Odd problem with Z71V

I had a strange experience this morning. I started my computer and it didn't start. Specifically, when I pressed the start button, the 2 green lights to its left flashed momentarily (like normal) and then the hard drive access light came on (also like normal), but nothing comes on the screen and after the initial burst (of roughly 15 seconds), the hard drive access light shuts off and it just sits there with the blue power light on but nothing on the screen (completely black) and nothing else loading (hard drive light off). Everything was working fine last night.

I tested the Audio DJ keys on the front edge of the notebook and they work fine- CD spins up and plays as it should, volume buttons work, etc.

I also tried hooking up an external monitor to see if anything showed up on that, but it didn't.

I tried sticking in my Windows CD to have it boot from that, but even though the optical drive spun up and down as it should, it didn't boot from the CD.

From what I've heard, the problem is unlikely to be memory, because if it was, then it just wouldn't start at all. Same with CPU (from experience). If the problem was the video card, I'd expect the hard drive light to continue flashing/being on, as that would indicate an O/S was loading even though I couldn't see it. If the problem was the motherboard, I'd expect the AudioDJ keys and functions not to work. If the problem was the hard drive, I'd expect to be able to boot from the Windows CD. Anyone got a suggestion?

 

It can be Hard Drive.
Try to enter BIOS on boot up and check whether your hard drive is present. HD power on is not a not sufficient evidence of HD health and presence

 

I can't enter BIOS (or at least I can't see it if I do).

 

Second guess - video card is dead so neither NB screen nor external can be fed with signal

 

possible, but if so, there's got to be more to it than that. If it was just the video card, my O/S would load, and it doesn't. After the 16 seconds of hard drive access, there's nothing else. my O/S does not load that quickly and even if it did, there would be other hard drive access afterwards.

 

You can't see BIOS, can you?
It looks that your computer begins everything OK and than all of a sudden can't find essential thing to proceed.
Think about video card. You would see BIOS if this card works.
You can't blame screen since external monitor does not work either.
I have no any other idea
I hope our professional partners and mentors may decide to participate

 

I know this sounds odd but have you tried removing your ODD from the computer? I have this issue with my Z71v where if I have the ODD in the computer won't boot at all, as soon as I remove it the computer continues booting. This is one of the main reasons I'm planning on parting it out and buying an M50Sv

 

Just tried it. It reacts slightly differently without it. Instead of the drive access light coming on after the initial flash, nothing happens at all. I guess that means it was trying to access the optical drive before. Still won't boot though.

@Oldman: the most likely culprit seems to be the motherboard itself, at the moment. A dead vid card wouldn't prevent anything from loading (as is happening), but a corrupted motherboard could.

I'm going to have my reseller (ISTNC) take a look at it, but I appreciate any more info or advice anyone wants to give. Thanks!

 

It might be that MoBo is dead.
It could be VideoCard is dead - OS can't assign driver to non-exist and vital device - and stops

BTW, did you try to boot computer without keyboard connected?

 

nope, haven't tried disconnecting the keyboard

 

Do you have desktop?

 

Try remove the battery and AC adapter, reset the mainboard by stick in the paperclip into the reset hole for 5 seconds, it sometimes work.

If it's the CPU problem the computer will stay on for about 5 seconds and if the BIOS does not defect a working CPU it will shut the laptop off, so it's not the CPU problem.

If it's the RAM the laptop will stays on so you might also want to remove one stick of RAM at a time to see if that helps.

As for the KB, optical drive and HD, computer doesn't need these parts in order to post.

 

Hi

I'm really interested in this, as I am having a similar problem with my Evesham Voyager c510 (which I think is essentially the same as the z71v).

When I turn it on, the blue light and the fans come on, the green power light also turns on, but turns off again after a few seconds. No other signs of life. I have tried turning it on both with and without the battery connected, reseated the cpu, ram (2x256mb) and graphics cards, pulled out the ram and tried using 1 stick at a time in both slots. I have also tried the reset switch on the bottom. All this makes no difference. I have also tried hooking up to an external monitor, but again, nothing.

This first happened a few days ago, and since then, I have managed to get the machine to boot up a couple of times, but this is seemingly at random. However, I have not been able to boot at all yesterday or today.

The OS I am using is MCNLive on a usb stick, as there is no hard disk installed in the laptop. When the machine booted, everything worked perfectly.

I would be grateful for any other ideas. Has the OP fixed the problem? if so, how?

Thanks

 

To add a little more detail, when I remove the top stick of ram (the one under the keyboard), there is a little more activity when I turn the machine on. The caps lock and number lock lights blink twice, and I am able to turn them on and off using the keyboard. If I press ctrl-alt-del, both lights turn off and will not turn on again if I press the appropriate key on the keyboard.

I'm starting to think its the motherboard. any views?

 

Your computer is fairly old and everything is possible.
If it would be a desktop, I'd start with less expensive step - MoBo battery replacement. If you can access it, you might want to try

 

Hey, so i have a z71v and am having the exact same problem, and am just about ready to scrap my laptop. have you been able to find out anything new since the last post or have you already scrapped yours?

 

hey again, i've looked into this issue a bit more over the past few hours, checked into various blogs, pulled out my video card, and discovered that i'm forced to junk my z71v anyway.

as it turns out, the issue is caused by a defective/burned out video card. however, the fix is pretty simple; replace the go 6600 video card that asus conveniently designed as a slot, much like a ram slot. however, asus no longer manufactures the specialized video card, is completely out of stock of the originals, and would have charged about $200 even if they still had them. furthermore, i wasn't able to track down any units anywhere else either.

if anybody discovers a site that still carries this card, please let me know. though, i believe that it's time to invest in a new computer.

 

You could send it in for (paid) repairs? Maybe they still have some on stock in Taiwan and they could order for you. You would pay the 200 + repair costs, though.

Also I'm not sure if ASUS supports barebones in this way (AFAIK the Z models are not ensemble models).

 

just try estore.asus.com. They are still selling LCDs, hinges, bezels, MoBos, inverters etc. for my Z70V (which is the same age model with Z71). You may find a lot of things from there...

 

tried the BIOS reset, it didn't work (although I don't remember if I took the battery out first...)

hmm, I didn't know the computer would stay on if the RAM was defective. That would certainly be an easy fix.

thanks for the suggestions, Ken.

Where? I can't find either the M6V/Z70V/Z70Va or M7V/Z71V listed

 

Try searching "z71". I have found LCDs, motherboards, vga coolers, LCD coaxiel cable etc etc...

This is a sample link for the MoBo:

http://estore.asus.com/shop/item.asp?itemid=3135

This is the link for VGA cooler:

http://estore.asus.com/shop/item.asp?itemid=3017

 

http://estore.asus.com/shop/search.asp
Search for Z71.

For instance, http://estore.asus.com/shop/item.asp?itemid=3135

Edit: sorry, i see there is an answer already. Forgot to hit refresh.

 

Cool! Thank you! I thought since the model wasn't listed anymore (in "notebooks") that they no longer sold parts for it. That's very encouraging!

 

Always use search on the eStore... the lists under notebook names are very limited, I think the database does not properly connect the components to model names.