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October 9th, 2025 15:10
Pro 14 Max Not Turning Off
Hey all,
We have a Pro 14 Max laptop that refuses to power off. It will go dark momentarily, keyboard lights turn off, as if it powered down and then boots back up to the BIOS splash screen and then it boots into Windows again.
I have tried a hard shutdown by holding the power button down but all it does it go into a boot loop, it will shutdown when I press the button, and as I'm continuing to hold the power button, it boots up again.
I also tried closing the lid and then pulling the battery which obviously turned it off, and when I plugged the battery back in and opened the lid, it did not turn on like I would expect it to until I hit the power button, then it went thru the usual boot process, but after trying to shut it down, it turns itself back on.
Any tips on where to start? I only got about 30 minutes on it yesterday but will get some time to dig into it today.
cgonzalez2
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October 28th, 2025 22:35
Just an update to this: Dell returned the laptop and as I suspected, they replaced the I/O board and the cable connecting it to the motherboard. They did not mention if the sticky substance was normal, and unfortunately I was out sick when the laptop returned so I did not get a chance to open it up to see what the condition of the new connector was. But this has been resolved with a hardware repair.
cgonzalez2
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October 9th, 2025 19:05
Just as a quick update, I decided to try to reseat the I/O board cable that provides data and power to the power button, and when I pulled it out, I noticed the gold contacts of the connector itself were covered in a very sticky, brownish grease-like substance. Might even be excess flux, or some adhesive.
Not sure if this is meant to be like that from the factory but it seems out of place.
After reseating the cable, the issue persisted. We don't have a degreaser I can use that would be safe for the electronics and the connector seemed fragile and did not want to accidentally ruin a brand new laptop, so I submitted an ARC repair request. I'll update with whatever their solution ends up being.