Issues with my Clevo D900T; can anybody help me

I'm having issues with my clevo D900T laptop. for starters when i turn on the power the blue light around my power button comes on, the audio dj clock comes on (and shows the correct time) i hear all the normal sounds it has made since it was brand new, after a bit the fans start spinning and when i test my caps and number lock keys they both respond, after a short while it starts getting warm, but with all that im still not getting any back light on my lcd, at least not until i press control, alt, delete numerous times and when my lcd finally lights up and it starts to boot, it boots normally and when it says to press F2 to go into my bios I do so, but when bios comes up it prompts me for a password that i've never set up before. so I hit esc, after that the windows xp screen where the little green lights are flashing across the lcd comes and goes, then the system freezes and it sometimes freezes before i get to that screen. so i have to hard re-boot and start the process all over. after I get to that same point again it sometimes asks me if i want to boot up in safe mode or start windows as normal, so when i choose start normal i will sometimes get all the way to my desktop, but not lately...but if i do it freezes shorty afterward. i am not really a laptop guru so i havent done much disassembly and reassembly of my system,so i don't know if the problem is major or minor. But despite it all i figured somebody out there either has been through what im dealing with or knows somebody that has, Please let me know what you think. All help is Greatly appreciated.

 

Can you try re-seating your ram.
Also reset the BIOS if you can (this should get rid of the PW thing).

Try taking out the power cord and battery, hold the power button for 30secs.
Then put the power back in and try to boot.


Try booting without a HDD.

 

sounds like system has a lot of issues.

First and foremost, you must realize that:
"Your computer will take care of you if you take care of it."

.... meaning you have to get comfortable with your system by opening up the panels to do routine (monthly) dust cleaning... not only will you be helping the system stay healthier from overheating issues (by cleaning out the dust in the vents and fans), you will learn more about the system.

if you never open your system to clean it out, then problems are inevitable to occur in the near future... this goes for all notebooks... but especially for high-end performance/gaming notebooks.
- and always monitor the temps of the system (which would tell you if you need to do another cleaning)

you need to do the following:
- open up the bottom panels to get to the fans and heatsink vents.
- you need to clean them out:
Monitor the Temps (Part 1)
Monitor the Temps (Part 2)

Then you have to do a hardware check
- remove all non essential items (everything except the CPU, RAM, and Videocard module) in the notebook to see if the system will post properly
- so remove the HDDs, Optical Drives, Wifi card, TV Tuner card. (all here in the User's Manual)
- then turn on the system to see if it POST's up quicker.

If the POST goes well**, then your system is still in working order.
- now securely put in all of your components back into the system.
- turn on the system.
- the post should still be quick, if not, of the the components is faulty or has issues (you must take them out one by one to check)

** If the POST did not go well (after removing all non-essential hardware), then one of the main components have issues... probably due to heating issues (from clogged dust and dry thermal compound).
- simple thing is to take out the memory first (one at a time) to see if the system will start better
- if its not the memory, remove the huge CPU heatsink to check the CPU
- clean out the heatsink's vents and the gunk on the CPU
- re-apply some new thermal compound onto the CPU (its simple to do, cooling guide shows up how)
- then remove the videocard module
- clean out the vents and fan
- then re-apply the thermal compound for the GPU as well

now put everything back together properly and turn it on.

if it POST's well, then you are good.
- with so many crashes, the HDD will need a CHKDSK
(get into Safe Mode or use a Windows XP disc to get into Command Prompt)
- (in Command Prompt) type: CHKDSK C: /R or CHKDSK C: /F
- (a restart might be needed) then let the system scan and fix the HDD errors that has stacked up over the number of crashes.

If the LCD screen has issues:
- then it could be the LCD panel or the cable
- or it can be the videocard (which is the more likely suspect if you have never cleaned out the vents and fans since its purchase date)

 

sounds like i have some work to do...i'll let you know when im finished. thanks

 

so i actually managed to get into my windows setup with my windows xp disc (hopefully a good sign), now im just wondering if i need to to a clean install or if that really matters? is there something else I should try first?

 

the HDD means almost nothing for the main diagnostics... its too simple to rule out as compared to the other hardware components.

its the motherboard and the main components (Videocard, CPU, RAM) that will really determine if the system is ok or not.

 

and checking those will require me to crack this bad boy open right ?

at the windows setup screen i decided to try to repair my previous windows installation and it prompted me for another password that I've never had. so i exited, and now im back to the drawing board.

so what are some of the things I should do when i open it up? and is there a guide of some sort to show me exactly what to do and how to do it so i dont break nothing? ..... i was just thinkin about taking it to a shop in town but where i live its not much around and the locals charge a arm and a leg just for a diagnostic.

 

Hold F8 while you boot, then choose safe mode.

If you can get into windows in safe mode, backup all your files. Then clean install.

 

or just remove your HDD and connect it to another computer with SATA or get a cheap USB enclosure for SATA drives.

 

when i tried to boot up in safe mode i got this multiple prompts

multi(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\1394BUS.SYS
' '' '' '' '' '' \combatt.sys
' '' '' '' '' '' \BATTC.SYS
' '' '' '' '' '' \PCIIde.sys
' '' '' '' '' '' \PCIIDEX.SYS
' '' '' '' '' '' \intelide.sys
' '' '' '' '' '' \pcmcia.sys
' '' '' '' '' '' \MountMgr.sys
' '' '' '' '' '' \ftdisk.sys
' '' '' '' '' '' \ACPIEC.sys
' '' '' '' '' '' \OPRGHDLR.SYS
' '' '' '' '' '' \PartMgr.sys
' '' '' '' '' '' \VolSnap.sys
' '' '' '' '' '' \atapi.sys
' '' '' '' '' '' \ULsata.sys
' '' '' '' '' '' \SCSIPORT.SYS
' '' '' '' '' '' \disk.sys
' '' '' '' '' '' \CLASSPNP.SYS
' '' '' '' '' '' \fltMgr.sys
' '' '' '' '' '' \sr.sys
' '' '' '' '' '' \KSecDD.sys
' '' '' '' '' '' \Ntfs.sys
' '' '' '' '' '' \NDIS.sys
' '' '' '' '' '' \Mup.sys

it could be more, but thats all the ended up on my screen.....

 

First and foremost, you must realize that:
"Your computer will take care of you if you take care of it."

This is a total lie. Any clevo will slap you back in the face regardless of how well you treat it


I have a few questions for you:
1) are you running PATA or SATA harddrives?
2) have you unplugged the harddrive cable and reseated it?
The part of the connector, which fits into the female connector on the motherboard can sometimes be problematic. Make sure that it is pushed in all of the way on either the PATA or SATA connector (which ever one you have)

as per the LCD issues,
shut the system off
remove the keyboard (there are four small plastic snaps which hold the keyboard down) depress them with a flat head screwdriver.
Remove the keyboard, than remove the black plastic piece which is sandwiched between the Lid and the keyboard.
On the left most side, you will see a bunch of wires
There is a 4 pin or so cable, which is the USB cable for the onboard webcam
There is a 7-9 pin cable which is the power for the backlight inverter
There is a 25-30 pin cable which communicates with the screen.

Remove all three cables. Plug them back in.
On the larger connector, The one with 25-30 pins (rectangular form)
Get a plastic pen cap, and a knife.
Whittle the plastic pen cap piece down, so that you can push the wires in.
I have had similar problems on my laptop, and pushing each wire into the boot of the connector seemed to solve the problem for me. I glued my cables in place when everything worked.

As per the BIOS issues, this is normal, Clevo's are designed to be a piece of crap.
While you have the keyboard removed, remove the bios battery. It is a normal Cr2032 (I think those are the model numbers of those batteries), and remove it.
remove the memory and the battery/ac power adaptor.
Then get a piece of aluminum foil
place it over the motherboard, and it will discharge fast.
In about a minute, plug the batteries back in and the BIOS should reset for you.

If you need to, you need to reset the BIOS, there should be an option in the advanced page, and in the last page of the BIOS

Good luck,

K-TRON

 

I think there is no hardware problem. Just software.

Find a way to backup your files.

Try to repair the OS again, this time when you're prompted for a password, try entering nothing.

Don't bother taking it to a repair shop yet. I would just buy a new HDD and install win on it, then try to figure out how to get your files off of the old HDD.

 

Its pretty accurate for most notebooks... of course not all notebook are made equal.

 

i bought a new HD, but i didnt really know what to do with it i put it in my lappy but didnt know how to format or put xp on it.

@ K-Tron i got my keyboard off and on the left most side i do see a couple cables,... how can i post pictures on up here ???

 

upload the picture by attaching it to the post

or click the icon and pointing it to the URL of your picture (which you have uploaded to a image host, like imageshack.us or photobucket)

 

If the new harddrive you installed is not recognized by your system, this guide I made will be helpful to you:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=347779

If the harddrive shows up in the BIOS, but Windows XP does not see the drive, you need to load the SATA drivers for the harddrive on a bootable USB memory card, or a bootable floppy drive. You can always slipstream the SATA drivers into the windows installation disc.
If you do not know how to do this, any copy of Windows Vista, or Seven will have these drivers already integrated into the operating system.

I use photobucket, its free and halfway decent.
After you upload an image, just copy the link and insert it into the picture icon.

K-TRON

 

Don't you have any vista installation disks?
Or win7?

Otherwise, do what K-TRON said about load the SATA drivers during the xp installation.

 

ok this is the pic of the leftmost side of my lappy. ok K-tron i got a pic on that site you linked, how do i get the link ?

 

heres a pic of it, i hope it works...

http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt300/vek2001glm/102_1900-1.jpg

 

those wires are for the TV Tuner card... which you do not have.

so the connectors for them should be covered up with some clear plastic nubs.

 

there it is again

 

how do u know i dont have that ?

 

i can see that the mini-PCI slot (the left one) is empty... which is where the TV Tuner card is placed.

the mini-PCI card on the right is your wireless card.

 

ok, i think i see what your talking about

 

so do you see any of this stuff Gophn?

 

this is the right side

 

I know what K-Tron is talking about.

I own the same chassis of that D900 generation.

you have to remove the plastic strip (with the power button and hotkeys) to get to the LCD cable on the top left side.

 

yep, i did remove those connectors and i also reconnect them

 

ok i removed bios bat. and now im going to attempt boot up and get into my bios. once i get there, whats my next step....obviously resetting, but is there anything else to check before I do that?

 

if your system boots up pretty fast... then its looking good.

get your XP going and do some stress tests while monitoring the temps

 

ok made it to my bios....like i said before im not a laptop guru so what would be the first thing to check or do while in my bios setup ?

 

Change the boot order so that Cdrom or dvdrom is first.

Then you can boot off of your windows installation disk.

 

in the BIOS... there is not much to do usually:
- set your HDD Mode to ATA/IDE if you have IDE hard drives or SATA/AHCI if you have SATA hard drives
- set your Time and Date (important to go on websites, if you are wondering)
- set your Boot Order: DVD/CD drive should be first if you want to install the OS

 

ok i got my dvdrom 1st, so now u suggest i boot off my windows disc....? are you suggesting a reformatting the HD ?

 

my options are either raid or ata mode, right now its in raid mode

 

right now i have IDEO_M: PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-K16-( as number 1 in boot priority then its.....

USB FDC
PCI SCSI
IDEO_S
PCI LAN


the USB HDD and USB CDROM are excluded from the boot order.....

 

do you have more than 1 HDD installed?

If not, I don't see why you need raid.

 

i took the other one out, but i probably should put it back in huh....? I think i will, but ill probably need help with setting it up as this would be my first time doing so.

 

I suggest installing windows onto the new HDD.

 

if i put the other HDD in should i set it to ata mode instead ?

 

Ok, can you try this for me:

1. Put in the HDD with the files you want to save.
2. set ata mode.
3. boot safe mode again.

 

ok, i really want to do that also, so should i leave my old HDD in or take it out ?

 

Just test with one HDD for now, while you try to save your files.

 

i dont have any files on the old HDD, as they got destroyed already, no worries though.

 

im still have to press control alt delete a couple times to get my lappy up and running.....thats what i been trying to do for the last couple minutes

 

i do have a vista upgrade disc, but xp is needed to install it. is it some way possible to use this vista disc anyway for the new HDD?

 

Try booting from the vista disk and see how it goes.

I don't like the part about you having to constantly press control alt delete.
Can you check your ram?

 

yeah, i removed my ram and put them back in...

right now im doing a clean install of xp on my or HDD. its at 92% formatting so i dont know how much luck ill have with that. and before i started i tried to start in safe mode and all the prompts came up again just like i stated earlier.

 

i just noticed today, it looked like i had 4 slots in there for ram, i only have 2 gig in, so i hope my problems are very minor so i can get that extra to gig.

 

getting the extra gig of RAM would not do too much since that system is capped at ~2.4GB.... due to the chipset limitations.