Clevo P150HM suddenly completely lifeless

Edit: Solved, problem was in fact the GPU

Hi guys, I've had my P150HM for 2 years now and have been very happy with it.
I've taken in my opinion good care of it, monitoring temps and cleaning out dust every few months, however I was recently playing Dota 2 and it suddenly turned off. I figured it was an overheat at first, but it just wouldn't turn on again. It shows absolutely no sign of life, no power, no lights, nothing. The light on the adaptor, when plugged in, turns off and blinks briefly every few seconds, making a clicking sound when it does. I have tried using my friend's adaptor and battery as he also has the HM, but it's still lifeless.

Is my mainboard dead?
Anything I can do to troubleshoot?

Thanks.

 

Straight to the service center.
At first guess I'd say your PSU fried and took the rest of the machine along. You'll need experienced techs monitoring power flow on the mobo, making sure no MOSFET's are burned etc. etc.
Hope you have some reliable service firms around.

 

Or your motherboard is shorted and your adapter is detecting a short and cutting out.

 

Yeah, it's more/most likely the mainboard. You can test for voltage ratings but it's going to need servicing, regardless (from the sound of things).

 

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

I took it to a highly rated repair service and left it it their hands for a few days.
When I picked it up they charges me $80, said it was a shorted motherboard, is unrepairable, and could replace the motherboard for $850.

I declined seeing as my friend offered me his own HM for $800 and that would probably be a last resort anyway.

So I took it home and was reading about something called the oven trick. It sounded really stupid at first (look it up), but I had nothing to lose. I began stripping it down to the bare motherboard. When it was only a motherboard in the chassi, I thought "why not plug it in?" and did so. To my surprise, the light on the adaptor stayed on and one of the lights on the laptop blinked to life WITHOUT using the oven trick.

What the hell? The board was supposed to be shorted.

I plugged everything back in one by one and tested it each step - it turns on with everything BUT the GPU installed. The fans and lights all come on, and a long beep is heard four times telling me (I think?) that the GPU is missing. If I plug in the GPU the adaptor behaves as described in the OP and the laptop won't start.

All signs are beginning to point to the short being in the GPU rather than the motherboard.

Is my motherboard in fact fine?
Should I try to reflow my GPU instead and, failing that, buy a new one?

Thanks.

 

You can try, but if it's a short, then it's likely an error with the power circuitry rather than solder not making contact.

They probably did not even know the GPU is removable.

 

$850?! It does indeed sound like a circuitry issue, and not a problem with solder joints.

 

80 USD for inspection? Seriously? And it looks like a poorly done inspection if you yourself managed to find the possible problem. So much for highly rated repair service...

 

80 AUD*

But yeah, I'll probably be asking for the money back after that.

Is it wise to assume by the fact that it gets power without the GPU that the GPU is the problem here and order a new one? I'm thinking a 7970m to replace the dead GTX 485m.

Also, one of the chips on the card (I think it's the Vbios?) has a little hole burnt in it, which may be indicative of the answer.

 

It's bar far the most likely explanation yes.

 

It may sound way to simple but i had a similar problem with a recent HP laptop i've had. Have you tried unplugging the laptop and taking out the battery and just press the power button for 10 seconds, and after that press the power button just a few more times. In my case the laptop was charged with static electricity (no idea if i'm saying this right). Make sure to first plugin the laptop without the battery and turn it on and if that doesn't work do the same with only the battery plugged in.

If this cheap trick doesn't work then i suggest you follow the others their advice and bring it in for repair. i have no idea how they would react if you brought in a microwaved GPU.

 

Thanks for the reply, but as outlined in my previous posts I know the problem is not the adaptor or battery but most likely the GPU as it has a small hole burnt in one of the chips, smokes when plugged in, and the laptop gets power without it plugged in.

My current plan is to get a new GPU, but I need to first make sure that's all that's wrong, i.e. not something also wrong with the motherboard that will fry the new card as soon as I plug it in.

I also need to identify what the beeping means. (4 long beeps, then it switches off)
I'm a little worried because the beeps are the same regardless of if I have the memory or CPU installed.
If those beeps are normal for having no GPU, then I'm probably fine to get a new GPU, otherwise I most likely have other problems.

 

4 longs beeps and a shut off is no vga or hardware missing.

 

Thank you, got a new 7970m in and it seems to be working fine now!

Although, I'm a little confused since it didn't need a flash to work with a P150hm...

Well, thanks for all the help everyone!

 

It must have had the HM bios on it already.