Did my laptop just die?

[BBCMember]

I have a Toshiba Satellite 1405-S171. It has always been reliable for me. Tonight, I turned it on, and then as it was booting up, I plugged in the A/C adapter into the jack on the computer while it was plugged into a UPS battery backup, like I have done many times before without issue (minus the UPS backup). However this time, it just turned off right away. It made a sound similar to what it would make if there were no battery in it, it was plugged into the wall, and somebody just pulled the plug.

Immediately after that happened, the LED light that is first light from the left in the set of five LED lights that are on the front of the laptop where the lights for the battery are started blinking orange. The pattern that it blinks in is 5 blinks with the 5th blink being a tiny bit longer to stay on than the first four blinks. And then 3 more blinks with a pause with no lights that is a tiny bit longer than the other pause between the blinks. It will then go back to the 5 blink pattern.

I tried to reset it by taking out the battery, unplugging the AC, holding down the power button for 1 minute, and then putting the battery back in and plugging it back in, but no luck. That one light continues to blink orange in that 5/3 pattern.

Is it toast? Did the mobo kick the bucket?

 

[corkyg]

I can't recall exactly, but somewhere I have read that a UPS should not be connected to a UPS. A laptop has its own UPS, i.e., the A/C adapter/transformer and the battery system in the laptop. The result is like connecting a UPS to a UPS.

What comes to mind is a warning not to connect a laptop's A/C adaptert to a UPS backed up port - only to a non-backup up plug.

What the resulting damage is, I don't know. Have you tried to power up the laptop with the battery removed and conect it to non-UPS outlet?

 

[heymrdj]

I have plugged my laptop into a UPS before without issue. Try different outlets, and try to run it jsut off the battery. Pray u didn't short the board.

 

[BBCMember]

Thanks . I actually figured out what happened. I have an Antec AC Adapter that's adjustable in voltage. I guess that last time I pulled it out of my laptop bag, the lever that controls the voltage went from 15v to 24v. So, it was giving my laptop too much power. Good thing it didn't fry it! Glad it has a built in mechanism to shut down if it gets too much power.

The way I fixed it (aside from changing the voltage back to 15v on the AC adapter) is I unplugged the computer, took out the battery, held down the power button for 60 seconds, and then let it sit for 10 min.

I tried booting it back up right after unplugging, taking out the battery, and holding down the power button for 60 seconds, but that was a no go. It needed to rest.

 

[corkyg]

Whew! Good break! All my A/C adapters are automatic - no switches.