I’m on the 11th gen i5. I did open a support case on this but I figured I’d check with the rest of us.
As mentioned, the power button stopped working. When I plug in power, it boots right up. I did a BIOS reset (and it’s on 3.19), I took apart the laptop to check the power switch and for any loose connections. I couldn’t see anything wrong.
I went and tried a mainboard reset, however managed to break the RTC cradle while trying to get that battery out and the bottom solder joint is disconnected now. I did try the tried and true electrical tape to hold down the RTC battery but still no joy.
So, I’ll wait to see what Framework support comes back with, but based on what I’ve said, is my only option to just replace the mainboard?
If you ask Support, you may be able to get a replacement cradle and either a RTC battery or replacement RTC module from them. I would recommend taking it to a electronics repair shop and see if they can assist you with the repairs.
Thank you both, I appreciate the info. I already ordered 2 replacement batteries and I made sure I got the rechargeable ones like the existing one.
I can always have one of the electricians at work try to solder the RTC cradle back to the mainboard but that still doesn’t help me on the power button issue.
The power button was the initial problem and the RTC cradle breaking was a result of trying to address the power button issue. If there is a fix for the power button not working, I’m not privy to it and that’s what I’d like to figure out.
I have my 14th gen pre-ordered and I don’t mind ordering a replacement mainboard (probably trying the AMD board instead) for this broken one. I’d ultimately like to not shell out another $700 to replace the current board if I can.
So what’s likely causing it to not be able to boot without plugging in the charger is the RTC battery is dead. 11th gen had a bug where if you didn’t plug it in every so often, the RTC battery could die and the main battery wouldn’t charge it up (this has been fixed on subsequent generations). There is a permanent fix which involves soldering the RTC replacement module to the mainboard but that requires the RTC cradle to be there.
The laptop is used almost daily however a few weeks back I was on vacation for a week and probably didn’t touch it for 5-6 days. That short a time makes me think that if the RTC battery was already becoming unusable/dead, that would explain what’s going on.
I do have the replacement ML 1220 rechargeable batteries now tho. I can try one of the new batteries and try to hold it down with a little electric tape. If the cradle maintains contact with the mainboard, the battery should charge and then hopefully this problem goes away.
And then if all goes well there, I just need to get one of the electricians at work to re-solder the RTC cradle to the mainboard.
This is an odd struggle for me. I would love to replace the mainboard with a newer processor, and I really want to, but I shouldn’t spend the money. I could save the money and try to fix the board, but it’s an i5 and was relatively under powered for me. And then I have my 14th gen hopefully shipping next week. The struggle is real my friend, the struggle is real.
If you’ve already got a support ticket open, would highly recommend requesting the RTC replacement module. It’s free and you wouldn’t need to worry about this happening anymore. But hopefully you can get it working in the meantime.
