Chromebook won't turn on unless battery in unplugged...

[Kawaii Koneko]

I have a friend with an Asus C423N Chromebook. It was working fine and all of a sudden it just wouldn't turn on. When the various Chromebook won't boot solutions failed, I opened it up and after a bit of tinkering I discovered that if I unplug what is supposed to be the non-removable battery and then hook up the USB-C charger, the laptop will startup. However, it makes a weird whiny sound inside when I do that. Does it sound like the internal power supply is failing?

[5x5]

The battery is dead probably - maybe board damage as well. It's not really worth fixing a chomrebook imo.

[Kawaii Koneko]

2 minutes ago, 5x5 said:

The battery is dead probably - maybe board damage as well. It's not really worth fixing a chomrebook imo.

I'm thinking it is the board. Even the battery was dead it should still run off AC. I'm thinking something is messed up with the board and when the battery is plugged in it messes something up with the draw. IDK much about power stuff and circuitry....

[5x5]

Depends on how the firmware is configured - some devices don't start at all when a dead battery is connected.

[Kawaii Koneko]

4 minutes ago, 5x5 said:

Depends on how the firmware is configured - some devices don't start at all when a dead battery is connected.

Interesting. I've never run into that in all my years of tinkering but this is the first Chromebook I've messed with. I found a battery online for $40 USD. I don't want to have my friend order anything though when I'm not 100% sure or at least have a very good idea of what's wrong. The thing that concerns me is the weird hum/whine sound when I plug the laptop in. It is a faint noise but I can definitely hear it and it makes me worry it is something on the board to do with the PSU.

[5x5]

That's likely whine but the simplest way to know is to take it to a local repair business and leave it to experienced techs.

[Kawaii Koneko]

Just now, 5x5 said:

That's likely whine but the simplest way to know is to take it to a local repair business and leave it to experienced techs.

It's not worth taking it to a tech given how cheap it was. If I can't get a good idea of what he needs, he is just going to buy a new laptop. A new board is like $109 USD should that be the problem. I wouldn't fix it if it were mine but it's up to him. I'm just doing free labor for him.

[5x5]

Honestly, 109$ for a chromebook board is just not worth it - you can find a used ThinkPad T440 for about 200$ and that would be vastly superior.

[Kawaii Koneko]

21 minutes ago, 5x5 said:

Honestly, 109$ for a chromebook board is just not worth it - you can find a used ThinkPad T440 for about 200$ and that would be vastly superior.

Yeah, well, you know. People are going to do what they want lol. I'll try to steer him in the right direction but at the end of the day if he wants me to just fix it, I'll fix it. Sounds like he might just buy a new laptop instead of taking shots in the dark although I do think it is the board. His call.