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
If you find this article useful, please consider making a donation to the author. Thank you!
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!
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 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!
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!
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.
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.
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 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 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.
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