6 replies to this topic

[Pete67]

First of all, I want to thank you for this site. Up till now I have only used the self help section for malware problems. Now I have a friend with a HP Pavilion DV1000 Laptop that possibly has a burned out mb. (whatever they mean by that) 3 years ago he experienced the same symptoms and sent it to hp where they replaced the mb at a cost of $400.00. Best buy geeks told him it is same problem and that it would cost another $400.00. When trying to turn it on the lights will light if you hold down the power on button, some times it will get to the xp loading screen without holding the power button. It always shuts completely off with a snapping sound almost like a mechanical snap sound. He has the data backed up and is ready to toss it after using a sledge hammer on it. When I questioned him he admitted using it on his lap in bed at night to the point of getting hot enough he would remove it from his lap. I told him laptop does not mean you can use it on his lap (duh) Is replacing the mb the only solution? I would not be afraid to replace it myself as I have done similar repairs on other desktop pc's. I have had electronics training in the USAF. Searching on google I have found mb's for about $130. Is there anyway to check this mb or anything I should check before making a descision? $130 would probably be best spent towards a new laptop unless there is some way to repair existing mb. The mb is a HP855GM Thank for taking the time to read all this, Pete

[paws]

Hi Pete,
and welcome to the WTT forums..

Your friend operating the machine on a bed and letting it get to high temperature..will not have done it much good.. :
I would start by checking for dust/fluff build up especially around the processor, heat sink and air vents...a well directed jet of compressed air (using a purpose built "air duster") might just improve matters considerably. Your electronics training in the USAF will be very helpful here, as dismantling a laptop is not for the faint hearted and those tiny plastic parts can get mighty brittle after a few years! It might be worth trying the air duster from the outside ( before attempting to dismantle), but be sure to go very steady.......close observation of the bottom of the machine may indicate if the CPU fan is spinning, on switching on.......if it stops after only a few seconds then it could be the thermal cut out operating to protect the processor because the fan is clogged allowing the temp to rise rapidly.
Have a look here:
http://1journey.net/.../cp/cooling.htm
as this will describe the "cooling path" and also a mod that may be helpful........however the best mod would be to advise your friend not to use the laptop on anything other than a hard surface........( unless he wants to buy a new machine every so often!)
MOBO testers are available for nominal amounts, ..have a look on imports from the far east on eBay.....its not my place to recommend them........ but many folks think they do a job!

Finally will the machine stay on long enough..to access the bios? without shutting down?....
If it will then maybe a next step would be to try a live disto of LINUX..just to see if it is a software problem that is contributing to the problem....

Linux Puppy can be downloaded from here (its less than 100MB)
http://www.puppylinux.org/
if you follow the instructions and remember to set the boot priority in the bios to boot from CD/DVD first....Puppy will be a good test
Let us know how things go
Regards
paws

[HFCG]

I do not know if I can explain this how I am thinking of it, but here goes. When working on a laptop use a space big enough so that you have an aera where you can place the screws you take out relevant to where they would go in the laptop. This way as you go to put the laptop back together you will know where the correct screws (or parts) go. Better yet, if you have a large piece of paper draw a rectangle and write down what area you took the screws out of and place the screws there.

[appleoddity]

I do not know if I can explain this how I am thinking of it, but here goes.
When working on a laptop use a space big enough so that you have an aera where you can place the screws you take out relevant to where they would go in the laptop.
This way as you go to put the laptop back together you will know where the correct screws (or parts) go.
Better yet, if you have a large piece of paper draw a rectangle and write down what area you took the screws out of and place the screws there.

It seems everyone has their own method to doing things. I start by pulling all screws from the bottom and back (holding the display on) and put those in one pile. I then flip the laptop over and pull all screws out from the top into another pile. Motherboard screws go in another pile. Special component's screws stay with the component. I just make a mental note if there are a couple screws at different sizes or lengths in a pile.

Anyways, to the original poster. Obviously before changing the motherboard you want to be sure it is actually the motherboard. There are, ofcourse, several other things that could cause the problem. This does sound like a heat problem, but, if the laptop fails to turn on occasionally when pressing the power button even after it has sat and cooled, then it is likely not heat that is your only problem. If you were trained in the USAF then I don't imagine you will be afraid to venture inside the laptop.

First off, I think that you may also have a power issue. Do you know if the battery is confirmed charged or dead? If the power jack on the motherboard is going bad then by moving the power cord around it will be intermittently dropping the power, and if the battery is dead, the laptop will obviously die. Power jacks can be ordered for less than $10 and can be replaced by a technician skilled in soldering.

Before replacing the motherboard, first check that no other components plugged into the motherboard could be causing the problem. Once you take the laptop completely apart and have the motherboard sitting on your desk and the only thing plugged into it is the power panel (with the power switch, if it is seperate) along with the power adapter (power adapter bad?) and it still won't turn on properly then you know it is the motherboard. Until then it could be any number of other items plugged into the motherboard, or a short inside the case.

BTW, Best Buy has proven an infinite number of times that they are better at taking your money than diagnosing a computer problem. So, in my humble opinion, anything they say will have to be discarded as untrustworthy and certainly not valuable in any process of finding out what the real problem is. You could just about tell me you took it to a guy walking down the street and he said the motherboard was bad and I would believe him more than I would someone from the Geek Squad, and they probably would have the same qualifications.

Edited by appleoddity, 17 April 2009 - 09:15 PM.

[HFCG]

BTW, Best Buy has proven an infinite number of times that they are better at taking your money than diagnosing a computer problem. So, in my humble opinion, anything they say will have to be discarded as untrustworthy and certainly not valuable in any process of finding out what the real problem is. You could just about tell me you took it to a guy walking down the street and he said the motherboard was bad and I would believe him more than I would someone from the Geek Squad, and they probably would have the same qualifications

I agree with this. There was a news investigation of computer repair chains and best buy came in low rated.
They took computers with "created" issues in and got several different fixes and dollar amounts. Best buy wanted to replace the mother board for a bad video card issue.

[appleoddity]

The most recent experience I had with them was with a customer who brought me their laptop and told me that they took it to Best Buy because it was getting a blue screen issue. One of the geeks plugged in a flashdrive, and I guess they have some malware scan that shows an indicator from green to red, and the "needle" pegged the red. THe geek told her the computer was infected with malware. So, the woman didn't pay them anything and took it to a friend who pressed a couple buttons and performed a destructive recovery (obviously wiping out viruses), and the computer continued to blue screen shortly after. She took it back to best buy and the geek stuck in his flash drive, the needle pegged to red, and he told her it was still infected with malware and was the cause of her blue screen. They wanted like $140 to clean it. She finally brought it to me, where running my preliminary diagnostics I found that when I tapped on the laptop near the memory modules the system locked up and gave memory errors. I removed the memory cover and could clearly see that one side of the memory module had come out of the slot. I reseated the memory module, performed another destructive recovery for good measure, and returned the laptop to a happy customer. It took very little "expertise" to see that there was evidence the laptop had been dropped. Upon mentioning it to the customer, she questioned her kids who failed to tell her they dropped the laptop right around the time the blue screens started occuring because they didn't think that was the problem. So, again, Best Buy has lived up to their expectations of not only having no technical expertise to diagnose a real problem, but also to run some fictitious malware scan on a computer and show a customer their computer is infected. BTW, I scanned the hard drive from a seperate PC myself before performing a destructive recovery in order to see if their was any truth to the claim of a malware infection. Avast and MalwareBytes indicated the system was completely clean (and a keen eye examining most recent files) and it was obvious that a real destructive recovery had just recently been performed. The laptop hadn't even been hooked up to the internet yet according to the customer. Go figure.

Edited by appleoddity, 17 April 2009 - 09:38 PM.

[Pete67]

Hello all, thank you very much for all your help. All excellent suggestions, especially about things easely overlooked like where the screws belong when reassembling. I checked the power adapter both with and without load and it checked ok. The laptop indicates that battery is charging when plugged in. I cleaned out the airways as best as I could without disassembly. The airways looked clean and the fan runs for the brief time laptop stays on. The article for the cooling mod looks like something I may apply to my own laptop. I also build and fly R/C aircraft so the mod would not be a problem building. Thank you for that suggestion. I will post the outcome, but it may be awhile. He is in no hurry to get it back. I just hate to toss it out. Not giving up yet, thank you all very much. Pete