13th gen Intel Framework 13 laptop wont turn on after dropping it a short distance

Community Support
,
1

Chat,

I accidentally dropped my 13th gen Intel Framework 13 laptop a whole three (3) inches against a hardwood table, and now it is completely dead.

Pressing the power button does nothing, long pressing the power button does nothing. I took apart the laptop to check / re-seat the cables in the keyboard plate including the touch pad and power button, and it’s connection to the motherboard, as well as the battery. This is the model that does not have a secondary battery, so there’s nothing to re-seat there. There’s nothing obviously broken inside, and I haven’t been able to find an alternative way to try to power on the unit without the keyboard module attached to the motherboard.

I’m going to have a friend come over with their framework later this week to try swapping out parts to troubleshoot what broke, but I’m also asking here in hopes that maybe there’s something I’m missing I could try to diagnose the issue better on my own.

I’ve got nothing to work with so far. No lights blink, no sounds are made, the fans don’t spin up, the keyboard stays dark, and the screen remains off.

I don’t think this is relevant, since my laptop clearly has a concussion, but the template for this post requests I also disclose that I’m running Fedora Linux 41 on the poor thing.

So my questions are:

  1. Is there a way to boot the unit in isolation of the input cover assembly? Such as two pins / diagnostic pads on the motherboard that I could bridge like on a PC motherboard? Or something I could connect via USB / ethernet?

  2. Is the connector where the input cover attaches everything to the motherboard a standard part with a standard pinout? If so, what is the relevant information I would need to know to make a much less complicated diagnostic power switch / light assembly? Or are there any reputable makers that happen to sell such a thing?

  3. Is there anything that would normally prevent the laptop from turning to the extent it would be completely unresponsive if it were already off or in sleep mode at the time of drop, such as a stuck closed lid sensor, or a missing jumper pin or something?

  4. Any other wisdom that might help?

Please advise.

2

Yep, there is a tiny power button on the mainboard. Top right corner of the mainboard. The text “SW1” is next to the bottom right corner of the switch. Note that it is a tiny surface mounted button, and there are other tiny surface mounted components nearby, jab it without care, and you’re liable to cause damage or even shear components off the board. Be careful pressing it. The black dot in the middle is what you press.

fw mb 2 crop
fw mb 2 crop512×818 54.3 KB

There is rarely such a thing as a standard pinout for those type internal connectors. RAM, SSD, Wifi, etc are exceptions. For normal internal connectors, no standards exsist.

But unlike others, Framework does provide all pinouts. They are on their github.

A forum community member was selling a board that plugged in and provided easier to solder to power button pins. Iirc they also had provided the option to solder a switch on wires to it for you. Not sure if they still have stock left. Thread someplace on the forum, but doesn’t sound like you really need it here.

3

I found SW1 and pressed it carefully as advised, but the unit is unresponsive either way. I also found another post here mentioning the case intrusion switch, SW3. I (carefully) experimented with that as well, with no luck.

I guess this means the motherboard is completely toast then?

4

Hmm, maybe try to boot after removing some things. I don’t know how likely it is to work, that one of them is the problem, but worth a try. As you’ll be removing it all if you replace the mainboard anyway. And a new mainboard isn’t cheap, so personally, I’d try everything I can think of first. A normal working PC should boot to BIOS without an SSD & I think even without any RAM, or failing that, with just one stick of RAM.