Help NP8150, bluescreen, computer turning on but not working.

So I simply want some advice from some more experienced users before I send my computer into a repair shop

My computer is a sager np8150/clevo p150hm with an i7 2670m, AMD 6990m, 750gb HDD, Windows 7, etc. If there are any specs that anyone needs then ask, but the rest is pretty standard.

My problem happened just the day before yesterday. I was using it, browsing the web, I believe, when it bluescreened. After that, it would turn on, and would start the boot into windows but never get to the login screen but would rather continually bluescreen. After that I tried safe mode and that worked, however at a nearly unusable resolution and with really really wacked colors. However I was able to copy everything that I wanted onto my external hard drive. Then I started up driver sweeper and removed my display driver. After that, strangely, I was able to log in to windows normally however it was at the same resolution, and color was similarly messed up. Then I tried to reinstall the display driver but it bluescreened again. After that I went into safe mode and normal windows a few times to try to see if I could troubleshoot anything. tried windows restore but that failed and now it won't even get to the login screen in safe mode or normal without bluescreening. The same thing happens with my ubuntu partition.

Another note, a few days previous to this I noticed that when playing games my video card would get up to 104 Celsius while playing games, and approx. 60 celsius when idle. And in the past month it had spontaneously shut down while I was playing games. So perhaps my video card has been damaged by heat?

What are some things I should try? I'm planning on trying to boot from an ubuntu livedisk when I get my hands on a flash drive, and possibly open up the casing to see if there are any obvious problems with the hardware. What should I look for in the hardware? I have little to no experience with the hardware of computers.


Thanks a bunch for any help. This really ruined my week and I like this computer a lot.

 

last time mine bsod before it finished booting was 2 bad sectors on the hard drive but i think yours is due to heat which could of damaged your gpu.

when was the last time you cleaned the vents and fans out with compressed air by removing the base.

 

I actually never did that. and it may have come to bite me.

Is there any definitive way to confirm heat damage, such as any physical signs?

 

Unless there is plastic and metal melted all over the insides i really don't think so lol

You said you can't even boot into safe mode?? Does bios even detect all your components?

 

The bios detects everything just as usual, and the boot screen where I'm able to choose between windows and ubuntu works fine and allows me all the options, and it seems to load safe mode just fine and lists the loading of all the system files, however when it gets to what is supposed to be the login screen, it displays nothing but a cursor (which I am able to controls) and I can't do anything. I'm quite confused. My best guess is a damaged install or something wrong with my video card.

 

Based off you temp readings, then yes: it sounds like heat damage. If it were driver related, then Safe Mode should work.

You can attempt to replace the GPU, but if you're taking it to a repair shop, they'll be able to do that for you and give you a more definitive answer. The best way to test it is to replace your GPU with a tester 6990m, but since that's probably not very handy for you, I think you're stuck having a professional with the right tools and know-how diagnose it.

 

even the safe mode login screen won't work? sorry kinda confusd haha

if you can get into the safe mode desktop disable all startup services and running services in msconfig, and try reboot

 

@Ekulz, haha. tell me about it. Let me try to restate it better. Safe mode worked for a few times, but with a resolution that I wasn't used to in safe mode and with very strange colors. Now it will list that it loaded all this system drivers (as it does normally) however when it gets to the login screen all it shows is not a login screen but a cursor and a black background.

@Prostar Computer, I'm afraid that's what I'll end up having to do. I'm sitting in the bay area of CA right now. This may be a long shot but would you guys be able to take it for diagnosis and possibly repair or even an upgrade to the 7990m?

 

@hotblack_desiato

Aw unfortunately we don't service Sager - you would have to contact them directly if you wanted them to give you a diagnosis and quote. We only service our ProStar/Clevo line, Asus, and MSI.

Let me just reaffirm something though; you were able to - at one point - access Windows through Safe Mode, and now you can't (blank screen with moveable cursor). That actually COULD be hard disk related.

You can try running some hard drive diagnostics just to rule that out. Hiren's Boot CD contains some fairly good hard drive diagnostic software. HDD Sentinel - for example - will give you immediate S.M.A.R.T readings and a better idea of the health of your drive.

 

hmm. actually, I finally got my hands on a flash drive and put ubuntu on it, and it seemed to work perfectly fine for about 40 seconds. Clear, no color issues, worked smooth, accessed the hard disk fine. However after those 40 seconds the display started to flicker and things were messing up, and then it basically turned off. I'm pretty sure that my video card is overheating and that some built in heat safeguards are starting up to protect my computer. So I'm going to try checking out the heatsink and the thermal paste.

 

the hardware wont overheat in 40 seconds so it defo looks like the damage has already been done.

first rule of laptops is clean out on a regular basis as it is such a small area dust will collect quite quickly and after a few months the temperatures will start to rise.

there are lots of free monitoring tools in my sig below which you need to download for the future.
as pro star mentiond hirens boot cd is a must and h d sentinal is a great bit of hard drive software ive used for years.

 

sorry to hijack. on the same note, at what constant temperatures would be enough to damage a gpu? such as the 7970m? because im quite weary of my temps of 90 atm...

 

if you are at 90c while just brousing then start worrying.
if you havnt cleand the vents and fans out well now is the time to do so. if this doesnt help then you need a repaster of your thermal compound on your cpu and gpu.

not sure which is the best monitoring software for ati cards but try hwinfo64 and core temps in my sig below and post a screen shot of just brousing and then one while gaming.

 

nah, its after load of about 85%, while full usage puts it up to a max of 95 on a hot day.
yeahh, fans are clean as whistle, monthly routine.

I might try out a repaste then. cheers for the heads up

 

i was hitting 90-95c a few months ago on my new P150EM but it was so called summer here in the uk
ive mannaged to get 2 of my 4 cores upto 98c using intel extreme tuning and gpu was mid 90s
almost touching 90s while playing B3 or warfighter but all other games including crysis 2/blops 2/far cry 3 is low to mid
80s on cpu and low to mid 70s on gpu

 

sounds like you don't need a stove (;

yeah, bf3 and the witcher2 is a killer for me. especially in this Australian summer with no aircon., wooo 40 degrees.
blops 2 only just pushes past the mid 80's without a frame cap.

I guess my temps are quite normal then. (Y)

 

yeah. I tend to agree with you. I just hope it's only the video card that's damaged. I'm pretty sure my processor was in acceptable heat range. I guess I'll just send it to sager to see if they can do anything. Might even upgrade.

 

this is an old post from years ago but i guess it still stands to give a rough guide

 

At least they won't try to reflow anything. Typically if it's bad, they just replace it. Only the local shops/technicians and 3rd party depots do reflows for the most part.