 1 white light light flashing but laptop not powering on. May be due to dead charge in battery. But when I removed battery and plug charger it working fine, but there is no any light flash(status indicator). I shown my laptop to 2-3 local laptop repair technicians. They all have different views, one said this is failure of motherboard need to replace motherboard, another said that battery charging circuit failure. And one another said that battery needs to be replaced no problem in motherboard. I am not having any spare battery to check. May be I have to purchase new one and check is this battery problem or motherboard. Could you help me in this problem.
Thanks.
October 18th, 2011 at 9:41 am
Dell Inspiron 6400/E1505 laptop dead won’t start, with or without battery, I tried power supply from another dell, no help. when I press on button, the left light? lights up for 3 seconds, then shuts off no sounds of any kind, nothing on the screen. about 3 months out of warrenty. this happened all of a sudden with no symptoms beforehand
September 11th, 2011 at 9:18 pm
when I turn on my laptop the lights on the keyboard light up. The HD is not spinning, in fact I could smell a faint burning smell. The fan does not spin as well. I tried re seating the ram and still nothing. I tried turning it on w/o the ram installed only difference is now it didn’t stay on and it completely shut off. I then removed the HD and tried it and it still shut off. You think maybe motherboard?
August 13th, 2011 at 3:04 pm
First off, I want to thank you for creating such a fantastic and informative site!!! I can’t get enough!
Now, my trouble: I have an HP Pavilion ze4949 that I got 2ndhand, and the LED that indicates a charging battery has never worked, nor has the battery charged, and I’ve bought 3 seperate and different batteries to test it. I’ve also replaced the AC adapter (with the manufacturer’s recommended part), with no change in status. When I ran the diagnostic software, I got a battery detected but not charging, complete with the red line and the message telling me to consider buying another battery (even while the battery being tested was less than a day old AND ran fine in a friend’s similar machine!). My question is, how do I go about determining where the problem is on the board, and where can I find information on how to repair it when I locate it? I’m not a wimp, and have been ‘playing’ with desktops for over 15 years,(and all sorts of other electronics for even longer!) but laptops kind of have me intimidated, and I’d prefer to have some working knowledge prior to attacking this. Any help would be appreciated, even if it’s just some URLs leading to the information I need to get comfortable with performing ‘major surgery’ on my laptop!
Thanks again for posting so much wonderful and enlightening information, and assisting those of us who haven’t the opportunities for formal learning to continue to expand our tech horizons!
August 7th, 2011 at 2:03 pm
am happy to friend with this page,
i wanna No, if an power ic is the problem of this system,
there is dell d600 motherboard with me, my customer ask for help out to repair the system him.
This major board, it receiving in current but it not powering, i had change the power ic, it doing the same, i don’t what to do nest Again,
i need help out, to solve this system proble.
Thanks, i wish to head you soon as Possible, god bless
August 6th, 2011 at 6:55 am
I need you help, I have Neo GL31, for the past few months, it heats up and automatically turned off. A month ago, its wont open when I press the on button, but then 2 days after I tried opening it, it worked again. But then just the other day it did not open anymore. I tried using just the battery, it wont open, I tried direct plugging without battery, no power at all and wont open, I tried using diffent charger, nothing happened. What could probably happened and what do you think is the problem? Thanks, please reply, via email if possible. All my files are there and I am so worried.
August 6th, 2011 at 12:45 am
How to clear the password of my del computer with out buying the soft were and with out opening my computer?
can you help please?