Having problems figuring out what is wrong with your devices that won’t turn on? Follow this guide to see what our technicians do in-house to figure out what exactly is wrong with devices!
OEM chargers from manufacturers can break often and sometimes they just need to be unplugged and plugged back in. If the device is not showing a charge light, then test the charger on a second device before deciding that the device is not receiving charge.
The majority of devices that fail to turn on have failing motherboards and the charge light is a good first step to determine if the motherboard is functioning properly. If the device is not showing a charge light, skip to step 4. If the motherboard is showing that the device is receiving charge, proceed to step 3 for details on determining if the device is actually on.
If you are getting a charge light but are not showing any image then you can use the built-in ChromeVox feature to test if the device is actually on. Ensure that you have ChromeVox enabled for your users before using it as a diagnostic tool. After plugging in the device and letting it sit open for at least 30 seconds, press Ctrl, Alt and Z simultaneously to enable ChromeVox. Press the volume up key a couple of times to ensure that volume is turned on, then alternate between pressing volume up and volume down to have ChromeVox produce noise for each keystroke.
If ChromeVox is making noise when the volume keys are pressed then you likely only have a bad LCD or LCD ribbon and the motherboard itself is functioning properly.
If ChromeVox is not making noise, you could have a motherboard that is beginning to fail. Plug headphones into the audio port to ensure that the issue is not with the audio port or the speakers themselves. If a student broke off the end of a pair of headphones in the audio port, then ChromeVox noises will not be produced because the device is trying to output noise to the broken headphones. If you are able to successfully plug in headphones and the device will still not produce audio, it is likely that the motherboard will have to be replaced.
If a motherboard is failing to show a charge light, it is time to get inside of the device to see if the motherboard is at fault. Open the device and unplug everything from the motherboard, beginning with the battery. Once everything is unplugged, connect the motherboard to the charger again to see if it is now producing a charge light. If the motherboard is still not producing the charge light, the motherboard or the charge port have failed and the motherboard needs to be repaired.
If the motherboard is showing a charge light then it is time to connect the other components one by one. The goal here is to look for a part that prevents the charge light from appearing on the motherboard, that part is likely shorting out the motherboard. Unplug the motherboard from the charger and connect the daughterboard if applicable then plug the motherboard back into power. If the motherboard is no longer showing a charge light, then the daughterboard is the cause of the issue and a new daughterboard should get your device back up and running. Follow this same process part by part, only having one component connected to the motherboard at a time.
Once you find the part that prevents the motherboard from showing a charge light, replace it with a new working component and ensure that the motherboard shows a charge light. You should be good to go!