Random Flickering Screen on HP DV2000 Series, please help!!

Hey guys, my laptop started acting REALLY weird about a week ago. While I am using it, seemingly at random, the screen 'flickers' and freezes up, and the only way out is to hold the power button to shut down, and then restart.

I have included a picture of what it looks like:


I also noticed that the speakers sort of emitted a 'staticky' sound as this happened, although this could just be because the computer stops processing the sound data.

Anyone ever experience anything similar??? What to do?

::EDIT::
Also if I check the Windows Event Viewer after restarting, it logs nothing at the time of freezing, no errors or anything.
The laptop runs sort of warm, but never part 66°-69°C

It has: Windows Vista SP1, AMD ATHLON X2 1.6, and 2gb ram.

--Thanks guys!

 

The NVIDIA graphics chip is starting to fail. VERY common problem. If you want to attempt to fix it, start here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4792475&postcount=15
Be sure to read the rest of that thread.

 

Was this the same chip which caused HP to extend warranties on some of their laptops? Or did that warranty thing not apply to dv2000.

Also this is only a 2yr old laptop...nice going nvidia!!!! I personally prefer ATI.

*Reading the thread now*, thanks alot!

::EDIT::

Oh man, im really not up for taking apart the WHOLE thing and soldering stuff on the motherboard.

My main concern is getting the data off it, but im afraid to transfer stuff because the laptop freezes randomly..is there any temporary workaround? Maybe running it in a cold room or something like that?

And is it for sure an NVIDIA issue? Could it be something else?

 

BYE BYE LAPTOP.. Dead NVDIA GPU... another victim of NVDIA's failing chips... anyway OP there's another thing you can do... bake the motherboard.. search for a thread in the forum about it.... quite easy to do so this way...

 

There's no soldering involved, you're just heating up the defective NVIDIA chip with a heat gun. Taking the notebook apart allows you to be much more precise about this than the oven trick and gives you the opportunity to replace the thermal pad with a copper shim so that the chip is much less likely to fail again. This is particularly important for NVIDIA chipsets, less so for dedicated NVIDIA GPUs with thinner pads.

If you bought the notebook less than 2 years ago, HP should cover it under their enhanced warranty program.

Other possibilities are possible but unlikely. Failing internal LCD video cable, ?

You can pull the HD and plug it into a SATA to USB adapter or even plug it directly into your desktop motherboard. Laptop and desktop SATA connectors are identical. You will need to remove HP's little adapter off the notebook HD first (don't lose it!).

 

Even if you want to bake the board you still have to take the whole thing apart (see here). You wouldn't stick your whole notebook in the oven, wouldn't you?

 

Hold on...how does HEATING up the GPU help anything lol....I don't get it..

I watched the youtube vid in the link in one of the threads about it, it's just 8 minutes of a guy blowing at the Mobo with a hairdryer lol..how does that help?

And about the 2 yr thing, I bought it 2yrs and 1 month ago...ARGH!!!!

What a waste of laptop......:-(.

 

You heat the solder just enough to melt it (200C or 400F) and close the cracks that were caused by thermal stress. I've resurrected 3 laptops this way.

 

:O. You're saying the card actually CRACKS? And the solder melts and fills in the cracks....? But how does the solder do whatever the cracked stuff was doing lol...argh whatever, this whole thing is nuts, HP should have an indefinite warranty, or a recall, .

 

You have the same configuration I had..my dv2000 just die a few weeks ago. And the GPU was the problem y might be out of luck too.. I also baked the motherboard as suggested by other members and nothing.

I left it in the oven for 7 two times so maybe I should have left it longer. But I gave up and I am selling it for parts on ebay.

 

Not the card, the solder balls securing the chip to the mobo crack, and it's a matter of re-attaching them somehow to make the board work again. It's a combined result of nVidia's large scale screw-up and laptop makers' ignorance. That thermal pad is for cooling a little RAM chip that doesn't produce much heat anyway, and they put it on a known heat-sensitive GPU???

But i remember HP did have a warranty program on those things. Ask them, maybe they'll replace yours.

 

Ya, they made a warranty program for 2 years, and I bought it about 2yrs 3weeks ago...

If a product is DEFECTIVE they should RECALL it, not offer a puny 2 year warranty >(

 

Well, trying to cover your f**kups is standard business practice. They will do anything to avoid replacing the machines - because the replacements are broken too - and because a company exists to make money, and less so for making their customers happy. As long as a strategy makes money, a company will keep using it.

It's just like that quote from CoD 4: "Always remember that your weapon was made by the lowest bidder."

 

Lol @ the quote!!

@brian, any idea how long it takes the CEO (or his office) to respond to emails?

 

I received a response same day. YMMV.

 

Well it's been 2 days..maybe I should call the 800 number?

I still want an HP though, you think a dv4t with C2D T6600 and 4500 GPU should have these issues? I mean those 2 parts should be WAY cooler (temp wise) than the AMD Athlon X2 and NVIDIA GeForce 6150 that the DV2 had).

 

No it will nver have this problem.. NVDIA basically screwed up with this series of cards....

 

I am so turned off from HP right now, the "Executive office" was NO help, the case manager was giving me crap how since my product number was not included in the list they can't do anything, even though it was the same damn hardware as the 'defective' ones.

 

That'll work, or a Turion II with ATI GPU. Turions don't run much hotter than C2D's, if at all, now that they're 45nm too. The dv2700se I fixed has a 45nm C2D T9300 that is most definitely not a cool running chip if you stress it with something like IntelBurnTest.

Supposedly NVIDIA's current generation GPUs are fixed. I just have zero trust in a company that silently put out defective parts for ~3 years.

 

I had the same issue with my DV2500... I took it to a local shop who said he knew of the issue and would try to heat it. I took it back home and it failed after a day. It then sat there for two months and I then told myself to give it another shot. So I took it back to him and basically told him to heat it until it melts. He told me he was scared he would kill the laptop, and I just told him don't worry about it, if it dies, it's dead anyway just sitting there.... so apparently he heated it like crazy, told me he was scared it wouldn't turn on after he was done with it. So far it's been about 1 week (tom) and well, so far so good.

So my advice to you is to see if you can find a local repair shop....
Or download the service manual, put aside a Saturday, put on some comfortable PJs..... and get your oven ready to cook some Nvidia BS.

 

Rofl...cook some NVIDIA...

How about Lenovo? They have a big sale going on now. Im sort of not into HP right now lol..

http://dealnews.com/Lenovo-coupons-Up-to-20-off-laptops/335296.html
(if ur interested)

 

My brother-in law just handed me a DV2000Z with integrated Nvidia 6150 graphics that is doing the same thing. Sometimes it will BOOT others it won’t. Sometimes the wireless is not detected. Sometimes the screen looks exactly the same as yours. I tinkered with it for a couple of hours (RAM, HDD, etc… last weekend and suspected the dreaded Nvidia failure.

So…just for grins…. and because my brother-in-law officially declared it toast… I thought perhaps some frigid air might close the cracks. Guess what…. after about 90 minutes in the freezer I pulled it out and…. you guessed it…. it BOOTed right up. My wife used it for FaceBook a bit and I left it running for 3 or 4 hours without a single problem. I then tried to reBOOT…. nope back to no post. The nest day I did the same thing again with the same result.

After the Holidays I may try the reflow technique (thanks Brian) just for fun, but if you want a quick way to diagnose the problem and you’re pretty sure it’s a junk anyway, LOL try the freezer.

 

Well putting it in the freezer vs in the oven is the same thing as far as electrical connections are concerned - just that they contract instead of dilate.

However, there is one thing that the oven method accomplishes if done right - it melts the solder so it becomes solidly held into place not just onto the surface. This is why you need to do 190-220 celsius as that's the temperature where lead-free solder melts.

 

But wouldn't alot of other things melt at that temp? Like the casing/lcd, etc???

 

No..you are not supposed to put the whole computer in the oven. You only need to put the motherboard it self.

 

Thats something good to hear.. In the last few weeks there have been about 4 people that have turn out with the same problem..its like they were all designed to fail at the same time..to force people to buy new ones!

 

Lol..I figured the whole laptop shouldn't be baked, unless its an apple, cause then you have a baked apple...I know its corny.

Anyways, I really want another HP cause they look sweet, but I need one ASAP, im looking at the D4t, and I have a student discount, so a fairly decent model for my needs comes to $620 shipped, with 2 day shipping, you think I should just order it, or wait it out for holiday deals?

Specs:

# Espresso Black
# • Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
# • Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor T6600 (2.2GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)
# • FREE Upgrade to 3GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm) from 2GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
# • FREE Upgrade to 320GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
# • Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 4500M
# • 14.1" diagonal WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
# • LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-RW with Double Layer Support
# • Webcam Only
# • Wireless-G Card
# • HP Color Matching Keyboard
# • 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

Comes to $580 plus tax, including 2 day shipping.

 

your configuration looks really good..the only thing I dont like is the intel graphic card. It would have been sweet if it was an ATI, but other wise its a good system.

 

Well the only dedicated GPU they offer is NVIDIA, which I have zero interest in right now, also this wont be used for gaming at all, so the Intel GPU should be fine I assume.

 

Wow, BestBuy has almost the same config for just $449!!!!!!!!!!, but with a T4300 instead of a T6600...you guys think the T4300 will suffice for internet usage and dvd watching?