ZX 5000 Problem

I have a one and half year ZX 5000 laptop. It was great until recently, it will automatically turn off in the middle my work. I have reinstall Windows XP but this problem still exists. Could anyone help?

Something I must mention is, sometimes the notebook have a few clicking noise, and it was a year ago but the laptop never fail me until recently.

Thank you in advance.

 

If it keeps turning off on you, it could be a few things:

1. The systemboard could be defective
2. The CPU could be overheating, possibly the fan could be dead/failing
3. Your LCD could be failing

Try running off battery for a bit and see if it does the same thing. COuld be the power connector on the back that is shorting.

Goto the BIOS and enable Fan Always On When Connected To AC option (if you have it). Check to see if your CPU Fan rotates. Download & run MobileMeter and see if the temp climbs too high before failing.

If the LCD is failing, try connecting an external monitor and see if it still goes black (that's if power doesn't turn off). If you still have power and the external monitor looks good, you need either a new LCD or an FL Inverter (provides power to LCD backlight).

In all of these cases, you'll need to send the unit in for service, but from the looks of it, the unit is out of warranty and this will be fairly pricey. If you bought it on a credit card, you may be able to get a 1yr extension on your warranty through the credit card company. You may want to check your cards benifits (I know AMEX provides this service with some of their cards).

-Vb-

 

How loud is your clicking? I've only had my 2108CL for 10 months and I had to replace the hard drive after it died. It clicked loudly and you could feel it working if you put your hand on the notebook.

 

The clicking shouldn't be too lound, unless it's an older drive. If the drive is about to fail/is failing, you should hear a distinctive pattern to the clicking. The clicking will be continuious, and when this happens, say goodbye to your drive/data. Also, if it's failing, you should hear the constant clicking when you're in the BIOS (before booting into OS). If the clicking stops, it could just be the way the drive operates (older drivers are louder).

-Vb-

 

Thank you for your advice. I download Mobile Meter on my laptop and found it typically shut down when the hard disk reaches temperature of 40 degree Celsius. Is that weird? I put small desktop fan under it to cool it abit and it did not turn off until now.

Processor temp: 45-59 Celsius
Hard disk temp: 32-40 Celsius (computer turn off once hdd reaches 40)

I think my laptop hard disk is Hitachi Travel Star, but I am not sure of the model. The clicking is once in a while, maybe once in an hour. I would consider it loud for this small device.

Anybody have any idea?

 

For the HDD to click once in an hour is not a problem. It's just the way the drive is designed. Hitachi/IBM drives are known to do this, especially with older models.

The temp problem could be a short that's happening when it gets too warm. Possibly something expanding from the heat and loosing contact. If it's still under warranty, you may want to first get the HDD swapped out and see if it still happens. If not, then the problem is resolved, but if it does, then it's probably a systemboard problem. The temps don't seem too high, so it shouldn't be a CPU heat problem. The BIOS or sensor could be messed up a bit. If it thinks it's hitting the thermal threshold, this is usually where the system will shut itself down to prevent any serious damage. You may even want to try updating the BIOS to see if this may help.

-Vb-