Today I was able to fix a “dead” notebook simply by reseating connectors. The customer brought in Compaq nx5000 notebook with the following complaint:
“Laptop shuts down on power up. When the power button is pushed, the laptop flashes green lights for several seconds and then powers down. Unit will not stay on with battery or when plugged in”.
I plugged the AC adapter and tried to turn on the laptop. After I pushed on the power button, fans started spinning and were active for a few seconds and laptop just turned itself off. The video never came on. I tried to power it on for a few times with the same result.
Here is how I fixed it.
First of all I tried simple stuff: remove the battery and start the laptop with AC adapter plugged in, reseat and swap the memory module, remove the hard drive, the DVD drive, the wireless card. Nothing helped to start the laptop normally. After that I went a little bit further. I opened up the laptop case, removed the LCD screen assembly and reseated the video card and… Surprise, surprise, the laptop started fine with an external monitor attached. Just in case I restarted it 3-4 times and each time I got video on the screen. After I assembled everything back, one more surprise was waiting for me. The laptop failed to boot again with the same symptoms. So, the only part that I added before it failed was the LCD screen assembly. I unplugged the video cable from the system board and the laptop started fine again with the external monitor. Now I know that the problem is somewhere inside the display assembly (of course, if the video connector on the system board is fine). The next logical step would be opening up the LCD display assembly and check if all connectors are seated properly. Bingo!!! I wasn’t very surprised, but I was very happy. The video cable was half-way out from the connector on the back of the LCD screen. The laptop started perfectly fine as soon as I plugged the video cable back in place. Fixed!
That was my first experience when improperly plugged video cable prevented entire system from booting.
Read more:
How to troubleshoot and fix laptop video problems
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July 7th, 2006 at 11:34 pm
I have an A75 S209 purchased Jan 2005 which has performed flawlessly until several days ago when the dreaded DC jack failure arrived. A search in Google lead me to this site which is fantastic.
After reading all the horror stories I figured I was doomed. Then I discovered the disassembly notes and photos which I printed and thought I would plunge in (well after a little soul searching) and tear the thing apart. Discovered the problem with the jack, the center pin connector was broke up inside the jack. I soldered in a new piece of wire and put everything back together plugged it in and turned it on and it worked for about 10 minutes and failed again.
Bought a jack from ebay for $8.95 but after pondering the problem most of the day I decided to take it apart again and remove the jack. Using Tony’s approach I attached the jack (the bad one) with a piece wire so that it is located outside the case. Works like a charm. My technique was slightly different than Tony’s but the outcome was the same and I think this fix will last for awhile.
It took about 11/2 hours to complete the job most of the time was spent routing the wire so it didn’t interfer with anything which required several attempts. If you follow the disassembly procedure and take your time it’s not to difficult. You’ll need an assortment of tools and a soldering iron.
Rather than route the wire as Tony did I used the hole for the jack. I used 2 wire ties attached to the wire on both sides of the case as restrains to keep it from moving. It’s nice and secure so should last for a while. And when the new jack arrives I’ll have a spare just in case.
Thanks for a great site.
Lee Nicholas
July 16th, 2006 at 7:48 pm
[...] I would test the AC adapter first. I think it’s possible that the adapter is bad and the battery is discharged. Try to remove the battery, plug in the AC adapter and start the laptop without the battery installed. Then I would try to install a test memory module or at least reseat it. Does is make any difference? If nothing helps, you can minimize the system as much as possible and try to start it with an external monitor. Normally you need only 3 components to successfully boot a laptop and see if you have some basic functionality. These components are… [...]
July 29th, 2006 at 1:47 pm
I have a Compaq NX5000 I have a similar problem with my laptop. The problem is when I start my notebook in the afternoon when the temperature is around 30 Celsius, it starts the fan on the backside and after shuting the fan the flash led next to the power on led flashes once and nothing happens. But if I start the notebbok in the morning on the third starting up try it starts the fan starts to work the num lock, caps lock, and scroll lock leds flashing once and the power on led is stays on and the computer starts. It is working then properly till next afternoon? What can be the problem??? Can somebody help me? I tried the connection cable on the back of the LCD panel but it looks ok and when I unplugged from the motherboard the problem was the same, tried to start with an external monitor but it not helped. PLEASE HELP ME!
July 30th, 2006 at 9:51 pm
Peter,
Your problem is very unusual, I’m not really sure what’s going on. Have you tried to replace the memory module?
July 31st, 2006 at 9:17 am
Yes I already tried, and when I wiggle the power cord on the back of the notebook it starts. But if it started when I still wiggleing it works properly doesn’t shut down. But the most intresting thing is that, when i plug the battery unit in and unplug the AC power it makes the same: Just little fan moving a HDD turn off and one
amber flash next to the power on green indicator led. But if i plug the AC without the power just the end of the power cord and start
wiggling it starts from the battery as well.
What else can be the problem beside the memory modules?
It is a HP Compaq NX5000
August 6th, 2006 at 1:04 pm
I purchased a Toshiba Satelite M50 back in December 05 and had no problem with until a few days ago. I would go to turn it on and the fans spun but then it would shut off. Sometimes it would go on and would shut down randomely. I sent it to Toshiba with no clue whats going on with it. Does anyone know what tthe problem could be so I dont get messed with the company? I know ofr a fact that it isnt a virus because I was able to to a full system recovery. If anyone knows what it could be, please help.
August 17th, 2006 at 4:45 pm
I have a similar problem with my Toshiba M35X-S161 (bought 2/05). When I try to turn on the laptop, the power button lights up and the heatsink fan does it’s initial power-up. Sometimes nothing else happens, the power button just stays lit and the I have to hold in the power button for ~10 seconds before it shuts down. Other times it’ll power up with no problems for a VERY short time (usually just past CD-ROM check and the initial splash screen and POST but on rare occasions, it’ll make it all the way to Windows) and cuts the power again to everything but the power button. I checked inside and I have the updated speaker grounding and I’ve replaced the CPU thinking it was sensing an overheating. I know it’s not a faulty DC jack since the battery gets fully charged all the time. Any ideas would be GREATLY appreciated!!
August 17th, 2006 at 7:59 pm
Zak,
You’ve replaced the CPU in this model, so I assume you know how to take it apart. First of all, try to reseat the memory module/modules. That’s would be nice if you can find a test memory for a while.
When I have a weird laptop problem and cannot figure out what is wrong, I take it completely apart and assemble a basic system outside the laptop box, right on my bench. For a basic system you’ll need the system board, the CPU with cooling module and the memory module. Assemble everything together outside the laptop base, connect an external monitor and turn it on. You’ll have to remove the power switch board from the top cover or carefully connect it to the system board without removing, it’s up to you. If it still will not boot up, then one of three components is bad. You already replaced the CPU, so it would be either the system board or the memory.
If you can boot the basic system, start assembling it back and test after each step. Make sure that you put correct screws into correct holes.
August 20th, 2006 at 1:00 pm
Thanks cj for the advice, I really appreciate. I am definitely going to try that route to narrow down the problem.
September 2nd, 2006 at 2:06 am
It sounds like I am having the same exact problem I need help. I’m from the states, but i’m over seas. My compaq presario laptop i thought was damaged on the plane ride over here. It starts up for a few seconds and shuts off just like yours. It has turned on a few times and when it turns on, i can do whatever with it, and it works flawlessly. I can reboot it without any issues. But if i shut it down, or shut it off, it will not turn back on and have the same issue. today i can no longer get lucky and get it turn turn on, can you tell me all the steps i need to follow to try and fix this? I’m open to any suggestions. thank you. If you could please email me if you can help.
September 2nd, 2006 at 11:33 pm
Billy,
Try to reseat the memory module first. You can also try moving it to the second slot. If you can find any test memory, install it instead of your module and test if it makes any difference. From your description I cannot give you a better advice; it could be anything from a loose connection to a bad hardware.
I would also try to minimize the system, remove modules (hard drive, DVD drive, wireless card, any other cards) one by one and try to turn it on after each removed part.
September 3rd, 2006 at 9:53 am
Thank you for getting back to me, I will give those a shot. I’m not a big Compaq fan, but I bought it cheap, and I use it when I deploy. It has I think 2 512 chips in it, maybe one is failing, I’m not sure I’ve pulled them out before and put them back in because I noticed that I was only ready like 480 ram. Then it came back and said 9 hundred whatever after I did that. The computer actually turned back on right after I went out from writing your email yesterday first try like nothing was wrong. So I’m pretty lost. I don’t mind so much it being a pita to turn on because I can always leave it on, but sometimes I take it to work and then I get shafted like yesterday. Thanks for your help.
September 4th, 2006 at 4:09 pm
Hello, I just wanted to say thank you to whoever left the article as I look like the bomb after reading this and repairing it for a friend worked awesome and yes took some time but it also made the “Experts” look like smo’s when the stated power switch,battery, and even mother board. I honestly sitched out every switch out quick component hard drive memory you name this artice and this site saved me.. God Bless & Thank You!!
September 10th, 2006 at 5:14 pm
I have the exact and I mean the exact same problem. I have been having issues with my video display so I am certain that is what is causing my laptop to shutdown. Thanks for the suggestion.
September 10th, 2006 at 5:27 pm
I have a Thinkpad G41 …….It is not starting at all …..when i push the power on button ……nothing happens …just the power LED glows ..thats it …nothing displays ……the cap locks led also doesnt displays ………if u happen to know anythinh about this pls let me know
September 10th, 2006 at 10:45 pm
Vish,
Do you hear any other laptop activity: the fan start spinning, the harddrive makes some noise or the DVD drive LED light starts flashing?
I would try to reseat the memory module. Remove the memory and insert it back, try to move it into another slot. If you have 2 memory modules installed, remove them one by one and test the laptop after each removed module. It easily could be just a failed memory.
September 21st, 2006 at 5:01 am
I have a Dell Inspiron something or other laptop (i think i paid over $1800 for) which shortly after the warranty ran out I started having problems with. when you turn it on it says no bootable hard drive found….Dell did its troubleshooting and said …I need a new hard drive…….$80 dollars later that didnt help either…now I had to resort back to an old gateway desktop that is slower than hell….I also have a Dell desktop that doesn’t work…..very frustrated……I will be forever greatful if you could help me….
Heard about you on the Howard Stern show
September 21st, 2006 at 9:20 am
What a great site! I have a thinkpad a21m. It boots up fine, runs for 15 minutes and then shuts down, all the LED lights start flashing and it tries to reboot, gets to the thinkpad splash screen, shuts down and tries to reboot repeatedly until I hold the power button down for a few secs to shut it off. If I wait 10 minutes or so it’ll start up and run fine for another 15 minuts and repeat the same cycle. I just bought it used 2 weeks ago and it worked fine for a week. I installed a new hard drive thinking that would help but I still have the same problem.
It did stay up long enough for me to install windows XP (I had it sitting on a vented plastic rack with a fan blowing on it) but then started doing the same thing. Do you think I have a bad fan? I’ve installed all the ibm management utilities. I’m really at a lost. Thanks for any direction you can point me in.
James
September 21st, 2006 at 9:20 am
Gilly,
If you didn’t, find the original recovery media (CD or DVD disk), boot the laptop from it and follow the wizard.
When you see “no bootable hard drive found” during laptop start up, it usually means that the HDD is dead or it’s empty and an operating system is not found. It also might happen because of a bad HDD controller on the system board, but it’s not common. If the hard drive is dead, then you’ll have to replace the HDD and reload the operating system from a recovery CD or DVD. I don’t know what level of computer knowledge you have and I have to ask a simple question. Did you reload the operating system after you replaced the hard drive?
Here are some troubleshooting tips.
First of all, I would check if the new HDD is detected and listed in the BIOS. Enter the BIOS setup menu and see if you can see the hard drive in there. If you can see the HDD listed in the BIOS, it’s detected properly and probably you have a software issue. I don’t remember the key that you have to press for Setup on Dell laptops; usually it’s Esc, F1, or F2. On some models you can see this key under the Dell logo witch appears as soon as you turn on the laptop. Try them. You can also can test the HDD with Hitachi drive fitness test, if the test passes successfully, I would assume that the system board and the HDD are fine. Let me know how it goes.
September 21st, 2006 at 10:01 am
James,
It might be just an overheating issue. I would check if the heatsink is clean. You can check the heatsink if you lift up the keyboard. When you turn on the laptop, the fan should start spinning. You also can access and check the fan if you lift up the keyboard. Here’s a list of IMB laptop manuals, find your model and go to the keyboard removal instructions.
September 21st, 2006 at 1:40 pm
cj2600
Thank you for your reply.
I’ll check that out and post a reply here as to my results.
James
September 21st, 2006 at 8:52 pm
I believe you helped me find the problem.
The fan wasn’t blowing!
For 15 minutes or so the computer would run fine but no fan.
When the computer shut down and tried to boot back up,
I put my hand back there and felt the fan trying to start. Warm puffs of air but not engaging. I took it apart and pulled the fan. Not much dust and it spun freely with me blowing on it.
I slapped it back together hoping it was a loose Molex connector that was the problem and made sure the connectors where solid.
But alas, the fan continues to not run and the laptop shuts down after 15 or so minutes.
I am heartened by this because now I can replace the fan and (if it is the fan and not a wire
going to the fan) hopefully be in good shape.
This is an IBM thinkpad a21m laptop that I have and the power button is on the keyboard so I had to put it all back together before I could start it and test the fan again
Does anyone know of a way I can start it without the keyboard in place?
Thanks again,
James
September 21st, 2006 at 9:01 pm
James,
I think the keyboard cable is long enough and it’s not necessary to put the keyboard back in the laptop base during the test. When I have to test the fan on IBM laptop, I connect the keyboard cable to the system board and place the keyboard on the palmrest. After that I can start the laptop from the keyboard and still have and access to the cooling fan.
September 21st, 2006 at 10:03 pm
cj2600,
Thanks for the tip(s).
I’ll try that when I reinstall the new fan.
James
September 28th, 2006 at 12:36 am
Hi.
I have exactly the same problem on my toshiba A60 after removing the onboard RAM chips. They were dead, and that was told me by memtest86. Instead of replacing the motherboard, I was adviced to remove the chips and put memory in the external socket, by a user with the same problem.. now fixed. I did it carefully without damage in the board circuits, and now, the after pluging new RAM in the socket behind the board, the laptop boots for 2-3 seconds and then shuts down. How can I ckeck out whats happening? Anyone can help?
September 30th, 2006 at 3:54 am
Ok, this issue sounds exactly like the one I’m having.
I have an Alienware Aurora M770 (supposedly reliable top of the range stuff) Bought it second hand from ebay but it was brand new when the guy sold it to me (he needed his money back) and has been working fine for about 4 months.
What happens. I press power on, Power related LED’s come on, LED clock comes on the front, fan’s have spun sometimes as well.
The hard drive LED shows for about 1-2 seconds and the DVD drive spins briefly, then it all clicks off except for the LED’s and tries again, trying to boot every few seconds. Nothing at all comes out of the speakers or on the monitor.
Now presumably if it was the graphics card, something would come on screen nontheless via the motherboard. If it was the hard drive, then the screen would come on and say hard drive not found, if it was the power supply my fans and LED’s would not stay on.
I have swapped 2 RAM sticks over, and tried to start it with just each one in. I have started it without the hard drive, without the graphics card, and without the DVD drive, just in case one of these were faulty and were causing a boot malfunction. Same thing happens every time.
So I thought it must be a processor issue. Till I read this original post and thought perhaps the screen is not being detected and therefore causing a boot problem. So I tried tried booting with an external monitor, no luck. I then took the LCD display apart (which was really scary!) but could not find any faults in the connections. I did not pull the tape from the back of the LCD screen itself where the wire connects since I did not feel comfortably with that and thought it might break the connection permanently if I started messing with it.
Any thoughts? Also if the graphics card was not detected becuase it was either broke or because the connection was bad where the actual card was, would the system still boot with some basic motherboard visuals, or just not start at all?
In addition the system was bought in UK, and this has happened in Japan where I now live (which makes it far more difficult to get it fixed! However my transformer power pack specifically says 100 to 250 volts is acceptable, the voltage here being 110. And it has worked fine for 2-3 weeks until this happened anyway.
One other thing, my first idea was to reseat some of the componants a few days ago, ad when I reseated my graphics card the system did boot and worked fine for about 15 minutes, then the screen and system froze and kept flicking between the fully lit up screen and what appeared to be a screen without a backlight (ie a very faded out dark image that nontheless displayed the same windows screens I had up). It was stuck like this for a while so I just turned it off, and it hasn’t come back on since, even after me playing with the graphics card a few times to try and make this happen again.
This makes me think it must be a problem with visual hardware not being detected, ie graphics card or screen, since if it has come on a worked perfectly since the first time this happened then all other componants like processor/RAM/hard drive etc. must be working fine and there is simply a poor connection in the visual hardware preventing it from booting.
Is this sound reasoning?
I’m stuck for ideas now and don’t want to give it to a japanese person I can’t understand and pay him 10,000 Yen to tell me its a loose wire somewhere! so any ideas very much appreciated.
Sorry for the length of this post but thought it best to get as much info as possible in at first
thanks for any help you can give!!!!
September 30th, 2006 at 10:13 am
Hey Paul,
You did a very good job troubleshooting your laptop. Here’s what I think:
You might have a failing video card or a bad connection between the video card and the motherboard. Disconnect the video cable from the video card (or system board) and start the laptop with an external monitor attached to it. This test will eliminate the entire display assembly (screen and video cable). If you can get video on the external monitor when the laptop screen is disconnected from the video card (system board), then most likely the problem is somewhere inside the laptop display assembly.
I do not have a straight answer to this question. It depends. You might get a gargled video output, a video with some strange characters all over the screen, or no video at all.
I believe that if you start the laptop without the video card attached to the motherboard, you will not get any video at all, even a basic one.
I don’t know how comfortable you are with taking the laptop apart. When I get a laptop like yours for repair, I usually take it apart completely and minimize to a bare minimum.
System board, video card (if it’s a separate module), memory, CPU (with cooling module) – that’s all you need to start the laptop with a basic video on an external monitor. If I can boot it with video, I start adding parts and test it after each step. If I still cannot boot the system, I start replacing parts starting with memory and CPU. Unfortunately, it’s very hard to troubleshoot a laptop without any test parts.
Make sure that your memory sticks are good. I understand that it’s very unlikely that both memory modules fail at the same time, but anyway. Reseat them again. Move each module into different slots on the motherboard, make sure that you test any possible combination (module 1-slot 1, module 1 – slot 2, module 2 – slot 1, module 2 – slot 2).
Also reseat any cable and connector you can find and access.
Make sure that the AC adapter is good. Remove the battery and try starting the laptop just on AC power, without the battery installed.
Good luck!
October 4th, 2006 at 1:08 am
Cheers cj, really appreciate it, will be sure to try all of your ideas. If I take my latop to an internet cafe I can chekily book a private booth and hook it up to their monitor to see if that works, and then try out everything else you said.
If I understand correctly your saying that by detaching the display assembly by just taking the video cable out of the motherboard and then attaching an external monitor I will thus determine whether the problem involves the display or not.
however the plot thickens, I noticed a couple of days ago when I removed the video card that one of the 4 nuts that the video card assembly screws into has broken off the motherboard. Basically their are two connecting strips for the video card on the board with 2 screws each, one at either end. The screws hold the video card and fan to the board connectors. thus one of the nuts not being there means the card is not firmly attached to one end of one of the board connections.
So before I do anything else I think I should solder the nut back onto the board (I found it down the side of the board), since this seems the most likely problem, if this dosn’t fix it then I can stat trying everything else.
Should I be concerned about damaging the board if I start soldering? Presumably if I use as little as possible and apply it very carefully the the nut it should be fine. Can you think of any obvious things I should be minful of etc. Also, to connect it tightly I probably need to somehow remove the solder still attached to the board, since it is preventing a snug fit. Not entirely sure how to go about this.
I’m also concerned that I have broken this nut of once I started messing with the laptop! and so the reason it is not turning on is something else, which would make me an idiot. Nontheless i think there’s little point doing anything else till this is fixed, process of elimination and all…
thanks again
October 5th, 2006 at 9:03 am
Paul,
I don’t think that you can attach the broken nut with a regular solder. I’m not familiar with Alienware laptops. Toshiba laptops have nuts glued into a hole on the motherboard, I guess Alienware uses the same technique, not sure though.
If you can easily access the video card under the keyboard, you can try this. Lift up the keyboard, press on the video card so it makes a better connection and turn on the laptop while you are still pressing on the card. Does it make any difference?
October 7th, 2006 at 1:06 am
I’m posting again, i posted earlier on page 2. My compaq has officially died. Like i stated before, It turns on for maybe 2-3 seconds, then shuts off. Before every so often it would turn on, and run fine for as long as i left it turned on. It did seem a little sluggish sometimes though. It’s a compaq 2ghz, 1 gig of ram. Last night i took the thing apart as far as i could figure out. i took both ram chips out, swapped tried each separte, no help. I pulled the LCD completely out of the computer, and disconnected and reconnected every connector i saw hoping for a stroke of luck. Still the same symptom. I dropped my computer off to be configured for our network, and they told me my NIC card wasn’t reading correctly, so i bought an external usb one to try, but never made it that far yet. I have had an issue with using my Wireless NIC, it would freeze while trying to install software for it ( this was before the current problem) i’m just throwing out there everything i can think of. I’m not sure what else to try. i had the hard drive out, the battery out, and tried it with the battery out. I couldn’t get the main part of the laptop in half, i didn’t want to break it, though i did feel like bashing it many times. Basically i’m writing because i’m deployed in the desert and i’ve got nothing else to passt he time besides this laptop on occasions so if i can rig this thing or fix it somehow, that would be great. I just need it to last for another two months. Thanks for the help. I appreciate any ideas and replacement ideas for the laptop, or parts.
October 9th, 2006 at 7:32 am
I recently had a problem with my A60 Toshiba (overheating) as most people have. So i found a website which explained how to open the laptop up and clean it out but when i opened it up (100 scres later) it would not come fully apart (think it was cd drive stopping it). Realised i was out of my depth, put it back together, switched it on and the machine was switching on but the screen was blank (black). I obiously must of broke dissconnected something but dont know hat to do. Please Help
November 2nd, 2006 at 7:52 pm
You were spot on with that solution, brilliant.
Must be a common problem with that series.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge
November 30th, 2006 at 7:36 am
I bought a Dell Inspiron 9300 laptop. The problem is only when operating with the battery, the video shuts off. The Windows XP logo is seen as it boots up, but then the video shuts off. Only the WiFi light is on and the Power (1st light) is ON, on the base of the lid.
Tried all software settings (set most to ‘Never’). Did diagnostics etc., Still it wont stay on.
It works fine with AC adapter.
Any help is much appreciated. Thanks.
December 2nd, 2006 at 4:55 am
hai.my old laptop(twinhead slimnote vxe) have a problem.hope you all can help me how to solve that problem.the problem is my laptop always turn off after 30-45 minute running.i open the casing and my cpu fans was dead.i’ve chang that cpu fan with fan with same size.but the problem is my cpu fan have 3 wire.red,black and yellow but my new fan with same size have 2 wires.just black and red.
December 3rd, 2006 at 9:23 pm
insp93,
Enter the BIOS setup and see if you can change any settings for video in there. If there is an option “load default settings” go for it. Try upgrading/reflashing the BIOS.
December 3rd, 2006 at 9:25 pm
qhozi,
Have you tried contacting the manufacturer and buy a new fan from them?
December 16th, 2006 at 9:53 pm
I have a Toshiba A15-S127 that has worked fine for me even though the battery does not stay charged very long. Recently I tried to turnit on and the power light came on but nothing else happened. I checked all modules as best I could but found nothing loose. The last time it booted I got a CMOS settings lost which I associated with the battery being low. I cannot find any information about the MB to see if it has an old-fashioned CMOS battery. My basic problem is the power works but nothing runs, boot or fans. Any Ideas?
December 18th, 2006 at 7:16 pm
John,
Here’s a guide for taking apart a Toshiba Satellite A15-S127 notebook. You can see the CMOS battery (green) pictured on the step 23, it’s located close to the power jack. You can find a new CMOS (RTC) battery if you search on the interntet by the part number: P000377300
December 19th, 2006 at 10:38 am
I have an inspiron 5000e and i have a prblem with it.It started earlier this year.It all of a sudden just started shutting on and then in a few seconds it shut down.I have tried many things,i took off all the parts to see if anything was wrong.Nothing was wrong so i took off the battery n left the ac adaptor in to see if it would work, but it stil didnt.i need help badly. it would be a pleasure to get help and see my laptop working again.
December 20th, 2006 at 8:26 am
Hello
I have a fujistu siemens notebook and everything was working fine, one day when i turned it on, the lcd is white and the computers boots normally, but nothing appears on the screen except the white color, if i press the button to dark the image that white color becomes darker, if I plug it to an external monitor the external monitor works fine but the notebook LCD keeps white, does anyone know what’s wrong? Please help me guys
December 20th, 2006 at 12:53 pm
I have an Inspiron 1000. I’ve had problems with it in the past and have sent it back for repairs (motherboard). Now, I have a new issue. My laptop will not turn on unless the screen is tilted between 0 and 75 degrees or at 180 degrees. If I open my laptop to a normal angle and press the power button, the lights will flash and the fan will begin to run. After about 5 seconds, the fan will stop but the power light stays on. Sometimes, the startup screen will appear briefly. Other times, nothing will happen. Also, if the screen is moved when the laptop is on, it will shut off. Can anything be done to get my laptop working normally?
December 26th, 2006 at 9:16 am
I have an Dell Inspiron 8600 for 2 years now
Couple of days back the laptop fell on the wooden floor from my laptop table.
It was working OK after that, but suddenly the power went off.
Now when I press the power button, the indicator light lits up for a few seconds before shutting off. I am able to see battery getting charged(via the indicator light).
The problem is same with/without battery.
I have opened up the laptop. I donot see even the heat sink fan running. I highly appreciate if you can help me in brining back life to my dead laptop.
December 28th, 2006 at 8:17 pm
Some of what people have described here sounds just like what I’m dealing with on my son’s NX5000. But I can’t even figure out how to lift up the keyboard to check everything.
Can anyone tell me how to do that? I’d like to be able to make sure everything is seated correctly, and I may be replacing the keyboard as well since it is missing two keys.
December 31st, 2006 at 10:53 am
Ravi,
Here’s what I do with dropped laptops. I open them up and reseat memory, wireless card, CPU, etc… the parts that have some weight and might pop up from the socket when the laptop is dropped. Check if the cables are seated properly.
December 31st, 2006 at 6:58 pm
David,
You can download a maintenance and service guide (2.79MB) for HP Compaq nx5000 notebook PC here. Instructions on the page 127 shows how to lift up the keyboard.
January 18th, 2007 at 4:15 pm
I was just able to fix a Dell Inspiron 8000 that was dropped and experiencing the same problem (start up, blinking lights for a few secs, then shuts down). I used the disassembly instructions from Dell’s support page to remove the screen, then remove and reseat the video cable. Works great! Thanks.
January 29th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
I have a Compaq Presario 1700 that just quick working on my last trip. It was dropped about 2 feet in a padded case but enough to jar it. Read all the threads above and found tons of great trouble shooting info but nothing that would make it come back to life. When you plug it in to AC power the green light comes on. Press the power button and it powers up for about 3-5 seconds then shuts down. When the hard drive is installed you can hear that spin up then shuts down. Took it completely apart; screen, battery, DVD drive, harddrive, memory, fan, CPU, mouse, key board, the works. I then put it all back together and still no luck. Power up then shut down. I took the advice from someone above that all it needs is 3 components to power up and stay on; motherboard, CPU and 1 stick of memory, and then an external monitor if you want to see if you have video. I was just looking for it to stay on for starters. I tore it all back apart again and put the CPU back in and the memory back in and still nothing. Called around and everybody was saying it sounds like a bad motherboard and wanted $60 – $80 to diagnose if that was the problem. Another $200 for a motherboard. The computer is about 4 years old so not worth throwing a lot of money into. Figured I would take one more closer look at the mother board to see if anything looked out of place. I pulled the CPU back out again and here is where I found my problem. The CPU has a sliding plate that locks the CPU down. I had just set the CPU on the plate not realizing it needed to be slid over to lock it into place. When it was originally dropped it must have been just at the exact angle to unlock that slide and loosen the CPU, because when I originally took it off, it just came right up. I didn’t unlock it to pull it out. So, I locked it down, and it fired right up. FREE FIX. Now some of you might be saying, “Well DUH”. And I can appreciate that. But for any others who might be reading this, when people say to “Reseat the CPU”, make sure it is locking into place, either by a sliding plate, lockdown screw or a small lever similar to the CPU plates in a tower”.
February 3rd, 2007 at 9:52 am
I have an IBM T30 with very similar symptoms, everything else works but the LCD won’t come on. At boot, the control LEDs light up, the fan and harddisk start spinning, but after a few seconds it powers down. I then need to disconnect power (either mains or battery) for a few seconds, reconnect power, and the same happens again and again.
I have already replaced LCD-cable, inverter and LCD-screen.
The whole laptop has been fully dis-assembled. I inspected the mobo with a magnifying glass to look for loose bits, hairline cracks, bulging condensers, fallen off pieces etc. Nothing.
With an external monitor it works absolutely perfect, regardless of whether the LCD-cable is connected to the motherboard or not. IBMs PC-Doctor diagnostics does not find any errors at all. Checked/swapped memory sticks (2×256). The battery is being charged etc.
The fact that I have to remove the power to be able to even try and reboot, leads me to believe that something in the power circuit to/from the LCD is broken, capacitors blown, or even the BIOS gone. I flashed the BIOS successfully to the latest version. With external monitor = perfect, with LCD, no go.
Any insight/tips/help appreciated
February 8th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
I have a Compaq Presario V2000 and am having real troubles with the thing turning/staying on. It seems the laptop is very sensitive. Lots of times the power light will turn on and then off. Other times it’ll start to wind up but then either the HDD or DVD starts winding up and the laptop powers down. Other times (like now) it runs perfectly but a slight bump or picking it up shuts it off. From reading the thread it sounds like a loose connection somewhere and cj2600’s motif is “check the memory module” so I will do that when I get the chance. The laptop comes with me everywhere and I ride a bicycle or motorcycle so I imagine the laptop is repeatedly jolted, further supporting the bad connection theory. I’m gonna reseat the memory before confirmation but if that doesn’t lick it are there other areas notorious for wiggling out of place?
February 18th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
I have a Toshiba 1115-S103, I read how you repaired the Compaq nx5000 by reseating the video cable inside the LCD screen. Well on my Toshiba, it does the same thing, powers up for a few seconds, the hard drive and fan spin and then it shuts right down. I took everything appart, all I had was the motherboard and batter and hard drive hooked up and still it does the same thing. What could all of a sudden cause it not to power up? And what would be the fix?
Also before it started not to power up, just 2 days ago, the LCD display showed nothing when on, it was just black.
Any suggestions would help.
Thanks
February 19th, 2007 at 11:03 pm
Joe,
Did you test the AC adapter with a voltmeter, maybe the adapter is bad?
If the system is minimized completely and will not start with a known good AC adapter, most likely there is something wrong with the motherboard. You’ll have to replace the motherboard.
February 20th, 2007 at 2:04 am
I’m a bit disappointed that I never got an answer here.
Anyway, I ‘fixed’ it by replacing the motherboard with a used one from eBay. IBM Thinkpads must be the easiest laptops in the world to work on: only 3 different types of screws!
February 24th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
I have the same problem “Laptop shuts down on power up. When the power button is pushed, the laptop flashes green lights for several seconds and then powers down. Unit will not stay on with battery or when plugged in”.
Please help me. A repair person told me its the motherboard. What should I do?
February 26th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
You guyz seem to know the stuff u r doing … i have a compaq nc8000 it was working fine but suddenly it shutdown and when i tried to restart it even with the power cable connected to it, the fan would run for about 20-30 secs and then system would shutdown. I don’t know how to take my laptop apart and i really dont wanna do it…If any of u guyz can help i would really appreciate it
March 3rd, 2007 at 9:41 am
Sohaib,
You cannot troubleshot the problem without taking it apart. You’ll find disassembly instructions in the maintenance and service guide for HP Compaq nc8000.
March 4th, 2007 at 8:13 am
I have a bit of a more complicated problem. I have 2 Dell laptops and a Dell XPS desktop PC. Around the same time they all started to blank out after the Windows logo screen. It doesn’t seem like they are still booting, so I doubt it’s the video card(also video card on 3 pc’s???). I have a 2wire network modem so I’m wondering whether this could be causing the issue? I have allready reinstalled windows and one of the laptops is now working fine, but the XPS worked for a couple of days and then back to blanking out. Anyone have any ideas?
March 4th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
I borrowed my sons Dell Laptop – now I have a problem with the piece located on the back that the ac adapter plugs into. It was not making a connection and I fooled with it and made it worse. Where do I find a replacement part and what is it called. Can I start the computer another way (no battery) – Help! I would appreciate any help! Thanks.
March 4th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Hermanus,
Maybe your problem somehow related to the latest Windows update? Do you set your computers to update automatically? Try reverting the operating system back to the previous state using the system restore utility and see if the problem disappears.
March 4th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
I can’t actually even get into windows to get as far as system restore, no safe mode or anything. Also, why do you think the one laptop would be working fine now? And the 3rd laptop was working fine with new updates until I hooked it up to the network.
March 4th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
bonnie flaig,
This part is called “Power jack”, “AC jack” or “DC-IN jack” and you can find it on eBay. But it’s not easy to replace it. Most likely the power jack is soldered on the motherboard and you’ll have to take the laptop apart, remove the motherboard and resolder the power jack.
March 8th, 2007 at 9:34 am
I have a HP Pavilion n5000 notebook. It does the exact same thing as the first entry above. If the power button is pushed it runs a fan for a few seconds and then shuts off. I discovered that if the CD/DVD drawer was open that the computer would boot up normally. When the drawer was pushed in the computer would shut off. I replaced the CD/DVD drive (a Mashita UJDA710) with a new one and was pleased when the computer booted up normally. My elation was dampered when I inserted a CD disk into the drive and closed the drawer. The computer shut off immediately. I’m stumped. I could get a USB CD drive and use that, but I’d like to fix this problem. Ever seen this before or have any suggestions?
March 16th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
Hi i have the same problem with an HP DV1000, sometimes when i boot it, it’ll power up and will do nothing. not even the BIOS will show. then sometimes it’ll shut off after a few secs like the first guy said. I looked inside for any loose cables and think i put everything in properly. It won’t boot with external or normal screen. I still think it’s the video like the first guy said. i just can’t find what you mean by “reseating the video card” i can’t find a card it’s just the motherboard, help is greatly appreciated. Thanks
March 22nd, 2007 at 4:35 am
Same problem here with an HP nc6000. Came on all of the sudden. I will try re-seating, but I have no experience disassembling a laptop and recognizing the parts
March 24th, 2007 at 9:47 am
Helo
This site is greate, thanks so much for this wanderful job.
I have a problem whit my frend’s laptop is an toshiba A75
the prblem is:
In a few cases : Laptop turns on for a few seconds and then shuts down. No video appears on the screen. I do what your say in this page but still the same problem.
In other cases it boots and in the boot proccess or after boot the laptop freez and in the display apears malformed images something like colored squares or lines.
i check DC adapter and connecter and both is ok, check a cooling sistem and work “fine”.
in this step i don’t know what else i can do.
Thank you a lot for help
March 26th, 2007 at 11:15 pm
I have a floor display model, Toshiba Satellite M50 that I bought Jan. 26 at Best Buy, and I am having similar problems. It froze up for me when I was surfing the internet from my couch instead of my office desk (Maybe too much jiggling).
When I went to restart it, it wouldn’t shut off so I unplugged it and removed the battery like I have had to do before. Then it wouldn’t start. The fan would run, the power lights would come on then it wouldn’t do anything. No sound or monitor. I took it to the Geek Squad and the guy there said that it probably was the motherboard and it needed to be sent to the Geek Squad Lab to have it replaced and have it back in 2 weeks IF they had the correct one, otherwise they would have to order it from Toshiba and it could take up to 6 weeks. All under manufactures warranty but I have to pay $50 shipping.
I run a business from home and all my important info is on it. I can’t have it gone that long! So I had them do an unlimited data retrieval which cost another $150 since I have more then 10GB. I have a back up from when I transferred computers in January and did a partial back up in Feb. but I have gain 17 new clients since then and haven’t had time or remembered to do a back up.
Tonight I found out about http://www.datadepositbox.com which looks GREAT for in the future since it makes backups when the computer is inactivate, all day long!
I am also going to try to put everything online that I can so that this won’t be an issue again.
So my question is,
Would it be the same for my computer? I didn’t see any posts that said if it happens to different models.
Thanks
March 28th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
I have an IBM Thinkpad that will turn on, but the screen stays black (dead). The fan whirs loudly in a pulse-like rhythm.
I took it to a local computer-repair shop and they said my best bet was to buy a new laptop. (They said it might be the motherboard, but weren’t sure.) I’m not sure that they’re very experienced… Any other suggestions?
March 29th, 2007 at 11:06 pm
Victor,
Test the laptop with an external monitor. If the same images and colored squares appear on the external video, most likely you have a problem with the graphics card (integrated into the motherboard) or memory (integrated into the motherboard too).
If you have any extra memory stick installed and test the laptop only with base memory. If the same problem appears, I would say you have a motherboard problem.
If this Satellite A75 was purchased in the United States, take it to an authorized repair center. You can get a free repair because Toshiba extended warranty for this model.
March 29th, 2007 at 11:14 pm
Karissa,
Yes, it could happen with any computer. If the laptop is still under warranty, I wouldn’t open up the case myself.
Here’s what you can do to access the hard drive and backup all personal data.
1. Buy an external use enclosure for notebook hard drives
2. Remove the hard drive from the laptop and install it into the enclosure
3. Connect the enclosure to any other working computer via USB cable
4. The hard drive should be detected automatically
5. Access the hard drive and backup data
March 29th, 2007 at 11:16 pm
Heidi,
Sounds like a problem with the motherboard. I think they are right.
April 12th, 2007 at 7:34 pm
I have a dell inspiron 700m, last night i dropped it on the side that the dvd/cd drive is on. when i power the computer on, it seems to load fine except the screen does not come on. any sugguestions on what could be wrong or how to fix it? thanks.
April 16th, 2007 at 10:55 pm
Jennifer,
If the laptop was dropped and doesn’t work properly anymore, I would recommend checking all cables and reseating all connectors first. It’s possible that one of the cables inside the laptop got loose and that’s why the screen doesn’t come on. I would check the video cable first. Unfortunately, it will be necessary to take the laptop apart and if you have no experience fixing laptops, do not open the case.
April 25th, 2007 at 4:53 am
Great site!
I have a very similar problem as in the original article:
Compaq nx5000, followed me to the ground in a stumbling accident after I was attacked by a vicious sidewalk. I feared the worst, both for my knee and the computer, but it worked – until my knee was good enough to move three days later, and when I tried to turn it on (the laptop, that is), the behaviour was exactly as described in the post:
- fan starts
- HD led (#4 from left) lights up
- computer power-offs
- orange power led (#3 from left) blinks and goes off.
I followed the suggestions above, took the whole thing apart, more or less, at least up until the screen and the memory modules.
Here are the results:
- Most times, nothing happens
- Once, this was after I had taken off the screen, the three green leds on the top went on and the computer started. I had then forgotten to put in the PCI card, so it wouldn’t boot, but there was hope…
- … but on the next attempt, it was black again.
- Once, a number of attempts later, the green leds momentarily blinked on just before it shut down again.
- Once, I actually managed to get into the computer with an external display. Everything worked, and I backed up the past few days’ work. Phew….
- Next attempt: black again. And again. And again.
- until I had given up and assembled the whole thing again, to bring it to repair, and I pressed the button one last time — and it went on.
And that’s where I am right now. I don’t think I’ll turn it off again, although I will have to do something about it.
It seems very erratic when it works and when it doesn’t. At first I thought it must be the screen (it seemed to have taken some beating in the fall; the right hinge was a bit looser than it used to), but now it’s working just fine. I’ve looked for loose connectors and tried to reassemble various cards, but I can’t find anything that seems wrong.
What are the odds that it can be fixed, by me or some official repair guy? Any ideas what it can be?
April 29th, 2007 at 11:14 am
Eyolf,
Not sure what is causing the problem, probably you still have a loose connection somewhere inside the laptop. Did you reseat the CPU? Did you actually open up the display assembly and reseat the video cable on the back of the LCD screen, not just on the motherboard?
Here’s what I would try.
Unplug the laptop display panel from the motherboard and test the laptop with an external monitor. If the laptop works fine with the external monitor and never fails when the LCD is unplugged but it fails when the LCD is plugged back into the motherboard, the problem is somewhere inside the display panel.
If the laptop fails with the external monitor even when the LCD is unplugged from the motherboard, probably there is a loose connection somewhere on the motherboard.
April 29th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
ok well; i pressed the power button while my computer was starting up and now it wont turn on.
and when it goes to the screen where you choose how to run windows cause it wasnt turned off properly, i choose what it says and it goes to a blue screen which disapears to fast for me to read. it sucks..
cause it was broken like a week ago… and i broke it AGAIN.
my parents like hate me!
any ideas?
April 29th, 2007 at 11:52 pm
Rachael,
It shouldn’t break the computer.
You said the laptop was broken a week ago, maybe it actually hasn’t been fixed and the BSOD error you are getting now is related to the previous problem?
First of all test the hard drive and run the memory test. You can use Hitachi’s drive fitness test for the HDD and Memtest86+ for the memory. You’ll find both links on the right side in Resources.
May 2nd, 2007 at 5:46 am
I had the SAME dell, with the SAME issue, mine turned out to be the video connector on the MB, unplugged it from the MB, used external video and worked, so i reseated the video, and good as new!.. thanks for the post!.
May 8th, 2007 at 7:52 am
i have a dell inspiron 2650 i’m working on the the situation was you plug it in try to turn it on and it would blink for a sec then shut down the know good power supply (the lite on the power brick would turn off!)- so i figured to get a cheap used motherboard off ebay- so i picked one up well this one will work for like a day then shut off- the fan will come on for a second all leds light up then just the power one is lit- tried all the usual troubleshooting tips swap out the ram disconnect all drives- hook up external monitor – no video there either- swap out the video card (its separate on this model) i don’t have an extra cpu so it could be that- anyone have a tip for fixing either of these 2 motherboards- sometimes if i reseat the cpu and reseat all the connectors it will work for a day or so- any tips or info would be great- i don’t wanna shell out a couple hundred dollars for a known working mainboard this computer isn’t worth it
May 10th, 2007 at 9:01 pm
no ideas? anything i haven’t tried? 2 bad motherboards i guess wish i had the schematics to attempt troubleshooting
June 20th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
Hi i have an ibm think pad A20m laptop. Now it boots up to the screen that say IBM Thinkpad and stays like that for about a minute then it shuts down then restarts itself. I turned it on once and let it stay on to see if it would finnally boot up to windows but it just constantly boots up then restarts it self then shuts down the restarts itself I dont understand whats going wrong. Can some on help me out here please. Thank you…
July 19th, 2007 at 10:29 pm
my compaq armada 7700 laptop has a problem inon and off and no diaplay .
please tell me its fault
July 19th, 2007 at 10:45 pm
i have dell d400 laptop it has aproblem in motherboard and no proper display
please tell me it fault
August 15th, 2007 at 6:09 am
Hi.i have a HP pavillion dv6516tx laptop;just 1 month ago.I am also facing the same kind of issue.
1.When i turn ON the power LED it turns on and turns off after 2 seconds.
2.Tried using battery alone and AC adapter alone.still the same condition.
3.Reseated the Ram modules also.Still the problem exists.
4.Sometimes the laptop would turn ON and work smoothly and sometimes it would not start as described above.
Want help….and also wanted to know why this problem occurs sometimes but not all times.
August 15th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
suresh,
If your laptop is still under warranty, I would send it for repair to HP. I think you might have a problem with the motherboard and it has to be replaced.
August 22nd, 2007 at 5:51 pm
I had the exact problem as the one posted. I open up the laptop by removing two screws from the back, sliding down 4 tabs for the keyboard and then lifting out the keyboard. By doing this it gives access to the internals. I then popped off the trim tab above the keyboard. At this you can see the LCD cable in the upper left corner of the computer. Ensure that the connector is firmly seated to the motherboard and then fire up the computer. My computer started right away without any issue.
August 28th, 2007 at 10:36 pm
Awesome trick, I just try it with a Compaq nx5000 that had the similar simptom, works like a charm.
September 15th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
MY dell inspiron LAPTOP does not display but only glows when i turn on the power, it formally would display on an external monitor– but now no more. so what is the problem, and how can i solve it.
September 22nd, 2007 at 10:32 am
Hi All,
Yesterday I got a blinking color line on the screen of my Toshiba M65. I switched it off, used a vacuum cleaner to clean up cooler and heat sink then started it up. Imagine my surprise when it doesn’t start at all!
I disassemble notebook on 100% twice already. Unplug everything, including video adapter from motherboard and nothing. I thought it might be a overheating problem, but this is strange as I am using external cooling system for notebook, yet I cleaned up heatsinks.
I tried to play with memory banks – nothing. I tried using external monitor – once it started then switched off after like 2 minutes. After that it didn’t show anything on external monitor ever again.
So here are symptoms:
1. Power Led is ON yet computer is not starting up
2. Cooler runs once, then switches off
3. Unplugging and plugging video cable does nothing
4. Opening a cd-rom does nothing too
Any ideas what else can I try?
I do appreciate your help!
October 1st, 2007 at 2:18 am
Thanks for putting your experience online. It has helped me greatly to track down the fault in my Compaq V2000 series laptop. In my case, the backlight inverter has died. A component has died and melted across a couple of surface mount components, so I am ordering a replacement board. Thanks!
October 8th, 2007 at 7:55 am
Thanks a million!! I was having the same problem described here and worried that I would lose many untold hours of work that had not been backed-up. Suffice to say, the first thing I did was back-up my files which I need to have a better habit of doing!!!
October 11th, 2007 at 7:02 pm
i have the same problem with my dell inspiron 2200 – i had been using it, turned it off & when i went to turn it on again, the only thing that happened was that the lights turned on for about 2 seconds before dying on me (it does the same thing both when it’s plugged in or running on a battery).
does anyone about how much it would cost to get this fixed, or should i just fork up the dough for another computer? thanx!
November 27th, 2007 at 9:32 pm
I had the same problem with my Presario V1000. When I press the power button, it will powered on for 2 seconds then goes down, nothing on the screen. When I check for loose connector everything seems fine. The only strange symptom is a high-tone ‘buzzing’ noise from inside. When it buzzing the battery-charging indicator LED off (also my windows battery status say so) even my battery isn’t full yet. I suspect something wrong with power module, but i don’t know what. Do you have any idea?
December 3rd, 2007 at 8:00 am
I have recently purchased an HDTV with a PC input and I wanted to try connecting up my laptop to it. I purchased the higher quality monitor cable and all displayed as you would expect on it. The problem is when the cooling fan cycles on and off in the laptop. When the fan comes on, the TV goes black and says that it has lost the monitor signal. When the laptop’s fan cuts off, the TV pops back up the computer’s desktop image. Any suggestions to about why the fan is interferring with or killing my external monitor signal?
December 3rd, 2007 at 11:51 pm
Chris,
this is a really weird problem, I’ve never seen something like this. Just in case check the BIOS version installed on your laptop and upgrade it to the latest one if needed. It’s possible this is a known issue for your laptop model and might be it was fixed in the latest BIOS release.
December 15th, 2007 at 11:40 pm
Hello
first of all I like to thank you for your effort
and if you can send any picture to support the exlanation
January 5th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Fakamaz: Today I had the same exact problem with my M65 – S9063
I put in a new Hitachi 160 GB Drive and loaded up Ubuntu Linux…
Everything was going fine and then after a day or so a program locked up…
The computer did not appear to get hotter than normal, and I use this laptop for hours usually…
I put back in my old hard drive and got the same result nothing came on the screen.
Then after hours, it did turn back on for a few minutes and then the mouse stopped working along with the keyboard…
Then when I reboot, no video again…
I’m really pissed, the computer was working better than ever once I installed the new hard drive, now this…
I’ve had the computer for 4 years and its our of warranty, and no need to buy a new computer… Just need to find what is wrong with this one…
Did I over heat something you think?
January 5th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
No1UKnow,
Just in case run the memory test. You can use Memtest86+ if you can start the laptop. Let this test run overnight, so it passes a few time. You’ll see if you get any memory errors.
Try reseating memory, move it from one slot to another.
January 9th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
thnx for the post.
you solved my problem.
it was exactly as described.
the flat cable connector on the top rear site of the lcd was half way out.
January 11th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Hi. I have an IBM ThinkPad A21m but got it second hand 5 yrs ago. I’m facing a similar issue.
1. When I turn the power, the LED turns green. (but only if the AC adaptor is connected)
2. When I press the power on again, the light disappears. but if i continue pressing sometimes the other symbols light up. like the caps lock.
Need help. I don’t know if it’s b’coz of battery life but most of the times the AC adaptor is connected when I use it. Or is it b’coz of some more technical reason? Unless it’s too old and has to die?
January 12th, 2008 at 11:50 am
magz,
You can remove the battery and start the laptop just from the AC adapter. If you experience the same issue even with the battery removed, most likely it’s not your problem and something else is going on.
Could be bad memory, defective keyboard or something is wrong with the motherboard. It’s hard to troubleshoot these kind of problems without looking at the laptop.
Try basic stuff like reseating memory, reconnecting the keyboard cable on the motherboard. Try starting the laptop with an external monitor and see if you get any video on the external screen.
January 18th, 2008 at 9:58 am
I have a Hewlett Packard ZE4500 and it has those same symptoms, but the laptop won’t hold a charge when plugged in. When i check the battery life, it’s very low even when its been plugged in for hours. When the adapter is connected to the laptop, it cuts on and shuts down within 3 seconds (same as when you just use the battery). Any idea what the issue is or what i need to do?
February 10th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
I recently purchased an Alienware Aurora m7700 off eBay and was told ahead of time that that battery did not hold a charge. After purchasing a new battery off eBay and swapping the two, I was surprised by the lack of change. My computer tells me it has a battery and will even charge, but when the AC cord is unplugged, it simply goes dead. I now believe that it is not a problem with the batteries, but rather a problem with the motherboard.
Symptoms: Notebook acts like desktop, incapable of powering up when unplugged.
Any suggestions on how I move forward and fix this?
February 10th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
I have an old laptop one day I turned it on it was saying : system error check some file and the windows didn`t started I restarted it and the screen was black no backlight but the laptop was working i pluged it in to an external monitor and the same thing happend please help me
February 13th, 2008 at 5:45 am
C.A. Salmon,
I assume the new battery is good and it’s not the problem. Just in case, you can try re-flashing the BIOS.
If you have the same problem with a known good battery then most likely you problem is related to the motherboard. I doubt that you can fix the motherboard yourself on the component level. You’ll have to replace the motherboard or use the laptop as is.
February 13th, 2008 at 5:47 am
Darius,
I think this can be memory related problem. Try reseating the memory module. Replace it with a known good memory stick and test the laptop again.
February 25th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
I was working on my laptop, a Toshiba Satellite S2410 (I know its old…can’t afford a new one >.
March 2nd, 2008 at 11:23 am
What do you think of this? Compaq Presario 2103US had a bad power jack. I had it repaired about 10 months ago. It failed again about a month ago. The computer could not be powered on or charged. I had another guy repair it a week ago. After that, the battery can be charged with the computer turned off. If I power it on, the computer starts to boot and, at least on the first try, shows the Compaq logo and a line that says, “Press ESC to change boot order, F2 to enter setup, etc.” Then the computer just shuts down.
During this brief power-on period, the fan is running fast, as if the computer had become hot from having vents blocked. There is air flowing out both fan areas in the back, though. If I power on again, I might get the Compaq logo but not the “Press ESC…” line. I have to wait awhile for that to come back. With the battery removed, the power-up is the same, but no logo.
I tried reseating the memory modules. No help. Why isn’t it booting up?
March 6th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
BobH,
Maybe the repair guy forgot to apply thermal compound on the processor and the laptop overheats? This would explain why the fans running fast right from the startup.
I think this problem may be related to overheating too.
March 10th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Hello and many thanks for this website…
I have a relatively new laptop that came in here R3430 and all the lights come on all over the machine but nothing out of video and nothing out of the crt connection even with the lcd disconnected….I’ve taken every screw out of the unit….i’m surrounded by parts and trust god to put all this crap together later….anyway, I was wondering what the worst and best scenarios would be here…after reading some of the posts here I feel it’s moot taking apart the screen itself (it’s already disconnected….everything is disconnected)….
Thanks for your time.
March 10th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
p.s….this is the second time i’ve taken it all apart but this time it’s a few steps further…there’s never been video out of this machine since it arrived (phew).
March 12th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Kenny Hendrick,
In order to start any laptop with video you’ll need only few major parts: motherboard, video card (if it’s a separate module), CPU and memory. Most laptops have integrated video card and they need only motherboard, CPU (with heatsink/fan) and memory.
If you connect all these three pats together and all these parts in good working condition, you should be able to start the laptop with video, at least get the logo. Make sure all three parts are properly connected, reseat the memory module.
In your case the laptop starts but there is no video, so it’s either memory (check first), CPU (fails rarely) or motherboard (fails often). I would say memory – the best case scenario bad connection or bad memory, the worst case scenario – bad motherboard.
March 14th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
I have an Acer Aspire 5601. I updated the system drivers direct from the Acer website. After that, the system froze. I had to shut it down manually and now it does nothing. THe power button does nothing. I won’t power up on battery or AC Power. I tried everything to decipher the problem. If any knows how to fix it or has a diagram of how to take apart the system, please get back to me. Thanks!
May 6th, 2008 at 7:27 am
I had a power issue with the plug not seating very well, so took the cover off to see if I could get to the plug. Found out I couldn’t very well, so put it back together (I only took the heat sink out and cleaned it while it was out) and when I turned it on the fans started up, then shut off. The display never turned on. Didn’t have either of those problems before, just a mostly dead battery and a ac/dc adapter plug that would make a loose connection on the computer. Any thoughts? I’m willing to try the memory card first. Hopefully it’s not the motherboard…
May 11th, 2008 at 10:25 am
Just a small update, one year later. I got a new laptop from work, so I didn’t bother to pursue the issue any further; if I desperately needed to boot the old one — the compaq nx5000 I had trouble with (it has a better sound card than the new one) — I’d press “on” until it started: usually after about 20-50 attempts.
Today, I had some spare time, and I took the whole thing apart, down to the system board — loosened and put back in again every connection I could find — and when I had put everything back together again — … it worked as new. I’ve tried a couple of times now, and it seems to be permanent. Then again, that’s probably what Adam thought too….
Just thought I’d let you know.
May 21st, 2008 at 4:48 pm
My NX5000 has a slightly different problem – boots OK but the built-in screen displays only the faintest image, then fades completely. An external monitor works fine. Is this problem likely to be the connectors to the screen, or the screen itself?
Any help appreciated
May 25th, 2008 at 5:28 am
Hello
please I need to get knowledge where to find this LCD screen assembly in my nx5000 hp compaq laptop (by pictures if possible)
Thanks
June 24th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
i have a thinkpas ibm laptop that boots and displays for 10min and after tha goes blank and when it comes up again, it boots all over again and this displays nothing on the screen. pls what should i do
June 24th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Samuel,
You said that the laptop screen works for 10 minutes. Does it mean that during that time the laptop works normally and you can see normal desktop on the screen? After the screen goes blank, is it completely dark or you still can see the backlight? Can you see a very dim image if you look at the screen very closely?
Did you test your laptop with an external monitor? Will it go blank the same way as video on the laptop LCD?
June 26th, 2008 at 2:51 am
Hi, I have exactly the same problem mentioned at the top except that the laptop is HP Compa nc6000.
July 9th, 2008 at 3:12 am
Dear friends,
I have Compaq Presario V3000,
Problem: when i press power button, power indicator was sucessfully but screen doesn’t show any thing. laptop goes on untill battry will empty.
This problem happened on same laptop before 2 month. that time I given in service center. they told out of warrenty, and you need to replace your mother board to solve this problem. they given 15000/- repairing quotation for me.
after that I get my laptop and came to home.
that time I press power button. but problem still in laptop due to mother board problem. but one time I was started my laptop without battery. that laptop gose on sucessfully.
I shocked. they given me wrong quotation.
but right now I’m facing same problem, but previous trick couldn’t work.
SEND ME YOUR SUGESSION @
wordbox5@gmail.com
Thanks,
July 24th, 2008 at 9:41 am
CJ2600
The problem you were talking about with samuel, i have the same one!
Do you have a solution for it?
July 24th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Indi,
Enter the BIOS setup menu and left the laptop in there for a while. Do you still have the same problem when the laptop is in the BIOS setup menu or the problem appears only when it’s loading Windows?
July 26th, 2008 at 8:21 am
thanks a lot for sharing the info.
really helpful.
August 7th, 2008 at 4:11 am
Hi folks, I hope this solution might help someone out there. I have an HP Compaq NX5100. I took it in to the shop after it would power on for a few seconds, then die—no HP logo on the screen would appear. The computer serviceman said it ran for a day for him and tried powering it up with new RAM and a new hard drive, to no avail. His conclusion: needed a new motherboard for NZ$1,000!
My father, who is an electronic technician, believed the fault was actually a capacitor connected to the power supply and gave the repair a shot, and actually had it working for about five days.
My solution: take the battery out during start-up. I have done this now for five days and the laptop powers up every time. Dad’s conclusion after this info is that there is a short in the battery that prevents the remainder of the power-up sequence.
So, please do try just taking your battery out, then powering up your laptop. It really was that simple for me. Good luck!
September 11th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
My Compaq presario F500 notebook is having a problem like this, It tries to turn on and hard disk tries to start, DVD tries to start and you can hear the fan spin sometimes, but after some seconds the PC shuts down itself and tries to re-start again and again and never starts, the screen is completely black.
I sent it to maintenance and I hope it´s fixed, I will tell you any news on this….
September 15th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Having the same problem with an HP Pavillion ze4600.
On turning laptopn on, it just turns itself on and off. Nothing appears on the screen. Can hear the fan startup, but thats it.ANy help, thanks
September 15th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Rob,
Take a look at this thread:
Laptop is dead. How to troubleshoot the problem.
Try minimizing the laptop as much as you can. If the laptop still has the same problem when you have only major components connected (motherboard, CPU, known good memory), there could be a problem with the motherboard.
October 13th, 2008 at 10:42 am
I just recently experienced this same problem. I removed the battery and it powered up fine using the AC only. Do I need to buy a new battery now? I am confused on where to go from here if I want to use the laptop without AC. Thanks
October 13th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Cliff,
Do you experience the same problem every time you run the laptop with the battery or it happened just once?
October 13th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
I have a Cyberpower laptop
my computer starts by iteself and shows a black screen. than after 5 seconds shuts off and turns back on to reapt the same thing. Also it turns back on by itself OMG :p
October 14th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
i have an ibm a21m and had an error,it is 0175 can you help me to fix this ptoblem,thanks
October 16th, 2008 at 11:18 am
I have an HP dv6000 an its a good laptop but one day the screen froze and so i shut it down and ever since then the screen doesnt ever show and when i go to run it, it starts up then shuts itself down and starts itself back up again a few seconds later and stays on. can u help me fix this problem please? thanx
October 29th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
DELL inspiron 6400 Working on the battery well but with no electricity transformer on
I want to know ic in charge of the cargo and his whereabouts
November 12th, 2008 at 11:37 am
i’m having a similar problem i changed my ram and my computer wouldn’t start it was doing exactly wat u sed so i changed it back and it still wont work.HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 19th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
This particular Compaq nx5000 described on this page is unique in it’s problem, as the video connection does not usually come loose.
In many cases, the problem is the motherboard. Replacing a motherboard in a laptop is very easy if you follow the steps and are careful.
If you need help servicing your own laptop, you can usually find a service manual on the web with complete tear down instructions. This is especially true of Dell laptops. Feel free to contact me if you need help finding your service manual or need free *BASIC* technical support on any laptop or desktop.
If you want me to repair your laptop for you, there will be a fee, but it’s not expensive, usually landing in the vicinity of $75 to $150, not including parts.
December 5th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
I would love one of those repair guides if you have one or can find one for the alienware m7700 d900t motherboard.
December 11th, 2008 at 2:41 am
I have an IBM G41 Thinkpad.
Today it starts up only to display a post message :
Thermal Sensor Failure
and then it turns off automatically.
I have found that pressing ESC when the message appears allows the computer to boot!
I have managed to run the Access IBM and Diagnostics partition And run the PC Doctor software installed there (it is a DOS version).
I tested motherboard, fans and sensor and it reports tests as pasted. I updated the bios to the latest version. Loaded Setup defaults for bios settings.
The computer seems to run fine accept that it needs the ESC button to boot. Has anyone seen anything similar? Is there a solution?
January 5th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
this worked for me. one of my customers had the same problem, the notebook would power up then a few seconds it would turn off. i fallow this directions and it worked. thank you
January 27th, 2009 at 8:49 am
I tried everything you told me and now thanks to you, I have made my first ever harware fix. Your explanation really helped me! I am new to the hardware side of the computer and find it completely amazing!Thanks again!
March 12th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
I have a Acer laptop which erratically shuts itself off. I do not believe it is due to over heating based on several diagnostics I have completed. I do, however, have an AC adapter which shows wear around the area where the cord meets the Adapter. Through the rubberized area where the cord meets the Adapter, I can see the wires. I have wrapped this area with electrical tape to stabilize it, however, the problem remains. Do you think the erratic shut down is due to the broken AC adapter problem? Or, do I have two problems? Please help?
March 27th, 2009 at 7:56 pm
ya..me to…
I’ve format Acer 4520 to install new Windows Xp Sp3. after format computer restart installing windows…then…TURN OFF…
it suddenly turn back on it self…then came back to installing windows….then it turn off again…
after that i turn on the computer and press any key to boot from cd…reformat the HD…choose NTSC normal not (quick) half way…turn off again…take out the batery….still the same…should i throw my laptop from 4th floor?
March 31st, 2009 at 11:10 pm
sabrie,
Maybe the laptop shuts down because it overheats? Take a look inside the air intake for the cooling fan. Does it look dusty? Try cleaning the heat sink with compressed air. Spray the air inside the fan, it should be enough to clean the heat sink temporarily and finish installing XP.
Try running the installation process again.
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:44 am
when i power on my laptop 1st screen appears but after few seconds it powers off what to do to shortout this problem.
April 3rd, 2009 at 10:04 pm
I have a Toshiba Satellite A135 that powers up for a few seconds, I can either get to the Bios Config and move for a few seconds then it freezes on whatever screen i’m in or press F12 to choose a boot up option but it freezes as well. I also hear some weird static coming from the speakers when this happeneds but i have no idea what it could be. Any help would be appreciated.
April 4th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
Neeraj,
Does it fail the same way if you start just from the battery?
Can you hear the cooling fan?
April 4th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Illusionist,
Could be memory related problem. Try removing memory modules one by one and start the laptop with each modules separately. Does it fail the same way when only one memory module is installed?
Could be a problem with the motherboard.
April 7th, 2009 at 8:36 am
I have an HP 6910p laptop that quit working after a week of no use and o battery in it.
Currently, it will not do anything from the battery. No lights of any kind light up and the power button does nothing.
With AC power, when I plug it in the laptop immediately powers on (the power button light goes yellow, but no other lights), the fan turns on, and the screen lights up with some thin colored lines off to the left of the screen with the rest of the screen being blank. After 2-5 seconds the computer and display turn off and pressing the power button doesn’t do anything. Only after unplugging and replugging the power adapter back in will it try to turn back on.
The laptop is one of 2 6910s that are about 1.5 years old, started with an XP ISO and has been running Vista for about a year. I’ve tried swapping power adapters and batteries, and reseting the power and memory.
April 9th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
John,
Sounds like a problem with the motherboard or video card. If the video card is integrated into the motherboard, you’ll have to replace the motherboard.
April 27th, 2009 at 6:07 am
Hi,
I have a HP DV6324 Pavilion with a similar problem.
When I start the computer, the fan spins for 2 seconds and them stops.
5 Seconds later the computer reboots by itself and the same thing happens..
Steps:
1- Turn the PC ON
2- Lights are on, Fan Spins for 2 seconds and then stops
3- 5 Seconds later PC shuts down by itself, and goes back to Step-1
PS: Screen is blank 100% of the times, I don’t see anything, not even with an external monitor.
What can I do?
April 27th, 2009 at 8:42 pm
Daniel,
1. It’s possible that one of the memory modules is bad. Try removing memory modules one by one and test the laptop with each one separately.
2. If the laptop fails the same way with each memory module installed into each slot, most likely you have a problem with the motherboard. It’s unlikely that both memory modules failed at the same time.
May 15th, 2009 at 7:08 am
hello
i have a hp pavallion dv6000. It has same problems (shuts down 1sec after startup no video) So i opened it up, did what you did (i guess) but all the cables seemed fine. im not english so i could have misunderstood this whole thing
thanks in advance
May 20th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Hi, I have an HP6000 that won’t start. When I press the power button, the fan starts, the blue ‘wireless turned on’ light comes on, followed by the ‘charging’ lamp (psu plugged in or on battery) then it all shuts down after a second or two, nothing on the screen. I’ts twice tried to start normally with the screen active but then it just cuts dead, but with the cpu fan still running.
I had been using it and it all just went off, no shut down or anything, it just went off. I was running on slow cpu mode, and nothing was hot at the back so I know its not a heat related issue.
Any ideas what up?
Cheers! Clivey
)
June 4th, 2009 at 11:49 am
My son has a IBM Thinkpad T41. Unfortunately, he knocked it to the ground a few days ago, about a distance of 12 inches. Now when we turn it on the screen is slightly black with a strip of blue at the top and the lights flash and go out…I can hear the fan, but it sounds weak, like it is struggling to power up. After a few days we tried it again and everything booted up fine. It then worked for about 10mins then shutdown but the fan continued to work but humming noise was coming and going (very difficult to explain). When I try to start it up, again I get the black screen with blue stripe. Could the fan be damaged? Causing it to overheat, hence it shutting down? HELP! Thanks in advance for any advice.
June 10th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
I have an NX9420. I bought it new, about 2 years ago. I recently replaced both the battery and power supply (I’m on my third one), both about 1 month ago. The p/s seemed a little light for this machine but it “supposedly” is supposed to work with the unit.
Recently (last day or so, some funny things have been happening at startup, including the startup-5 seconds-shutdown with no video screen at all). Now, this morning, that’s all I get, though, I got the hp logo once. I have tried starting it with only the p/s, battery to no avail. have reseated the hard drive, and about ready to reseed the memory and see if any of this has an effect.
Someone told me that there’s been a lot of issues with included wifi internal card, causing this behavior, but would it just all the sudden surface after 2.5 years of ownership?
July 26th, 2009 at 1:41 am
Hi, i’ve got a hp compaq nc6000 and have exactly the same symptoms as John on post 146, except i found that if i bashed the bottom a little bit it would work perfectly again but if i move it or jolt it and breaks down again. This leads me to beleive that something may be loose inside?
Thanks, Chris
July 29th, 2009 at 11:31 pm
Hi everybody! I have the almost same problem, yet almost! I have a HP Omnibook 6100 and when I plug the AC adapter the battery led is orange(charging), and when I switch power on, the led is switching off. My battery is dead, but it worked before without it since I used it only connected with AC adaptor, at home. Can you give me some hints ?
Thanks, Florin
August 20th, 2009 at 10:22 am
Hi all nice post and i only just tried opening everything up reseating and making it all tight and snug (literally 5 minutes before i read your post), and it didn’t work. I have the same laptop model, and the same symptoms but i cannot use it with an external monitor, and i cant even use my laptop screen as a display my unit wont charge itself either, it will charge with the orange light on, and then turn off straight away. Any more help? Or ideas? This used to be a work laptop, so i went through some tough times, but all of these problems just recently happened, with no cause, i didn’t shake it or drop it or anything, so it leads me to wonder what’s wrong.
p.s. i have triple checked, and everything is fully plugged in.
September 19th, 2009 at 5:00 am
I need help on mine please, when i hit the power button the lights flash then it powers down, it wont turn on, i had it up and running then it just shuts off now i cant get it back on, I have a Dell 8600. Is it the screen? what do i do. someone help email me at tricia_b12@yahoo.com
September 20th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
Tricia,
I don’t think that your problem is related to the screen. Sounds more like a power related problem.
It’s possible that you have a failed AC adapter and the battery doesn’t have enough charge to start the laptop.
Can you test the laptop with another AC adapter. That would be the first thing to try.
October 17th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
I have a Gateway M350 notebook the problem is cannot use AC
ADAPTER so start on the other hand i can start it with battery
Is this mahine ia battery dependent one or something wrong
please give me some sort of help would be appreciated.
November 19th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Thanks. Had the exact symptons. Played with the video connection and it is working again. For how long remains to be seen.
Thanks again!