HP Pavilion dv9000 Series Problem. What do you think?

Hello everybody! :hi2: I'm sure many of you HP Pavilion dvxxxx series owners have either heard of, or have encountered this problem: Upon powering on, the screen is blank, yet all of the LED lights are illuminated on the laptop. It stays on for about 15-20 seconds before it powers off, and then powers back on. It stays on for another 15-20 seconds, and then the process begins to repeat. I too had this same problem. The consensus (I thought) was that the video card (correct term? I know it's integrated into the mobo) had overheated, thus causing the soldering on the card to move out of place. The resolution for this problem (again, I thought) was to reball the video card. This could be done either by using a hot air gun, or (an idea I'm sure many of you have heard of) baking the mobo in the oven. Well, I went with the second option and, surprisingly enough, it fixed my issue. :thumbsup: The computer lasted for maybe a week before the issue reoccurred (I came downstairs to check on a download, and the computer was off). So, I took the whole computer apart yet again, and baked the motherboard again. Again, it resolved my problem. This time, however, I better defended myself against the problem happening again. Instead of the cheap thermal pad that was placed between the heatsink and the video card, I used a high quality thermal paste (IC Formula 7 I think its called). I also updated the BIOS, which included a fix that regulated fan speed (which decreased chances of overheating). With that all being said, the problem occurred again yesterday after working for about 2 - 3 weeks. The thing is, though, that the computer had already been off prior to me attempting to power it on (it was purposely shut down). How could have it possibly overheated with it being off? And in all honesty, even if it had been left on, with nothing running or downloading, I don't see how it could have possibly overheated with the measures I put in place. The only thing that felt somewhat hot during operation was the hard drive, which is on the opposite of the mobo. If any of you have any other ideas as to what the problem could be, I'd love to hear them. Perhaps we could use this thread to bounce ideas off each other. Thank you all in advance!

 

Means the GPU is bad and now the problem will be persistant. You need to have someone reballed the GPU with a new GPU to fix the problem. Your switching from the pad to thermal paste is the smart way to go but if the GPU is on it's way out no amount of fixing will do other then GPU replacement. Also what kinda air flow do you have at the vents? Also in cramp laptop space things heat up faster then you think compared to Desktop. But in the end you need to have your GPU replaced and and new one in it's place and this time use thermal paste not thermal pad to insure proper heat convection.

 

Hi!

I'm also trying to resurrect a DV9000 that I had in storage for a while. I did the same thing as you, sort of, except rather than using an oven, I used a hair dryer. It worked for a few restarts, but then quit again. I tried using a penny between the GPU and the heat sink, but I think there was maybe just a bit too much play and it didn't transfer the heat properly. So I'm going to get a copper shim from ebay and try that instead. It also looked like there might be enough room to add a small, thin fan between the GPU heat sink area and the case of the laptop, so I think I'll try that also. I'm just not sure where I'll get power from. Probably the same place as the OEM fan. If I can't make a fan work I think I'll at least drill some holes in the case to let the heat out.

Also, does anyone know what I can use to replace the "glue" around the outside edge of the GPU that seems to help hold it to the board?

 

Drilling your case is not advised to do as that will not improve or help with air flow as much as you like to think. I know in a DV6-xxxx I inserted a dime between the GPU and heatsink and it worked. But if your lcd doesn't turn on after the spacer fix on the GPU your resorted to getting it professionally done and replace the GPU. One your GPU has gone bad reballing will only bring back the same problem you will need to send it to someone on eBay or fix-it shop to replace the GPU to get your laptop working again. That glue isn't going to fix the dreaded dying GPU and replacement in this case is the only option.

 

If the GPU isn't enough, the NF430 chipset used in many AMD powered computers of that era has same issues...
So, if your dv9000 isn't Intel powered it has two points of failure (like mine had).

 

Yep, mine is AMD powered, and has the chip you mentioned. NF-430-N-A3. If heating the GPU again doesn't help, I'll check that chip.

As far as drilling the case, yes, its true the fan doesn't draw air from the inside of the case. So it probably wouldn't help much on its own, but if I were to place the laptop on a cooler, or add a fan in the same place I drilled, that would help a lot.

So far all I've done is re-heat the GPU and add some epoxy around it. I haven't assembled it yet. It also seems like the original heatsink might need to be sanded a bit to get it level. Since the original setup just used a thermal pad, I dont think they bothered to make sure it had a level surface.

This is just an effort to revive my old laptop for a browsing/netflix machine. If it doesn't come back to life, I'll just keep on using my GT-60.

Thanks all!

 

As I understand it, putting the mobo in the oven does "reball" it, so to speak. I forgot to say this, but after I updated the BIOS and replaced the thermal pad using thermal paste, the only thing that remained a bit too hot was the hard drive. With that being said, I have a theory.



On the motherboard, there's two parts with "NVIDIA" labeled in them. If you look at the image I attached, they are labeled 1 and 2. Which of these is that part that actually needs to be reballed? As I said before, the hard drive appears to be the only thing getting somewhat hot. That being said, the part labeled 1 on the image is right where the hard drive is located. Could the heating of the drive perhaps be causing this problem? As I'm sure you all know, the dv9000 contains two hard drive slots. Therefore, to help resolve the problem, I could place the hard drive in the other port (if I get it working again), therefore not overheating the NVIDIA chip. This is all only if my theory is correct

 

Get a computer mat from your local walmart or staples. If you put your computer on it it should hold still.

 

Number 2 would be the GPU since that has a screw post next to the chip. The other one most likely is a chipset controller by Nvidia. But once your GPU has over-thermal the solder joints most likely won't hold even if you oven baked it and it probably has some thermal defects as a result of being over heated causing the solder point to come loose. Like I mentioned you will have to get it professional or at a shop to replace the GPU with a new GPU to fix the dying GPU problem. Once a GPU is damaged because of the over heating I doubt it will be as good as it was before that happened. IMO So rather then try oven bake get it fixed correctly and you will not have to bake and bake and take chance of damage the board.

 

Hello again!

My fix has been successful for a few days, so far. I heated the GPU (#2 in your picture) with a hair dryer three times, for 10 minutes each. I'd go for 10 minutes, let it cool, then do it again. I used some tin foil around the GPU to prevent too much heat from hitting the other parts. Once that was done, I used some 5-minute epoxy around the GPU to help hold it down to the board. I used a toothpick to apply it, which seemed to work well. I also got a 1.2mm thick copper shim from ebay and used that between the GPU and the heatsink. I put thermal grease on both sides of the shim. I upgraded the bios to the latest version as soon as I got windows 8.1 preview installed.

When I heated the GPU, I held the hair dryer about 1/2" from the GPU and just held it there as steady as I could.

If it holds up for a while yet, I may switch out the cheap thermal grease for some arctic silver 5, and try to add a couple more fans inside. These might also be worth a shot if I bend them a bit flatter and put them along the cooling "pipe" where I can.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835708011
And the kind of fan I may try to add: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835119048

Its been idling at about 55c on the GPU and 45c on the CPU.