I tried to start my laptop earlier, only for nothing to happen. It won't start on battery or when plugged in (it can run without a battery when plugged in). The battery does seem to be dead, and so is the 3V CMOS battery.
I opened it up and noticed a circle visable on one of the inductors. Hopefully you can see it in the picture.
Could this be the problem, or is that normal?
That’s normal, inside of the inductor looks like this:
You can also use a multimeter to test across the inductor. It should have no resistance / will beep in continuity mode.
Thanks. I guess I was just hoping it would be an easy find and fix. The beep confirmed hope is lost 🥲
What beep?
The beep multimeters make when in continuity mode. It is a way to test that 2 points are electrically connected with little/no resistance. If they are connected the multimeter will emit a continuous beep. If there is no beep than either the points aren't connected or there is a resistor or something else preventing the connection. The amount is resistance required to prevent a connection (measured in ohms) tends to be possible to set on the multimeter.