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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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 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 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
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”.
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.
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.
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 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 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 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?