Stumped on laptop repair

sozbox

Hit a bit of a wall with this one.

I've an ASUS X50RL laptop that has stopped working. When it's powered on, the screen remains blank yet the harddrive and optical drive appear to be powered on, ruling out a motherboard issue.

So far, I've replaced the CMOS battery, the CPU fan and tested the hard drive in another computer (it works fine) yet the issue persists.

Anyone have any ideas on where to go next?

unkel

So nothing at all comes up on the screen, is that right? But you hear the hard drive spinning and the fan is coming on too?

Jason1984 wrote: »

So far, I've replaced the CMOS battery, the CPU fan and tested the hard drive in another computer (it works fine)

I'm not sure why you did these things, none of them are consistent with the symptoms you're having

There's also no way to rule out a motherboard issue yet!

First port of call would be to hook up an external monitor. If your laptop is only a few years old it likely has a hdmi port, so you can connect it to a TV (that's not much older than 5/6 years)

If that gives you a picture, then there is something wrong with your laptops screen (could be the lcd, inverter or just one of the connections)

If it doesn't, re-seat the memory.

No better? Feel the cpu cooling assembly. Is it loose? Is it less warm than it should be? Then take it off, clean it, re-apply thermal paste and assemble it again

Still no luck, chances are there is a problem with your motherboard...

sozbox

Thanks for the reply! Correct, HDD spins up fine and optical drive too but screen remains blank.

I've just connected it to an external monitor also and nothing appears there either, I'll try the other suggestions and see if they help.

Edit - the old fan didn't spin up so that's why I changed it, the new one doesn't work either!

unkel

Forgot to say, did you try it with the external PSU connected and the battery taken out? I've seen several cases where a dodgy battery prevented a laptop from booting

Jason1984 wrote: »

Edit - the old fan didn't spin up so that's why I changed it, the new one doesn't work either!

That's not unusual. Some laptop fans do not come on at all until a certain temperature is reached

Dubwat

http://www.pchelpforum.com/xf/threads/help-my-acer-aspire-5535-broken-wont-turn-on-blank-screen.106475/

Your symptoms sound similar to mine!

I am NOT a computer expert but I got an old Asus Aspire 5535 recently that supposedly had a broken screen. I figured a few quid for a new screen and I'd have a cheap laptop to put linux/ubuntu/mint on it. Got it home and it worked! Worked ok for a day and I got everything updated Micorsoft-wise. Of course, next day, it was broken again.

Found the thread linked above (one of many). Seems the graphics card/GPU doesn't bond well with the motherboard (?) and it needs resetting/resealing (NOT a computer expert). Gonna get a quote this week to see how much to fix it.

sozbox

Progress! Re-seated the RAM and it booted up to this screen:



It didn't recognise any keyboard input however.

unkel

Did the keyboard not respond to F2 or F1?

Did you give it a minute?

Did you try another keyboard (USB)?

You need to get into the BIOS (with F2) so you can set the date / time. These were reset to factory defaults when you changed the CMOS battery

sozbox

No response from the keyboard,even after a minute, I'll try a USB one and reset the dates as suggested.

The thing is, this screen no longer comes up on boot, I didn't change a thing,
re-set the unit once or twice and it just stopped appearing and I've been unable to get it back.
Just before the last reboot it started to get fuzzy:

sozbox

Upon a few more boot attempts it seems to boot up randomly, each time the screen will start to get fuzzy at various stages:

Initial start-up screen



If I get past that and into the BIOS



After I exit the BIOS





Those are 3 different boots where I was able to progress to 3 different stages before the same thing happened. I'm close to selling it for parts at this stage, thank you all for your replies so far!

zenno

Not sure if you moved the camera while taking the photo but if they are artifacts and also looking at the screen blue/coloured squares seems to me it is a graphics card failure.

You need a new graphics card/fix.

HelpWithIT

As Zenno says, your GPU needs to be resoldered to motherboard via a reflow or reballing, no other cure for it I'm afaraid!!

unkel

RepairMyPC wrote: »

your GPU needs to be resoldered to motherboard via a reflow or reballing

If the keyboard does not respond at all, the problem is not just the GPU. It would be a complete waste of money to have the GPU reballed if the motherboard is faulty. OP - do not get this done until you are pretty sure this is the only problem!!!

OP - did you make sure when you re-assembled the laptop after replacing the fan / cmos battery that the keyboard was connected back to the motherboard properly? Did you try an external keyboard?

HelpWithIT

unkel wrote: »

If the keyboard does not respond at all, the problem is not just the GPU. It would be a complete waste of money to have the GPU reballed if the motherboard is faulty. OP - do not get this done until you are pretty sure this is the only problem!!!

OP - did you make sure when you re-assembled the laptop after replacing the fan / cmos battery that the keyboard was connected back to the motherboard properly? Did you try an external keyboard?

Drawing from my vast experience in seeing this problem.. The pics reveal lol the symptoms of a GPU failure, the reason why his keyboard failed in earlier pics is indicates that the GPU probably failed just after boot.. either way most repair shops will work on a no fix no fee basis and once problem is diagnosed will then give customer a quote on the fix and will offer a warranty

unkel

RepairMyPC wrote: »

The pics reveal lol the symptoms of a GPU failure

Agreed. That one is pretty obvious

RepairMyPC wrote: »

Tthe reason why his keyboard failed in earlier pics is indicates that the GPU probably failed just after boot..

Nah, I'm not buying that. The keyboard is completely unresponsive from what we are told. This is unrelated to the GPU failure...

HelpWithIT

unkel wrote: »

Agreed. That one is pretty obvious



Nah, I'm not buying that. The keyboard is completely unresponsive from what we are told. This is unrelated to the GPU failure...

I was offering just helpful suggestion to what I thought the obvious problem was, but I don't want this turning into a a chest beating exercise so I wish him well on fixing the problem and look forward to seeing how he got it resolved (-;

HelpWithIT

Apologies for grammar and spelling but predictive text on my phone has a mindeof it's own (-;

sozbox

Hi all,
thanks for the replies, much appreciated!

Just on the keyboard issue, an external keyboard works fine, as suggested and upon inspection, I didn't reconnect the main keyboard when I was replacing the fan so that answers that issue.

Is there any way I can repair the GPU issue myself?

Joeface

There is always the (disclaimer : I AM NOT RESPONSABLE IF YOU F UP ) oven trick.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hardware-components-aftermarket-upgrades/437683-kind-guide-how-bake-your-gpu-fun-profit.html

its not a permanent fix but can work for a while. best I have seen is approx 10months on a laptop before the fail re occurs. Usually see this with the older Nvidia GFX chips 8600 and 8800 models.

sozbox

Joeface wrote: »

There is always the (disclaimer : I AM NOT RESPONSABLE IF YOU F UP ) oven trick.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hardware-components-aftermarket-upgrades/437683-kind-guide-how-bake-your-gpu-fun-profit.html

its not a permanent fix but can work for a while. best I have seen is approx 10months on a laptop before the fail re occurs. Usually see this with the older Nvidia GFX chips 8600 and 8800 models.

I did this earlier, stripped down the motherboard and put it in the oven for 8 mins at 200oC. Re-assembled and it booted to the desktop without any graphical glitches.

I used it without issue for a few hours and then shut down.

Now it is refusing to boot again! I may just buy a new motherboard at this stage if I can get one for around 50 bucks.

HelpWithIT

[won1984;82847258]

I did this earlier, stripped down the motherboard and put it in the oven for 8 mins at 200oC. Re-assembled and it bootmayed to the desktop without any graphical glitches.

I used it without issue for a few hours and then shut down.

Now it is refusing to boot again! I may just buy a new motherboard at this stage if I can get one for around 50 bucks.[/Quote]
It's the same problem with game consoles as well, they use lead free solder which over time cracks and lifts causing the GPU problem.. oven trick and some liquid flux and you may get some time out of it.. replacement board will have same lead free solder so you are better off and it costs less to get either a reflow or re ball done

sozbox

Re-assembled the machine again (in case I missed to connect something) and it's now booting and working fine!

It no longer has sound, all drivers are ok so I am guessing this is a hardware side effect caused by the oven perhaps.

Thank you all for the diagnosis, it was spot on! I'll live without the sound and hope to get another 6 months out of it.

HelpWithIT

Jason1984 wrote: »

Re-assemblesne again (in case I missed to connect something) and it's now booting and working fine!

It no longer has sound, all drivers are ok so I am guessing this is a hardware side effect caused by the oven perhaps.

Thank you all for the diagnosis, it was spot on! I'll live without the sound and hope to get another 6 months out of it.

You can buy a PCMIA or express slot sound card pretty cheap on eBay and use it (-;

riclad

usb sound cards are cheaper than pcmia ones .
see http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/774/xx/xx/103/9/criteresn.html#aj-s-774/amount-low=0,amount-min=0,amount-high=15066,amount-max=1
test usb port before you buy one.
the pcb section that connects with the sound chip may have a dry joint,that needs resoldering.

Joeface

not sure what way the speakers connect on that model , but could be just a poor contact again.

especially if it is a ribbon cable connector , might be worth open one last time .

sozbox

Joeface wrote: »

not sure what way the speakers connect on that model , but could be just a poor contact again.

especially if it is a ribbon cable connector , might be worth open one last time .

THe speakers connect via a ribbon cable however sound isn't heard through the headphone port either which leads me to think it's not the ribbon but rather something on the board that has been damaged.

I've a USB card connected now and the sound is fine but would be nice to fix the issue.

Might open it up one more time this weekend.

zenno

Just check every tiny ribbon cable on the mobo "twice" to make absolutely sure everything is in order. I'm sure someone here can then troubleshoot the problem to get it back working. Good luck.