Major hardware problem (dv2000)

Hi all

I hope someone can help me with this. Recently my HP Pavilion dv2315nr notebook has started to crash on a regular basis. The screen corrupts (see attatchment) and the only way I can shut it down is by pressing the power button for a few seconds. Sometimes, when I restarted the machine, it would not display anything. All the lights would turn on but the screen would stay black. It used to be that if I left it turned off for half an hour it would work again but as of today this problem seems to be permanent. I am having to write this on my girlfriend's laptop.

This was happening in both Ubuntu and Windows so I think it must be a hardware problem. I originally thought this might be due to overheating, but when I turned it on this morning (after not using it for 3 days) the screen went funny within just 10 minutes. It was after that that the screen would then not come on again.

Does anyone know what would cause this and any possible fixes? I am worried that getting this sorted professionally could cost upwards of £100 which as a student I can't really afford. I also resent spending that much on a machine that cost me so much and is only a year old.

Many thanks,
Tom

 

So i take it you didn't buy the warranty?

Anyways, it could be that the LCD screen is bad on the laptop. Have you tried connecting a monitor to your laptop? If the monitor that you connect to the laptop works, then most likely it is the graphics card that is malfunctioning. Since the Graphics card is soldered onto the motherboard, you would have to replace the entire motherboard which will cost a lot of money.

Let's take this one step at a time though. Once you try connecting another monitor to your laptop via the VGA port let us know what happens.

 

The problem with the warranty is that although I live in the UK (where everything comes with a 2 year warranty by law), I bought the laptop in the USA. I am not sure if I am covered at all. I bought it May 2007.

I had thought of trying with an external monitor, but I don't have access to one.

 

All HP Laptops here in the US come with a standard 1 year warranty, so you're 1 month too late.

Does the laptop stay on when you turn it on and it just doesn't display anything on the LCD? If that is the case, then it is either the LCD screen or the graphics card as I stated in my last post. The LCD is a lot less expensive to replace than the entire motherboard, so your best bet is to get access to an external monitor and try it out. Bring it to work or to school or anywhere that has a computer and try it.

 

Is your laptop on this list?

 

Yes it is. I'll go to the university IT services sometime in the next few days and ask them nicely if they'll let me use one of their monitors. The problem I have is that because term is over all my flatmates and friends have buggered off for the holidays so there is no one with a monitor left, but I'm staying behind for at least two weeks because my girlfriend has time commitments here.

In answer to Envision's question - yes, everything does seem to work fine otherwise. My personal belief is that it must be the integrated graphics. I did try once to shutdown the machine using keyboard shortcuts and nothing seemed to happen, implying the whole thing had crashed not just the monitor. But there is a chance I simply got the sortcuts wrong or something.

Theoretically, if I found that it didn't work with an external monitor I should be covered by that extended warranty. If that was the case what do I do? Would I still be covered in the UK even though I bought the notebook in the USA?

Thanks for all the help so far guys and girls,
Tom

 

I would try re-seating the memory sticks. Very easy to do and is generally suggested when a problem of this type arises especially when you have both screen and shutoff/freeze problems. I once had a Sony laptop with this problem and re-seating the memory fixed the issue. Worst that can happen is that it doesn't fix the problem.

 

Does re-seating mean unpluggging and plugging in again? I'll go to the hardware store today to get some little screwdrivers and give that a try.

 

Is the cooling fan spinning, ramping up and down with temps? ....just to be sure the fans working ok.
If the heatsink/fan's loose or poor thermal contact on the graphics card it might cause issues with overheating in no time at all. The chips got hot instantly. That would be even cheaper to fix than replacing the entire motherboard due to malfunctioning intergrated graphics card.
Also if the graphics card is overheating and thats the issue then there shouldn't be anything showing up on an external monitor either.

Anyway, thats something I'd investigate.

 

Exactly. It sounds as though you have never removed or installed memory. It is very easy to do but I would read in the mainenance manual how to release the memory chips. The PDF for your notebook should be online and one of the downloads on HP's site.

 

Actually I've done it before a dozen times but I just wanted to check that that was what you meant.

I managed to plug in an external monitor today but it just sat there saying "NO SIGNAL". I guess that rules out the LCD being the problem. After that I suppose it could be anything, though the graphics seems the likely candidate.

I forgot to get the screwdrivers, so I'll do that and try re-seating the memory tomorrow.

I noticed today that there seems to be more noise than usual. But I can't tell if it's the fan, the hard drive, or just me hearing things because I know it's broken. I don't think it's the hard drive, because I checked the SMART values while I was still able to boot and it was fine. My instinct says that it's the main fan going full-throttle because the broken graphics is causing everything else to overheat. Would that make any sense at all or am I talking out the wrong orifice?

At any rate when I do the memory tomorrow, I might go all the way and open the whole case to see if I can see anything obviously wrong (i.e. **** loads of dust clogging fan, etc).

I want to get this sorted myself without sending to HP if possible, but if none of the above works then that's what I'll have to do. Even if it ends up being free it's going to be a nuisance because the warranty is at home 200 miles (and a £50 train fare) away and I'd be without my laptop for a long time I expect.

Thanks
Tom

 

I suppose you are aware that you have to switch the display over to the external monitor (you didn't mention) or you will get "NO SIGNAL" by default. You can switch between the LCD, External Monitor, or both by using Fn+F4 as a toggle or through the video Control Panel

 

No, I didn't know that. When I've used an external monitor on other laptops before it just displayed automatically. Anyway, I've tried it now and it made no difference

I'll post again later when I've tried re-seating the memory and cleaning out dust.

 

Ok, I tried re-seating the memory and it didn't work. In the end I didn't bother cleaning the fans, etc because it seems like a lot of hassle for something I shouldn't have to do in the first place.

I'm going to be home in a few weeks so I'll try calling up HP then (my warranty, receipts, etc are at home) and get them to do it under the extended warranty. If anyone else has any ideas feel free to suggest them but at this stage I can't think what else to do.

I certainly won't be buying a laptop from HP again. I've only had it a year and I've not done anything to it. I haven't even upgraded the RAM so for it to just randomly die on me like this is just inexcusable.

I'll post back if there are any developments.

Thanks to everyone for the help,
Tom

 

Hi all,

Just to let everyone know that in the end I sent the laptop back to HP and got it fixed under warranty. I'm still pretty pissed it broke in the first place, but to give HP credit where it's due it only took a 5 minute phone call for them to agree to fix under warranty, it was back within a week and I had no problems with scratches or anything. So far it's been a month since it came back and it's been working fine.

Thanks to everyone for the help,
Tom

 

i know i'm a bit late, but i just thought i'd let u know i had the same problem. Except whenever i tried starting up i get 3 beeps. If u have the same problem as mine then it's sumthing to do with the graphics card not the screen...i think