1 Rookie
•
2 Posts
0
59
July 28th, 2024 10:15
Dell G3 (3779) Laptop Freezes on AC Power
Dell G3 3779
My Dell G3 (3779) laptop works fine on battery but becomes unresponsive immediately when the AC power is plugged in. The screen and mouse cursor freeze, videos display stripes, and the sound turns into noise. This issue persists in both Windows 10 and the BIOS setup screen.
Troubleshooting steps taken:
- Tried a second power cord.
- Swapped in a new battery.
- Updated the BIOS and Drivers in Windows.
- Reinstalled Windows 10.
- Adjusted power management and PCI settings in Windows and BIOS.
- Checked all connections inside the PC.
- Reset CMOS battery.
- Disabled and removed both primary and secondary storage drives.
Unplugging the power does not resolve the issue; a hard reset on battery is required. Attempting a hard reset with power plugged in results in a dark screen, fans running to near or at full speed, and the laptop becoming very hot.
When on battery and running BIOS diagnostics, the screen goes dark about two-thirds of the way through, possibly due to the need for AC power during diagnostics or related to the main issue.
Of note: before this issue occurred the laptop was primarily used like a desktop, i.e. stayed plugged in 24/7 and had an external monitor, mouse and keyboard.
ejn63
10 Elder
•
28.7K Posts
1
July 30th, 2024 10:56
Possibly, if you have the tools to do the analysis and repair, and a donor board if it turns out to be a surface mount IC.
ejn63
10 Elder
•
28.7K Posts
0
July 28th, 2024 13:30
You've eliminated all but the mainboard as the cause of the issue, but only you can decide if this 6 year old system merits the cost of replacing that. If it has truly been running 24/7 for this long, you're likely better off with a replacement system than a board replacement.
Gundy2
1 Rookie
•
2 Posts
0
July 30th, 2024 10:07
Thank you. I was already resolved to replace the laptop anyway, but was curious if it might be a simple capacitor or other SMD component issue that I could attempt to replace. Just trying to keep this thing out of a landfill for another year or 2 and use as a backup laptop since it still works perfectly fine on battery.