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 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 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 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.
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
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 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 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 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