Motherboard or DC Jack Problem???

Could be a combination of things.

1) Battery is low. Not enough power to turn the laptop on.
Caused by;

2) AC adapter has a plug on the end of the cable. The plug plugs into a DC Power Jack on the laptop.

The DC Power Jack is bad.

2a) The DC Power Jack has a bad connection to the motherboard, (Cracked solder joints), and/or the jack itself is bad.

2b) Center Pin is loose in the jack's mount.
The back of the Center Pin where it mounts has become loose.

2c) The plastic body of the jack, which composes the jack's case, is cracked. This allows movement of the Center Pin.

2b, and 2c cause a bad connection with the AC adapter plug.

No charge to the Battery, no power to the laptop.

http://www.laptopjacks.com/view_part/For-Gateway-MX6920-DC-Power-Jack-GW51425.html

[ If this is the case the DC Power Jack needs to be resoldered to the motherboard. The cracked solder joints need to be re-melted, (Reflowed)
Entire laptop needs to be disassembled down to the bare motherboard in your hand.
(No Processor, Ram Memory, or any adapter cards mounted to the motherboard. Nada)

OR,
The DC Power jack needs to be replaced.
This entails disassembling the entire laptop, down to just the motherboard in your hand. (Same as above)

The old DC Power Jack is de-soldered, and a new one soldered in place.

Very FEW computer repair shops have the necessary skill level.
They just want to replace the entire motherboard.
IF one is available.
More Ka-Ching for them also. ]

3) The AC adapter is bad.
Not providing power to the laptop, to charge the Battery, nor give power to the laptop without the Battery.

AC adapter cord from adapter to plug, which plugs into the laptop, (DC Power Jack), may have a break in it.

May be an intermittent contact provided by wiggling the cord.
If this is the case the wires have stretched, and broken.
Wiggling causes the wires to briefly touch, and make contact.

Where this cord meets the plug itself. A lot of times there is a break in the wires in this area.

Solution is to replace the AC adapter. There are universal AC adapters you can buy, or perhaps Gateway still has some for sale.
(Ka-Ching)

Depends on what is wrong. Is it the DC Power Jack? The jack you plug the AC adapter (Charger) into?
Average cost is around $100 for a DC Power Jack replacement. (It's labor intensive, but the jack itself usually runs around $8 to $14 )

Most computer 'repair' shops do not have the skills required to perform this procedure.
The easy way is to just replace the motherboard. (Also more Ka-ching in the pocket)

Just a typical DC Power Jack replacement,

http://www.laptoprepair101.com/laptop/2007/12/06/dc-power-jack-repair-guide/

Disassembling a Gateway MX 6000 series laptop,

http://www.insidemylaptop.com/disassemble-gateway-mx-model-ma2a-series-laptop/


Some designs of the motherboard, have the DC Power Jack mounted in an area on the motherboard, that DC Power Jack failure is a reoccurring failure.
The motherboard cracks in the area the DC Power Jack is mounted. (Breaking the circuit traces)
In this instance it's better to replace the motherboard. Of course it's going to fail later on.

Your question: "Can you replace the motherboard?"
I have confidence in you, I believe you can.
Doesn't take a rocket scientist, but does require patience.

1) Remove ALL Power to the laptop. AC adapter (Charger), and Battery.

2) It would behoove you to buy, and wear an ESD wrist strap. (Electro Static Discharge)
Connect the alligator clip to a good ground source.
I connect to the metal frame of an empty desktop computer case.
(Average cost is around $3 to $8. Look online for reference. Visit computer repair shops, and stores like Radio Shack for purchase)

Your body carries Static electricity. Static will fry out (Short Circuit) the hardware components inside a computer. Especially a Processor.
With wearing an ESD wrist strap, and connecting to a good ground source, your laptop is safe.

3) There may be as many as 60+ screws. There may be 12, or more different types of screws. DO NOT mix them up! Use a multi-compartment container, and label the compartments for the area the screws came out of.
You can use a clean egg container, (Or two) in a pinch. label each egg holder.

4) You may want to take photos, and make notes as you disassemble. Makes a real handy guide for reassembling. Also nice to have if you get interrupted in the middle.

Obtaining a motherboard:
You might check Ebay. Sounds like advertising, but it isn't. Just one of my sources.
Also check Laptops for Parts on Ebay.
Some sell a laptop that has a broken LCD screen as the only fault.

Post questions in a Comment.

This is what the motherboard looks like, (Gateway Support),

http://support.gateway.com/s/Mobile/Q106/BladeK8F/4001199R/4001199Rmv.shtml

I believe that your problem is not the motherboard but the DC Power Jack that you plug the power source into. This is a regular problem I've faced with Gateways often. I now send them in on a regular basis to any one of several DC Powerjack Replacement vendors on eBay, who will offer a flat rate of around $80 dollars with return shipping. You will be responsible to pay the inbound shipping and I use parcel post as it's least expensive.

Go to ebay and in the search box type in DC Power Jack Repair and you'll get a big list. I cannot recommend a specific vendor here due to policy but I have never had a problem with any vendor for this problem yet.

Regards,
Marcus ~ Laptop Repair Specialist

Hello. I have seen this happen with all models of laptops. Too bad Apple has a patent on that magnetic power cord they use...

You can find all of the service and user manuals for your Gateway laptop here...

http://support.gateway.com/support/manlib/Notebooks/notebook.shtml

Good luck!

Motherboard or harddrive? I'm betting it's more towards the motherboard. The DC Power Jack to be more specific. This is the port where the AC adapter, (Charger), plug is plugged into.

The DC Power Jack is not much bigger, than the plug for the AC adapter that plugs into it. There are small pin leads that are on the bottom of this jack, and they go through the motherboard, and are soldered to the motherboard.

Accidental bumping of the AC adapter plug, while plugged into the DC Power Jack, can damage the jack. It can break the connections for the adapter plug, and/or can crack the solder joints for those small pin leads.

[Laptops use DC electricity. A flashlight battery, and a laptop battery, are examples of stored DC electricity. DC electricity has two poles. Positive and Negative. The DC Power Jack has two connections. Positive and Negative. {Even if the DC Power Jack has multiple holes in it]

There is also another known problem associated with DC Power Jacks. It may stem from a bad motherboard design.

More to the point, the area where the DC Power Jack mounts on the motherboard. In this design, the DC Power Jack motherboard area, is almost a separate part of the motherboard. It's shaped like a Peninsula. (Think of an island, with one side connected to the mainland)

This peninsula shape, has the tendency to crack away from the main body of the motherboard. Circuit traces are broken.

When the AC adapter plug is setting in a certain position, it presses the two broken halves of the circuit traces together, for a momentary contact. As the AC adapter plug is moved from this position, the circuit trace halves are moved apart, and there is no contact.

(No distribution of electricity from one circuit trace half, to the other circuit trace half. Think of a circuit trace as a very, thin, flat copper wire. When a circuit trace is broken, there is essentially a wire that is broken into two parts)

Solution?
See if the DC Power Jack can be repaired, (Solder joint connections re-soldered), or replaced.
If the DC Power Jack motherboard area is the aforementioned peninsula shape, it may require replacement of the motherboard.

There are very FEW, computer repair shops that have the technical expertise to replace a DC Power Jack. Easy fix is to simply replace the motherboard. (More $$$$$ too)

However, some laptops DO require replacement of the motherboard for this repair.
Bad motherboard design, for the DC Power Jack area on the motherboard.

Re-solder DC Power Jack solder joints? (IF, this is the problem) Average is $50 to $75 (US)
Replace DC Power Jack? Average is $125 to $150. (US)
Replace motherboard? Depends on the Gateway model. Could be $225 to $400 (US)

[Yes, most of the time the cost warrants just replacing the laptop itself, as the cost of replacing, is close to the repair cost)

Just to SHOW you ab average DC Power Jack, and the repair involved of replacing. (Doesn't show you, that the entire laptop needs to be disassembled, down to the bare motherboard in hand)

This is NOT a recommendation to replace the DC Power Jack yourself! It is just for knowledge of what is partially involved. (You can accidentally burn the motherboard when desoldering, or soldering, rendering the motherboard useless)

http://www.laptoprepair101.com/laptop/2007/12/06/dc-power-jack-repair-guide/

Tiny, I bet it is the dc power connection on the motherboard. Check this out. http://comprehensivecomputing.blogspot.com/2009/03/gateway-ma8-laptop-dc-power-jack-repair.html

There are three possibilities.

1. The service center doesn't do component-level service on motherboards, so they want to replace the whole board because the DC jack is broken. Many shops work this way.
2. Because of arcing and heating at the bad DC jack connections, the motherboard may have been damaged enough that it can't be repaired.
3. They have checked over the board and found no damage to the power jack, but it still isn't charging. This would mean other problems on the board that they can't troubleshoot and repair. This is no reflection on the center. Only the board manufacturer has all the service information and specialized tool do in-depth repairs.

You have two choices.

1. Take the computer to another shop for a second opinion.
2. Let the shop replace the motherboard. If this is not an official Gateway service center but an independent, they don't have to get the board from Gateway at full price. There are several online sources of boards that could keep the cost down.

1. First of all, go to http://is.gd/scG3/gateway/support and enter your serial number to make sure you still have warranty (just in case you need to order parts or send in your lappy) 2. You can open a chat window with gateway to describe to them your issue 3. Possibly order a new part, or fix the solution via gateway support.
ps. My suggestion is either a bad power cable, or bad battery. They will probably send you a new one of either for free if you still have time left on your warranty. Otherwise you'll have to pay, but it'll fix the issue. If you have any further questions, reply to [email protected]. 

Here is how to disassemble Gateway laptop,

Here is replacement DC socket (needs soldering),

Here is DC board (no need soldering, but expensive).

Hope this helps.

About 99% of the time the DC female adapter is soldered to the motherboard making it near impossible to fix. Getting solder on anything would ruin the motherboard.

It is possible that it is your Power Cord and not the jack on the motherboard. Same problem I had a few weeks go with a clients laptop. You may want to buy a new Power Cord, and try that before you go out and have to get a new motherboard (which can be VERY costly, or even buying a new laptop).

Post the model number of your laptop and I can direct you somewhere to get a good deal on a new power cord.