Just recently my laptop stopped booting up all together
I have a Voodoo M515 laptop, about 1 year old. Just recently, it stopped booting up all together. I turn the power on, the fans engage and a few indicator lights come on. It is not even attempting to boot up. I have tried an external monitor. I called their tech support and they suggested it may have been the motherboard going bad. I replaced the motherboard and nothing was resolved, so I sent that board back. What is strange is that even when the power is ‘on,’ I am unable to even open the DVD/CD drive. I tried taking out one of the RAM bars because I was told that it would beep if that was the problem. It is apparently not, because nothing different happened. Could it be the processor or the video card? Maybe a power issue? I know that my battery isn’t holding a charge, it must be plugged in to function. The cost for me to send it back to Voodoo far supersedes the value of the laptop at this point. My only hope is to pinpoint the problem and do it myself, which would require a hearty nudge in the right direction. Any guidance is greatly appreciated.
Here’s what you can try.
Make sure that the AC adapter outputs correct voltage. It’s possible that the adapter is bad and doesn’t provide enough power to boot up the laptop. Find a multimeter and test it. Try starting the laptop from the AC power without the battery installed. On most laptops the battery connects directly to the motherboard and if the battery fails badly, it might cause the entire system to stop booting.
Also it could be just a failed memory module. Who said that the laptop will beep if there is no memory? I’ve seen hundreds laptop and only few of them give you a beep error if the memory is missing. In most cases the laptop without memory module just will not boot up. I would recommend testing the laptop with a known good memory module. It can fix the problem. If you have two memory slots, move the memory module from the slot A into the slot B and test again.
Could it be the processor? Yes, it could be but from my experience laptop processors fail very rarely. I’ve been working with laptops for almost two years and repaired hundreds on them, but so far I’ve seen not more then 7-8 failed CPUs. May be I’m just lucky.
Could it be the video card? I don’t think so. You still should see some signs of life even with a failed video card. Not sure 100%.
When I have a laptop with a problem like yours and nothing help I usually take it apart completely and assemble it outside the laptop base. For this test I minimize the system as much as possible. Only three major parts are needed: the system board, the CPU (with cooling module) and the memory. After everything is connected, I hook up an external monitor, plug the AC adapter and turn it on. If I can boot the system with video output on the external screen then nothing is wrong with my major parts and I assemble the laptop back, testing after each step. If I cannot get any video and the system is still “dead”, then one of three major parts is damaged and here you just have to use test parts to find with one is failing. If you don’t have any spare parts, you’ll have to guess.
November 14th, 2007 at 5:37 pm
Laptop Freak thanks for the info but the laptop is still in Iraq. So shipping is not what we want to do and if he is going to ship it, it would be best for him to ship it to Toshiba, Then to ship it to me and have me take it to the Toshiba dealer. Is there any way to make somethig like what the pro’s use that he could make and just clear it? I mean Someone has to know what to do to clear it
November 14th, 2007 at 11:09 am
Hello, I’m a soldier currently deployed in Mosul, Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom. I bought a Toshiba Satellite P205-S6287 laptop from the px back in may. I hate toshiba’s but that is all the px sells. Last night I was on using it and everything was working fine. Keep in mind I keep it maintained very well. I shut it down properly and went to chow. I come back and when I hit the power button the screen remains black, does not flicker, the power indicator blue light comes on and stays on, for a second the rom light will flicker but stop, I can hear the cd drive try to read a disk and the cooling fan start but nothing happens. The screen is black, the power light stays on and the fan runs. NOTHING WILL HAPPEN. The cd tray will eject and if I close it again it will try and read anything I insert. If I plug in the AC adapter the external power indicator light will come on as well. What do I do? Sending this laptop somewhere to get fixed and not knowing what needs to be replaced or what will be a tradegy due to the amount of mailing and shipping. Any ideas. This is a huge deal being in a combat zone with little to no comfort and having my laptop die. Please help me. You can email me at john.w.dawson@us.army.mil or reply here. I’ll try and check up as quickly as possible. Thanks for you’re time
November 13th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
Tom,
You can take the laptop to the local authorized repair center, it’s not necessary to mail it to Toshiba. Removing the BIOS password from a Satellite A105 doesn’t take a lot of time.
November 13th, 2007 at 4:02 pm
Hello I have a Toshiba Satellite A105-S2201 I got for my sun who is in the war it powered it self off and then when he started it back up It had a “BIOS PASSWORD” on it. Toshiba said they would fix it for free but he would have to mail it, then I would have to take it to them. that will take forever. So does anyone know a way around the password? it has an eeprom to back up the cmos Toshiba said they have a divce to by pass it so maybe someone knows a way to make one??
November 8th, 2007 at 10:12 pm
Kevin,
Does it look like the Dell screen on this example?
If it does, probably the screen has a faulty backlight lamp.
November 7th, 2007 at 10:03 pm
I have a HP laptop which when I boot the color on the screen turns red instant of black and I’ve tried everything but could resolve the problem.
If there is a way can you help or tell me.
Kind regards
Kevin
September 29th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
Deepti,
If you have installed an extra memory module into this laptop, remove the module and test the laptop again. It could be related to a faulty memory module.
I cannot tell you how much motherboard replacement will cost you because the price will be different for different repair shops. I would say you are looking at least at USD500.
September 28th, 2007 at 7:37 am
Hi,
I have a HP Pavillion zv5000 (AMD) which I had bought from swiss..The battery was over so I was using it direct ..suddenly it has stopped booting , only the LEDs glow. I showed to a small vendor as HP was too far off and he said he needs to change the mother board and is asking arnd 15k. Please suggest and help on this. If any body has clue what the exact problem is and in case the mother board needs to be replaced then what wud be the estimated cost. Attaching an external monitor dint show any results..
I’ll be highly obliged if you cud mail me the response.
September 6th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
Hey, I recently got a Toshiba Satellite A105-S2201, not sure how old it is, but it was used. When I booted it up the first time, it loaded up just fine and everything. It has XP Home on it. But after like 5-10 mins while I was looking through some settings, it shut itself off. Now every time I go to boot it up, it will only stay on for 10-15 seconds, and shuts itself off again. I’ve tried booting into Safe Mode..get the same result, same with pulling up utilities and boot menu…it even does it when I just let it sit on the password screen. Any idea what it could be? I’ve checked my battery too, and its working fine, so. ANy help you could give would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Chris
August 18th, 2007 at 8:18 am
Hi all-
I have a T40 runnig WIN XP PRO x32. I have intermittent problems on boot. The only signs of life are, the spinning fans, the HDD making sounds, the ‘power on light’, and the ‘battery light’. I’ve only had this problem restarting the computer. If its a fresh powerup after a doy of being off, it boots fine. Any suggestions to what this might be?
Thanks,
John Mark
August 3rd, 2007 at 6:30 pm
Hello all, I hope somebody out there can help me with this. I have a toshiba satellite M35X laptop that I got in ‘04 as a christmas present. Already my dad and I have soldered the power jack (about a year ago when the problem got out of hand) and I have noticed overheating when using the laptop. However my question is this: recently, I get a black screen when I turn the power on. The AC cord is plugged in and it doesn’t matter whether or not the battery is in, I still get a black screen. Additionally, the CD/DVD slot won’t open. I have noticed a green light (which usually lights up when the computer boots up) doesn’t go on or kick in like it usually does when I boot the laptop up. Aside from dusting out the air intake, are there any other possible causes/solutions to this problem??
Any help at all is appreciated.
PS. This is a great website. I never knew so many people were the same kinds of problems that I’ve been having with mine.
July 28th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
Ivan,
Minimize the laptop as much as you can. Remove all devices you can access such as battery, DVD drive, hard drive, wireless card, modem, etc… Plug the AC adapter and try turning it on. If the laptop still fails to start, you might have a problem with the motherboard (more likely) or the processor (less likely). You’ll have to replace the motherboard.
July 26th, 2007 at 8:35 pm
Dear Laptop Freak,
I have a japanese toshiba dynabook px-410dl. Recently, it just dead and stop booting up. The power and charger led are on only when I press the power button. It light for around 5 seconds then nothing happens at all. It just not powering up and booting up. I have try to swap the memory as well as putting new memory, putting new hard drive, tested the ac adapter etc. Do you have solution for it?
May 23rd, 2007 at 2:04 pm
Hi LaptopF,
I have a Toshiba Tecra A4 around 20 months old, when i first purchased it i also bought an extra 1gig ram also. The laptop has always had problems with overheating but i was able to increase air flow underneath the laptop to stop it just shutting down but it still got very hot at times.
Anyway, a week ago i came to turn on my Laptop, it would get past the POST screen – then go blank before it could get onto the XP loading screen. I tried removing and interchanging the RAM – but that didnt solve anything. I suspected it may be the HDD, but i was able to reformat via the recovery CD and dl HD tuner which gave results suggesting my HDD was ok. Anyway, after a one prolonged session on windows i shut it down. Next day – same problem, except this time it gets past the POST screen and gives me the options for safe mode, start normally etc – no matter what option the screen would go black again and nothing would happen before it could reach the XP loading screen. I stick in the recovery CD again, once again able to reformat and get on windows again. I dl/d the BIOS update from Toshiba’s site – it automatically wants to reboot (which my PC will never do because it needs to be cool to boot up). I wait an hour or so, but now it gets to the POST screen and gets no further – does not respond – cant get the CD drive via C, cant get onto BIOS. I’m very lost at the moment and any help would be much appreciated!!
April 23rd, 2007 at 4:04 am
I have a Dell latitude D610 that stopped working. When you power on, the green LED lights up along with the HDD light. Thats it. The lights will go off in about three seconds.
I have tried powering on with the adaptor alone, with battery removed, but no use.
I have changed the DIMM from slot A to B, but in vain.
funny thing is the laptop started again a week back(i keep trying to power on every day)the screen lit upm windows XP started up but in between the laptop shut down again.
since then it is continuing its hibernation.
Please advice.
March 20th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
Similiar problem but laptop, Toshiba Satellite Pro 4200 series,Upon start boots up properly and after 2 mins will rteboot it self again and keep on doing this. Sometimes it will boot up and work until a extra firm touch is placed anywhere the unit or the key board. Have not opened it up yet but would like some ideas before I do.
March 13th, 2007 at 7:51 pm
Hello, I have an IBM Thinkpad R40 (2682-NU2) that recently shut down abruptly while playing a DVD and hasn’t turned on since. I’ve tried turning it on with/without battery and AC adapter. I’ve tried switching the memory modules. I took it for a diagnostic test at a laptop repair shop and was told that the integrated video on the motherboard was broken, and that the entire motherboard would have to be replaced. The laptop isn’t worth a new motherboard and so I’d like to try to fix the video chip myself. I would really appreciate any suggestions or resources! Thanks in advance!
March 5th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
Terri 13th,
Test the laptop with an external screen. If the same green dots appear on the external monitor, you have a problem with the motherboard/video card.
March 1st, 2007 at 10:56 am
Sorry but can’t find my prob in any posts–my sony vaio vgn-fj160p is stuck on windows xp screen on boot up–the green dots just keep going across in that elongated, sideways oval thing mid screen. This will go on for minutes, till lap top shuts down. This happens in all safe mode options, also. How can I get past this window to trouble shoot problem?
February 19th, 2007 at 6:57 pm
Hi I have a Gateway MX3560 laptop and everything’s working but the CD/DVD Player/DVD Burner will not open. I went in and tried to burn a CD and it said that no CD Burner or Burner software can be found. The same thing happened with the DVD. The little light that on the CD drive that’s usually green is off but there’s a orange light that’s glowing from underneath the CD drive. It was working last night and I don’t know what happened.
February 19th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
Hi,I have a problem with my Packerd Bell,it starts to load windows and the fan and hd start to slow down then windows stops loading.I restart the laptop again each time i do this it loads a bit further until it reaches starting windows then again the fan starts to slow down and stops.any help would be great
February 19th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
I have a Toshiba TE2000 It will not boot. When I press the power button the CD rom led flashes then goes off. I have swapped memory, CD drive and battery.
On a rare occassion it will boot if i pull the powere in and out a few times.
February 17th, 2007 at 2:40 am
I have an Asus Z71V and I consider myself VERY good with computers. I took apart a Toshiba Satellite M35 to upgrade the video chip with a new Geforce go 420 /W extra memory soldered on. So imagine how baffled I was when, after applying new thermal grease to the video card and CPU heatsinks, My Asus simply refused to boot. The power comes on, but NOTHING comes up on the display. This scares me because a while back my bud (whom we’ll just call Ray) Ray touched his screwdriver to an inductor (4R7 I believe) and a small spark occured. His Vaio exhibited IDENTICAL symptoms and I fear that maybe since some SMD’s retain an electrical charge even after the AC adapter and battery have been removed, I may have had a small spark and not noticed it. In any event, I hope you can help me, GREAT SITE. One last thing… I put the laptop back together sans myriad screws, as I usually do… could this have anything to do with it? Maybe some of the screws acted as grounding devices and caused a malscrewup? Just a thought.
February 15th, 2007 at 7:52 pm
gary,
I think you have either a bad switchboard or motherboard problem. I’ve published your question here.
February 14th, 2007 at 6:16 pm
I have a HP pavillion ze4325 that will not turn on. The AC adapter has been checked out as good and the AC power light comes on but the computer will not turn on with AC or battery. No sound, no power on light, nothing. Any ideas as to what might be wrong?
February 14th, 2007 at 12:01 am
Su,
NEC Versa P8100. Unplug the power cord, remove the battery, press and hold down the power button for about 30 seconds. Plug the power cord and try turning it on.
NEC Versa M540. Check out my Toshiba laptop disassembly guides, maybe replacing the keyboard on you laptop will be similar. I don’t work with NECs and cannot give you step-by-step instructions.
February 13th, 2007 at 1:25 am
Not sure if this is where I should post my question but anyway here goes.
I have a problem with two laptops. The first, a NEC Versa P8100, will not power up. It has been in use for about a year and I left it on yesterday and was out for about four hours, I came back and it just wouldn’t start up. The green rocessor light comes on for about 1sec then goes on. It still refuses to power up. I have been advised not to open it up, what do you think?
The second laptop, a NEC Versa M540, has lost some of its keys so I would like to replace the keyboard. How do I go about that? I can’t seem to find any site that gives a description on opening and replacing a NEC keyboard, a website or detailed instruction will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
February 12th, 2007 at 12:09 am
Hi, I have a Compaq Evo N1050v and it won’t boot as well, it starts up and the power light goes on but the HDD light doesn’t and there’s absolutely no display, just a dark screen with no backlight. I can open the DVD ROM tray and I can hear the fans working when it boots but then it just seems too stop. There are no beeping noises or warnings. I was busy using it when it just seemed to restart by itself but then stopped at a black screen. Can anyone please help me?
February 11th, 2007 at 6:22 pm
Checked on that, the fans are working and the cpu temperature doesn’t go above 50C. One of the fans is right above the chipset, so i don’t get why the video is giving those errors and freezing.
I guess this is some voltage related problem, maybe the overall system power is not constantly stable due to some DC converter problems still. Is that possible?
February 11th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
André Arruda,
maybe it’s a heat related problem? Check out if the fan is spinning, maybe the repair guy forgot to plug it in. Can you hear the fan spinning?