dv6000 display issue

[JustInspired]

A long time client of mine has asked me to service her dv6000 laptop (yes, I know!) and upgrade it to Windows 7 from Vista. She has the upgrade disc for Windows 7 that she bought previously but hasn't used yet.
This laptop gets VERY little use and it's in pristine condition. She has the docking station with speakers built in, extended life battery, in other words, quite a lot of money spent some years back.
Runs ok but is a bit slow and fan running continuously.

So, mistakenly I decided to strip it down, clean it etc before doing the upgrade.
This is something we have done MANY times before.
So I disassembled it, checked the heatsink fins - clear, unblocked.
Thermal compound on the CPU hard, needed replacing. Replaced with the good stuff (Arctic Silver) on this one as I know they run hot and have GPU issues.
Thermal pads replaced. We have all of the necessary sizes and thicknesses.
Install motherboard, RAM and display to test. Works fine. 'No operating system found' as expected.
Completed the re-assembly.

Tried to boot back into Windows. Get splash screen for HP, press F10 for BIOS etc, ESC for boot device etc. Then black screen, no cursor, completely blank but an illuminated black if you know what I mean. Happened each time. Hard drive indicator shows activity and I think it's booting to Windows.

What I tried:
External display. Same symptoms - BIOS screen then blank.
Boot from Acronis live CD. Shows the Acronis splash screen then blank when any higher res screen (UI) comes into play.
Removed the battery and charger and held down the power button (magic reset).
Disconnected the CMOS battery for several minutes.
F8 for selection menu - blank screen, no menu appears.

What I haven't tried yet:
Removing the hard drive.
Throwing it hard at the concrete floor!

Sigh. Yes, I know this is a dv6000 yada yada, GPU reballing, throwing it away etc etc.
How do I explain this to the client without looking like I caused it - which I did somehow!
Have I missed something...
Been doing this for a while and it isn't like I made a mistake that I can put my finger on...

 

[NYJimbo]

So, mistakenly I decided to strip it down, clean it etc before doing the upgrade.

Let no good deed go unpunished.

Sorry, that's all I have for you.

 

[JustInspired]

Let no good deed go unpunished.

Sorry, that's all I have for you.

LOL thanks Jimbo.
You know I would have bet money that you'd answer this post. Hehe.

 

[Markverhyden]

Bummer. I hate it when things like that happen. Best intentions, doing the normal thing and then a problem. Was working on a MacMini server upgrade recently. I had unplugged and powered down 2 old LaCie and when I hooked them back up both of the interfaces were bad. Fortunately the drives themselves were ok and I got the data.

1. When you did the external monitor did you have the LCD ribbon cable unplugged from the motherboard?

2. When powering up are you able to stay in BIOS?

3. Are you hearing the XP boot chime?

4. I would take it back to where you had it booting up ok into missing OS and plug the drive in to see how it boots.

5. To be honest it's kind of sounds like it might be an issue with the LCD cable. Have you cracked the lid to reseat it on the lcd? Obviously could be GPU as well. Is this a model with a separate video card?

 

[NYJimbo]

LOL thanks Jimbo.
You know I would have bet money that you'd answer this post. Hehe.

Yeah, I was gonna say a lot of stuff like reseat the LCD cable on the mobo and a dozen other things, but if you see it the same externally then its not likely it.

 

[coffee]

Every time I get one of these I do this:

Boot from a linux cd and see if you can boot to a desktop.

IF NOT:

Hit alt f2 and see if you can get a login prompt. Login per linux flavor instructions and check logs for errors.

OTHERWISE:

Remove all the cover screws and also the ones under the keyboard and then try booting up. You may have a incorrect screw in where its grounding things on the MB.

Test the hard drive for some type of failure.

coffee

 

[nlinecomputers]

Sounds like typ. behavior from a dead GPU on those dv6000. Are you certain that the end user was having no issues with it? Might it be that is was having intermittent issues that she was blaming on Vista?

I flat refuse to work on those units anymore.

 

[coffee]

Sounds like typ. behavior from a dead GPU on those dv6000. Are you certain that the end user was having no issues with it? Might it be that is was having intermittent issues that she was blaming on Vista?

I flat refuse to work on those units anymore.

I work on them. In fact, I do repairs on equipment that other places tell them to buy new laptops / computers. That is how I get new customers and keep my current ones very happy.

A quick look on ebay shows replacement MB's going for 50 bucks or less for that model. We also know that heat is an issue with them. Therefore we are going to rework the cooling system - We use solid copper sheeting as thick as a penny. cut to size of the stupid tampon they use in place of the heat sink compound. We are talking about 1/2 inch in over all size or so. Use some good quality heat sink compound on both sides of the copper shim and your good to go.

Ive got a client that has 3 of these darn things she uses at work and I do keep them going and caution her to have me clean them out about twice a year and inspect components.

@nlinecomputers - Im not bashing you, Im just saying that challenges like this are half the fun of fixing things. However, I can understand your frustation with them. To me, It aggravates me to think how these companies build a pretty darn stupid product and then rip off the customer. You can blame it on NVIDIA all you want but in the end HP built these and they screwed up on testing them.

Hope your having a great night.....

coffee

 

[nlinecomputers]

I work on them. In fact, I do repairs on equipment that other places tell them to buy new laptops / computers. That is how I get new customers and keep my current ones very happy.

A quick look on ebay shows replacement MB's going for 50 bucks or less for that model. We also know that heat is an issue with them. Therefore we are going to rework the cooling system - We use solid copper sheeting as thick as a penny. cut to size of the stupid tampon they use in place of the heat sink compound. We are talking about 1/2 inch in over all size or so. Use some good quality heat sink compound on both sides of the copper shim and your good to go.

Ive got a client that has 3 of these darn things she uses at work and I do keep them going and caution her to have me clean them out about twice a year and inspect components.

@nlinecomputers - Im not bashing you, Im just saying that challenges like this are half the fun of fixing things. However, I can understand your frustation with them. To me, It aggravates me to think how these companies build a pretty darn stupid product and then rip off the customer. You can blame it on NVIDIA all you want but in the end HP built these and they screwed up on testing them.

Hope your having a great night.....

coffee

More work then I am willing to spend on a crap laptop that is outdated.

 

[JustInspired]

Thanks for the input guys. Always appreciated.

It's looking like a RAM or RAM slot fault at the moment. Will post back when I have confirmation...

 

[NYJimbo]

Thanks for the input guys. Always appreciated.

It's looking like a RAM or RAM slot fault at the moment. Will post back when I have confirmation...

Reseating ram is usually the first thing you do after a rebuild doesn't work. Did you do that ?

 

[joydivision]

In my experience with these laptops is they are never worth repairing, they are trouble pits. They should have been sold as heaters.

 

[JustInspired]

Reseating ram is usually the first thing you do after a rebuild doesn't work. Did you do that ?

Yes, did that.

Replaced a questionable RAM module and all seems hunky dory at the moment. Phew!

On second thought, now that I have realized I cannot take this machine any higher than 2GB; I think I will suggest upgrading is to Windows 7 is hardly worth it...

Thanks again for all the input.

 

[Markverhyden]

they are trouble pits.

You mean a hole in the bench that swallows time?

 

[Digital Sage]

I've repaired about three or so of these. The issue with the heat buildup is incredible - I always find a half inch thick piece of felt inside the fan / heat sink assembly. Poor design which ends up boiling the GPU / CPU if left unattended.

It's not just this either. I had a compaq in the other day with the same issue, HP sure know how to make crap. I tell all my clients to steer away from them.

 

[JustInspired]

I've repaired about three or so of these. The issue with the heat buildup is incredible - I always find a half inch thick piece of felt inside the fan / heat sink assembly. Poor design which ends up boiling the GPU / CPU if left unattended.

It's not just this either. I had a compaq in the other day with the same issue, HP sure know how to make crap. I tell all my clients to steer away from them.

HP... supposed meaning: Hewlett Packard
HP... actual meaning: HEAT PROBLEMS

 

[joydivision]

Not seen any modern HPs with heat problems but so many of them are still made out of cheese. Their keyboards for example are just truly awful.

 

[PcTestCard.com]

I would suggest checking all the connection including the ribbon cables, HDD and RAM.
Use a paper rubber to clean the RAM pins on both sides.
also use a cotton stick to get some medical alcohol to clean the RAM slots slightly, please make sure wait for the alcohol to dry out before installing the RAM back.

GPU is still a doubt to check and may need the reflow or reball.
Hope this helps
Bill
Tech Manager

 

[JustInspired]

I would suggest checking all the connection including the ribbon cables, HDD and RAM.
Use a paper rubber to clean the RAM pins on both sides.
also use a cotton stick to get some medical alcohol to clean the RAM slots slightly, please make sure wait for the alcohol to dry out before installing the RAM back.

GPU is still a doubt to check and may need the reflow or reball.
Hope this helps
Bill
Tech Manager

If it comes back into the workshop we'll try that. [emoji1]