Laptop won't boot even to bios and blank screen

[melatonin]

Out of nowhere my laptop won't boot up. It powers on, fan starts, and the dvd drive works but the screen is blank (no power), no beeps, leds for the wifi and power are on and solid and it won't even start to the bios.

I plugged the laptop into an external monitor and the monitor is blank as well. I tried a hard reset and tested the HDD.

The only thing I can think of is that the system was giving a CMOS battery warning (dying) but that wouldn't keep the laptop from booting.

Any ideas?

 

[Ketchup]

Explain the hard drive - you took it out and tested it, or you got into the BIOS and tested it?

Take out a stick of RAM at a time if more than one and see if things change.

If that doesn't work take out the battery and run it off the wall.

And yes, if the CMOS battery were dead, the laptop would still boot up and operate with default BIOS settings (and a really odd date. lol).

 

[denis280]

Also check the hdd conection.

 

[melatonin]

HDD was tested in an external case...the laptop won't start up the bios.

Laptop was also tested without a HDD connected. No change.

HDD connection is solid.

RAM was tested one at a time and working RAM from another machines used, no changes.

 

[denis280]

HDD was tested in an external case...the laptop won't start up the bios.

Laptop was also tested without a HDD connected. No change.

HDD connection is solid.

RAM was tested one at a time and working RAM from another machines used, no changes.

OK. now lets get in more detail.what brand and model is the laptop.and what os are you running

 

[Matt1970]

HDD was tested in an external case...the laptop won't start up the bios.

Laptop was also tested without a HDD connected. No change.

HDD connection is solid.

RAM was tested one at a time and working RAM from another machines used, no changes.

Only 2 other things to try. Take out the DVD drive. It's rare that it would cause it to not boot but it does happen. Also take the battery out, unplug the AC adaptor and hold the power button for 30 seconds. If those don't fix it then it's your motherboard. You have eliminated everything else at that point.

 

[inachu]

Only 2 other things to try. Take out the DVD drive. It's rare that it would cause it to not boot but it does happen. Also take the battery out, unplug the AC adaptor and hold the power button for 30 seconds. If those don't fix it then it's your motherboard. You have eliminated everything else at that point.

Very true. What you stated is called a cold reset.

A cold reset juices out the motherboard and nic card and video card and so forth.


I get bad vibes reading this thread. I think his power is good as well as other hardware parts but per that youtube video of a man taking his laptop apart to find a large city of roaches moved in to stay warm.

 

[corkyg]

My brother had a similar experience. He flies, and the laptop was usually on the cockpit floor. Over time, vibration caused the CPU to become unseated. He sent it to the OEM, the CPU was reseated and it fixed everything.

 

[inachu]

My brother had a similar experience. He flies, and the laptop was usually on the cockpit floor. Over time, vibration caused the CPU to become unseated. He sent it to the OEM, the CPU was reseated and it fixed everything.

Must have been a 2 seater

 

[melatonin]

Only 2 other things to try. Take out the DVD drive. It's rare that it would cause it to not boot but it does happen. Also take the battery out, unplug the AC adaptor and hold the power button for 30 seconds. If those don't fix it then it's your motherboard. You have eliminated everything else at that point.

I would have to remove 75% of the laptop to remove the DVD drive. Also, I did the hard reset/cold reset several times and it was a no go.

OK. now lets get in more detail.what brand and model is the laptop.and what os are you running

HP Pavilion G4 and Win7.

 

[Steltek]

I would have to remove 75% of the laptop to remove the DVD drive.

Uh, no you don't. There is very little disassembly required to remove the DVD drive on a G4. Flip it upside down, and remove the battery, then the two screws screws holding the middle bottom center panel on. Pop that panel off. You'll see the hard drive, memory, and part of the metal laptop frame. At the end of the hard drive, there is a single screw you have to remove that locks the installed DVD drive to the laptop frame. Remove that screw, and you should be able to carefully shove the DVD drive a little from inside the compartment to separate it from the power and SATA plugs. Once you get it started, it should pull right out of the laptop.

Altogether, it takes about 30 seconds worth of work to do it. Literally, it takes longer to describe it than to actually do it.

Here is a video detailing what you need to do (Youtube can be your best friend in working on a laptop if you've never done it before):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_kA60CTkEk

 

[melatonin]

I removed the DVD drive and it still didn't boot.

 

[Steltek]

Based upon what you've done to present, things aren't looking good. At this point, I agree with Matt1970 that you probably have a bad motherboard as you've checked just about everything else.

Out of curiosity, what happens if you power the machine without any memory at all installed? Do you get any beep codes or flashing lights?