7100 series dies.

Today I was using my 7100 and walked away for few minutes and came back and saw a gray screen. The computer would not shut off so I then removed the battery. Tried to reboot the computer but just got a black screen nothing at all. Removed the battery and tried to boot it up holding the F4 key for recovery, and tried to do the same with the recovery CD DVD I had made for it, nothing just a black screen. All I here is the fan running, and the DVD rom moving back and forth when the CD is in it. It will probably be an interesting experience to deal with Avertec warranty department.
Any suggestions.

 

try... it's a long shot...
removing the battery and the power plug,
holding the power button down for 8 seconds.
then plug back in and try again,

I am 99.9% sure your motherboards is completely toast, so yah, get that phone number out.

 

No such luck Yuio, she's toast.

 

mdsimon80 were you able to get any help from the warranty dept? I also have a 7100 which gives me the black screen when I turn it on. The only difference "may" be that I can hear windows load in the back and I can hear things happening I just cannot see anything. Anyone think it may just be my graphics/video card?

 

Bknows - Take a strong narrow beam light and shine it on your LCD at an angle while you boot your notebook. If you can just make out an image on the screen, your GPU is working. It means you are having an issue with the LCD backlight.

This issue may be:
a logic screwup (doubtful)
a defective lid switch (most laptops turn off the backlight when the lid is closed)
burned out inverter or flourescent tube for the backlight.

You can also try plugging in an external monitor to determine if the problem is truly video or a backlight issue.

 

The latest on the 7100. Called Averatec got hold of a tech named Ben. Told him what was up and he said send it in FedEx, which I did. It has been two weeks and I have not heard anything from them yet. They now operate as TriGem. Bknows- this computer was silent and with my ear to it there was no other sound other than the cooling fan running continuously.
Mike

 

Ben sounds familiar. A poor customer service company by any other name is still a poor customer service company. Be prepared for no information, multiple calls, again with no update, and hopefully you won't have to visit the Southland BBB or Cal Attorney General's site and lodge a complaint. Since Trigem is basically a Korean resident company, you may get nowhere even with these US resources.

You are breaking new ground so keep the forum involved.

Rick

 

Latest update.
Today 7/22/08 I received my 7100 back. Turned it on and the screen was so dark I Could hardly see anything, and a cover was missing from the pcmcia slots. It said the cause of the original problem was the Crucial memory I installed which they replaced, and they also replace the motherboard at no charge. I attempted to lighten the screen with the fn key and the screen brighten button. No luck. I could not go into the ATI video settings. I called TriGem "not tool free" they suggested I recover the system to original settings. I did so using the Phoenix recovery system. Yes I could now get into the setting of the ATI video but it would not brighten up the screen. I again tried to brighten up the screen with the fn and bright key no change still very dark. I will call them tomorrow and ship it back again. I will keep sending it back to them as long as it is under warranty. Here's is my predicament, if this is as poorly designed as I think it is, it will ultimately fail again. The hard drive and memory will ultimately go to another computer and door stop the rest.

 

Folks here is the rest of the Averatec story. I called Averatec service 7/23/08 and finally got hold of someone who remembered my computer was just in with a problem after getting the runaround from the first person I talked to. I told him about the problem with the screen and that the pcmcia slot cover was missing. He said no problem he would have FedEx pick up the computer the next day and it would be fixed. Today 8/07/08 I received the computer, and could not believe my eyes. The pcmcia cover was back over the slot and the computer worked like new!

 

Lucky. When I sent mine in it took 3 months before I got it back! After bugging them on the phone for a month they told the motherboard was bad, but they had no replacements and were waiting for more. Two months after that I finally got it back, but with no AC adapter or battery (they had me send those in as well). More calls... Finally 2 weeks later I had a working laptop again. And now less then a year later the mobo has fried again.

 

Pico, I purchased a cooler a large aluminum notebook cooler "Cyro LX" for the 7100 I hope this will prevent another motherboard failure. Do you think heat is the cause of all these motherboard problems?