Member Avatar for ray_8

help, my gateway NE511will not turn back on after I tried to replace wireless card. fan turns on for 2-3 seconds and stops. once in a while the blue light comes on. it has an internal battery and I tried the reset to no avail. cannot find any parts online for this system. any suggestions would be appreciated, thanks. 

                                                                           ray
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Dani AI

Generated

Given the follow-up from and the suggestions already offered by and , the likely fault can be narrowed with a short, non‑destructive diagnostic path. The symptom set — fan spins briefly, sporadic LED activity, behaviour changing after a wireless‑card swap — points first at a local short/connector problem or a power/boot fault rather than an immediately catastrophic CPU failure. The steps below prioritize checks that avoid irreversible work and give clear indicators whether the mainboard itself is damaged.

A concise diagnostic sequence:

  1. Verify the AC adapter and DC jack with a multimeter against the adapter label (correct voltage/polarity).
  2. Try a true minimal hardware power‑on: remove HDD/SSD, optical, all external devices and the Wi‑Fi card; leave a single known‑good RAM module and the fan/header connected; with the internal battery out, press and hold the power button ~30 seconds to bleed caps, then power from AC only and watch for fan/beeps/LED patterns.
  3. Inspect the WLAN area and adjacent standoffs for a stray screw, pinched antenna coax, or any foreign metal that could short the board. Also check the fan header and the small ribbon connectors (keyboard/trackpad) for bent pins or misalignment — these commonly cause a no‑POST or short behavior after disassembly.

Additional points and cautions:

  • The CMOS coin cell is normally ~3 V; if the board is behaving erratically a quick voltage check can help (replace if substantially low).
  • BIOS whitelist or firmware issues are possible with replacement Wi‑Fi cards; if hardware checks pass but POST fails, model‑specific BIOS recovery or reinstalling the original card (if still available) is the next non‑invasive check.
  • If minimal tests still cut power after a few seconds, smell/burn marks or visible damage near power regulators/MOSFETs suggest board‑level repair or replacement is required; at that stage a board swap or professional rework is the practical option.

Electrostatic care and caution around the battery/AC mains are important during all steps.

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Member Avatar for rproffitt

Go back to how it worked. I can't assure you if this model has a whitelist of wireless cards (I must shortchange you here, use google if you didn't know.)

If it doesn't come back with the original setup, then you are dealing with a dead laptop. Can you give me a voltage reading on the CMOS battery? (As a laptop tech, I have to assume you have the right gear.)

Member Avatar for Reverend Jim

Remove the rechargeable battery and then try to power up with the ac power connected. If it works then reconnect the battery.

Member Avatar for ray_8

k I disconnected the battery and plugged in tn ac power = no go
reconnected the battery = the fan does not spin anymore, so I am worse off now lol
thinking mobo is toast

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