I accidentally used a 12V, 2.5A power adapter with my docking station, which normally operates with a 5V, 4A adapter, and now my laptop won't turn on. When I connected the wrong adapter, the laptop screen went black and I noticed some smoke from the docking station, though nothing from the laptop itself. Currently, the battery-status light blinks and the keyboard backlight flashes when I try to power it on, but nothing happens beyond that. I checked the internals of my laptop and everything looks fine, but I'm not sure where to go from here. I'm hoping that maybe just the power adapter port or battery is damaged instead of the entire motherboard. Any advice or troubleshooting steps would be greatly appreciated!
1 Answer
It sounds like you might've damaged the motherboard, especially if the HDMI connection caused an over-voltage situation. Consider taking your laptop to a repair shop to get a proper diagnosis. They should be able to tell if any critical components were affected by the surge.

Got it. Any tips on how to choose a good repair shop? I’ve never needed one before, so I’m not sure what to look for.