1

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Table of Contents
Security Notice..............................................................................10
Disclaimer......................................................................................11
Introduction…………………………………………………………….....................12
Entrepreneurial Mindset................................................................13

PART 1
Introducing the Laptop Foundation Knowledge
Explore a Laptop............................................................................15
How a Laptop Differs from a Desktop............................................16
Review Types of Laptops...............................................................17
Understanding Microprocessors....................................................21
Explore Power Options..................................................................25
Structure of a Laptop.....................................................................27
External Elements..........................................................................28
Internal Elements..........................................................................29
Types of RAM Memories in Laptop................................................31
Types of Laptop Displays................................................................33
Service Manual..............................................................................34
Datasheet of Components.............................................................37
Schematic Diagram........................................................................40
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PART 2
Tools and Equipment a Repair Shop Should Have
Hot Air Work Station.....................................................................42
Soldering Iron................................................................................42
Desoldering Pump.........................................................................43
BGA Kit..........................................................................................43
Soldering Leads..............................................................................43
Soldering Paste..............................................................................44
Paste Flux......................................................................................44
Solder Wick...................................................................................44
Jumper Wire..................................................................................45
DC Power Supply Unit....................................................................45
MultiMeter....................................................................................45
Magnifying Glass...........................................................................46
Casing Openers..............................................................................46
ScrewDriver...................................................................................46
Nose Cutter...................................................................................47
Soft Brush......................................................................................47
Wrist Strap....................................................................................47
Antistatic Desk Mat.......................................................................48
Tweezers.......................................................................................48
USB Digital Microscope..................................................................48
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MicroScope....................................................................................49
OscilloScope..................................................................................49
RT809F Programmer......................................................................50

PART 3
Basic Electronics
What is Electricity?........................................................................52
Electricity.......................................................................................52
Structure of an atom......................................................................53
Current..........................................................................................53
Voltage..........................................................................................54
Resistance.....................................................................................55
Measuring current, voltage and resistance....................................56
The Water Analogy........................................................................56
Ohm’s Law and Electric Power.......................................................57
Ohm’s Law.....................................................................................57
Electric Power................................................................................58
Direct and Alternating Current.......................................................58

Part 4
How to use a multimeter
Selecting a Multimeter..................................................................62
Getting familiar with the multimeter.............................................63
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Ports..............................................................................................64
Measuring voltage.........................................................................65
Checking the continuity.................................................................67
How does it work?.........................................................................68
How to test AC voltage (Alternating Current).................................69

Part 5
Basic Electronics in Laptop Repairing
Basic Electronics (SMD components).............................................72
Fuse...............................................................................................73
Resistor.........................................................................................75
Understanding the Resistor Code...................................................75
Determining the value of resistance..............................................77
Resistors in Series and in Parallel...................................................78
Resistors in Series..........................................................................78
Resistors in Parallel........................................................................79
SMD Resistor.................................................................................80
EIA96 SMD resistor code system....................................................81
SMD resistors with 3-digit code values less than 10Ω.....................83
SMD resistor with 4-digit code system Values less than 100Ω……...84
SMD Network................................................................................85
Resistors in the Circuit...................................................................86
Resistor as Resistance....................................................................86
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Resistor as a Reducer Voltage........................................................87

Resistor Grounding........................................................................87
Resistor Measurement..................................................................88
Test SMD Resistors........................................................................89
Capacitor.......................................................................................90
Capacitor basics.............................................................................90
Capacitors in the Circuit.................................................................93
How to measure capacitance.........................................................94
Capacitor measurement using voltage...........................................95
Capacitor measurement without voltage.......................................96
Diodes...........................................................................................98
Diode Zener...................................................................................90
LED Diode....................................................................................100
Testing Diode using (Diode Test Mode + Resistance Mode)..........101
How to test LED (Light Emitting Diode)........................................102
How to test Zener Diode..............................................................102
Inductor-Coil................................................................................103
How to test Inductor....................................................................104
Transistor....................................................................................105
NPN transistor.............................................................................106
PNP transistor..............................................................................106
MOSFET.......................................................................................107
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Types of MOSFET used in laptops.................................................107

PINOUT Identification of Mosfets used in recent Laptops...........108
Transistor Mosfet 8 Legs..............................................................109
N-Channel & P-Channel Mosfet Characteristic.............................110
How to check Mosfet...................................................................112
CMOS or RTC Battery...................................................................114
Crystal.........................................................................................116
Off-On Switches (Power-button)..................................................117
Integrated Circuit (IC)...................................................................119
Where is pin 1 on an IC? ..............................................................120
SUPER I/O....................................................................................122
PWM IC.......................................................................................124

Part 6
Analyzing and understanding the motherboard
Analyzing and understanding the Motherboard...........................127
Schematic Diagram......................................................................128
How to get the schematic diagram?.............................................129
General Info.................................................................................129
Find the Motherboard ODMs.......................................................129
Symbol and Screen Printing.........................................................134
Signal Name for Motherboard Manufacturers.............................136
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Operating Sequence....................................................................143
Input Circuit (High Voltage)..........................................................146
Power Section..............................................................................148
Primary Sources (3V and 5V)........................................................152
Charge Source (battery)...............................................................157
VCORE (processor).......................................................................159
Source Chipset.............................................................................160
Chipset Circuit Analysis (VOLTAGE 1.05V))...................................162
Memory Source...........................................................................163
LVDS Circuit (Video).....................................................................165
Voltage Divider............................................................................167
BIOS & RTC (CMOS)......................................................................170
How to re-program (Flash) BIOS?.................................................172
How to remove password BIOS HP...............................................175
How to flash BIOS type TSSOP-8..................................................178
How to Find Short on the Motherboard.......................................185

Part 7
Laptop Repair Case Study
Laptop won't turn on?.................................................................188
1- Laptop won't turn on (no signal at all)......................................188
2- Laptop turns on and does not give video..................................191
3- Laptop turns on and off quickly................................................193
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Acer Extensa 5230 Power Failure.................................................195

Acer eMachines E525 Laptop Power Failure.................................212
Acer Aspire D270 Laptop Power Failure.......................................229

Part 8
Useful Laptop Power Sequence by
Shri Ram Infotech
Laptop Schematic Diagram..........................................................255
Laptop Chip Voltages...................................................................256
Apple Laptop Power Sequence.....................................................257
Intel Core-i3 Laptop Power Sequence..........................................258
SIO Signal Description..................................................................259
VIN Section…………………………….....................................................260
Core i3 VRM Section………………....................................................261
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Security Notice
This is the kind of thing I hate having to write about, but the evidence is clear; piracy
for digital products is over all the internet.

For that reason I’ve taken certain steps to protect my intellectual property contained
in this eBook.

This eBook contains hidden random strings of text that only apply to your specific
e-Book version that is unique to your email address.

You probably won’t see anything different, since those strings are hidden in this PDF.
I apologize for having to do that - but it means if someone was to share this eBook I
know exactly who shared it and I can take further legal consequences.

You cannot redistribute this eBook. This eBook is for personal use and is only
available for purchase at:

https://www.laptoprepairsecrets.com

Please send an email to the author (laptoprepairsecrets@gmail.com), if you found

this eBook anywhere else.

What I really want to say is thank you for purchasing this eBook and I hope you have
fun with it!
 11

Disclaimer
This eBook has been written for information purposes only. Every effort has been
made to make this eBook as complete and accurate as possible. The purpose of this
eBook is to educate. The author " LaptopRepairSecrets " do not warrant that the
information contained in this eBook is fully complete and shall not be responsible for
any errors or omissions.

The author "LaptopRepairSecrets" shall have neither liability nor responsibility to

any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be
caused directly or indirectly by this eBook.
 12

Introduction
To fix any defect in a laptop you don't have to be an electronics genius, let alone
finish studying for it. Of course the more you study the easier it gets, but to do your
first motherboard repairs you just need to understand the simple concept of how a
motherboard works.

As soon as I started in the maintenance of laptops I also imagined that it was very
complicated to work with schematics, study electronics and that whole thing.

When I was going deeper, I realized that it was nothing like that, everything started to
make sense. And believe me, once you start to stand out and earn better for having
this knowledge, you will see that it will be worth it.

Repairing laptop motherboards and maintaining laptops is a plus. Not only to

increase profits but also because of the business opportunities that are much greater
for the technician who does this type of service, as it is a market with very few
trained professionals.

Obviously there are several ways to work with computers and not only repairing
laptops, however, knowing how to do this type of service will add a lot and will
certainly bring you a greater financial return.

I particularly advise you to become an expert and direct your marketing to laptop
maintenance.

Repairing laptops is a key differentiator for any computer technician. More or less,
you'll need it! Even more if you want to grow professionally!

So, in this ebook I will reveal step by step what you need to know to fix any laptop
and of course, earn very well with this knowledge.

I promise content to the point, I don't like the idea of writing something for writing.
So you can expect a material of great value, as well as exclusive. More than providing
you with information, my goal here is to contribute to your development and help
you grow by doing what you like.
 13

Entrepreneurial Mindset
Repairing a laptop motherboard is certainly not something that can be learned
overnight. It requires understanding how all the motherboard's components and
sources work, as well as how.

Interpret a schematic, in addition to practice. However, it is relatively simple,

different from what most technicians think that still do not fix.

Many of the defects that arise on a laptop motherboard are easy to identify and
correct, as long as you have the right knowledge for it.

Unfortunately, many technicians don't even know how to test a power button, try to
open defective laptops to see if they find the problem. This is very unlikely, and
they end up frustrated.

I want you from now on to give a lot of attention to the content you are going to
study, make notes, reread as many times as necessary that without a doubt you will
be able to repair your first laptops and make more money through this knowledge.

Before we start to study in depth how a motherboard works and how to use the
schematic to identify defects, I need you to know that for you to reach your
goal, whatever it may be, you will first need to align your mindset for this, because in
addition to being technical you are also an entrepreneur.

Many successful entrepreneurs believe that Mindset is the most important step to
achieve success in both professional and personal development. And in fact, the way
you believe that things can happen in your life is really how they will happen.

When you are willing to provide your knowledge in the form of service, you will need
to be more than just a technician but also someone who undertakes, that is,
someone who will develop a way to improve the lives of others through this
knowledge. So you need to keep in mind that you are not just going to be a technician
who repairs laptops and computers, but an entrepreneur who created a business and
can positively impact other people's lives with his work. Study, develop and want to
go further.
 14

Part 1
Introducing the Laptop
Foundation Knowledge
 15

A laptop (also laptop computer), Laptops have become more and more powerful and
much smaller. Laptops have become a necessity
of human life, as we know it today.

Portable computers, referred to as notebooks or

laptops, began as a great tool for people who
travel and want to take their computer along.
Today, laptops with high-end displays and huge
processing power are taking over the desktop, as
well. Laptops are lighter and more durable than
ever before, making them a practical choice for
most computing needs.

Explore a Laptop
Laptop is very similar to their desktop counterparts. Both contain a hard drive and
other hardware, use an operating system, run software, and save files. Both can be
connected to peripheral devices such as printers. However, key differences exist.
Laptops, which are designed for portability, are much more compact. Desktops
require an external keyboard & mouse, these features along with a monitor are built
into laptops. Finally, laptops run on a battery, whereas desktops require an electrical
outlet

A Monitor

The monitor on a laptop is typically made of a

soft-to-the-touch (and somewhat fragile) liquid
crystal display.
A

B Touchpad Mouse

A built-in mouse will either be a touchpad, as B

shown here, or a button placed among the C
keys. You can move your finger over the pad to
move the mouse cursor on your screen.
D E F
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C Keyboard

Keyboard configurations vary based on the size of the laptop, with larger laptops
having a separate number pad, and smaller ones embedding number-pad
functionality within the regular keys.

E DVD Drive

Most new laptops include a DVD drive, although some still use a CD drive. The
location of these drives varies by model.

D Function Keys

Most laptops have pre-assigned functions for these aptly named function keys.
Typical uses are for muting the speakers or accessing the Internet.

F Battery

A battery usually slots into the bottom of a laptop and needs to be recharged on a
regular basis.

How a Laptop Differs from a Desktop

In many important ways, a laptop computer and desktop are the same. They are both
used for the same functions: Both can be connected to devices such as printers; both
contain a hard drive and operating system; and both run hardware and store files.
However, there are some interesting differences.
 17

Size: Laptops are built for portability, while the average desktop computer includes a
large central processing unit (CPU) tower and monitor.

Input Devices: Laptops have a built-in keyboard and mouse. Desktops use a plug-in or
wireless keyboard and mouse. However, you can also plug a standard keyboard or
mouse into your laptop if you wish.

Monitor: If your desktop monitor wears out, you can replace it. This is not the case
with a laptop, where the monitor is attached to the CPU.

Power Source: Laptops use a battery that is charged by plugging the laptop into an
electrical outlet. Desktops only run through an electrical outlet.

Review Types of Laptops

Different manufacturers build a wide variety of laptops with a large range of prices
and features. Unlike desktops that let you add a new screen or keyboard, laptops
have major components built in, so choosing one that meets your needs is important
from the start. For example, if you plan on using your laptop at home or at the office,
a general purpose laptop works just fine. But if you plan to use your laptop strictly for
video games or movie viewing, you may want a laptop built just for these types of
tasks.
 18

Macintosh
Current laptops from Apple are the MacBook (the lower-priced line) and the
MacBook Pro. These laptops are only built for Apple, and have a unique operating
system. Both the computers and operating system are only available from Apple
through its Web site or through Apple reseller stores.

Windows-based PCs
Laptops with the Microsoft Windows operating system installed are referred to as
PCs, which stands for personal computers. They are made by a variety of
manufacturers. You can buy the Windows operating system separately.
 19

Tablet PCs
Tablet PCs are Windows-based machines with a different hardware configuration.
They come in a tablet configuration that is similar to a machine version of a legal pad,
and a clamshell variety that looks more like a traditional laptop, but that converts into
a tablet by swinging the monitor on hinges. You can input data by writing directly on
Tablet PC screens using a stylus.

Rugged Laptops
Some laptops are marketed for the durability of their chassis. Useful for people who
work in industries such as construction or archeology, these models are both more
water- and shock-proof than their non-rugged counterparts. Their keyboards are
sealed to prevent water damage, they can withstand more variation in temperature,
and they can function near electromagnetic transmissions, such as from power
generators, without being damaged.
 20

Ultra Portable
Some laptops are designed for travel, weighing in at between two and three pounds.
They offer a smaller display and keyboard size, but have the advantage of a longer
battery life.

Desktop
Today laptops are taking over the desktop, with models that use 17- or even 20-inch
monitors and full keyboards with number pads. With wireless Internet connections
and a built-in keyboard and mouse, they tend to reduce the clutter of cables that
come with standard desktop models.

Multimedia and Gaming

Laptops that can handle graphics and animations
that appear in many computer games tend to
have powerful graphics cards, large screens with
high resolution, a lot of memory, and fast
processors. These come with a high price tag,
but for a dedicated gamer or multimedia
designer, they may be worth it.
 21

Understanding Microprocessors
Microprocessor, called a big difference in its performance. A microprocessor
incorporates most or all of the functions of processor for short is an important part of
a laptop and can make a computer’s central processing unit, or CPU. Microprocessor
manufacturers are constantly working to improve them. Newer microprocessors offer
more processing power, handle multiple tasks concurrently, generate less heat, and
require less power to operate, all important capabilities for laptop computing

What a Microprocessor Does

A microprocessor acts as the brain of the computer, handling data, performing
calculations, carrying out stored instructions, and so on. Microprocessors, which are
integrated circuits composed of millions of transistors, can perform many instructions
per second, such as mathematical equations, calibrations, data storage, display
updates, and so on. A microprocessor is housed on a tiny silicon wafer base, or chip,
where some or all of the functions of a computer’s central processing unit (CPU) are
integrated.

The operating frequency, that is, the processing speed, is measured in Megahertz or
Gigahertz. For example, if a microprocessor works at 4GHz, it means that its
transistors can open and close four billion times in a second; if it worked at 4MHz, it
would only be four million times. 4 GHZ = 4,000,000,000 4MGHZ = 4,000,000.
 22

Microprocessor Design
A microprocessor incorporates functions of the CPU onto an integrated circuit, or
chip. An integrated circuit is a tiny electronic circuit composed of millions of
transistors situated on a silicon wafer.

This circuit consists mainly of semiconductor devices - that is, components that make
use of the electronic properties of various semiconductor materials (primarily silicon).

Types of Microprocessors
Microprocessors are built by several different companies, including Intel, IBM, and
AMD. Today's most advanced microprocessors, called dual core, are actually two
microprocessors on a single chip.
 23

Intel manufactured laptop processors can be of 4 types as:

1- Core family of processors: Core Solo M, Core Duo M, Core 2Duo M, Core 2Quad
M, Core i3, i5 & i7, Core i7 M Extreme.
2- Pentium family of processors: Pentium M, Pentium Dual Core M, Centrino M.
3- Celeron family of processors: Celeron M, Celeron Dual Core M.
4- Atom family of processors: This type of Atom processors comes inbuilt in MBDs
without a removable socket.

AMD manufactured laptop processors can be of 5 types as:

1- Phenom family of processors: Phenom M, Phenom-ll M, Phenom-ll

Dual/Triple/Quad Core M.
2- Athlon family of processors: Athlon M, Athlon II M and Athlon X2-Dual Core M.
3- Sempron family of processors: Sempron M and Sempron II M.
4- Alpha series family of processors: A Series and V Series.
5- Turion family of processors: Turion M and Turion-ll Dual Core M.

Clock Rate
The clock rate of your processor reflects how quickly your laptop can complete a
clock cycle, or click, which is the smallest unit of time a device recognizes. The higher
the clock rate, the faster your computer can operate and the more instructions the
microprocessor can execute per second. You will often see a clock rate, also known
as clock speed, expressed in gigahertz. A microprocessor may execute several
instructions in a single clock cycle.
 24

Operating voltage of a laptop CPU:

The working voltage of CPU is not a fixed one. It changes based on the processor with
a 7 bit code fit in the CPU socket. This code changes with clock speed of the processor
in GHz. When this frequency increases, current flow increases which in turn
decreases voltage. The increased current flow dissipates enormous heat that is taken
care by the cooling fan & heat sink assembly and by the thermal control IC. This high
current can be shared in phases whose no is equal to the no of big inductor coils
present near the CPU socket. The working voltage of modern processors is <=1.5V
which is called as Vcc core or Vcore. Processors like Core 2 Duo, Pentium 4 and
Pentium Dual Core takes only this Vcore voltage for its operation. Whereas Core i3, i5
& i7 type processors takes one more voltage that is called as memory control voltage
or VTT because in these type of processors memory is integrated into it. Similarly in
AMD processors where memory controller is integrated inside processor chip, it
requires two voltages Vcore and VTT.

What is cache memory of a laptop CPU?

Cache memory of a CPU or the CPU memory is a type of SRAM that a CPU can access
more quickly than it can access a regular RAM or system memory. It is usually
integrated within the CPU chip or very rarely it comes as a separate chip that
interconnects with the CPU via a bus. Its capacity ranges from 128KB to 1MB. The
basic purpose of a cache memory is to keep the frequently accessed instructions &
data in cache for faster execution of programs.

Processor Core Technology:

In order to reduce heat dissipation by processors and to increase processing speed, a
single CPU is built with more than one core. Accordingly a CPU can be built with dual
core or quad core processor.

Dual Core Processor: If a CPU is built with 2 complete execution cores per physical
processor, then it is called as a dual core processor.

Quad Core Processor: If a CPU is built with 4 complete execution cores per physical
processor, then it is called as a quad core processor.
 25

Each core has its own cache and the intercommunication between them is through
FSB.

Multi Core Technology:

It refers to building up of a CPU with more than one complete execution core per
physical processor. All cores run parallel to execute programs faster than ever to
increase overall execution speed of the CPU. This type of integration of multiple cores
on to a single die IC is called as CMP or Chip Multi Processor. Sometimes all the cores
can be integrated in to multiple dies in a single chip package. Applications are in
servers & high end mobile computers. Current day laptops are built up with a
maximum of 4 cores i.e. with quad core processors.

Explore Power Options

Laptops have to carry their power supply with them when you take them on the road.
They do this in the form of batteries that typically plug into the bottom of the
computer. Laptop batteries come in various types, depending on the laptop
manufacturer. The time you can run your laptop on a charged battery is called the
battery life, and this varies from laptop to laptop. You must charge your laptop
battery on a regular basis.

Battery Life
Batteries provide a certain number of hours of battery life, or operating time. The
average laptop battery offers anywhere from two hours to four hours of battery life.
The life of the battery is affected by whether the laptop is being used or is on standby
mode, and by the size of the laptop monitor, with large displays draining power more
quickly than smaller ones.
 26

Types of Batteries

There are several types of laptop batteries, with the most popular type being the
lithium ion (Li-ion). Li-ion batteries hold a charge longer than earlier types such as
nickel cadmium (NiCad) or nickel-metal hydride (NiMH). Some laptops also feature
secondary alkaline batteries to power internal clocks or keep the laptop running while
the main battery is changed. For best performance, Li-ion batteries are the standard
today.

AC Power
If you use your laptop at home or office rather than on the road, you can plug it
into an electrical outlet and run the computer off electricity all the time. However,
laptops used for more than a few hours this way can become overly warm, which can
adversely damage or interfere
with your computer’s “health”
To avoid this, invest in a
specially made laptop pad to
help disperse unwanted heat.
 27

Structure of a Laptop
Laptop combine all the input/output components and capabilities of a desktop
computer, including the display screen, small speakers, a keyboard, hard disk drive,
optical disc drive, pointing devices (such as a touchpad or trackpad), a processor, and
memory into a single unit.

In general, all laptop have the following elements:

Camera

Screen can be of different

technologies, such as LCD
or LED.

Keyboard is configured
by language. The most
common are English and
Latin Spanish.
Touchpad
Optical reader use CD,
DVD and Bluray
technology.
The various parts of a laptop are the Hinges (LCD display stand), Camera cable, WIFI
antennae, Speakers, Palm rest or Top cover, CPU & GPU cooling fan & heat sink
assembly, AC Adapter, Hard disk caddy/case, DC power jack, CMOS battery, Finger
print reader, CPU socket, Battery release latch, USB mini board cable, USB mini board,
Mini PCI wireless board. Modem board, LED board, xVGA board, Bluetooth board.
Infrared board, LCD backlight inverter board, Power button board, Audio board.

External Elements
USB port (Universal Serial Bus) 3.0
They are commonly used to
connect flash memories and
Charger Most chargers deliver
peripherals such as keyboard,
mouse, external hard drives, and
others.
Port HDMI (High Definition
Multimedia Interface)
It is often used to connect TV to a
computer, DVD player, Blu-Ray
player, Satellite receiver and audio
system.
Port VGA (Video Graphics Array)
The VGA connector is used for
display devices and is used to
connect a computer to a monitor,
projector, or TV.
Audio Port / microphone
In most laptops you can connect
headphones and an external
microphone. Each one in its
independent plug
19.5 volts at different
amperage, depending on the
type of laptop.
USB port type-C
It is a new communication standard
with different devices, which
reaches data transfer speeds of
around 10 Gigabits per second. This
is the technology that will replace
USB 3.0 ports.
28
SD Port (Secure Digital)
It works to read SD memory
cards, which are commonly
used in devices such as
cameras, cell phones or tablets.
Thunderbolt Port
This is a high-speed port in data
transfer. Not all laptops have one
since it uses optical technology.
ETHERNET Port
It allows communication between
the computing equipment of a
local area network. It is commonly
used to connect through a cable to
a modem that provides internet
Service.
Battery
Battery consisting of 4 or 6 cells
lithium.
 29

Internal Elements

Motherboard Microprocessor
Printed circuit board where all The main control element that
control and memory elements are runs the operating system and
communicated. applications.

Graphics Chip Cooling System

Graphics Card is a piece of Dispels the heat of the
computer hardware that produces microprocessor and the graphic
the image you see on a monitor. chip.
The Graphics Card is responsible for
rendering an image to your monitor,
it does this by converting data into a
signal your monitor can understand.
 30

Memory RAM WiFi

Random access memory, where all Used to connect to a wireless
the instructions that the network.
microprocessor will carry are
loaded.

HDD Solid state drive

Data storage device that uses a Storage device that uses a flash
magnetic recording system. system.
 31

Types of RAM Memories in Laptop

Laptop manufacturers are always at the forefront of technologies for reading RAM.
There are four of them and they are physically differentiated by a notch placed
between the contacts:

SO DIMM DDR

Contacts (Pins): 200

Operating frequency: 266 MHz, 333 MHz and
400 MHz
Capacity: 128Mb, 256Mb, 512Mb and 1Gb
Distance between the first contact and the
notch: 15.35mm
15.35mm

SO DIMM DDR2
Contacts (Pins): 200
Operating frequency: 400 MHz, 533 MHz, 667
MHz and 800 MHz
Capacity: 256Mb, 512Mb, 1Gb, 2Gb and 4Gb
Distance between the first contact and the
notch: 16.25mm
16.25mm

SO DIMM DDR3
Contacts (Pins): 204
Frequency of operation: 800 MHz, 1066 MHz and
1333 MHz
Capacity: 1Gb, 2Gb, 4Gb and 8Gb
Distance between the first contact and the notch:
30mm
30mm
 32

SO DIMM DDR4

Contacts (Pins): 260

Operating frequency: 1600 MHz - 3200 MHz
Capacity: 4Gb, 8Gb and 16Gb
Distance between the first contact and the notch:
36.87mm

36.87mm
 33

Types of Laptop Displays

There are four types of laptop displays: LCD - LED – OLED.

Monitors use less power and have a longer lifespan than LCD monitors. Organic LED
(OLED) technology is commonly used for mobile devices and digital cameras, but can
also be found in laptop concept designs. OLED monitors will become more popular as
the technology improves. Plasma displays are rarely found in laptops, because they
consume a large amount of power. On many laptops, a small pin on the laptop cover
contacts a switch when the case is closed, called an LCD cutoff switch. The LCD cutoff
switch helps conserve power by extinguishing the backlight and turning off the LCD. If
this switch breaks or is dirty, the LCD remains dark while the laptop is open. Carefully
clean this switch to restore normal operation.

LED (Light Emitting Diode)

A screen display technology
LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)
that uses a panel of LEDs as
liquid crystal display is a
the light source.
flat, thin display device that
has replaced the older CRT
display. LCD provides
better picture quality and
support for large
resolutions.
OLED (Organic Light
Emitting Diode)
Organic light-emitting
diodes (OLEDs) are an
emerging and alternative
display technology over the
conventional liquid crystals
display (LCD), which
enables efficient displays
and lighting panels.
 34

Service Manual
The service manual is the instructions for a laptop, where providers place:

1 2

Maintenance routines Common failures

Parts that must be And security protocols

replaced when they stop to make a repair or
working maintenance

3 4
Model:
4

Generally, this one is composed of:

First name: Cover page

The image of the laptop, its name and

model is shown.
 35

Basic operation

The diagrams and tables of the buttons are

presented, their operation and an overview
of the equipment.

Hardware information

Electronic diagrams and mechanical parts

are included.
 36

Software information

It shows the operating system it contains,

and its compatibility with other devices.

Problem solving

An ordered table is displayed that

contains, from the most common
problems to those that are not commonly
presented. Each case has its solution and
the mechanical or electronic component
that commonly causes the failure.
 37

Datasheet of Components
Datasheet is a technical guide to any electronic component. These are freely
accessible and, in general, are in English. They are structured as follows:

Component number to identify

an element in a universal way,
regardless of the manufacturer's
brand.

Characteristics the relevant

aspects are listed as protection
to electricity static, efficiency to Name it refers to the type of
electrical noise, among others. electronic component and the
quantity contained in the
integrated circuit.

Description the relevant aspects

are listed as protection to
electricity static, efficiency to
electrical noise, among others.

Pins Connections it explains

how the electronic component
and its connection pins are
integrated to each internal
circuit.

The characteristics of each electronic component are necessary to repair laptop

equipment, so you must obtain the data sheet of all the components that will be
used.

Datasheets can be downloaded from two websites visit. www.alldatasheet.com and

www.datasheetcataloa.com. The alternate IC for replacement of any IC that has
failed, the type of IC package and PINOUTs are the basic information we can look into
these websites.
 38

On the motherboard of a laptop there are many components operating for all circuits
to work.

To understand more specifically how each of these components works, we should

refer to a document on the Internet that we call Datasheet.

Datasheet is nothing more than the specification of how a component works. In it, we
find all the information that allows us to use it correctly.

For example, if you go to Google and type an any component (IC PWM TPS51125) +
the word Datasheet, you will get in the first results a pdf with all the information of
that IC PWM (what is its function, what each terminal serves, etc).

From this information we can have a more accurate way to know if that component is
bad.

But what about replacing a component?

When performing the replacement of a particular component we can use the

specifications contained in the Datasheet to find another compatible one, because in
some cases we cannot exchange for another one.

Example: Assuming a Mosfet with reference AM4835 defaults and you can't find
another one to replace at that time. Then you should look for some match
considering that it has to be equal to the Mosfet Channel (P or N) and also the field
where it says "VDS (Voltage Drain Source)", which is the voltage supported by the
Mosfet.

In the case of components such as PWM IC's and Super I/O ICs we should always
exchange for another one.
 39

The first step is to identify component pin 1, which is a very simple task, just note the
following:

Most components have a marking (a ball,

both on it and the motherboard) on top
indicating that there is the first pin.

The starting counting be done from there

always the sequential pins continue in the
counterclockwise direction

Any difficulty in counting or even identifying

the pins of a component, consulting the
Datasheet can help.
 40

Schematic diagram

In general, the functions of schematic diagram are

Knowing the code, type and Knowing how circuit works

value of a component. to analyze the circuit.

Knowing the input and Knowing the point of

output points (stage & etc). measurement and its value.

Knowing the interface/path

connection between components
(component communication).
 41

Part 2
Tools and Equipment a
Repair Shop Should Have
 42

The first thing an entrant to technical support should learn is about the various tools
that would be required to effectively carry out his job and how to use those tools. As
a startup technician, have it in mind that there are tools that are very expensive that
you may not be able to afford them at start-up. The basic tools are cheaper and easy
to get and if you equip yourself with the right skill set and knowledge about laptop
motherboard troubleshooting covered in this eBook, the basic tools can make money
for you until you are ready to make those big budget purchases, below are the list of
tools and equipment with pictures.

Hot Air Work Station:

Also called SMD (Surface Mount Device)

rework station and SMD repair system.
It has control to regulate or manage
temperature and flow of hot air.

Soldering Iron:

Used to solder small components like

capacitor, resistor etc. When buying a
soldering iron, select the one that is
easy to hold and does not burn your
hand. The soldering iron must have
option to choose and select different
types and shapes of soldering tips or
bits. These tips or bits must be
replaceable.
 43

Desoldering Pump:

Known as a solder sucker, is a

manually-operated device which is
used to remove solder from a
motherboard.

BGA Kit:

A BGA repair kit is used to reball and

repair ball-type ICs. BGA stands for
Ball Grid Array.

Soldering Leads:

Used together with the soldering iron

during soldering.
 44

Soldering Paste:

This is solder in molted semi-solid

form. It looks like paste. Solder
paste is mainly used for Reballing of
ICs.

Paste Flux:

Used while soldering and desoldering, main purpose of flux is to remove oxides and
other impurities from the
motherboard track and from leads of
electronic components for better
soldering and electrical conductivity.

Solder Wick:

Desoldering wire or desolder wire is

used to remove excess solder from
track of motherboard.
 45

Jumper Wire:

It is a thin laminated or coated copper wire used to

jumper from one point to another on the track of a
laptop motherboard while repairing.

DC Power Supply Unit:

Regulated DC (Direct Current) power supply is

used to supply DC current to a laptop
motherboard while repairing.

MultiMeter:

A multimeter can be analog or digital, mostly a

multimeter is used to find faults and check
components.
 46

Magnifying Glass:

Used to magnify the electronic board‘s view in

order to see the tiny components properly.

Casing Openers:

These are used to open the housing or

body of a laptop motherboard.

ScrewDriver:

Used for laptop disassembly and reassembly

by removing and re-tightening the screw
nuts in the laptop.
 47

Nose Cutter:

Used for cutting wires.

Soft Brush:

These are used for cleaning the PCB of a laptop motherboard.

Wrist Strap:

It is work in the wrist of the person who is

repairing a motherboard. It helps to discharge
or ground static charge thus preventing the PCB
or electronic components from any damage.
 48

Antistatic Desk Mat:

An ESD Mat or Antistatic Mat is laid or

placed on the table or workbench where
mobile repairing is done. The mat is
grounded using a grounding cord or normal
grounding wire. This prevents damage from
static electricity.

Tweezers:

Tweezers are very useful to manipulate the

small electronics components.

USB Digital Microscope:

Gives you a live image that is very

similar to what you would see with a
traditional dissection microscope.
 49

MicroScope:

It is used to see a magnified view of PCB or electronic components. These are

available in different zoom options like 2X, 3X, 5X, 10X etc. Many microscopes can
also be connected to a computer or a monitor.

Because SMD components on a laptop

motherboard PCB are very tine, we need a
magnification equipment tool or
equipment to see the PCB and
Components enlarged. There are Tools and
Equipment like Microscope, USB
Microscope, Table Top Magnifying Lamp
and Head Magnifier with LED Light.

OscilloScope:

An oscilloscope is a great tool for debugging and better understands what is going on
with your circuits. Unlike a multimeter
that only shows the voltage at a
specific moment, with an oscilloscope
you can see what’s happening with the
voltage over time.
 50

RT809F Programmer:

Universal programmer used to reprogram IC’s (bios) for laptop and LCD/LED Monitor.

I will like to encourage a starter not to lose heart with the assumption that one must
have all these tools and equipments before you can start a laptop motherboard
repair workshop. Your most basic need is ‘Technical know-how’. The tools required
for "Hardware Repairs" laptop motherboard service operations, just like desktop PC
repairs are pretty simple and inexpensive.

You can carry most of these tools in a small tool handbag or briefcase sized container
with the exception of an SMD rework station and a computer (Desktop for software
repairs).
 51

Part 3
Basic Electronics
Electricity – Current – Voltage
“Electronics doesn’t have to be hard”
 52

It is important that you have an idea of what electricity is and the concepts related to
it: current, voltage and how they are related.

What is Electricity?
According to the dictionary, electricity is:

“a form of energy resulting from the existence of charged particles (such as electrons
or protons), either statically as an accumulation of charge or dynamically as a
current.”

“a state or feeling of thrilling excitement.”

We are interested in the first bullet point, obviously, more specifically in current
electricity, which is the one that powers our electronic gadgets.

To understand the basics of electricity we need to focus in atoms, the basic building
blocks of matter.

Electricity
Electricity appears as a form of energy due to the existence of electrically charged
particles, the protons and the electrons on the structure of the atom see photo
below.

Structure of an atom
 53

Structure of an atom
The electrons are negatively charged and spin around the center of the atom, which
is the nucleus. The nucleus is made up of neutrons and protons. The protons are
positively charged and the neutrons are not charged.

Electrons can move from one atom to another. An electric current, basically, is a flow
of electrons bumping from atom to atom.

Atom Wire

e- Moving electron

Electricity is a flow of electrons bumping from atom to atom

This phenomenon happens only in some materials, the ones that have conductive
properties, the conductors, like copper for example.

Current
When a flux of electrons goes from atom to atom, that phenomenon is called electric
current. Basically, current is a flow of electrically charged particles through a
conductive material.
Conductive material
material Current

Electron flowing

Flow of electrically charged particles through a conductive material

 54

The wires used in electronics have copper in them to get the current flowing and are
covered by a non-conductive material, also called an insulator, through which the
electrons cannot pass.

Wires. The colorful plastic is the insulator and the bright metal is the conductive material

In a circuit, the charged particles flow through wires and if the wire is cut, the current
stops flowing.

That’s why in an opened circuit nothing happens:

Conductive material GAP

Current doesn't into this side

No current

Cutting a wire stops the electrons from flowing

Voltage
All wires have charged particles in them. For electrons to move from one atom to
another they need some sort of energy to get them moving, the voltage. There must
be a voltage source to provide that energy.
 55

So, voltage is the force that drives the electric current forward. A battery creates an
electric field that pushes the charged particles along, so a battery is a voltage source.

Conductive material
Current

Voltage

Electron flowing

Wire

Voltage
source
Current

The voltage source is what makes the electrons flowing

Resistance
Another important concept in electricity is electrical resistance. All electronic
components exhibit some sort of resistance, which is a material’s capacity to resist
electric current.

For the current to go through this material, it needs to be pushed through, so it needs
more voltage.

When this happens we say that we have a voltage drop in the resistive component.
 56

Conductive material
Current

Voltage

Electron flowing Current

If we have higher resistance in a component and we want to maintain the current, we

need to increase the voltage

The wires used in electronics have very little resistance, so it can be considered
negligible.

Measuring current, voltage and resistance

Current, voltage and resistance can be measured using a multimeter (read the extra
Unit for more info on how to use the multimeter).

 Current is measured in amperes or Amps (A)

 Voltage is measured in Volts (V)
 Resistance is measured in Ohms (Ω)

The Water Analogy

For most people is much easier to understand electric concepts when comparing
electric current with water flow.

Imagine a system of plumbing pipes through which water flows. Some sort of force
has to drive the water, such as a water pump, which is analogous to a voltage source.

Imagine that one section of the pipes has a much smaller diameter than the rest of
the system. That section exhibits much higher resistance to the water flow.

So, for the water current to pass at the same speed, more force is required. The same
happens with electric circuits.
 57

Curren Wire Water flow

t

Voltage Water flow Pipe

source
Current Water Pump
reservoir

Analogy between electric flow and water flow

Ohm’s Law and Electric Power

When working with electronics there are two equations that you can’t ignore,
because they are the foundation of everything that happens in your circuit.

If you don’t like math, don’t worry.

These are very straight forward formulas and we’ll show you how to use them with
practical examples (later in this course)!

Ohm’s Law
There is a relationship between current, voltage and resistance, which is represented
by Ohm’s Law.

The relationship is very simple; the voltage drop on a resistive component is

proportional to its resistance and the current flowing through it.

𝑉=𝐼×𝑅
Where:
 V = Voltage in volts (V)
 I = Current inamps (A)
 R = Resistance in ohms (Ω)
 58

Electric Power
The power is the amount of energy that your circuit consumes per second.
It is measured in watts (W) and can be calculated as follows:

𝑃=𝑉×𝐼
Where:
 P = Power in watts (W)
 V = Voltage in volts (V)
 I = Current in amps (A)

Direct and Alternating Current

The flow of current that you get from a battery is known as direct current or DC.
Like the flow of water from a faucet, it is a steady stream, in one direction.

The flow of current that you get from the "hot" wire in a power outlet in your home is
very different. It changes from positive to negative 50 times each second (in Great
Britain and some other nations, 60 times per second). This is known as alternating
current or AC.

Alternating current is essential for some purposes, such as cranking up voltage so that
electricity can be distributed over long distances. AC is also useful in motors and
domestic appliances. The parts of an American power outlet are shown in image
below. A few other nations, such as Japan, also use American style outlets.

For most of this book I’m going to be talking about DC, all laptops motherboards are
powered with DC.
 59

B A

This style of power outlet (plug) is found in North America, South America, Japan, and
some other nations. European outlets look different, but the principle remains the
same. Socket A is the "live" side of the outlet, supplying voltage that alternates
between positive and negative, relative to socket B, which is called the "neutral" side.
If an appliance develops a fault such as an internal loose wire, it should protect you
by sinking the voltage through socket C, the ground.

Common Plugs in Most Countries

 60

Voltage Selection

More Countries Information Reference

 61

Part 4
How to Use a Multimeter
 62

A multimeter is a measurement tool absolutely necessary in electronics. A multimeter

allows you to measure what is going on in your circuit. Whenever something in your
circuit isn’t working, the multimeter will help you with troubleshooting.

There are different models of multimeters, but all serve to measure voltage, current,
resistance and test the electrical continuity.

Multimeter

Selecting a Multimeter
You can find a wide variety of multimeters with different functionalities and
precision. A basic multimeter costs about 5$ and measures the three simplest but
most important values in your circuit: voltage, current, and resistance. So, it does
pretty much everything that you need.

If you want a bit more advanced multimeter, I truly recommend you an auto-range
multimeter. The auto-ranging is a great advantage, because it saves you of the hassle
of having to know which range of value the electrical characteristic you’re measuring
falls under. You can find a good multimeter with this characteristic for about 50$.
 63

However, it’s still pretty straightforward to measure with a multimeter without

autorange.

Getting familiar with the Multimeter

A multimeter has 4 essential parts:

Display: where the results Ports: is where you plug in

are displayed. the probes.

Selection knob: to select

what you want to measure.

Connection terminals (Probes): A multimeter has two probes. One is Red and
the other is black. You should connect the tip probes to the device/components
you want to take measurements, in any measurement you make the black wire
is always connected to the COM terminal.
 64

Note
Note that there aren’t any differences between the red and the black
probe, just the color.

So, assuming the convention:

 The Black probe is always connected to the COM (-).
 The Red probe is connected to one of the other ports depending on what you
want to measure.

Ports
10A is used when measuring
large currents, greater than
200mA.
VΩ allows you to measure
voltage and resistance and
test continuity.

COM is used conventionally for

measuring current.

Note
The ports can vary depending on the multimeter that you’re using.
 65

Measuring Voltage
You can measure DC voltage or AC voltage. The V with a straight line means DC
voltage and the V with the wavy line means AC voltage. Here, we will only deal with
DC voltage.

V with the wavy line means

AC voltage

The V with the wavy line is used for measuring AC voltage

Used for measuring

DC voltage

The V with the straight line is used for measuring DC voltage

 66

For measuring the voltage, you should:

1. Setting the mode to V (with the dash and three dots below for DC).
2. Make sure that the red probe is connected to the port with a V next to it.
3. Connect the red lead to the positive side of your component, which is where
the current is coming from.
4. Connect the COM lead to the other side of your component
5. Read the value on the display.

Note
To measure voltage, you have to connect your multimeter in parallel with
the component you want to measure.
Placing the multimeter in parallel is placing each probe along the legs of
the component you want to measure.

Example:
Let’s start measuring the voltage of a 1.5 volt battery. You know that you’ll have
approximately 1.5V. So, you should select a range with the selection knob that can
read the 1.5V. So you should select 2V in the case of this multimeter.

1.52 + -

Measuring voltage of a 1.5 V battery

 67

And, what if you switch the red and the black probe?

Nothing dangerous will happen. The reading on the multimeter has the same value,
but it’s negative.

-1.52 - +

Measuring the voltage of a 1.5V battery

Checking the Continuity

Most multimeters now provide a feature that allows you to test the continuity of your
circuit. This allows you to easily detect bugs such as faulty lines.

In other words: testing the continuity basically means that you’re testing the
resistance between two points. This allows you to detect if two points are connected.

To use this functionality select the mode that look like a speaker.

Continuity mode
 68

How does it work?

If there is very low resistance, which is less than a few ohms, the two points are
electrically connected and you’ll hear a continuous sound.

If the sound isn’t continuous or if you don’t hear any sound at all, it means that what
you’re testing has a bad connection or it’s not connected at all.

Note: To test continuity the multimeter should be connected.

WARNING
To test continuity you should turn off the system! Turn off the power supply!

Touch together the two probes and, as they are connected, you’ll hear a continuous
sound.

The probes touching each other will Sound

create a continuous sound
000

Buzzer
 69

To test the continuity of a wire, you just need to connect each probe to the wire tips.

000

Testing the continuity of a wire

How to test AC Voltage (Alternating Current)

Put your multimeter on the proper AC (Alternating Current) setting. Multimeters can
test a variety of different AC and DC currents, but for the purposes of this test you’ll
want to be sure it’s set to test AC currents.

Take your two probes and insert them into the side slots of your dryer’s wall
outlet. Be careful not to touch the tips of your two probes while doing performing
this task, doing so could cause the multimeter to malfunction. After you’ve carefully
inserted your two probes in the side slots of the outlet take a look at how many volts
the multimeter is registering. If you’re plug is working properly your device should be
reading between 220-240 volts.
 70

ACv

V 220

Take the probes and put it into slot. If outlet is working properly your device should
be reading roughly 220 volts.

This Part will hopefully give you the basic knowledge on how to use the multimeter.
 71

Part 5
Basic Electronics in Laptop
Repairing
 72

Basic Electronics (SMD Components)

The component form is divided into 2, they are standard component and SMD or mini
component, and of its characteristic are also divided into 2, active and passive
components.

The active component is a type of electronics component that requires an electric

current to work, in an electronic circuit that can amplify and direct electrical signals,
and can convert energy from one form to another (transistors and IC diodes).

The passive component is a type of electronic component that works without the
need for electric current, so it cannot streng then and rectify electrical signals and
cannot convert energy to another form (resistor, capacitor etc).
 73

Fuse
Serves as a Security, if there is a shorting circuit, this component will be broken. On
older laptops, the cause of the totally dead laptop is this component on the DC IN
circuit. It is designed to protect laptop and save electronic components from being
damaged.

A fuse code on motherboard

F or FP

A Fuse Symbol on schematic diagram

Different types of SMD Fuse

Note
SMD Fuse symbolized on motherboard and schematic diagram with the
letter F and sometimes symbolized with two letters like PF, FP and next to it
is a number.
 74

How do you test the fuse?

Set to the buzzer mode to test a fuse with digital meter.

If the fuse is ok it should read .0 or hear a tone (sound), and if the fuse is broken
(internally) there will be no tone (sound). But no tone means open fuse.

Good fuse Bad fuse Good fuse

(open fuse)

Buzzer Mode
Probe Black Fuse code on motherboard

Probe Red
 75

Resistor
A resistor is a passive two-terminal electrical component that implements electrical
resistance as a circuit element. In electronic circuits, resistors are used to reduce
current flow, adjust signal levels, to divide voltages, bias active elements, and
terminate transmission lines, among other uses.

The photo below different types of resistors

Several types of resistors

Understanding the Resistor Code

The resistance of a resistor is given in ohms (Ω) and is defined by the color bands that
appear along it.

The bands are read from left to right. The resistor has 4 bands, and you can see that
there are 3 bands and then a bigger gap and the 4th band.

The following figure shows the right way of reading the resistor colors.

First Second How many How

digit digit zeroes accurate
Resistor bands
 76

Each band means something:

 The first two bands represent the numbers of the first two digits
 The third band represents the number of zeros after those digits, the multiplier
 The fourth band is the tolerance of the resistance

The tolerance means the value isn’t precisely what’s indicated by the colors, it means
that the value of resistance can be between two values. You’ll see an example in the
next section.

The following table explains those values.

First Second How Many

Digit Digit More Zeroes
 77

Determining the value of resistance

Resistor
Let’s determine the resistance value of the resistor above:

 1st band is red – the first digit is 2

 2nd band is red – the second digit is 2
 3rd band is brown – the multiplier is 10^1 = 10
 4th band is gold – the tolerance is 5%

The value of resistance is 22×10 = 220Ω.

The tolerance is 5%, which means that the value of resistance can be between 220Ω
±5%. So it can have any value between 209Ω and 231Ω.

Sample Resistor Values

6 - 8 - no zeroes - silver:
68 ohms, 10% accurate

1 - 0 - two zeroes - gold:

1K (1,000 ohms), 5%

3 - 3 - three zeroes - gold:

33K (33,000 ohms), 5%

2 - 2 - four zeroes - silver:

220K (220,000 ohms), 10%

4 - 7 - five zeroes - silver:

4.7M (4,700,000 ohms), 10%
 78

Note
It’s useful to know how to determine the value of a resistor. However, if
you search on Google “resistor calculator”, you’ll find several websites
where you select the colors of your resistor, and it automatically calculates
the value of resistance.

Resistors in Series and in Parallel

You can combine resistors to have a specific value of resistance. For instance, you can
combine resistors in series or in parallel.

The figures below show how to calculate the resistance for both situations:

Resistors in Series

R1 R2 Req = R1 + R2

Resistors in series

Total 200 ohms

Two 100-ohm resistors in series block twice as much current as a single resistor. Their
total resistance is 200 ohms.
 79

Resistors in Parallel
R1 Req =

R2

Resistors in parallel

Total 50 ohms

Two 100-ohm resistors in parallel block half as much current as one resistor. Their
total resistance is 50 ohms.

Example:
Imagine that R1 = 220Ω and R2 = 270Ω. What’s the total value of resistance in the
first and in the second situation?

 Resistors in series : Req = 220 + 270 = 490 Ω

 Resistors in parallel : Req =220×270/220+270 = 121 Ω
 80

1.5K

1K5

Symbols for a 1.5K resistor, in the American style (top) and European style (bottom).

Note
Europeans don’t use a decimal point in schematics. If you see 1K5 it
means 1.5K, while 4M7 means 4.7M, values less than 1,000 ohms use
letter R, so 33 ohms would be written as 33R.

SMD Resistor
SMD or mini component resistor in the laptop motherboard serves as a resistance
and if its value is 0 - 000, the resistor serves as a jumper (fuse).

The color and shape of this resistor on laptop motherboards are generally black,
white and green.
 81

In particular, the resistor functions as a resistance, however its use in circuit

electronics. In general this component has a complex function depending on the
placement on a circuit.

Resistor in circuit laptop motherboards generally serve as a resistance, voltage

divider, comparator, full up, safety, jumper and current limiter.

Characteristics of this component will break the current and voltage or change the
value of the voltage itself if damaged, especially in the input circuit, and other
problems if the resistors breaks then the input will not flow to the system/IC. The
damage caused by this lice resistor is almost all of the characteristics of laptop
damage (no charging, totally died, no display, etc)

Many SMD resistors do not have any markings on them to indicate their value. For
these devices, once they are loose and out of their packaging it is very difficult to tell
their value. Accordingly SMD resistors are typically used within reels or other
packages where there is no chance of different values being mixed.

Many resistors do have markings on them. There are three systems that are used:

 Three figure SMD resistor coding system

 Four figure SMD resistor coding system
 EIA96 SMD resistor coding system

EIA96 SMD resistor code system

A further surface mount resistor code scheme or SMD resistor coding scheme has
started to be used, and it is aimed at 1% tolerance SMD resistors, i.e. those using the
EIA96 or E-96 resistor series. As higher tolerance resistors are used, further figures
are needed. However the small size of SMT resistors makes the figures difficult to
read. Accordingly the new system seeks to address this. Using only three figures, the
actual characters can be made larger than those of the four figure system that would
otherwise be needed.

The EIA SMD resistor coding scheme uses a three character code: the first 2 numbers
indicate the 3 significant digits of the resistor value. The third character is a letter
which indicates the multiplier. In this way this SMD resistor marking scheme will not
 82

be confused with the 3 figure markings scheme as the letters will differentiate it,
although the letter R can be used in both systems.

Precision SMD resistors with 1% of tolerance and with code EIA-96

Code (2 digits) Multiplier (1 letter)

To generate the system the E-96 resistor series has been taken and each value or
significant figure set has been numbered sequentially. As there are only 96 values in
the E-96 series, only two figures are needed to number each value, and as a result
this is a smart way of reducing the number of characters required.

The details for the EIA SMD resistor code scheme are tabulated below:

EIA SMD Resistor Code Scheme

Code Multiplier

Z 0.001
Y or R 0.01
X or S 0.1
A 1
B or H 10
C 100
D 1000
E 10000
F 100000
 83

EIA SMD Resistor Code Scheme Multipliers

Code Sig Figs Code Sig Figs Code Sig Figs Code Sig Figs

01 100 25 178 49 316 73 562

02 102 26 182 50 324 74 576
03 105 27 187 51 332 75 590
04 107 28 191 52 340 76 604
05 110 29 196 53 348 77 619
06 113 30 200 54 357 78 634
07 115 31 205 55 365 79 649
08 118 32 210 56 374 80 665
09 121 33 215 57 383 81 681
10 124 34 221 58 392 82 698
11 127 35 226 59 402 83 715
12 130 36 232 60 412 84 732
13 133 37 237 61 422 85 750
14 137 38 243 62 432 86 768
15 140 39 249 63 442 87 787
16 143 40 255 64 453 88 806
17 147 41 261 65 464 89 825
18 150 42 267 66 475 90 845
19 154 43 274 67 487 91 866
20 158 44 280 68 499 92 887
21 162 45 287 69 511 93 909
22 165 46 294 70 523 94 931
23 169 47 301 71 536 95 953
24 174 48 309 72 549 96 976

For example a resistor that is marked 68X can be split into two elements. 68 refer to
the significant figures 499, and X refers to a multiplier of 0.1. Therefore the value
indicated is 499 x 0.1 = 49.9Ω.

SMD resistors with 3-digit code (values less than 10 n)

As the name indicates this SMD resistor marking system uses three figures. The first
two figures in the code indicate the significant figures, and the third is a multiplier.
This is the same as the colored rings used for wired resistors, except that actual
numbers are used instead of colors.
 84

The first digit is The last digit is The letter R is Number after the
the number the decimal equivalent to the comma (2 digits)
number comma
The letter R is equivalent
to the comma

EXAMPLES

Initial number Number of zeros 10 + _ = 100 Ω

(2 digits)

10 + 0 = 101 Ω

22 + 0 = 220 Ω

SMD resistor with 4-digit code system Values less than

100 Ω
The four digits or four figure SMT resistor marking scheme is used for marking high
tolerance SMD resistors, its format is very similar to the three figures SMT resistor
making scheme, but expanded to give the higher number of significant figures
needed for higher tolerance resistors.

In this coding scheme, the first three numbers will indicate the significant digits, and
the fourth is the multiplier.
 85

EXAMPLES

0 +","+ 10 = 0.10 Ω
Part entire The last digit is a
(1 or 2 digits) decimal number
The letter R is equivalent
0 +","+ 47 = 0.47 Ω
to the comma

1 +","+ 20= 1.20 Ω

EXAMPLES

100 + = 100 Ω
Number initial Quantity of
(3 digits) zeros
470 + = 470 Ω

100 + 0 = 1 KΩ

SMD Network
One component can contain multiple resistors that have the same resistance value in
one package or component form. This type of resistor we often encounter in the
keyboard path, this component is rarely damaged except on the 2000s motherboard
output with error keyboard problems.

Network resistor symbol on schematic

 86

Resistors in the Circuit

Resistor as Resistance
The resistor acts as a resistance or current limiter.

Resistor in the laptop motherboard as much as 70% is used as a resistance on the

positive input VIN path, the characteristic of this component if it broken will break
the voltage.

If the resistance value changes or does not match the recommendation on the circuit
schematic, then the resulting output value is not appropriate and have an impact on
the error circuit or circuit problem (resistor stretched).
 87

Resistor as a Reducer Voltage - Voltage Divider

In principle, the voltage divider resistor consists of two resistors arranged in parallel
and will produce an output voltage ½ of the input voltage, provided that two resistors
have the same resistance value but if the values is different, it will affect the current
consumption depending on the value of a resistance.

Two resistors have the same

1/2 Vout
resistance value

This system is also often used in comparator circuits, variable resistor circuit on
charging and RTC circuit.

Resistor Grounding
This resistor is almost never damaged, used in circuit grounding and full down resistor
or parallel resistor that one of its legs is connected to ground/ system grounding.

Ground
 88

Resistor Measurement
You can check the resistor resistance by selecting the ohm range in the digital
multimeter, the display should show OLΩ because, in Resistance mode, even before
test leads are connected to a component, a digital multimeter automatically begins
taking a resistance measurement, when the leads are connected to a component, a
digital multimeter automatically uses the Auto range mode to adjust to the best
range, best results will be achieved if the component to be tested is removed from
the circuit. If the component is left in the circuit, the readings could be affected by
other components in parallel with the component to be tested.

Connect test probes across the

two points of the resistor; value
of resistance shown is 12M
ohms
12M Ohms

Set the dial to resistance

mode
 89

Test SMD Resistors

kΩ

3.3 Select Ohms mode and connect test

probes across the SMD resistor, value
of resistance shown is 3.3 kΩ ohms

Select Ohms mode or buzzer mode, this

resistance is 0 ohm (zero-ohm resistance) it
functions like a fuse.
 90

Capacitor
Basically, capacitors are components that store charge, a bit like a mobile battery, but
not much charge. Capacitors can store that charge and then, release it very quickly.
Capacitors are mainly use to solve problems like the instability of a circuit or
unwanted noise, also serves as a filter in the series of switching and decoupling.

Capacitor basics
DC current does not flow through a capacitor, but voltage can accumulate very
quickly inside it, and remains after the power supply is disconnected. Next photos
below may help to give you an idea of what happens inside a capacitor when it is fully
charged.

When DC voltage reaches a capacitor, no current flows, but the capacitor charges
itself like a little battery. The positive and negative charges are equal and opposite.

You can imagine positive "charge particles" accumulating on one side of the capacitor
and attracting negative "charge particles" to the opposite side.

In most modern electrolytic capacitors, the plates have been reduced to two strips of
very thin, flexible, metallic film, often wrapped around each other, separated by an
equally thin insulator. Disc ceramic capacitors typically consist of just a single disc of
nonconductive material with metal painted on both sides and leads soldered on.
 91

The two most common varieties of capacitors are ceramic (capable of storing a
relatively small charge) and electrolytic (which can be much larger). Ceramics are
often disc-shaped and yellow in color; electrolytic are often shaped like miniature tin
cans and may be just about any color.

Ceramic capacitors have no polarity, meaning that you can apply negative voltage to
either side of them. Electrolytic do have polarity, and won’t work unless you connect
them the right way around.

The schematic symbol for a capacitor has two significant variants: with two straight
lines (symbolizing the plates inside a capacitor), or with one straight line and one
curved line, as shown in next photo. When you see a curved line, that side of the
capacitor should be more negative than the other. The schematic symbol may also
include a + sign.

SMD Ceramic type Works as a filter noose, if we are pay attention to symbols &
shapes. Ceramic type components have no poles, so the installation may be reversed.
Often we find on the 19V input bypass path in all circuit systems and one of the
causes of the most dominant motherboard short circuit (this type of component
often suffered damage, especially in the case of short circuit).

Symbol
Code : C
PC : Power Capacitor
 92

This type of capacitor is called electrolytic. Its storage

capacity, known as capacitance, is 470µF, but I’ll explain that
in a moment. 50V is its maximum voltage.

The short lead is the negative side, also identified with minus
signs. Never connect an electrolytic capacitor to a power
supply the wrong way around, electrolytic capacitors exhibit
polarity. You should connect the (+) pin to the side that current is coming from.

Capacitance is measured in farads, abbreviated with letter F. But a 1F capacitor is

very large, abbreviated µF. The µ symbol is the Greek letter mu, but often µF is
printed as uF.

There are 1,000,000 microfarads in 1 farad, 1,000 nanofarads (nF) in 1 microfarad,

and 1,000 picofarads (pF) in 1 nanofarad.

The weakness of electrolytic capacitor is the leakage of components that causes the
value of the output voltage to change drop, even short circuit is often found on the
problem of 3V and 5V circuits as well VCC core.

SMD Tantalum in addition to its function as temporary load storage. In the laptop
motherboard also it functions as a filter in switching and decoupling circuits. If we
look at the symbols and shapes, the components of elco and tantalum have positive
and negative poles, so the installation on the circuit should not be inverted. (Elco may
be replaced with tantalum vice versa). This type of component is widely used for
alternate NEC/TOKIN replacement on the VCC core in case of no display, with the
characteristic of no display total voltage VCC core drop 0v - 0.9V. It should be noted
that NEC/TOKIN is also included in component capacitor families.

Several types of SMD capacitor

 93

Capacitors in the Circuit

Note
Shorting : A meeting between positive and negative poles, and the characteristic
of this component if it breaks it does not break the current-voltage like Fuse or
Resistor, but connects-matches the two poles that should be separated (positive
and negative), this event is often called short circuit.

19V 19V

19V

The picture on the above, the bipolar capacitor component is arranged in parallel and
connected directly to the VIN (source voltage of the circuit system) and on the foot
after it is connected to ground. And what happens if this component is
damaged/short? Then all VIN lines in all systems will be affected by short.

The techniques to find a shorting capacitor arranged parallel as in the picture above,
remove the capacitor one by one. Parallel arranged capacitors serve to flatten
currents and voltages (currents and voltages are always directly proportional).

The basic principle of capacitor is the charge storage and then releases
it. While the capacitors are arranged in series then the characteristic will
be different, if the input voltage goes up he fills the charge and if the
voltage drops he will dispose of the charge.
 94

The capacitor will conduct electricity when the input is off or in AC mode and charge
if ON or when in the DC mode, there are 2 functions the first function to block the DC
voltage and the second function to smooth the AC voltage.

How to measure capacitance

Note
This measurement is only for measuring the safe voltage point, because
the shape and scope of the capacitor is wider. For the tip of the
multimeter probe, we can also modify the multimeter tip with the needle.

The black probe does not always have to be on the ground pin of the capacitor, can
be in the screw hole or any part as long as it is safe and is a ground path.
 95

Ground

Capacitor measurement using voltage

We take circuit below for understand how you can test the SMD capacitor, voltage
measurement techniques pay attention to the position of the probe. The black probe
is on ground (GND) while the red probe is also up to which point we want to test
(input or output) this measurement method is used to ensure the uninterrupted
voltage after passing through the components that carry the voltage.

Capacitor

Ground
 96

Motherboard will get +DCIN once insert adapter as following circuit below:

19V

19V from adapter

19V

DCv

19 V

19V will be passing through capacitor PC6 which could make the current become
more stable, if there is 19V exit on PC6 you can be sure there's no problem with
capacitor but if there is no voltage it can be sure the capacitor is broken.

Capacitor measurement without voltage

Turn the dial to the buzzer mode, for a correct measurement and connect the test
leads to the capacitor terminals.

Note that electrolytic capacitors (most commonly shaped like cans) are polarized, so
identify the positive and negative terminals before you connect the multimeter's
leads. This may not matter much for your test.

Sometimes you need to remove the capacitor from the circuit.

 97

000 Sound of a buzzer with 0 value, this

result can mean the capacitor has
shorted (damage)

0.08

Value without sound of a

buzzer, this result mean ceramic
capacitor is good
 98

Diodes
Diodes force the current to flow in only one direction, like a one-way valve, general
function of diode is for rectifier and alternating current protection.

Diode symbol

Code of diode: D or PD (Power

Diode)

Diodes have a negative lead (-) and a positive lead (+), which are called the cathode
and the anode, respectively.

If the anode is at a higher voltage than the cathode (it has two be greater by about
half a volt), it conducts electricity, and we say that it is "forward-biased". If not, we
say that it is "reverse-biased" and the current doesn’t flow.

A few examples of diodes

 99

Diode with Three Leg

SMD Dual Diode
SMD Dual Diode marking on the
motherboard D18, D17, letter D
is diode symbol on motherboard.

SMD Dual Diode is a single package with 2 diodes, middle pin is the negative.

As a switch control in circuit, the form and function it’s like a transistor, but it’s
different. This Three leg diode function in motherboard laptop is for circuit protection
and helping the transistor.

Diode Zener
Zener Diodes will be has the characteristics and functions as normal diodes in
general, but on laptop motherboard diode zener lot on use for voltage stabilizer.

Anode (+) Cathode (-)

Zener symbol

Zener diode symbol on the circuit diagram and motherboard usually begin with letter
"D, PD and ZD".
 100

LED Diode
The function of LED diode in motherboard laptop is almost 95% for light indicator.
Because power consumption is very low, lot of product motherboard using SMD
diode LED type, LEDs have polarities. If you take a close look at an LED, you’ll see that
it has two distinct legs (also called leads). One lead is longer than the other, longest
lead Anode (+) shortest lead Cathode (-), Examples are the LEDs of the power button,
battery, etc.

LED diode marking on the motherboard

and schematic with word LED.

Color of LED diode

Anode (+)
Cathode (-)

How to test a Diode

Before testing a diode, we must know the diode terminals like Anode (+) and Cathode
(-). In most cases, there is a white band color coating on normal PN junctions diodes
which indicates as cathode terminal and the rest is anode. In other cases, there are
different colors are used and the color coated sides are cathode as shown in photo
below.

A white band color

 101

Below is a tutorial that shows how to test a normal PN Diode, LED and Zener Diode by
different methods.

Testing Diode using (Diode Test Mode + Resistance Mode)

Set the meter on "Diode Test" Mode and connect the diode leads to the multimeter
test leads and note the reading.

Reverse the test leads and note the

measurement.

Forward Biased: When the positive (Red) test lead is connected to the anode (+) and
negative (Black) test lead is connected to the cathode (-) of diode. In Forward-biased,
the diode acts like close switch and will pass the current through it like conductors.

Reverse Biased: If we do the reverse as mention above Red Test lead to cathode (-)
and Black test lead to the Anode (+) of the diode. In revere-biased, the diode acts like
open switch and will not let pass the current through it like resistor.

If multimeter display "OL" in reverse biased, it is good as well.

If multimeter display "OL" reading in both direction (Forward-biased and reverse-

biased), its mean diode is dead and acting as an open switch which doesn’t allow
current to flow in it, in case of shorted diode.
 102

How to test LED (Light Emitting Diode)

Set the meter on "Diode Test" Mode and connect the positive probe to cathode and
the negative probe to anode. If LED doesn't light up, reverse the test probes, the
good and working LED will then light up or glow, a busted LED will not.

LED should light up

How to test Zener Diode

As we have discussed that the Zener operates same as a common diode so the diode
test mode method will be the same for Zener.

Set meter to diode test range and you should expect reading one side and when you
reverse the probes you will get no reading.
 103

Inductor-Coil
A coil is conductor wire such as copper in a cylindrical form around an iron core that
creates an inductor or electromagnet to store magnetic energy. Coils are often used
to remove power spikes and dips from power, an example of an inductor.

Inductors

Code of inductor on motherboard:

L or PL: Power Inductor
Inductor symbol

The inductor function in the laptop's motherboard is used to switching circuits.

Basically in circuit, switching inductor and capacitor function is same, to save current
when switch is connected and release its charge when the switch is released, but
there are advantages of each component. Inductors are widely used as circuit
breakers one and another, when the execution process narrows the characteristic
shorting of the motherboard. And in other techniques, inductors are used as short-
chip detectors and short circuit.
 104

How to test Inductor

Note the inductors has no polarity, so set buzzer mode in your multimeter, if the
inductor is ok, the buzzer will sound and if the inductor is open (internally) or shorted
there will be no sound.
 105

Transistor
A transistor is a semiconductor, meaning that sometimes it conducts electricity, and
sometimes it doesn’t. Its internal resistance varies, depending on the power that you
apply to its base.

NPN and PNP transistors are bipolar semiconductors. They contain two slightly
different variants of silicon, and conduct using both polarities of carriers-holes and
electrons.

The NPN type is a sandwich with P-type silicon in the middle, and the PNP type is a
sandwich with N-type silicon in the middle. if you want to know more about this
terminology and the behavior of electrons when they try to cross an NP junction or a
PN junction.

- All bipolar transistors have three connections: Collector, Base, and Emitter,
abbreviated as C, B, and E on the manufacturer’s data sheet, which will identify
the pins for you.
- NPN transistors are activated by positive voltage on the base relative to the
emitter.
- PNP transistors are activated by negative voltage on the base relative to the
emitter.

You can think of a bipolar transistor as if it contains a little button inside, as shown in
two photos below. When the button is pressed, it allows a large current to flow. To
press the button, you inject a much smaller current into the base by applying a small
voltage to the base. In an NPN transistor, the control voltage is positive, in a PNP
transistor, the control voltage is negative.
 106

NPN transistor
- To start the flow of current from collector to emitter, apply a relatively positive
voltage to the base.
- In the schematic symbol, the arrow points from base to emitter and shows the
direction of positive current.
- The base must be at least 0.6 volts "more positive" than the emitter, to start the
flow.
- The collector must be "more positive" than the emitter.

PNP transistor
- To start the flow of current from emitter to collector, apply a relatively negative
voltage to the base.
- In the schematic symbol, the arrow points from emitter to base and shows the
direction of positive current.
- The base must be at least 0.6 volts "more negative" than the emitter, to start
the flow.
- The emitter must be "more positive" than the collector.

The symbol for an NPN transistor always has The symbol for a PNP transistor always has an
an arrow pointing from its base to its emitter. arrow pointing from its emitter to its base.
 107

MOSFET
What is a MOSFET?
MOSFET or Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor also called as voltage
controlled device acts as an amplifier and a switch. It amplifies only DC voltage and
not AC. It is the common FET. It is formed of semiconductor material like silicon and
germanium. It is denoted by Q, PQ and also U.

Types of MOSFET used in laptops:

There are two types of MOSFET based on the channel as N-channel and P-channel
MOSFET. There are 6 types based on their package as standard, SO-8, SOT-8, SOT-6,
Dual channel SO-8 and Dual channel SOT-6 packages.

D D D D D D D

G G

G S S S S G S S

Standard Package SO-8 Package N-Channel P-Channel

When a voltage is applied to the gate, MOSFET turns ON and the drain (on/off) is
connected to the source and this connection is capable of switching high current
(flow of electrons) through the MOSFET, the gate requires virtually no power to turn
ON the MOSFET.
 108

PINOUT Identification of Mosfets used in recent Laptops

95% less volume

80 % less volume

SOT-8 or SuperSOT-8 SO - 8

D D D D D D D D S D D S S D D S

N P N P

S S S D S S S D D D D G D D D G

SOT-6 or SuperSOT-6
D D S S D S

N P

D D G D D G
 109

Dual Channel (SO-8) Dual Channel (SOT-6 or SuperSOT-6)

D1 D1 D2 D2 D2 D2 D1 D1 D1 S1 D2 D1 S1 D2

S1 G1 S2 G2 S2 G2 S1 G1 G1 S2 G1 G1 S1 G2

Transistor Mosfet 8 Legs

P-Channel Mosfet in laptop motherboard used in charging and DC circuits jack

section, which functions as protection circuit to close or passed the voltage of 19V/S5
circuit, while outside the bypass line DC jack and charging, this component is not in
use. In the input voltage circuit and any output, the value is the same except the gate
which is ½ value of input and output values (generally) although not all of them like
that. Because the characteristic of this component decided payload and only move on
the positive track which works as ordered from the gate between pass the voltage or
not (switch).

So, if this component is damage, the input will find the voltage and at the output do
not find any voltage. With the condition on the gate there is voltage.
 110

In addition, the protection system will be active if there is a short in the output path
after the charging circuit, result the voltage is only at the Mosfet input only (but the
Mosfet is good condition). So, do not directly change the Mosfet, mainly on total
dead short damage. First make sure the output path of the Mosfet is not the short
way by measuring the diode value mode (buzzer).

The red probe on the output leg of the Mosfet and black probe on ground, and if it
beeps sound, can be sure there are short in output after Mosfet, especially on VIN
path.

N-channel in laptop motherboard is many used as lowering voltage and Current

amplifier in the process of switching (step down) inside switching/SMPS circuit. This
component often found and in use for VRAM circuit, VCC CORE, GPU CORE, 3V &5V.

N-channel and P-channel Mosfet Characteristic

Mosfet P-channel is often found in DC jack and Charging circuits. Character and the
function of this component serve as a protection circuit.

Example below, if there is short after output pin 5678 then automatically gate on, PIN
4 will open the gate as ordered from SYSTEM, consequently the voltage is only
present on pin 123 only. And if not found short circuit on the output then 90%
certainly this Mosfet is problematic. And other problems are also sourced from
Mosfet underneath (we call it a small transistor 6 leg).

19v AD+ 19v AD+

 111

N-Channel Mosfet in parallel arrangement (HIGH & LOW), on a continuous basis

simple, works for the switching process that its function is for decrease voltage
according to gate command voltage from DC or IC 3V & 5V. This is the conclusion of
the difference of N-channel and p-channel Mosfet. If N-channel is identical to parallel
circuit while P-Channel identical to the series.

Consider one of the legs of the MOSFET that connected to the ground. If this
component is damaged, consequently SHORT CIRCUIT, even the damaged
underneath or above the Mosfet. Gate on the N-channel Mosfet is rarely
problematic, because in this path there is no component to pass (toll roads).
Except, the absence of gate or command voltage of the controller itself in this case IC
3V & 5V problem.

Ok! Enough with the introduction to Mosfets. We'll conduct the testing
process and see which MOSFET is working and which isn't.
 112

How to check Mosfet

First we'll check if this Mosfet is an N-Channel or P-Channel, set multimeter to Buzzer
mode.

N-Channel Mosfet : Connect the black probe to the drain and the red probe to the
source of the Mosfet, and if you get a value on the screen of Multimeter then this
Mosfet is N-Channel.

S 1 8 D
S 2 7 D
S 3 6 D
G 4 5 D

N-Channel Mosfet

Positive Voltages

P-Channel Mosfet : Connect the Red probe to drain and Black

probe to the source and if you get a value then it’s a P-Channel
Mosfet.

S D
S D
S D
G D
P-Channel Mosfet

Positive Voltages
 113

How to know if is defective. First turn ON digital multimeter and set to Diode mode
and connect the red lead to source "S" and connect the black lead
to drain "D" the multimeter should indicate the OL mark.

0.OL

A*a*

Now reverse the leads put the black lead to the source "S" and the red lead is to drain
"D", the multimeter should have reading between 0.45-0.7.

v
0.431
 114

CMOS or RTC Battery

The CMOS battery also known as coin cell battery, is not there to provide power to
the laptop when it is in operation, it is there to maintain a small amount of power to
the CMOS when the laptop is powered off and unplugged. Without the CMOS
battery, you would need to reset the clock every time you turned on the laptop, if the
CMOS battery is corrupted, then the time setting will be always changing, if the
CMOS battery is damaged or discharged when in the adapter plug, the laptop
immediately turn on itself.

Battery

There are three types of CMOS based on the interface used to connect with a laptop
motherboard.

1- Socket/button Type (Hand removable).

2- Connector Type (Hand removable).
3- Solder Type (De-solder to remove).

Since the battery has one positive (+) side and one negative (-) side, you need to be
sure that you are connecting the battery correctly.

Code : RTC

Battery symbol
 115

Most coin cells in use today are non-rechargeable and are found in medical implants,
watches, hearing aids, car keys and memory backup.

Testing the CMOS in a good condition or not. You measure it; if the CMOS voltage is
3V then CMOS is ok. If the voltage drops between 1v-0v then CMOS is not worth
wearing.

v
3
 116

Crystal
Every motherboard will have at least one quartz crystal. This generates the basic
timing signal that is used to produce the various frequencies required by the different
parts of the system bus, as well as the processor speed itself. The crystal will usually
be in the form of a small silver-colored can, this serves as a clock pulse producer.
Crystals are an important component in oscillator circuit and RTC circuit.

In use within the scope of the component high speed, for example, PCH and EC as a
series of generators-working conditions of the chipset component is the point.

Crystal in oscillator circuit can only be measured with oscilloscope-counter at least

100 MHz, but do not worry this component is rarely damaged except on the system
itself or where the component is in place it on a circuit like input circuit before
entering it, like resistor & comparator capacitor.

Location of the crystal is labeled as XTAL or X. Some examples of crystal oscillator

frequencies are 4 mega hertz, 8 MHz, 16 MHz and so on.

Crystal symbol

A few examples of crystals

 117

Off-On Switches (Push-button)

Switches allow electric current to flow by closing the circuit, or stop electric current
from flowing by opening the circuit. There are several types of switches as you can
see in the photo below.

Code switch on schematic: SW

Switch symbol

When you press the switch (the push button), you allow the current to flow. It helps
taking a look at the photo below.

Button pressed Button not pressed

Current flowing Current not flowing

Push buttons usually have four legs, these legs are always connected in a pair. When
the push button is pressed, all the 4 legs are connected and the current flows.
 118

1 3
1

3 2

4
2 4

How a pushbutton is internally connected

You can use a digital meter to test button switch, set to a buzzer mode. A good
switch with a good contact should make the digital meter produce the buzzer
sound. No sound means the switch is defective.
 119

Integrated Circuit (IC)

Integrated Circuits are usually called ICs or chips. They are complex circuits which
have been etched onto tiny chips of semiconductor (silicon). IC (Integrated Circuit) is
Component active electronics consisting of composite hundreds or even millions of
transistors, resistors and other components being integrated into an Electronics
Circuit in a small packaging. Forms of IC also vary, ranging from 3 Legged to hundreds
of legs (terminal).

IC functions are also diverse, ranging from amplifier, switching, and controller to
media storage. Generally, IC is electronic components are used as brain in an
electronics equipment. For example, IC that function as brain on a computer called as
Microprocessor, consists of 16 million transistors and that number has not yet been
included other electronic components.

All components with PU code are IC, but the code function is different, a lot of PU on
the motherboard. So, for beginners, you should creative to take one sample
motherboard and see how much PU in the motherboard, then take a look datasheet
to know the function and how it works.

As time passes you will know the function of each PU with its code, because it is only
a few IC manufacturers use in laptop motherboards like Realtek, Broadcom, Atheros,
TPS, Maxim etc.

Identification of a good or bad IC should be with schematic to know the input pin and
outputs.
 120

Where is pin 1 on an IC?

Here is a basic rule that applies for most integrated circuits. There’s a polarity mark
somewhere, from that polarity mark, move counter clockwise around the chip and
number the pins starting at 1.

A common polarity marker is a half-moon shape at one end of the chip. Another is a
small dot by pin 1, or sometimes a small triangle or tab instead. Sometimes several of
these marks can appear.

Pin N°1

Small circle

The pins are numbered anti-clockwise around the IC (chip) starting near the notch or
dot.

For all IC packages, pin numbers increase sequentially as you move counter-clockwise
away from pin 1.

1 8
2 7
3 6
4 5

A printed bar on the left hand

side of IC to act as a polarity
indicator.
 121

A simple dot to indicate the orientation

Surface-mount ICs might come in QFN, SOIC, SSOP, or a number of other form-
factors. These ICs will usually have a dot near pin 1.

Pin N°1

Pin 1 is clearly marked with an

arrow on the circuit board.

Examples of chips with well-marked polarity

 122

SUPER I/O
On the motherboard of a notebook you will find several ICs (Integrated Circuits), the
biggest one is the Super I/O. It is the IC responsible for communicating (via pulses)
with all sources on the board, enabling, resetting and sending information, for
virtually every motherboard.

The letter U is used to represent it on the motherboard

The operating configurations of this component may change according to its

datasheet.

This means that when exchanging a Super I/O one should always use another of the
same model.

There is a compatibility table that can be used in cases of emergency, however for
those who are starting; the best option is to replace with another one so there is no
doubt.
 123

Super I/O works with voltage pulses on its terminals that may be High Level (3V) or
Low Level (0V).

For you to understand, imagine that some motherboard components need to receive
information to work in sequence, Super I/O works by sending this information.

Popular Brands (SMSC, NUVOTON, ITE, ENE).

Super I/O test

Super I/O has 128 terminals emitting and receiving pulses to communicate with the
rest of the motherboard.

For this reason the testing of this component is a little more complex and maybe time
consuming, because you will need to understand the pulses that are emitted and
received by it, and that it requires time for study and practice.

Basically this component has 2 types of defects, which are: shorting out (usually it
gets hot, the diagnosis is easy) and some terminals failing, causing no important pulse
to be emitted for the motherboard to function.
 124

PWM IC
There are some components on the motherboard of a laptop that use the technology
PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) or Pulse Width Modulation to regulate that is
decreases the board voltages.

They are known as PWM IC. The letter U is used to represent it on the motherboard.

Like every Integrated Circuit, the PWM IC has a more complex operation because it
relies on receiving pulses and exchanging information in conjunction with other
components through their terminals.

The main function of PWM IC is to generate the famous Switching Sources, which will
be responsible for supplying all motherboard circuits.

The following image shows the example of a PWM IC model TPS51125.

In this image below you can see in the center a PWM IC pointed by an arrow.

This component may have different amounts of terminals depending on the model.
 125

Note
Use scrap motherboards to learn how to remove and place this
component.

Motherboard Removal Technique: Hot Air Station and solid flow to aid
removal.

How to test PWM IC:

Because it is an IC (Integrated Circuit), the test of this component is done by
measuring some of its terminals, we should be use schematic or datasheet to know
the input pin and output pin.
 126

Part 6
Analyzing and understanding the
motherboard
 127

Ajanalyzing and Uunerstanding the Motherboard

In a very summarized form and to facilitate understanding, a laptop motherboard is
divided by some sectors that we identified by switching sources, we will see in this e-
book each one of them, how to know which source is defective and which component
needs to be replaced for the board to reconnect.

Note 1
A switched source is a circuit formed basically by a PWM IC, a high mosfet, a
low mosfet, an inductor and a capacitor to filter the line.

Note 2
It is called discharge mosfet (receives 19V) and low (connected to earth)
mosfets that are part of a switched source.

When analyzing a defective laptop on the motherboard you should not blindly
measure component by component. This would take time to repair and you would
probably get lost.

The most efficient strategy for a quick analysis and diagnosis is to measure the
voltage outputs (through the inductors) of the switched sources on the
motherboard with the aid of the electrical schematic (Ex: 3V, 5V, etc.).

Assuming that one of the motherboard sources is missing its voltage, then it will be
necessary to analyze only the circuit of that source, thus speeding up the repair.

At that time, the analysis of the terminals of the source PWM IC starts to know if it is
working. If it is ok, then we start with the other components that make up that
source.

Maybe you are a little confused now, but don't worry, we will analyze each one of
these items in more depth later on.

Finding a defect is a process that is quick most of the time, but it can sometimes take
a little patience too.
 128

Schematic Diagram
If you could have a map that will guide you to find any defect in a laptop in minutes,
would it be good?

Yes, this map exists and we call it the Schematic Diagram (Electrical Scheme), and
through the use of it this becomes possible.

This is perhaps one of the most important parts I wrote in this e-book, because his
subject is one of the main divisors of water for those who want to work with laptop
maintenance.

So pay special attention to it, until you assimilate all the content well.

Well, after all, what is a Schematic Diagram?

Electrical schematic or electrical diagram or schematic diagram is nothing more

than the graphical representation of all circuits on the laptop's motherboard.

In a very practical way it is a PDP file that contains information about the operation of
a particular laptop.

It is through the analysis of the electrical schematic that the technician can quickly
reach the solution of a defect.

Without it, it becomes very difficult and time-consuming in most cases.

Here are some benefits of working with the wiring diagram:

1- Circuits are separated by pages, facilitating analysis through measurements at

strategic points.

2- The main components used on the motherboard of the schematic in question

are listed on a single page (block diagram) (Super I/O, North Bridge, BIOS IC, PWM
ICs, etc.).

3- Page with the summarized sequence of operation of the laptop (step by step,
voltage by voltage that must appear on the motherboard for it to work).
 129

How to get the Schematic Diagram?

When repair a laptop motherboard, this basic laptop motherboard information you
must know and what’s their purpose to use it.

General Info:
Brand and Model Number:

Sticker on the bottom of the laptop, it is called Product name

Identifying the correct laptop brand, series, model number, screen size and resolution
is essential to finding the correct part for your laptop. The laptop series is typically
more prominently displayed as part of the branding of your laptop, typically on the
top cover, or on the keyboard area or display panel area of your laptop when you
open it up.

OEM Laptop motherboard:

OEM or original equipment manufacturer, all branded laptop computer like Apple,
Acer, Dell, HP, Lenovo and etc, they are not manufacture their laptop motherboard.
All of them are using the third party company design laptop motherboard to build
their own brand laptop.

The popular OEM Company is Compal, QUANTA, Wistron, Inventec and Pegatron.
These OEM Company have a huge market percentage on production of laptop
motherboard. The second line OEM manufacturer like: MITAC, Clevo, FIC, MSI, ECS,
Flextronics, Foxconn, Topstar and etc.
 130

List of some OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer)

Quanta Compal Inventec

BENQ JoyBook S41 Dell Latitude D630 LA-3301P HP NX6325 6050A2030501-

DA0CH3MB8E0 MB-A05

Sony Asus Wistron

SONY MBX-123 ASUS EEEPC P701 Wistron JE40 HR – 48IQ01.031

Quanta are probably the biggest laptop manufacturer, followed by Compal and
Pegatron. Compal and Pegatron probably have the best quality overall.

Information about the manufacturer and motherboard model laptop very important
to us, you might need to know model number motherboard’s model for a number of
reasons as stated below:

1- Looking for motherboard BIOS file or the need to update the BIOS of motherboard.
2- Looking for a motherboard schematic.
3- Need to update the drivers of hardware as audio drivers.
 131

How to get the schematic diagram?

The easiest way to look for the schematic diagram in the internet is by using the
laptop reference, for example: Acer Aspire 1300, Hp pavilion DV5-1000us etc.

In case you don't find the schematic using the laptop reference you can use the ODM.

To look for the motherboard schematic using the ODM method look for a reference
printed in the motherboard and use it to search for the schematic, below is an
example of those references for ODMs:

Find the Motherboard ODMs (Original Equipment Manufacturer)

This is usually printed on the motherboard, but can be located in several possible
locations, for example, it may be printed near the RAM slots, near the CPU socket, or
between the PCI slots. There will be a lot of writing on the motherboard, but the
model number is usually written in the largest text (Motherboard model numbers are
typically a collection of numbers and letters).

Look for your motherboard schematic online

Go to a search engine of your choice (Google) then type in your model number
(ODM) followed by the word "Schematic or Diagram" and press entre, this will bring
up a list of matching schematic motherboard models.
 132

Carefully review the search results. Watch in particular for results in PDF format, as
most manufacturers that do list their schematics online will do so in PDF (Adobe
Acrobat) format.
 133

Click link to download schematic

Put your schematic to your folders.

There are many sites that offer a bank of schematics for download:

www.elektrotanya.com
www.eserviceinfo.com
www.s-manuals.com/notebook
 134

For everything to be easier, you need to understand what it is and how the
components of a laptop (capacitor, resistor, diode, etc.) work before starting to
analyze and interpret a schematic.

The electrical schematics may seem complex at first, however, in a short time, you
will see how simple they are to interpret, as they are only a graphical representation,
that is, drawings of the laptop circuits, where symbols that represent the various
components that are on the motherboard.

Symbol and Screen Printing

One of the main problems faced by those who begin to read electrical schematics is
the identification of components and also of symbol.

The various letters and symbols (which may even vary according to the design they
are applied to) sometimes become one of the biggest difficulties that technicians
usually face when repairing their first laptops.

Every laptop motherboard is manufactured with letters on its surface that are located
next to each component or region of a circuit, and that allow the technician to quickly
identify what that component is about.

They call it motherboard screen printing.

If you take a motherboard from a laptop you will notice that in addition to the
description of the motherboard model, all components, be it resistor, diode, etc.,
have an identification that serves to help locate them in the wiring diagram.

Each component name found on the motherboard wiring diagram and screen must
be unique. Ex: capacitor C1, C2, C3 and so on.

The following tables list some the main components used on a laptop's motherboard:
 135

Table of components of the motherboard:

Components Symbol in the electric schematic Code in the motherboard

RESISTOR R
DIODE D
CAPACITOR C

CRYSTAL
Y
INDUCTOR OR COIL I

Just as screen printing is important for the motherboard, the symbol is for the
electrical schematic.

Below are the main symbols used in the schematics of laptop:

Table of electric schematic symbols:

Description Symbol in the schematic

These arrows pointing downwards
indicate the motherboard ground.

This symbol indicates the sending of a

certain signal.
Ex: IC PWM communicating with Super I/O.

This symbol indicates that a certain signal

has been received.
Ex: Super I/O communicating with some
other component.

This filled ball means the intersection

between two lines.
This means that they have the same
tension.

This empty circle indicates that there is a

voltage point that will go to other places
on the motherboard.
In the example, the primary voltage is 5V.

The double arrow indicates the

simultaneous exchange of information
between certain components.
 136

Signal Name for Motherboard Manufacturers

List of some common signal names of Wistron

Signal Name Description

CK-PWRGD After the South Bridge receiving VRMPWRGD, sent this signal as
high level for opening the clock.
G792-RST# The high level s4end by the temperature control chip when the
temperature is normal.
CLK_EN# After CPU power supply being normal, send the low level that
can be used to open the clock.
LID_CLOSE# Close cover switch.
KBC-PWR-BTN# Press the on/off switch to produce the trigger signal to EC.
AD_IN# , AC_IN# The power adapter detection signal to EC, the low level
represents that the adapter is inserted.
+5VALM, +3VALM The standby power supply of South Bridge.
PWR-S5-EN A control signal used to open standby voltage of South Bridge.
ACAV-IN Power adapter detection output for charging chip.
ACIN Power adapter detection input for charging chip.
DCIN Power supply input for charging chip.
+3VL 3.3V linear power supply, supply voltage to EC.
DCBATOUT Common point.
AD+ The first voltage that the power adapter converts.
 137

List of some common signal names of Inventec

Signal Name Description

+VADP Power adapter voltage.
ADP_EN# Power adapter enable signal; Active low level.
ADP_PRES Adapter detection output voltage.
+VBATR Common point voltage.
+3VAL, +5VAL Linear power supply.
PWR_SWIN_3# The signal sent by trigger switch to EC chip.
KBC_PW_ON The power signal; It is sent by EC after EC receiving trigger switch;
It is use to open the system standby power supply under the
battery mode (backup battery).
OCP Over-current protection.
LIMIT_SIGNAL The power adapter connector intermediate pin; Power
identification signal.
+V3A, +V5A Power supply of standby system.
VCCI_POR#3 The initial reset signal of EC.

List of some common signal names of Compal

Signal Name Description

SUS_STAT# Sent by the South Bridge; The low level indicates that the
system will be in power-down (save power) mode.
BCLK The front side bus clock signal.
ICH_POK PWROS for the South Bridge; Inform the South Bridge system
voltage power good.
VGATE CPU core voltage power-good signal.
+CPU_CORE CPU core voltage.
+VCCP The working voltage of CPU front side bus; This voltage
distributes in CPU, the North Bridge, and the South Bridge.
SUSP# S0 voltage open signal.
SYSON S3 voltage open signal.
PBTNOUT# The boot trigger signal sent by EC to the South Bridge.
ON/OFF# The trigger signal sent by boot trigger circuit to EC.
ON/OFFBTN# Press power on key signal.
+3VALW, +5VALW Inserting the adapter, that is the opened voltage.
VL 5V linear power supply.
PACIN The detection output signal is inserted to the adapter.
B+ Common point voltage.
 138

List of some common signal names of Apple

Signal Name Description

ONEWIRE_EN ONEWIRE enable signal; For the adapter to identify circuit
(the power connector LED green light).
ACPRN Low level ACPRN signal sent by charging chip after the
adapter is detected.
SMC_BATT_CHG_EN The charging enable signal sent by SMC; Active-high level.
SMC_ADAPTER_EN The high-level signal output by SMC after receiving the
adapter detection signal.
SMC_BC_ACOK The Adapter detection signal; Active – high level.
VR_PWRGD_CK505_L The lower level signal of open clock; After CPU power
supply chip generating CPU voltage normally, it will send
the low level signal to open clock.
VR_PWRGOOD_DELAY The power good signal sent by CPU power supply after
generating CPU voltage normally and it will delay to send
the power-good.
ALL_SYS_PWRGD Convergence from all power supply good signal except CPU
power supply
1V8S3_RUNSS S3 state voltage (memory supply) of 1.8V open signal.
PM_BATLOW_L The indicator signal of low battery voltage; Active-low
level.
=PPBUSA_G3H Common point voltage.
PP3V3_G3_SB_RTC 3.3V power supply of the South Bridge RTC circuit.
=PP3V3_S5_REG 3.3V power supply in the condition of S5 provided the
standby voltage to the South Bridge and others.
=PP3V42_G3H_REG 3.42V power supply in the condition of G3 equivalent to
the linear power supply of other machine.
 139

List of some common signal names of Quanta

Signal Name Description

NBSWON# Trigger signal for power on; Press the power on key to produce
high-lowhigh signal to EC.
D/C# Inverse relationship with ACIN (Just for motherboard with
D/C# signal, where the motherboard is without BL/C# signal).
BL/C# Represents high level, low battery (only for battery mode).
CPURST# CPU reset signal; The North Bridge sent CPURST# to CPU after
received PLTRST#.
PCIRST# The PCI reset; Used for resetting the device on the PCI bus
when powered on.
PLTRST# The platform reset signal; After the South Bridge sending
CPUPWRGD signal, through the delay buffer sent PLTRST#
CPUPWRGD In the South Bridge internal, PWROK pin and VRMPWRGD pin
signal through the logic generated CPUPWRGD.
CK_PWRGD The South Bridge sent CL-PWRGD open clock chip after
receiving VRMPWRGD.
VR-PWRGD-CK410# CPU core voltage power managed the clock open signal from
chip; Active low level.
DELAY_VR_PWG CPU core voltage power-good signal.
PWROK_EC After EC received high level HWPG signal, delay producing the
PWROK_EC signal.
HWPG By the PG Logic and all power supply except the CPU core
power supply.
VR_ON The CPU core voltage opening signal sent by EC.
MAINON After EC receiving SLP_S3# from the South Bridge, after that
producing S3 voltage opening signal.
SUSON After EC receiving SLP_S5# from the South Bridge, then
producing S3 voltage opening signal.
S5_ON The opening signal of the South Bridge standby voltage sent by
EC; Its use to convert the PCU to voltage S5.
SLP_S3#, SLP_S4# ACPI controller signal sent by the South Bridge is used to
opening voltage when the power is turned on, and it also used
to shutting off voltage when the power is turned off.
DNBSWON# EC sent high-low-high effective trigger signal to the South
Bridge PWRBTN#.
+3VSUS, +5VSUS The voltage under the condition of S3; Memory power supply;
Sent by EC and opened by SUSON.
3V_S5 The voltage under the condition of S5.
 140

+3VPCU, +5VPCU EC Standby power supply

3V_AL, 5V_AL, VL 3V, 5V Linear power supply
ACIN, ACOK Power Adapter detection
VIN The common point voltage

List of some common signal names of ASUS

Signal Name Description

OTP_RESET# CPU over temperature indication signal.
HW_PROTECT# CPU over temperature protection signal.
FORCE_OFF# The forced shutdown signal; Generated by the under
voltage protection circuit.
KBCRSM The keyboard wake-up signal.
LID_KBC# The close-lid sleep switch detection signal for EC.
LID_SW# Close-lid sleep switch signal; When the machine is closed,
this signal is low level.
GATE_PWR_SW# The booth trigger signal.
H_CPURST# The North Bridge sent H_CPURST# to CPU after receiving
PLTRST# signal.
PM_PWROK After receiving ALL_SYSTEM_PWRGD, EC delayed sending
PW_PWROK.
CLK_PWRGD The South Bridge generated CLK_PWRGD to IC clock after
receiving VRMPWRGD; For opening the clock signal.
EC_CLK_EN EC sent VRMPWRGD to the South Bridge pin to inform the
South Bridge that CPU core voltage is normal.
CPU_VRON EC delayed 99ms to send VR_ON after sending SUSB_ON;
For opening CPU core voltage.
ALL_SYSTEM_PWRGD Generated by memory power supply, Bridge power supply,
bus power supply, graphics card power supply and PG
signal logic.
SUSB_ON, SUSB#_PWR S0 voltage open signal.
SUSC_ON, SUSC_PWR S3 voltage open signal.
PM_PWRBTN# After receiving PWRSW_EC, EC sent PM_PWRBTN#
effective trigger to the South Bridge PWRBTN# pin.
PWRSW_EC# Laptop boot-up trigger signal.
PM_RSMRST# The reset signal of the South Bridge ACPI controller; Can be
understood that the South Bridge standby voltage is
normal when received this signal.
SUS_PWRGD SUS voltage power-good signal; Send to EC.
 141

VSUS_ON SUS voltage open signal.

+3VSUS +3VO renamed to +3VSUS after jumper.
+5VSUS +5VO renamed to +5VSUS after jumper.
+3VO 3V standby voltage in S5dormant state.
+5VO 5V standby voltage in S5dormant state.
+3VA_EC +3VA renamed to +3VA_EC after through the inductance;
As the EC standby power supply.
+3VA +3VAO renamed to +3VA after jumper JP8101.
+5VA +5VAO renamed to +5VA after jumper.
+3VAO 3V linear voltage.
+5VAO 5V linear voltage.
ACIN Power adapter detection.
AC_BAT_SYS The common point voltage.
 142

List of some common signal names of Dell

Signal Name Signal Name

IMVP_PWRGD Power supply good signal sent by CPU power supply chip.
IMVP_VR_ON Open CPU power supply.
PBAT_PRES# Detection of insert main battery.
SBAT_PRES# Detection of insert the auxiliary battery.
+PBATT Main battery power supply terminal.
+SBATT Auxiliary/Sub battery power supply terminal.
+VCHGR Charging output voltage.
H_RESET# The North Bridge sent CPU reset signal.
H_PWRGOOD PGD reset signal sent by the South Bridge to CPU.
CLK_ENABLE# The open signal of clock chip: Activelow level.
PGD_IN One of the conditions of that CPU power supply chip sent
CLK_EN#, PGOOD and others.
+VCCP_1P05VP The front side bus power supply: 1.05V.
SUSPWROK The reset signal of all SUS power brings together to generate the
SUSPWROK signal.
RUNPWROK The PGD signal of all RUN power convergence to this signal.
+0.9V_DDR_VTTP Memory VTT power supply.
_VCC_GFX_CORE The discrete graphic card core power supply.
GFX_ON Open discrete graphics card power supply.
RUN_ON EC sent open S0 state voltage.
SUS_ON After receiving the trigger signal, EC sent SUS_ON to use to open
the South Bridge standby power supply and memory main
power supply.
POWER_SW# A low voltage signal generated by the power switch or keyboard
and EC chip receives this boot signal.
ACAV_IN The Power Adapter detection signal.
THERM_STP# Overheat protection signal; Active-low level.
ALWON EC sent a ALWON signal to the system power supply chip to
open/start-up the system power supply.
+PWR_SRC The common point voltage.
+DC_IN Power Adapter voltage input.
RTC_CELL The motherboard button battery voltage.
 143

Operating Sequence
Although there are countless motherboard manufacturers, there is a sequence of
operation for all of them, which allows us to follow a more direct path to the defect.

Generically speaking, the operating sequence, known as the start sequence, is the
definition of the state in which the card is completely off until the moment we turn
on and video appears on the screen.

From the moment we connect the charger to the motherboard, several voltages
appear, one after the other, which start the sequence of operation (we will address
these voltages later).

Following a numerical logic, let's assume that a card connects and displays video with
10 voltages (T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, T7, T8, T9, T10), if for some reason T6 for example,
does not appear (any shorted component can cause this), of course the operating
sequence will be interrupted and there will also be no voltage after it (T7, T8, T9 and
T10).

That is to say in this case that if T5 is present on the board, you do not need to check
the voltages prior to it (T1, T2, T3 and T4), as the board only appears if the voltage
before it is present.

Did you understand until now? So let's continue.

I advise that when you receive a defective laptop, the first thing you do is to
understand where that defect is through the symptom. If it is on the motherboard,
download the schematic diagram and look for the page of the operating sequence, as
the example of the image below (schematic of the motherboard compal LA-4101P,
page 5.
 144

The sequence of operation is given from top to bottom as shown by the numerical
sequence in the column on the left.

On this page of the schematic diagram you will find the main pulses and voltages for
the motherboard to connect (it is important to know that both may have different
names depending on the manufacturer's design).

Note:
Pulse is the name given to the exchange of information between
certain components of the motherboard (ex: ON/OFF# is the pulse of
the power button that will turn the laptop on and off).

At first glance all these letters and numbers may seem complex, but in reality
everything is very easy to understand and for that we will get straight to the point.
 145

In the next lines we will delve into some pulses and voltages of the laptop schematic
diagram:

1. Vin, B+: High voltage (originated from the charger).

2. + 3VL: Also known as VREG3. Voltage that rises in the Primary PWM (this is
not yet the primary voltage of 3V).

3. +5VALW/+3VALW: The famous primary voltages. They are generated by the

Primary PWM and can be measured in their respective inductors, according to
the schematic diagram.

4. RSMRST#: Resume and Reset signal, responsible for resetting and making the
North or South Bridge ready to work. It must be at a high level (Ex 3V) in stand
by and reset to zero when pressing the power button;

5. ON/OFF#: Power button signal, it must be at a high level (usually 3V) in

standby, when pressing the button it goes to 0V, making the laptop turn on.
Knowing this, you will be able to diagnose a problem in the power button in
seconds.

There are many other pulses and voltages that, depending on the design, may vary in
name and function. But don't worry, as you study schematics diagram, you will be
able to assimilate each one of them and the interpretation will become more and
more simple.

As you can see, some voltages appear on the motherboard even before the power
button is pressed, that is, they appear on STAND BY (only connected to a charger or
battery).

This tension is known as primary. It is from these voltages that all other circuits can
be fed.

We will understand how they arise and how to diagnose defects in them, from now
on.
 146

Input Circuit (High Voltage)

Entry Circuit (HIGH VOLTAGE)

The first voltage that rises on the motherboard can come from two places:

1. Charger.
2. Battery.

When we talk about input circuit, we refer to DCJACK (component where the charger
is plugged). This circuit protects the voltage of the charger, besides, of course,
distributing this voltage to the rest of the motherboard circuits.

The high voltage (from the charger) is the first voltage that rises on the motherboard.
It is the source, that is, responsible for feeding primary sources, which in turn feed
the secondary sources (which will appear after pressing the power button).

It is very common for components that remain in the input circuit to have defects,
especially short, as this is where the highest voltage on the motherboard circulates.

It all starts with the DCJACK power connector. As I mentioned, this connector is one
of the points through which the motherboard is powered (the other is the battery). In
the same line there are overload protection components, such as diodes and
resistors, in addition to noise filtering capacitors, so that the high voltage arrives
clean (without variations) in the other circuits.

Electrical Schematic Input Circuit

 147

In figure 1 we have an example of an input circuit. The high voltage (19v) can be
measured on pins 3 and 4 of the DCJACK (JDCIN1), following the reference fusist
PF101, then arriving at the inductor PL101.

From then on, this voltage will be called VIN or B+ depending on the project.

Defect Tip:
If there is no voltage in this line, a possible short circuit or defect in
the charger must be checked. Generally, when there is a short in the
high line, the charger led goes out or flashes, this facilitates the
diagnosis.

On 99% of the laptop motherboard there are two Mosfets (marked in red in photo
below) that are in the input circuit, they are responsible for switching (passing from
one side to the other) this voltage to supply the other circuits.

Input Circuit Mosfets

Well, for that to happen there is a more detailed process. However, you now need to
understand the basis of how the input circuit works.
 148

It's like learning to drive, you just need to start the car, shift and go straight.

Over time you will learn more details about the car and how to follow other paths.

Power Section: This includes the VlN circuit, battery charging circuit and Battery
discharging circuit.
 149

Through the schematic diagram in page 29 (charger IC), there is an information about
Power Jack and Battery. Circuit charger is a main gate power regulation sourced of
battery and adaptor.

Sometimes people confused how to find about "where is the Power IC in a laptop? ",
because IC charging 3V and 5V, VCC core is an IC too. With the different function and
ways is working, so where is a correct IC power? In this page, I will explained with a
simple description about basic of that circuit.

DC DC Jack & DC
19v Protection Circuit 19v

DC Jack

Voltage from DC Jack with P11 that sourced from adaptor entered into PC85 and
PC84 are arranged in parallel which works as noose filter with the term voltage VA
then enter to PL6 and after through PL6 it changed name to VA1. PL6 function is
temporary saving a charge. If we add a fuse in this circuit before the voltage entered
to PL6 maybe will be good, but we see another component diode after PL6 that
protect and block reverse flow so a problem adding fuse will be solved. And other
that, diode function for eliminate AC voltage from inductor.

Conclusion of the figure is voltage name 19V (it depend on laptop adaptor 19V-20v-
18,5V, etc) will be changed when entered a component or circuit one and the other.
 150

D/C# is command sign from EC from page 27 schematic, signal from EC will command
P-channel gate to open gate if there a problem at circuit. This is called a Circuit
Protection and in upper level will cooperate with selector circuit.

Selector Circuit

Circuit works as a control or signaling technique as the detector whether the voltage
comes from an adapter or a battery or even both of them for the charging system.
 151

Charger System

System charging: there are two important components in the charging system, EC and
IC charging itself. EC will cooperate with the IC charging for detection and battery
charging systems which are crucial, in this case also step-down N-channel MOSFET in
the charging circuit, the N-channel is often problematic. See at the picture upward. In
addition to EC and IC, charging inputs sourced from always voltage 3V (3V and 5V
systems) play an active role as EC mover (AC in). This is the signal that will be a
condition of employment EC command voltage driving GPIO port, and then after the
EC active always systems 3V and 5V result a voltage and this process of mutual
integrating throughout each other up to the VS system (power switch).
 152

Primary Sources (3V and 5V)

After the high voltage (19V) passes through the input Mosfets, as we saw in the
previous chapter, it needs to reach the other circuits on the motherboard, mainly the
primary PWM IC (which will generate the 3V and 5V voltages) as shown in next photo.

IC PWM Primary (3V and 5V)

In the photo above, the main components that form a switched source are circled.
We will see this type of font on several pages of the schematic diagram.

In this case, the square component in the center is the primary PWM IC. On its right
side is the 5V supply complemented by the high, low Mosfets and an inductor. On the
left side is the 3V source also complemented by the high, low Mosfets and an
inductor.

Example of Switching Source.

 153

But after all, what is necessary for the Primary PWM IC to work and release the two
voltages (3V and 5V) in its inductors?

Important Primary PWM IC Terminals

In photo this IC is PU401 (identification on the motherboard). There are several types
of ICs for this on a laptop motherboard (as we said, each source uses a PWM IC).

Knowing this, it is necessary that you understand how the main (most used) models
of this IC work.

With the knowledge we’ll learn next, you’ll be able to repair almost any laptop.

In order to work, a PWM IC depends in a practical and summarized form of supply

voltage and enabling pulses, as we will see in detail below:

When analyzing the Primary PWM IC, check with a multimeter on the DCV20V scale:

1. If you have the main supply (called VIN) which is the high voltage (19V).

2. If you have the two voltages we call the regulator voltages (VREG3 = 3V,
VREG5 or LDO = 5V).

3. The enabling pulses (ENTRIP or EN or ON = 3V), these signals may have a

small change in name depending on the project.

4. The reference voltage of the IC operation (called VREF = 2V).

 154

Note:
Usually one of the voltage terminals of the regulators (VREG3) of the
Primary PWM IC supplies important components such as the BIOS IC
and the SUPER I/O.

These are the terminals that usually give problem in 99% of the Primary PWM ICs. If
all of these items are ok, then the IC should work.

The next important components to be tested on a switched source are the high and
low Mosfets, they also tend to be defective more often. To perform a Mosfet test
check the complementary material.

If the high-low Mosfets are also good, then you should test the filter capacitor of the
source in question. It is a larger capacitor that is used to prevent fluctuations in the
voltage of the source.

As I mentioned, a motherboard is divided by switching sources. This division ended

up facilitating the search for defects that eventually happen in laptops.

Defect Tip:
Laptop won't turn on anything, without any signal. This type of symptom
is related to defects such as lack of primary voltages (3V, 5V) or some
component located in the primary sources may be shorted (capacitors,
diodes, the Primary PWM IC itself).

It is important to keep in mind that there is no diagnostic prescription for each

defect.

A laptop that does not turn on, for example, may have different diagnostics, it may
simply be the defective charger. Do not think that for every laptop you are going to
fix with this symptom you will necessarily find the same problem.

There are methods that we can follow through a good understanding and analysis of
the schematic diagram, which will help to speed up the repair. And that is what you
will learn in this e-book.
 155

5V and 3V System Section:

If we want to find the layout of 3V and 5V systems in the schematic diagram on the
first page there is a schematic diagram of the system description 5V/3V PCU, then
open the pages. In this case there is on page 30, below an example.

Layout of 5V & 3V

Page of 5V & 3V system

Screenshot from schematic diagram (Acer Aspire One D270)

On page 30 (3V / 5V PCU) see next the image.

Type of IC (RT8223M)

Name Circuit

Project Description
 156

From a page 30 you know information of the type of IC used and the circuit contained
in the page and Project Description / Name Circuit.

3V & 5V circuit system is included into the System Standby and Dual Mode. System
standby is the system input and output circuits will be active although the SW button
not yet in press.

There are two system standby circuits in the motherboard "charging circuit and
circuit 3V and 5V".

From image noticed, it is the system 3V and 5V dual mode whereby this circuit will
work after on-off button on the press after receiving the command signal from the EC
( S5_ON ) output of this circuit for the power needs usb, hdd, dvd and etc. See power
sequence below:
 157

Charge Source (battery)

Battery charging circuit (charge) is responsible for recognizing and charging the
battery. It is the one that controls the power supply to the motherboard when the
charger is not connected.

Charge Circuit (Battery)

In photo, the charge circuit is basically formed by the IC PU301, by a high Mosfet
(PQ311), a low Mosfet (PQ314) and an inductor (PL301).

It is in the charge circuit that we find the famous MOSFET SWITCH, which switches
the voltage of the battery and that of the charger, making sure that they do not
collide.

Switch Mosfet
Battery Voltage

Voltage coming
from the charger
(HIGH)

Figure 1Mosfet comutador

 158

The operation of the switch Mosfet is very simple. Imagine that you have a laptop
connected with a charger and battery connected, at that moment the battery is in the
background being charged and the charger is feeding the entire motherboard. If you
remove the charger, the laptop will continue to be powered by the battery voltage
thanks to the switch Mosfet.

Defect Tip 1:
Cases such as when the laptop works only on the charger or only on the
battery is a strong indication of a defect in the switch mosfet. Sometimes
the battery may stop charging and the defect is in the Charge circuit and
not in the battery itself.

Defect Tip 2:
Another tip of the charge circuit is to check the battery connector (with it
connected to the motherboard), if the voltage is present (usually 12V). In
the example in Figure 8, it can be checked at terminal 1.

Battery Connector
 159

VCORE (Processor)
The processor power circuit popularly known as VCORE is also a source controlled by
a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) IC, forming one of the famous switching sources
on the motherboard.

In general, this circuit has an average voltage of 1V (remembering that this voltage
must be measured with the processor in place and the motherboard connected).
There may be a slight variation in this voltage depending on the processor that is
attached.

The first valuable tip that I will give you about the VCORE is that in this circuit there is
a high current flow, consequently a very low resistance.

But what does that mean? that this low resistance can be easily confused with short.

Take a motherboard from a laptop and with a multimeter on the continuity scale
check the resistance of the inductor near the processor (VCORE). It will mark a value
between 10ohms to 100ohms at most (some multimeters will give an audible
warning).

It is necessary to understand that this resistance above is perfectly normal for this
circuit. Different, for example, if you make this same measurement on an inductor in
the 3V or 5V circuit that has average resistances between 300ohms to 1000ohms.

Important terminals of the IC PWM of the VCORE circuit (it is worth remembering
that the supplies of the secondary sources appear after connecting the
motherboard):

- VIN (PWM high power terminal, generally 19V)

- PVCC or VCC (power terminal + 5VS)
- ENABLE or VR_ON (PWM enabling terminal)
- PGOOD (terminal that indicates that the PWM is ok).
 160

Source Chipset
The chipset circuit can be considered one of the best circuits to work with, aside from
the fact that it has Ponte Norte rs, which is the main responsible for problems in this
sector of the motherboard.

HOW DOES CHIPSET PONTE NORTE DEFECT?

The laptops found on the market today are manufactured with a technology called
ball grid Array.

This technology known as BGA is the fixation of components (processors, integrated

circuits and mainly the North Bridge chipset) on the motherboard through the
welding of microspheres.

North Bridge (BGA) Chipset

In summary, when this chip has a problem, it needs to be removed from the
motherboard (figure 9), exchanged its spheres and redone the fusion with the
motherboard through a machine suitable for this type of service. We call this process
Reballing.
 161

Reballing is a complex process. How the chip is removed and the balls are exchanged,
work inputs are required:

- Correct stencil model (to place the new spheres)

- Soldering station with knife tip (to clean the chip and the motherboard)
- Spheres
- Welding flux
- Desoldering mesh (remove the remaining solder from the motherboard and
chip)
- Tweezers.

In addition to other eventual elements that are part of the daily life of those who
work with this type of repair.

A practical tip that I can give you in relation to problems with BGA chipset is that
depending on the motherboard it pays more to buy a new one. Most popular
motherboards on the market cost an average of $ 90.

This value decreases the profit of the service at that moment, however, you will leave
a customer very satisfied with a new card in your laptop.

So it is always good to evaluate whether the Reballing process is more cost effective
than replacing the motherboard.

If you want to go deeper into the reballing you can visit this canal youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCivbLT7sRO-de3CCj9y7J6A/videos.

There you can find everything on the subject, reballing machines and supplies, as well
as training on how to carry out this process.

Defect Tip:
Usually when a laptop is having problems with its Ponte Norte BGA
chipset, the symptoms are: screen image failures, laptop does not format
and/or has a blue screen, wireless signal does not work.
 162

Chipset Circuit Analysis (VOLTAGE 1.05V)

Statistically speaking, the 1.05V power supply presents fewer problems compared to
the other power supplies on the motherboard. This is one of the last tensions that
arise on the motherboard.

It is important to remember that the voltages that supply the PWM ICs of the
secondary sources (which only appear after pressing the power button) are generally
5V and/or 3V.

Important terminals to consider in the source PWM IC:

- VDD or VDC (PWM IC power terminal, usually 5V. These names may vary
depending on the project in question)
- EN or ON (PWM IC enabling terminal, comes from Super I/O, usually 3V. These
names may also vary)
- VREF (PWM IC reference voltage terminal, usually 2V)
- PGOOD (Terminal indicating that the PWM IC is ok, working, usually 3V).

Defect Tip:
With all the above voltages ok, the 1.05V voltage should appear on the
circuit inductor. If it does not, check if there is a short on the line of this
inductor with the multimeter on the continuity scale. Also test the high
and low Mosfet’s.

Note:
It is worth mentioning that the current consumption of sources such as
Chipset and VCORE is very high. This means that the resistance measured
on the multimeter in these circuits in relation to the ground is low
(between 10 to 100 ohms). Below that, the line is considered to be
shorted.
 163

Memory Source
The voltage of the memory (on the motherboard only after the power button is
pressed because it is 1.8V for DDR2 or 1.5V for DDR3) appears secondary voltage.

Like any switched source, the memory voltage is also composed of a PWM IC, two
Mosfets (high and low), an inductor and a filter capacitor.

Let's see an example of how a memory circuit works:

First, the PWM IC receives the supply voltages (19V, 3V, 5V), you will not necessarily
find these 3 supply voltages in all secondary PWM ICs, it depends on the project, in
some cases there may be one, two or even three voltages in the same IC. Just check
the schematic diagram.

In all secondary PWM ICs, the enabling voltages (ENTRIP or EN or ON = 3V) come
from Super I/O.

Defect Tip:
Defects usually occur in the memories themselves and not in the circuit.
The symptom of the problem memory circuit is the laptop turning on
and not displaying video.

RAM stands for Random Access Memory, and it gives laptops the virtual space
needed to manage information and solve problems in the moment.

You can think of it like reusable scratch paper that you would write notes, numbers,
or drawing with a pencil. If you run out of room on the paper, you make more by
erasing what you no longer need, RAM behaves similarly, when it needs more space
to deal with temporary information (i.e. running software/programs). Larger pieces of
paper allow you to scribble out more (and bigger) ideas at a time before having to
erase more RAM inside of laptops shares a similar effect.

The CPU has a full control of the RAM I/O data, and the ram directly communicate
with CPU, no direct-communications between the RAM and other circuits.
 164

Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic RAM (DDR SDRAM)

1- DDR SDRAM operates like SDR SDRAM, only twice as fast. DDR SDRAM is capable
of processing two read and two write instructions per clock cycle (hence the
double). Although similar in function, DDR SDRAM has physical differences (184
pins and a single notch on the connector) versus SDR SDRAM (168 pins and 2
notches on the connector).

2- DDR2 SDRAM is the evolutionary upgrade to DDR SDRAM. While still double data
rate (processing two read and two write instructions per clock cycle), DDR2
SDRAM is faster because it can run at higher clock speeds. Standard (not over
clocked) DDR memory modules top out at 200 MHz, whereas standard DDR2
memory modules top out at 533 MHz. DDR2 SDRAM runs at a lower voltage (1.8
V) with more pins (240), which prevents backwards compatibility.

3- DDR3 SDRAM improves performance over DDR2 SDRAM through advanced signal
processing (reliability), greater memory capacity, lower power consumption (1.5
V), and higher standard clock speeds (up to 800 Mhz). Although DDR3 SDRAM
shares the same number of pins as DDR2 SDRAM (240|), all other aspects prevent
backwards compatibility.

4- DDR4 SDRAM improves performance over DDR3 SDRAM through more advanced
signal processing (reliability), even greater memory capacity, even lower power
consumption (1.2 V), and higher standard clock speeds (up to 1600 Mhz).

DDR4 SDRAM uses a 288- pin configuration, which also prevents backwards
compatibility.
 165

LVDS Circuit (Video)

The “Low Voltage Differential Signaling” (LVDS) circuit differential is responsible for
transmitting or “Signaling various signals between the flat video cable and the screen.

It is a very simple circuit to be analyzed because the names of the signals are quite
universal, that is, practically every project works similarly.

IMPORTANT: Some signals in the schematic diagram have a "#" on the front,
indicating that that signal will be activated when it is at 0V.

Ex.: BKOFF # = when at 0V the screen does not turn on the backlight. However, when
you have 3V the screen will work normally.

Some examples of LVDS signals:

- Control of screen brightness (DAC_BRIG)
- Lighting of the screen led (BKOFF #, DISPOFF#, BLON)

LVDS Circuit Analysis:

(3v) 19v main supply of the

connector, called HIGH

3v

Important LVDS Circuit Terminals

 166

Photo shows the JLVDS connector (where the flat cable is attached to the
motherboard).

It was circulated in red and marked in yellow only the important signals that must be
found in this circuit for it to function normally and display an image on the screen.

See that the signals INV_PWM, BKOFF#, DAC_BRIG and + LCDVDD must be 3v for
the circuit to work.

The INVPWR_B+ signal is the main supply of the connector, called HIGH, that is,
where there must be 19v.

Defect Tip:
The voltage of BKOFF#, that is, Back Light OFF must be 3V for the screen
backlight to be on, when it is 0V (defect), the screen light will be off.

Note:
When making voltage measurements on the LVDS connector, screen and
flat cable must be connected.
 167

Voltage Divider
The voltage divider is a circuit that allows us to achieve lower voltages (Vout = Output
Voltage) from another voltage (Vin = Input Voltage).

Voltage Divider

For voltage division to happen, there must be 2 resistors in series (on the same line)
connected to the motherboard ground (as you can see in photo).

How to calculate the voltage division?

The Output Voltage (Vout) is calculated using a simple mathematical formula, see:

Voltage Divider Formula

 168

In photo below there is a voltage divider in the circuit:

19V

Resistor
1
8,14V

Resistor
2
Ground
Voltage Divider Example

I made some colored drawings in this part of the schematic to get a better
understanding, let's see:

- In orange is the voltage division formula.

- The input voltage of the circuit (19V) and the output voltage of the voltage
divider (8.14V) are marked in black.

- In red are the two resistors in series connected to the motherboard ground.

- The ground is marked in green.

As we can see in the schematic diagram, resistor 1 has a value of 200K and resistor 2
has a value of 150K.
 169

Example:

Vout = 150/350 x 19
Vout = 8,14V

The voltage found in this case between the two resistors connected to the ground is
8.14V, which will supply terminal 4 of the two input Mosfets (PQ101 and PQ103).
 170

BIOS & RTC (CMOS)

This includes the BIOS IC and the CMOS battery.

CMOS battery
 171

If VIN and 5V/3V and EC are ok then the circuits to be active after it is RTCRST#_EC
signal a command signal from sourced from SIO to enable ICH in terms of notebooks
are triger point.

RTCRTS# signal value is 3.3V sourced from EC. Chip if divided and segregated there are
some circuit with the system and how it works respectively. However, for each system
only need voltage command, clock course even data only, here foresight we read circuit is
needed. EC command signal from the oscillator circuit serves to instruct the work.
See image, oscillator circuit consists of crystal and some components. Value
C348 and C349 comparator must be the same this is one of the requirements oscillator
circuit works well. What we need to check on this part enough in the clock frequency
voltage alone.

BIOS: BIOS is a chip microcontroller, meaning that a program whose contents can be
changed, deleted, edited and repeated revisions. There are 1, 2 and 3 BIOS motherboard
(Main Bios, ID Bios, EC Bios) the main bios on the motherboard and EC bios is a bios
supporter chipset while ID bios is bios specifically for storing data SN / PN motherboard.

Bios in the schematic diagram is always paired with the EC, there is a new type of bios IC
on precisely juxtaposed with PCH chip before the communication is delivered to the EC.
However, the principle is the same because the EC and the actual BIOS is an integral
system.
 172

How to re-record BIOS?

The word System or System BIOS taken literally means basic Input and Output.

It is nothing more than software responsible for commanding some important

activities for the functioning of the laptop, such as:

- Identification of hardware components

- Exchange of information on the motherboard.

This software is recorded inside an 8 terminal IC (Integrated circuit), which on the

vast majority of motherboards is close to the Super I/O and has a drop of colored ink
on top to differentiate.

If the BIOS becomes corrupted (a defect that happens frequently) or the IC burns, the
laptop will not turn on.

In this case, it will be necessary to rewrite the corrupted BIOS or change the IC and
also rewrite it for the model of the motherboard in question.

To do this rewriting process I recommend the MiniPro TL866CS BIOS recorder or the
Genius G540.

MiniPro TL866CS
 173

The TL866CS software identifies the IC automatically. For this reason it becomes more
practical to use it, in addition to being very simple to re-record (the manufacturer
provides a tutorial of the process).

Screen of the bios IC Rewrite Program

Defect Tip:
When the laptop does not provide video but has all the voltages on the
board then the BIOS IC must be re-written.

Replacement and Compatibility:

When replacing the BIOS IC, it is recommended that you replace it with another one
of the same reference (Ex: W25q32 for W25q32).
 174

However, you can also make the substitution considering only the capacity of the IC
(always use equal capacities).

To know the capacity of an IC BIOS, just consider the last 2 numbers of your
reference:
80 = 1mb
16 = 2mb
32 = 4mb
64 = 8mb
Ex: W25q32 = 4mb

Important considerations about the IC BIOS:

- The power terminal is always 8 (3V)

- There is a small hole above the IC indicating terminal 1
- The counting of the BIOS terminals, like any IC, is done counterclockwise
- When there are two BIOS’s on the same motherboard, one controls the South
Bridge and the other the Super I/O.
 175

How to remove password BIOS HP

We’ll take example how to remove password for HP Probook 430 440-G3 X61

1. Open file BIOS have Password. (Find: admin use Unicode straing)

2- Note the selection in the picture (Right Click Fill selection...)

 176

3- Next: ( F3 ) Perform the same step 2

4- Next: ( F3 ) Perform the same step 2

 177

5- Next: ( F3 ) Perform the same step 2

 178

How to flash BIOS type TSSOP-8

TSSOP-8 Adapter

A picture showing BIOS IC type TSSOP-8 after installing it on adapter MiniPro TL866

The TSSOP-8 is the most popular form of chip BIOS in the laptop

Erase: Used to delete old

data from the BIOS IC.
Read: Used to read the program
stored on BIOS IC.

Program: Used to reprogram the BIOS IC.

Open: Used to bring new file BIOS.
 179

When we reprogram the BIOS type DIP-8

or TSSOP-8 we choose 25 Flash Detect
from a menu Select IC(S).

We press the arrow next to the “Model” menu to choose

the BIOS model number that we want to reprogram.
 180

Next we choose the IC model number

that we want to reprogram and this
number will be printed on the Bios IC.

After selecting the IC model, press Detect button.

 181

After the programmer has identified the IC model

that we want to reprogram it, we press Read in
order for the programmer to recognize and read
the program stored on the Bios IC.

We click on Read button in the window that

appears for us to start the programmed reading
process for the program stored on the IC.
 182

After the programmer has finished reading the data stored on the
programmer, a word will appear to us Read Successful.

In case you want to take a copy of any data stored on the Bios,
you can choose Save and save file on the computer where you
store the Bios files.
 183

However, when we want to reprogram the Bios IC, it has a problem, which is the most
common problem, so we press Open button to choose the proper Bios file stored
with us for the same model of motherboard, you can get most of the BIOS files for
most motherboard models from the Motherboard manufacturers' website.

After selecting the proper Bios file, click OK in

the window that appears.
 184

We press "P" to begin the programming process.

Then click on Program button in the window that appears.

After completing erasing the old data from Bios IC and copying the new data,
Program successful appears to us, then press Cancel to exit the window, thus
programming has been successfully completed.
 185

How to Find Short on the Motherboard

It is necessary to understand that a single component in short can leave several other
components also accusing short, just that they are in the same line.

So, to know if a motherboard is shorted more efficiently you will measure all the coils
on the motherboard, as they are part of the main circuitry of the motherboard.

To do this, just do the following:

1- Place the multimeter on the 200 ohm scale.

2- Place the black tip on the plate ground and the red tip on the coil.

RESULT: If it gives 0 ohms then you have a short in the coil circuit that was measured.

Note 1
Some coils are part of circuits with low resistance, as is the case of the
processor circuit and the chipset, for example. If you measure the coil of
these circuits it will give you between 10 to 50 ohms, and that does not
indicate a short, it is normal.

Note 2
On the other hand, the coils of the 3V and 5V circuit, of the memory
circuit, have a higher resistance, this means that when measuring these
circuits you will have something between 100 to 1000 ohms.

Switch mode power supply (SMPS) are designed so efficiently that whenever there is
any short circuit occur in the motherboard, power supply would shut itself off and
totally stop working. If you have no experience about troubleshooting switch mode
power supply, you may think that the power supply have problem where in fact the
motherboard is the real cause of no power problem.
 186

Switch mode power supply have a current sense circuit and if there is short circuit in
the output side (either in inductors output 3V and 5V section), the current drawn
would be increase and this will lead the PWM IC to stop generating output to the
power Mosfet and thus the power supply would shut down. All this happen in a split
of seconds and you do not have the chance to know if there are output voltages at
the secondary side.

Laptop motherboard Voltage requirements to life are ADP + 5V and 3V. the fast way
to identifying ADP+ present in all measuring point needs is measuring on the SMPS IC
input sources (VIN) and discrete Upper N channel Mosfet source , if this voltage
present no need to check ADP Mosfet and Bat Mosfet on VIN and BAT +VALAW
section anymore . They should be already present.

Then measure the PL (inductors) for 3V and 5V for 3 & 5V system if they not present
first step to check whether there is a feed back on 3V and 5V section lines by testing
continuity to ground. If there is a feedback 3V and 5V system will not present
although LDO and auxiliary power already present. Remove the Inductor (PL) with
have a feedback , if pin 1 reply buzzer (diode continuity test)definite short coming
from SMPS or discrete upper/lower N channel, n-channel leak test method by testing
continuity (buzzer) pin 8 and pin 1 if there is continuity it‘s means Mosfet leaking and
need to replace.

Check on schematic that lower upper string of n channel is connected to ground

(lower) pins 1, 2, 3 if the upper n-channel leak it will also lower become leak and
connected to ground to withstand voltage n-channel source into the path of 3V and
5V .do not lift lower n channel if this case happen, otherwise ADP+ will passing
through to 5V & 3V section and damage all capacitors with maximum 6.3V allowed .
 187

Part 7
Laptop Repair Case Study
 188

To learn how to troubleshooting and repair laptop motherboard, well you must
understand these concepts first.

Laptop won't turn on?

Laptop won't turn on. This symptom can be relatively simple to solve, as 80% of the
defects related to it are easy to diagnose even for those who are starting it.

When a laptop is not turning on, you need to perform some basic tests to diagnose
where the defect is coming from.

Much of the problems that appear on laptops are not related to the motherboard, as
most technicians who are starting.

But yes, there are also defects related to the motherboard that will require more
specific knowledge such as basic electronics of laptop (component testing) and
reading schematics.

The knowledge and tips you will read in this part, you will be able to solve or at least
diagnose the laptops that reach you.

The first step is to define which symptom, they are:

1- Laptop won't turn on (no signal at all)
2- Laptop turns on and does not give video
3- Laptop turns on and off quickly.

1- Laptop won't turn on (no signal at all)

When you have a laptop on the bench that when you press the power button nothing
happens (no LEDs do not turn on, the fan doesn’t turn, anyway, no signal), you will
follow two lines of analysis to find the defect, they are: basic power supply laptop or
defect on the motherboard circuits.
 189

Basic laptop supply power tests:

Step 1: Check the charger.

If when connecting the laptop, it continues with the led access is a good indication
that it is ok.

If the led don’t light up or flashes, it means that the charger or the motherboard is
shorted.

Step 2: See also the charger's output voltage.

With the multimeter on the 20v scale you will check if 18.5v, 19v or 20v is coming
out, depending on the laptop model.

Step 3: Check the condition of the JACK.

The JACK is the component that receives the voltage from the charger to supply the
motherboard, check if the pin is not broken, if yes, replace it.

Step 4: Test also if the voltage is passing through it and feeding the motherboard.

For this, measures on the multimeter’s DC20V scale the coil that is at the entrance,
after the JACK.

Step 5: Check the condition of the Power button.

Check that there is no oxidation preventing the button pads from making contact
with the motherboard, or if there is a lack of voltage.

Step 6: Disconnect all peripherals from the motherboard.

Leave only the motherboard and the charger connected and check for any changes in
the initial symptom.

Sometimes a simple shorted Wifi card can cause this symptom (laptop won't turn on).
 190

Look for defects in the motherboard circuits:

After making sure that everything is ok with the basic supplies of the laptop and even
then it does not turn on, then you will really have a defect in the motherboard that
needs to be analyzed.

And that is where the good part comes, as few technicians can solve this type of
defect.

That would be one of the reasons why this service is more expensive.

Basically what you are going to do now is to know if all the motherboard switched
sources are present.

To do this, just look for the large coils you have on the motherboard and measure
with the multimeter on the DC20V scale if they all have voltage.

Why the coils and not any other component?

Simple, every laptop motherboard has some switching sources that make it start and
work.

A switching source is basically formed by a PWM IC , a high and a low Mosfet , a coil
and a filter capacitor .

Precisely the coils that are in these sources is where we should check if there is a
voltage output.

And the main sources switched from the motherboard, form the following voltages:

- 3V voltage (Primary PWM)

- 5V voltage (Primary PWM)
- 1.5V voltage (Secondary PWM - RAM)
- 1.05V voltage (Secondary PWM - Chipset)
- 1V voltage (Secondary PWM - Processor).

So all you need to know is whether all switching sources are working and generating
these voltages so that the motherboard can turn on.
 191

How to find short on the motherboard?

When a motherboard does not turn on, some voltage at one of its switching sources
is absent.

This can happen because some component of the circuit is SHORT.

And to find out where the problem, you'll use the same measurement logic as the
motherboard's coils.

Only this time not in search of voltage, but a low resistance in relation to the ground,
or better said, a short circuit.

If you place the multimeter on the continuity scale, then ground the black tip on the
plate and with the red tip check the coils, it CANNOT give a result equal to zero
resistance.

If that happens, then you have a short on that coil line.

So now just look at that circuit in question.

An interesting tip is to use the asymmetric source to inject voltage into the shorted
line.

In this case, you only need to regulate the voltage allowed by the circuit at the source
(NEVER GREATER).

When injecting voltage into a line that is shorted, the guilty component will heat up.
This is one of the facilities that the asymmetric source brings us.

2- Laptop turns on and does not give video

Many defects will also appear on your bench with this symptom: Laptop turns on and
does not display video.

Here the solution will be almost like a checklist. Just follow a few steps and you'll find
where the problem is.
 192

However, many novice laptop repair technicians often find that there is a magic
recipe for each defect.

So they go to the internet to search for something similar whenever they get a laptop
to fix. And in the vast majority of cases this is a waste of time.

You need to understand how a laptop's motherboard and peripherals work.

For that there is no miracle or magic formula, you have to study and apply the
knowledge to gain experience.

The knowledge of this part is to give you a north. There is a great chance that you can
solve some defects, but just take as a basis for you to study more and get deeper into
the subject.

How to find the defect when the notebook turns on and does not give video?

For a laptop to connect it needs all of its voltages and power supply properly working
on the motherboard.

Although this seems very logical and repetitive, you need this guidance when you
have a symptom of a motherboard that connects and does not provide video.

Before charging the motherboard, perform the following basic tests:

- Swap memory and processor: Most of the cases that appear with this symptom
can be solved only by testing the memory and/or processor.
- Check if video appears on an external monitor via the VGA or even HDMI
connection. If so, then the defect will be in the flat cable, the screen or the BGA
chipset that controls the video signals on the motherboard.
- Test to connect the motherboard with nothing connected (HD, DVD, wireless
card, etc.).

If after all these tests the card still has no video then does the following:

Check first if the voltages are present in the motherboard coils.

If they are ok, then see if terminal (pin) 8 of the BIOS IC is powered (3V), and then
rewrite the BIOS.
 193

3- Laptop turns on and off quickly

The symptom that we will analyze next happens less frequently relatively speaking.

However, it must also be taken into account as it is about understanding the

secondary and transferred voltages of the motherboard.

And this is very interesting to study.

I want you to understand the following, when the charger is connected to the
motherboard, some voltages are born in it (known as primary voltages) that will
cause the motherboard to be in a kind of standby state.

Just waiting for you to press the power button for the rest of the voltages to appear
and the laptop to work fully.

So when you press the laptop's power button and the motherboard shuts down
quickly, it is because some secondary voltage is shorted or absent, preventing the
motherboard from continuing the start sequence.

Knowing this, you only need to test the secondary and transferred voltages that you
have on the motherboard with the aid of the schematic diagram.

Here are some examples of voltages that appear after we press the power button:

5VS, 3VS, 1.5VS, 1.8V, 1V, among others.

How do you know if a voltage is Primary or Secondary?

The voltages that have the acronym VALW are primary. Ex: 3VALW. It means Voltage
Always, that is, tension always present.

The stresses that have the acronym VS are secondary. Ex: 3VS. It stands for Voltage
Suspend.

We saw the main defects that a laptop motherboard can have and how to solve
them.
 194

Realize that they will be different symptoms depending on the stage where the
tension that presents the problem is.

Laptop won't turn on (no signal) : problem with some primary voltage.

If it is a secondary voltage, the laptop will turn on without video, or turn on and then
turn off quickly.

It is up to the technician to understand the symptom in order to quickly reach the

solution of the defect.
 195

Acer Extensa 5230 Power Failure

Motherboard after removed from the laptop

Problem Description: When try to power-on the laptop, unfortunately it cannot

power on.

In this part I'll show you how to diagnose motherboard problem with use the
schematic of the motherboard to find out the component causing problem.

Steps to locate and repair the fault:

Below we break the troubleshooting procedure into seven steps:

1- Check the power adapter charger

2- Check DC power connector
3- Measuring the voltage coming out of the charging circuit
4- Measuring the voltage 3.3V and 5V
5- Measuring the effort of feeding the south bridge
6- Measuring voltage on the input/output (i/o) unit
7- Track start signal from the power button
 196

1- Check the power adapter charger

On next picture show you how to measuring the output voltage at the plug of the
power adapter cable.

Note:

- If the voltage is not correct,

replace the power adapter.
Pin 1 : +19V to +20.5V

- If the power-on indicator does not

light up, check the power cord of
Pin 2: 0V, Ground
the power adapter for correct
continuity and installation.

To do the measurement, set the multimeter to 200V DC and put the red probe into
the positive output of the adapter and the black probe on the negative of the
adapter, output as shown in the picture it comes out with the correct output voltage
(around 18V-19V) and in this case adapter working properly.

2- Check DC power connector

The power adapter plugs into the DC-IN
power jack which is connected to the
motherboard via a harness. Note some
models the DC-IN power jack is soldered
directly to the motherboard.
 197

Plug in the power adapter and measure voltage at the point where the DC harness
connected to the motherboard.

Set a digital multimeter to "200V" in the DC range and insert the red probe into the
red wire (pin) and insert the black probe into the black wire (pin), the red wire is
positive (+) and the black wire is negative(-). When measuring, we found 19.6V.

Note:
If you are reading the same voltage as on the AC adapter, it means the
power jack or harness works properly and the problem is related to the
motherboard.

The following photo shows you how to test DC power connector.

Before moving on to the third step, let’s take a closer look at the charging jack’s
section and their components on the motherboard.
 198

PQ3, PQ4 it is serial Number of

two transistors on motherboard.

DC1 it is serial Number of the

charging jack on motherboard.

Number 15 it is serial Number of the diode on motherboard

& Letter D it is the abbreviation for diode, here we have
Dual Diode.
R636 it is serial Number of the
resistance & the value of this
resistance are 10K, This resistance
relates to (Anode) dual diode D16.

D16 it is serial Number of the diode

(dual diode) on motherboard.

D17 it is serial number of diode, this

diode called the Protection Diode
and even when lifted from
motherboard, the voltage passes
from the adaptor to the
motherboard.

U27, Letter U symbol of IC, 27 it is serial Number of the IC on motherboard.

 199

The next photo is from the schematic of the motherboard.

 200

The photo below shows you how the components connect to the motherboard.

AD_JK_+

AD+

AD_DOCK

AD+_2

Q4 Q3
AD_OFF AD_OFF#_JK

When power adapter is connected to the motherboard, the voltage connects to the
diode D15 through Anode, then the voltage exits from cathode of diode D15 then
voltage go to the cathode of diode D16, voltage go to the C326 capacitor at same
time, then voltage go to connects to D17.

Then the voltage connected to the source pin of U27 (IC), and the AD_OFF signal
enters the base transistor Q4, this signal in LOW mode and thus allows the passage of
the voltage to the gate pin (U27) and with this Voltage becomes in the ON and the
voltage in Source should transfer to Drain.
 201

Explain the main components of the circuit

Pin 4 Gate

U27 MOSFET transistor usually the letter U is replaced by

Pin 5-6-7-8 the letter Q and as we note in the diagram that this
Drain Pin 1-2-3
transistor has 8-pin, divided into 4-pin connected to each
Source
other called Drain, 3-pin connected together called
Source and pin number 4 called Gate.

This MOSFET transistor works as an On/Off switch, when

there is a voltage on Gate the voltage in Source should
transfer to Drain.

In the absence of a voltage on Gate the transistor is

turned off and the voltage is not allowed to pass.

Source Drain

Gate
PIN Description
1 Base/Input
2 Emitter/Ground
3 Collector/Output
Pin Numbre 3 Collector/Output
Signal exit AD_OFF#_JK

Q4 serial number of a transistor, the transistor

Pin Numbre 2 has three legs B-C-E.
Emitter/Ground
B = Base, as we can see in the picture that
AD_OFF signal Interference from the transistor
Signal entry AD_OFF base Q4.
Pin Numbre 1
Base/Input C = Collector also note that the signal AD_OFF #
_JK exit from collector.
AD_OFF#_JK
AD_OFF
E = Emitter, the emitter is connected ground.
 202

D16 it is double diode, S10P40PT-GP-U

its serial number for the datasheet.
The positive side is called the Anode
and the negative one is called the
Cathode. A K

Pin number 1 and 2 on the diagram

symbolize to Anode and pin number 3
to Cathode.
1 2

A K D17 it’s a protection diode (also called a Safety

Diode) is a diode that is used to protect the
circuit from reverse voltage and current.

Cathode of diode D17 connects to cathode of

Cathode band
diode D15 and the output voltage of the
Cathode diode (D17, D15) is 19V.

The Anode of diode D17 connects to the

ground and thus protects the circuit and if you
want to changes this diode you can change it
with a similar alternative using the diode
specification from the datasheet.

Note

The transistor in this circuit is limited to amplifying the ADD_OFF signal

from low mode to high mode.
 203

We stopped in the second step (Check DC power connector), before taking the
measurement on the output of the charging circuit, in this model of the laptop we
must check the output voltage from drain of Mosfet U27 which is AD+ (Adapter
Voltage), this voltage coming from the adapter power charger (DC jack block), when
motherboard loss this voltage (AD+), the voltage (AD+) does not reach to the charging
circuit and in his absence it results disconnect power from the laptop motherboard.

The following photo shows the U27 and voltages to be found on the Drain.

Source

Drain Gate

When measuring, the voltage on all MOSFET legs is not present, this is a sign of short
circuit failure or breakdown in the circuit (DC jack block) and in this case, all
components of the circuit (DC jack block) should be checked, especially components
that connected to the 19v line. Starting with U28 Mosfet, D17 Diode, C326 Capacitor,
D15 D16 Double Diode and EC86 Capacitor.
 204

The following photo shows the measurement diode D15.

To do the measurement we put the digital multimeter on Diode Mode

and connect the red probe to the diode D15 "Cathode" and the black
probe to "Anode", the multimeter does not give a reading.

The second photo, we reverse the test probes and the multimeter
shown read, that means good diode and working properly.
 205

We repeat the same method for measuring diode D16, after measuring the diode D15
and D16 the result was the safety of the two components. We’ll continue to track the
fault of motherboard.

The following photo shows the measurement method on the D17 diode.

To do the measurement, put the digital multimeter on Diode Mode and connect the
red probe on the Cathode D17 & the black probe on Anode, A small resistance
reading appeared on the screen of the multimeter with continuous buzzer sound.
 206

The probe was reversed and the result was a continuous beep and a small resistance
reading on the screen and this is a sign of short circuit, to make sure that the diode
D17 is damaged, remove it from the motherboard and perform the measurement
outside of the circuit.

The following photo shows the process of measuring the D17 diode after remove it
from the motherboard.

A small resistance reading appeared on the screen of the multimeter with continuous
buzzer sound , this is an indication of diode D17 damage. And to make sure that
the short end in the circuit, the measurement should be taken on the place of
soldering D17 on the motherboard.
 207

The following photo shows the measurement taken from the D17 soldering pad on
the motherboard.

When the measurement was performed, a reading of the residence was not small
and no continuous buzzer sound was heard, this is an indication of the end of the
short circuit.

The diode D17 was the cause of fault motherboard and was immediately replaced by
an alternative that converged in the specifications, i.e. the amount of volt and
ampere.
 208

Replaced the diode by an alternative that converges with it in the specifications

(voltage and ampere).

Photo below is from "DataSheet" and it is to know the specifications of the diode.
 209

The next photo shows the replacement of the diode with another one.

This is the new diode it corresponds to the damaged diode in the voltage and ampere
values, this diode are a protection diode. The diode D17 was the cause of fault
motherboard, note the laptop works even in its absence.

As noted earlier in the circuit diagram, cathode diode D17 is connected to a 19V line
and anode diode D17 connected to the ground when there is a diode defect, Causes
the disconnection of the 19 volt line to the ground and this causes the laptop loss
power.

Note
The laptop works even in the absence of a diode D17, but an alternative
should be installed to protect the circuit, after replacing the diode D17 the
motherboard was tested.

Now time to test the most important voltages necessary for the work of the
motherboard.
 210

19V voltage coming from the power adapter

and it is connected to the D17 cathode.

19V voltage coming from the power

adapter and it is connected to the D17
cathode.

19V voltage coming from the power

adapter and it is connected to the D17
cathode.
 211

Finally, laptop problem solved.

 212

Acer eMachines E525 Laptop Power Failure

Problem Description: The laptop does not work after pressing the power button.

Image of the motherboard after disassembly

Steps used to locate and repair the fault:

Below we break the troubleshooting procedure into seven categories:

1- Check the power adapter charger

2- Check DC power connector
3- Measuring the voltage coming out of the charging circuit
4- Measuring the voltage 3.3V and 5V
5- Measuring the effort of feeding the south bridge
6- Measuring voltage on the input/output (i/o) unit
7- Track start signal from the power button
 213

The first and second steps have been confirmed and we will pass the third step, which
is a measurement of the voltage coming from the charging circuit.

3- Measuring the voltage coming out from the charging circuit

This circuit is responsible for output voltage after receiving from the charger,
BQ24751ARHDR is the charger IC, It controls the gates of the Mosfet gates PQ10-
PQ11-PQ12-PQ13-PQ14 and we will come to explain the circuit in detail.

How the circuit works only when the charger is present?

Next photo of the charging circuit from the schematic diagram, we have simplified
the schematic diagram so that we can understand the circuit and how it works when
the charger is connected to the laptop motherboard and without the battery.
 214

PQ10-PQ11 two Mosfet act as a adapter switch. When the adapter is

connected, it is recognized by pin number 5 of IC charger, then IC charger
control the gate of the PQ10-PQ11 Mosfet through pin number 4 and allows
the voltage to pass from the drain of PQ10 to the source of PQ11. And then to
the drain PQ11 and this voltage passes to the resistance PR57 and then to the
main power IC and to the rest of the circuits of the motherboard.

VIN: Input voltage from

the power adapter and
its value is the same as
the adapter voltage.

ACDET: (Adapter detected

voltage set input), the
recognition of the input voltage
coming from the power adapter.
ACDRV: (AC adapter to system-
switch driver output), control the
voltage coming from adapter by
opening and closing the gate
Mosfet.
 215

The charger circuit of the motherboard

B+

S D

S D

G G

AC Adapter
Pin 4ACDRV
VIN

Pin 5 ACDET
PL1

BQ24751

PU5 serial number for IC Charger BQ24751ARHDR

 216

Next photo from the schematic diagram of the battery connector and specifies the
pin of the output Voltage BAT+

PJP2 is the serial number of the battery

blade on the schematic diagram. BATT+: Battery voltage.

VMB: Voltage of the Main Battery.

Pin 1 and 2: Pins transfer voltage

from the battery to motherboard. PL2 serial number of the coil, passing
through it the voltage coming from the
battery.
 217

How the circuit works only when the battery is present?

The photo below of the charging circuit, we have simplified this circuit to understand
how motherboard works when the battery is present only.

B+: Voltage coming from the source
of the Mosfet PQ12 and this voltage
go the main power IC and to the rest
of the different circuits of the
motherboard.
PQ12 Mosfet it is used as a switch, it
means when there is a volt on a gate of
Mosfet it will turn on, and a volt will
passe when the voltage is lost on the
gate it is closed and the voltage does
not pass.

Pin 17 BAT: Battery voltage, this

pin it is input voltage coming
from the battery.

BATT+: This is the voltage

BATDRV: Battery to system switch driver output, it
input coming from the
means controlling the output voltage by opening
battery.
the PQ12 gate and allowing the voltage to flow
from the drain to the source, the circuit becomes
ON, it is the operating mode. When the gate is
closed it becomes OFF and it is the stop mode.
 218

The following photo from the motherboard to understand the circuit's work

VMB

PJP2
PL2
Pin 1
BATT+
Pin 2
D

B+ G
S

BATT+

Pin14 BATDRV

Pin17 BATT+
 219

We return to tracking the problem on the motherboard after explaining the charging
circuit, next photo is for the measurement PQ11 on the motherboard.

When we do the measurement we

found 0.73V on the drain of the
PQ11 Mosfet and we’re supposed
to find from 19V to 19.5V and the
absence of this volt indicates a
malfunction in the charger circuit.

Testing Source of the PQ11 Mosfet we

found 18.8V and this volt is not the
required volt, required volt is between
19V and 19.5V, the drop of this volt is a
sign of a malfunction in the charging
circuit.

When taking measure on the Gate, we

found 0.73V and this volt is not the
required volt. The volt on gate should
be 13V in order for volt can pass
through the Mosfet source to the drain,
it is controlled by a charger IC and the
absence of volt means a fault in the
charging circuit.

How the circuit works when connecting the charger and battery
together:
HIDRV “High Side Driver Output”
it is means controlling the upper
gate Mosfet PQ13.
LODRV "Low Side Driver Output"
it means controlling the lower
gate of the Mosfet PQ13.
220
PQ13 Mosfet works as a control to charge the
battery, when the charger is connected to the
laptop and the presence of a battery, the
voltage passes from the charge socket to the
PQ10-PQ11 Mosfet and then to PR57 and then
to the rest of the circuits then the charging IC
controls the gate of PQ13 from pin 26 defined
by HIDRV and this pin opens the PQ13 gate to
allow the passage of the voltage CHG_B+ from
the drain to the source and then to the PL5 and
then to the resistance PR64 and finally to the
battery for charging.
 221

The following photo for a measuring point on the motherboard of the charging circuit

When measuring, we find the 0.73V on

PR57 resistance and note that the
resistance is related to the PQ11 Mosfet
and this resistance is a measurement point
for the output volt of the charge circuit
when the power adapter is connected to
motherboard.
 222

Next photo we measurement (B+) volt on pin 6 of the Main Power IC.

When taking measure, we found

00.7V and this volt is not the
required volt. The volt should be
19V on PC26 capacitor and
absence of this volt means a
fault in the charging circuit.

B+ is the volt coming from the

charging circuit and absence this volt
means there is a fault in the circuit.

VIN (Voltage input) pin 6 for main

power IC, it represents the volt entry
point coming from the charging
circuit.
 223

The next photo is a measurement of the input voltage of the charger IC.

VIN it is the volt coming from the power adapter, ACDET it is the pin used by
charging IC to check is adapter connected to the motherboard or not, when there
is a Volt on pin 5, Charging IC’s should allow the passage of volts from the drain
to source of PQ10 then to the main power IC then volt go to other circuits.
 224

Volt was measured on pin 5 of charging IC and was present, by touch on the surface
of charging IC there was abnormal heat, after checking all the components of the
circuit, we made the decision to removal the charging IC and change it.

The following photo shows the charging IC removal from the motherboard.

IC has been removed and replaced with a new IC.

Charge IC after replacing it

with same IC (BQ24751).
 225

The next photo of the measured on the PQ11-PQ10 Mosfet’s from the motherboard
after replace charging IC.

Measure drain of PQ10 has

normal 19.5V, this is an
indication of the safety of the
volt coming from adapter and
safety socket charging.

Measure gate PQ10 has 13.3V,

this is the volt required to open
the gate and allow the passage
of volt from the drain to the
source.

When measuring on the source

of the PQ10 We found 19.5V and
this is normal.
 226

Measure drain PQ11 has normal

19.5V, this volt is go to PR57
resistance then to the main
power IC and to the rest of the
motherboard circuits.

The next picture we test +3VALWP.

Measuring on PL4 coil we found a

normal voltage 3.4V, the presence
of this voltage means the safety of
the components of this section.
 227

Note

The Main Power IC is responsible for the generate 3.3 voltage, The PL4 coil
represents a measurement point for this voltage.

The next picture we measurement +5VALWP.

When measuring, we found 5.1V

on coil. PL3 is a measurement
point for a always voltage 5V, the
presence of this voltage means
the safety of the components of
this section.
 228

Note

The Main Power IC is responsible for the generate 5 voltage, The PL3 coil
represents a measurement point for this voltage.

(+3VALWP and +5VALWP) voltages are present on laptop before turn on (before the
power button is pressed), these are two voltage called always voltages, these two
voltage present once the power adapter is connected to the laptop motherboard, The
presence of these two voltages on motherboard Indicates of the safety of all
components and Main Power IC.

Finally, the Acer eMachines E525 laptop problem solved! The next photo of the
motherboard works after replacing the charging IC.
 229

Acer Aspire D270 Laptop Power Failure

Problem Description: The laptop does not work after pressing the power button.

Below photo of the motherboard after disassembly.

Steps used to locate and repair the fault:

Below we break the troubleshooting procedure into seven steps:

1- Check the power adapter charger

2- Check DC power connector
3- Measuring the voltage coming out of the charging circuit
4- Measuring the voltage 3.3V and 5V
5- Measuring the effort of feeding the south bridge
6- Measuring voltage on the input/output (i/o) unit
7- Track start signal from the power button
 230

1- Check the power adapter charger

How to measure the voltage of power adapter

When measuring, the screen on the multimeter appears 19.5V, this is the voltage
coming out of the power adapter and this is an indication of the safety of the power
adapter.

2- Check DC power connector (socket)

We checked the power adapter and it was ok and when measuring the output voltage
of power adapter it was 19V and this is an indication of the safety of the power
adapter.
 231

Below photo from schematic diagram to illustrate the measurement points

VA is the voltage coming from

PL6 it is a small coil used for
the power adapter through DC
protection (as fuse) and the
jack, the value of this voltage is
voltage passing through it is 19V.
19.5V.

VA1 it means the first output of

voltage, the value of this voltage is
19.5V.
PJ1 it is the connector charging
serial number on the motherboard
and PJ means Power Jack.
 232

3- Measuring the voltage coming out of the charging circuit

The photo below is form the charging circuit and measurement points on the
schematic diagram (page29).

VIN is the voltage that is generated by the

charging circuit, the value of this volt is
19V, exist of this voltage at this
measurement point indicates the safety
of the charging circuit.

DCIN it is point measuring of charging IC voltage on

pin 22, this voltage coming from the power adapter
when connected to the motherboard and its value 19V
(it depend on laptop adaptor 19V-20v-18,5V, etc)
 233

Before going to the next step, we will study charging circuit in some detail so that we
can easily track the failures when the power adapter is connected to the laptop.

Explain the charging circuit

VA1 this is the voltage coming from

the power adapter once connect it
to the motherboard and its value is
same as the power adapter voltage.

When the charger is connected,

the voltage enter into the charger
IC and produces an signal called
ACOK, meaning that the power
adapter is connected and this
signal is going to the input and
output unit (I/O).

ACIN "Adaptor Current Sensor Input" this

signal is out by charger IC (indicate the
power supply has plugged in).

Pin 22 voltage coming from the

power adapter when connected to
the motherboard and the value of
this voltage is 19V.
 234

ACIN Signal Path

When power adapter is connected to the

motherboard the voltage reaches to charging IC
ISL 88713, IC recognizes the exits of the power
adapter from the ACOK signal and then sends
ACIN signal to the input and output unit.
 235

The following photo shows the ACIN signal arrives at the EC KBC (input and output
unit).

This signal reaches to the input

and output unit (I/O) on pin 66.

When the ACIN signal is entered on pin 64,

the I/O unit processes this signal and
outputs the D/C# signal on pin 25 and sends
it to the charging circuit.
 236

The following photo shows the signal reaches to the charging circuit and how Mosfet
work as switch.

Source

Drain
Gate

The signal D/C# reach to the

PQ38 it is P-channel Mosfet charging circuit and specifically
means that the channel is to the PR134 resistance, then
positive, when the voltage from this signal go into to the PQ39
the power adapter reaches the transistor on pin 5.
source of Mosfet, the charger IC
control Mosfet (open/close Gate)
let voltage to pass through
Mosfet from the source to the
drain.

Fuse Resistance
 237

4- Measuring the voltage 3.3V and 5V

3V and 5V System Circuit

PL3 it is coil, we can PL4 it is coil, we can

take the 5V take the 3V
measurement measurement
through this coil. through this coil.

Note

(+3V & 5V) voltages are present on motherboard before turn on (before the
power button is pressed), these two voltages present once the power adapter
is connected to the laptop motherboard, the PL3 and PL4 coils represents a
measurement point for these voltages.
 238

The following photo shows point of measurement 3.3V on the motherboard.

When doing the measurement on

the coil PL4 the multimeter did not
give any reading, the absence of
this voltage means the
motherboard losing power supply,
We should find 3.3V voltage on
this coil.

Next photo shows point of measurement 5V on the motherboard.

When doing the measurement on

the coil PL3 we did not find the
voltage required, the absence of
this voltage means the
motherboard losing power supply,
we should find 5V voltage on this
coil.
 239

VIN "voltage Input" (power for IC) this voltage enters

on pin 16. PC47 or PR190 are best points to take the
measurement, value of this voltage is 19V.
 240

The next picture shows how to check PC47 on motherboard.

When measuring, we found 19V on the

measurement point PC47, PC47 is a capacitor and
this capacitor is connected directly with pin 16 of the
Main Power IC RT8223M.
 241

The following photo is for measuring the voltage regulator of main power IC

VREG5 & VREG3 "Linear Regulator Output"

VL "Linear Voltage” it is
the measurement point for VREG3 is PC38
measurement point for voltage 5v
capacitor and the value of voltage on PC38 is
3.3V.

The measurement point for VREG5 is PC49

capacitor and the value of voltage on PC49 is 5
V.
 242

The following photo is a 3.3v linear regulator output voltage measurement point on
the motherboard

When doing the measurement we

found 3.3V on PC38 capacitor, PQ38
connected directly to pin 8 of main
power IC, the presence of this
voltage indicates the safety of the
output of the linear voltage
regulator.

The following photo is a 5V measurement point on the motherboard.

When doing the measurement we found 5V on PC49 capacitor, PQ49 connected

directly to pin 17 of main power IC, the presence of this voltage indicates the
safety of the output of the linear voltage regulator.
 243

The next image is for measuring the PQ13 Mosfet on the motherboard.

The multimeter was adjusted to the Buzzer Mode, and when

doing the measurement the multimeter gave a sound, and in
this case we should remove the PQ13 Mosfet from
motherboard and test it.
 244

The following image shows the connection of the PQ13 with power IC.

Drain Power IC Controls the gate of the

Mosfet until the voltage passes from
the drain to the source.

MOSFET’s not switch “ON” until at

Gate least 3V has been applied to its gate.

Source

Pin 10 UGATE2 "Upper Gate" "2" it means the

UGATE2 second upper gate. Power IC controls
gate PQ13 Mosfet from this pin (pin 10).
 245

PU3, PU symbols of IC and 3 its serial number of IC on the motherboard. We

lifted IC from motherboard to make sure there are short in this circuit, note
Power IC controls the upper and lower Mosfet gates.

When measuring the Mosfet outside the motherboard it was fine, when
measuring on location of the Mosfet between gate and base, we did not find
short circuit, so short comings from Power IC.
 246

The following photo shows the volt measurement on the PL4 coil after replace power
IC.

The power IC was replaced with original Power IC (RT8223M), when we

check on PL4 coil the multimeter shows 3.4V. PL4 it is a measuring point for
+3VPCU.
 247

The following photo shows the volt measurement on the PL3 coil after replace power
IC.

When measuring, we found the 5.1V volt on the PL3 coil, PL3 it is a measuring
point for +5VPCU, so the Power IC worked perfectly.
 248

The next photo is for measurement of voltages on the legs of the PQ13 Mosfet

The voltage on the Mosfet

Gate PQ3

The voltage on the Mosfet

Source PQ3

The voltage on the Mosfet

Drain PQ3
 249

The following photo is from the schematic diagram to show the measurement points
on the legs of the Mosfet.

VIN: input voltage of 19V

and the measuring point
Pin N°4 on the diagram
of this voltage is pin 5
symbolizes to Gate of
source of PQ13 MOSFET.
PQ13 and +3V_DH is the
voltage value on the 1-2-3 Source pins
upper gate. of the PQ13
MOSFET and
+3V_LX is the
voltage value on
source MOSFET.
 250

The next image of the measuring points on the battery connector

Pin 6 is the signal MBDATA and

the presence of voltage on pin
6 means the safety of the
signal.

Pin 5 is the signal MBCLK and

the presence of voltage on pin
5 means the safety of the
signal.

Pin 4 is the signal

TEMP_MBAT_C and the
presence of voltage on pin 4
means the safety of the signal.
 251

The following photo is from the schematic diagram to illustrate the measurement
points on the battery connector.
 252

The next photo for measuring voltage on the power button (PWR button).

NBSWON# the value of this signal is 3.3v, we find this value on the power
button once connect the power adapter to the laptop motherboard, when the
power button is pressed, this signal is go to the I/O unit on pin 95.
 253

The motherboard works successfully after connecting the adapter power and
pressing the power button.
 254

Part 8
Useful Laptop Power Sequence by
Shri Ram Infotech
Laptop Schematic Diagram 255
Laptop Chip Voltages 256
Apple Laptop Power 257

Sequence
Intel Core-i3 Laptop Power 258

Sequence
SIO Signal Description 259
VIN Section 260
Core i3 VRM Section 261
 262

I wish you all the best and look forward to hearing your success story.

To your success.

www.LaptopRepairSecrets.com
 263

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