Hi Kenny,
"Kenny" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:eoTfesyQIHA.5016@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> Thanks Philip for the reply, it made me think of something other than a
> faulty HDD.
> I removed the bottom cover and first thing I noticed was that the CPU fan
> wasn't turning.
That would be a prime reason for this unit to have failed! Nice one.
> Is it likely the CPU is damaged or will the onboard thermal protection
> have saved it?
The processor's in-built thermal shutdown mechanism SHOULD have
protected it - it's not something to rely on as a first line of defence,
more as a backstop, but I'd doubt very much that the CPU has been fried. You
need to pursue why the fan isn't turning - use a DVM and look for a voltage,
or a DOM and look for low to medium resistance across the fan's connection
pins (disconnect the fan plug first in both instances). If the fan is
open-circuit (very high resistance), it's a no-brainer - change the fan and
the problem will go away.
> I have built and upgraded quite a few desktop PC's but not laptops and I
> am very unfamiliar with the heatsink & fan arrangement and how to remove
> and replace them.
The laptops that I've stripped have featured either four screws or some
kind of spring clamping device to force intimate contact between the
heatsink's flat underside and the top surface of the processor. Nothing else
is required - the 'four screws' method is easy to comprehend, and all you'd
need to do is to break adhesion between heatsink and processor CAREFULLY to
get at the CPU. BUT - it's not indicated in this case, so my advice would be
'leave it alone'.
)
> The fan doesn't sit on top of the CPU, it's off to one side and there's a
> copper pipe across the top from fan to CPU.
Sounds familiar - that's a heat pipe, and the 'cold' end of it will be
directly in the airflow created by the fan. Heat is effectively 'sucked' (by
a forced downward heat gradient and consequent conduction) along the heat
pipe when the fan's doing its stuff. Since it isn't ...
> There are four screws on top of the CPU part of the heatsink but I'm not
> sure what way the left side of the fan block is connected because it's
> partly under the cabinet.
The chances are that it's 'connected' only by adhesion to the processor.
I'd remove the screws and apply gentle torque if I thought that the
processor needed to come out for thermpathing - but in this case, it
doesn't - or at least, not until you've found out why the fan isn't working
(and even then not, if I've guessed the true fault correctly).
> Have searched for a service manual for this or something with a similar
> arrangement but no luck.
> The model is Medion MIM2230.
> Any advice appreciated.
The International Medion website is at
http://www.medion.com/english/.
I've had good dealings with them in the past, and they'll be your best
advisor if repair parts are required. The stalled fan could be about dust
ingress, actual fan failure, or something more sinister wrong on the
motherboard. The DVM / DOM check detailed above will tell you immediately
whether you're going to win a free laptop or not.
Good luck -
Regards,
Philip
>
> --
> Kenny Cargill
>
>
>
>
> "Philip Andrews" <philipfaeunst@tiscali.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:eySvGUqQIHA.2000@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>> Hi,
>>
>> "Kenny" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
>> news:%23pWP1YlQIHA.3556@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>>>I have been given a Medion laptop and told if I can fix it I can keep it.
>>> Switched on from cold it may work OK for a while then it will totally
>>> freeze.
>>> Other times it will simply refuse to start, power LED is lit but no HDD
>>> activity and no display on screen.
>>> Have checked CMOS battery and reseated HDD as well as doing complete
>>> restore from Medion CD.
>>
>> This 'non-starting' fault is quite likely to be something to do with a
>> lack of Thermpath between processor and heatsink, or a problem with the
>> laptop's internal PSU resulting from some sort of thermal or power
>> problem (or maybe even damage to the internal modem and other components,
>> if the unit was connected to a phone-line - online or offline - during an
>> electrical storm). Checking the processor heatsink arrangements should be
>> fairly simple, and is the cheapest first move - the processor is often
>> accessible once he keyboard panel has been removed, but you'd need to
>> check (via Google) for a service manual, or find a reliable and
>> trustworthy local techie to check it for you before trying to break in.
>>
>>
>>> I have a fairly new Advent laptop of my own, can I remove HDD from this
>>> and put in the one from the Medion to eliminate or confirm it as faulty?
>>> I know hardware differences may cause it not to boot properly but
>>> assuming I use the restore disc for the Advent is the idea feasible?
>>
>> I wouldn't do that at all - you'd be far better to get hold of a USB
>> external cradle to plug that HDD into, and test it that way using your
>> Advent machine. If the Medion features a floppy-drive, and can be
>> configured in the BIOS to boot from a floppy or (bootable) CD as the
>> first device, you could try pulling the HDD out altogether and then try
>> to boot to a diskette (that you've formatted to be bootable on a
>> known-good machine) - or to a Windows XP or Medion Recovery CD. If the
>> laptop still displays the same balkiness without the HDD installed, it'd
>> be reasonable to assume that whatever the fault, it's more likely to be
>> caused by something other than the HDD. If you ask the original owner a
>> few questions regarding whether the fan(s) ran very often on the Medion,
>> or whether it froze up when hot, and whether the fault was progressive,
>> that might point to what's actually the matter with it. The modern
>> 'double-sided tape' heatsink pads don't work as well in the longer term
>> as good, old-fashioned liquid silicone Thermpath.
>>
>> Hope this helps.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Philip
>>>
>>> --
>>> Kenny Cargill
>>>
>>
>>
>
>
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