Here’s how I fixed a Compaq Presario V6000 motherboard with “no video” issue. Not sure if this fix will last forever but it works and the laptop is back to life.
Also, this fix might work for the following HP/Compaq laptop motherboards: HP Pavilion dv2000/dv6000/dv9000, Compaq Presario V3000 and probably some other models.
WARNING!
This repair might be harmful for your health and baking motherboard in an oven could be a bad idea. It could be toxic. I don’t know if it is or not. I did this repair for myself, at my own risk. I’m just sharing my experience. If you decide to fix your motherboard the same way, please do it at your own risk.
Again, proceed at your own risk. Otherwise, close this page and take your laptop to the professional repair shop.
FIXING “NO VIDEO” ISSUE BY BAKING THE MOTHERBOARD.
Problem description: I had an abandoned Compaq Presario V6000 laptop. The laptop was turning on when I press on the power button but after a few seconds turning off by itself. There was no video on the laptop screen or external monitor. I tried another AC adapter, new memory modules but it didn’t help. I was pretty sure this is motherboard related failure.
Research: After I did some research on the Internet, I found that this is a known problem with Pavilion dv2000/dv6000/dv9000 and Presario V3000/V6000 motherboards and most likely related to the graphics chip failure. The graphics chip (aka GPU or video chip) is soldered to the motherboard. Apparently, there are bad solder joints between the graphics chip and motherboard. Overtime the graphics chip separates from the motherboard causing all kind of different video problems.
Possible solution: One guy suggested baking the failed motherboard in a conventional oven preheated to 385 degrees Fahrenheit for exactly 8 minutes. This process should reflow the graphics chip solder joints and give the motherboard a second life.
I had nothing to lose and decided to give it a try. Here’s how I did it step by step.
First of all, you’ll have to disassemble the laptop and remove the motherboard.
STEP 1.
Remove all peripheral components installed on the motherboard (memory, cooling module, CPU, etc…). Remove all protective films from the motherboard. The motherboard will be baking at a very high temperature and all that can burn has to be removed.
Tip: Make lots of pictures while stripping down the motherboard. They will help you to put all removed protective films back in proper locations.
STEP 2.
Here’s how the same side of the motherboard looks without protective plastic films.
You can see the problematic graphics chip, it’s on the right side from the CPU socket.
STEP 3.
Remove all protective plastic films from the other side of the motherboard. Disconnect the audio cable.
STEP 4.
The motherboard will be seating in the oven on the baking pan. In order to elevate the motherboard above the baking pan I’ll use a few screws.
STEP 5.
I installed screws in four corners of the motherboard. There are plenty holes for screws.
STEP 6.
You can see there is a 3/4 inch gap between the motherboard and desk surface. By the way, I positioned the motherboard so the graphics chip seats on the top.
STEP 7.
Place the motherboard on the baking pan. Make sure it’s not touching anything.
Preheat the conventional gas oven to 385 degrees Fahrenheit and place the motherboard in the middle of the oven for 8 minutes. You’ll smell some burning plastic in about 6 minutes. 
After that remove the baking pan with motherboard and let it cool down for about 30-40 minutes.
Install the motherboard back into the laptop, assemble the laptop back together and see if it works.
This fix worked for me! After I assembled the laptop, it started properly right away taking me to the BIOS setup menu. I didn’t have the hard drive, so I tested my laptop with a Knoppix live Linux CD. The laptop video works great!
RELATED POSTS:
In the next post I’ll show a much safer way to fix same problem using bubble wrap. Which requires no laptop disassembly.
Here’s another way to fix failed NVIDIA graphics card with a heat gun.
If you find this article useful, please consider making a donation to the author. Thank you!
May 7th, 2010 at 6:55 am
Excellent. It will be highly useful if the author could guide us in chiplevel service of motherboard like this
May 6th, 2010 at 1:33 pm
Don’t forget, it’s 385 degrees Fahrenheit or 196 degrees Celsius.
Good luck!
…..shit, i forgot my oven is out by quite a bit, 196 celcius in mine in actual fact reads at 230 celcius, my mobo warped =[
May 6th, 2010 at 1:01 pm
Gazza,
Don’t forget, it’s 385 degrees Fahrenheit or 196 degrees Celsius.
Good luck!
May 6th, 2010 at 12:11 pm
I am about to try this now with a Compaq Presario V3000 @260 (max limit on my oven) will post back with results =)
May 5th, 2010 at 6:38 pm
this is pretty good.. if you dont have a devices like hot air solder or soldering iron.. hhahaaha use the oven lol ^^,
May 5th, 2010 at 11:37 am
Nice work! My neighbour came round the other day with his V6000
asking if I could take a look. It had a very similar problem,
when switched on their was no display (even with an external
monitor) and it seemed to be resetting itself every minute.
After trying all the usual stuff without success and then reading
on various web sites about this being a fairly common fault I
asked my neighbour if he’d like me to give this a try and he said
yes.
I followed the disassemble guide then cooked it at 200 degrees
Celsius for 8 minutes. Cool down, rebuilt and hey presto, it’s
working again! Did the bios update which seems to have the fan
running all the time now but my neighbour is happy and he’s
promised to make a donation. Unfortunately he’s tighter than
gnat’s chuff so I wouldn’t expect too much but thanks for the
great work!
May 4th, 2010 at 2:36 am
Well I tried the oven with only the graphic card but that didn’t solve the problem…I guess since the graphic card is kind of independent from the motherboard (HP Pavilion ZT3000), it’s not the same kind of problem…I guess I’ll have to buy another graphic card (found 2 (expensive) on ebay) and hope that was the problem…(grey/white or black screen at start up and fan working for a few seconds and stopping…)
Thanks anyway…that was fun and another way to tackle the problem..
May 3rd, 2010 at 11:53 am
annebo,
I cannot tell if this process will work in your case.
If the graphics card can be removed, try baking just the card.
Proceed at your own risk and good luck.
May 3rd, 2010 at 9:00 am
I have a HP Pavilion ZT 3000 I would like to try your method on but the graphic card is a part which can be taken off…would it be ok or enough to try the oven solution with just this part ?
Thank you !
April 28th, 2010 at 10:12 pm
Hey hp’ers
dont forget to update the bios after. The fan keeps running
to keep it cooler. I know the new soldering material
blows but lead based compounds are dangerous to our
feeble bodies! Im trying this technique now.
Its a pain putting laptops back together. If it works ill try it
on the xbox. And to think my mom said ill never be able to
cook anything!