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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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 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?
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!
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
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?
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.
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.
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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
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