Sick laptop question
 

My wife's HP Pavilon z13000 refuses to load. When the 'on' button is pushed,
the hard drive spins fora few seconds then stops. The ROM bios screen does not appear and the POST test does not complete (no beeps at all). I tried getting to the ROM bios by pushing F10; tried booting from a bood disk, etc and nada. It is (was) running XP Home.
I would think in may be a power supply problem?

Any suggestions for a repair? Is it best to call HP and send it for a factory repair, or is there a better placeto contact? It was fairly expensive a few years ago (1800) and could serve as an extra at home.

If you do not have a warranty then buying a new laptop could be cheaper.

To me if the HDD starts spinning and then stops then it is probably not an HDD problem. Its either a controller issue or HDD failure. I am not an expert, just that I had an HP omnibook from 02 to 05, had a three year warranty and had to send it seven times during the three years.

This doesn't sound like a HD failure--those don't show up until after the POST is complete.

Most power supply problems show up even earlier than this, the supply doesn't stabilize in time and the board shuts down.

That basically leaves the MB as the culprit--and even if you can get one it's unlikely to be economic on a machine that old.

I've actually seen laptops with memory failures act like this. If there are 2 SODIMMS, try removing 1 of the 2. Then swap the 2 SODIMMS and try it. SOME laptops will boot with no SODIMMS if there is soldered memory on the system board.

Graphics/Display card?

I've got a mostly dead laptop right now that exibited similar symptoms, and one of the times I got it to boot, the Windows problem reporting thingy came up and told me there was a problem with my graphics card.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I tried the SODIMM thing and did not get anywhere.

I also thought of the graphics card or screen, but figured I would have gotten further on in the startup process.

When you plug in the power supply, does the charging or power light
come on?

It could be the power adapter. If it dead, the battery might not be
charged enough to turn the system on all the way.

I generally agree the MB or the CMOS may be the issue. You can check the hard drive condition by taking it out of the laptop and attaching it to one of those 2.5" drive USB cages/enclosures and then try to see its contents on a desktop or another laptop. Chances are you'll view the contents of the drive just fine.

It could be the power supply, but in my experience, a faulty PS doesn't even get the system to start.

You could also test if the display itself is faulty. I've had a couple LCD's go out and easiest way to confirm is to hook it up to an external monitor. You didn't specify if the LCD even shows anything at all, or has some basic logo/splash screen, so I'm presuming the screen itself is just dark.

Also, for memory issues, generally an error message will be displayed during the BIOS/POST if an error is detected.

Some HP laptops do this when they need to be totally reset. There is a certain key sequence (which I don't recall right now) that will clear this up. You might want to look online for HP reset.

I tried a different power adapter and the results were the same. Thanks for trying.

The system really only tries to start. The power light on the laptop comes on and stays on, and the HD spins (light comes on) for about 2 seconds then stops, and the light goes off.

I doubt tring it on an external monitor will work, as the POST never completes (nothing on the screen, ever) and there are no 'beeps' to indacate that the POST has completed. Thanks for trying.

brentley:
Excelent suggestion. I am at work now and the laptop is at home. So, I'll try and find what the reset sequence is and give it a shot when I get home. Thank you!

Edited to add:
I did some searching on the net and came across another thread about a similar problem. Is some cases it was solved by 'resetting', involving removing the RTC battery for a while. I also found a link to a detailed 'Maintenance and Service' manual that did not come with the laptop explaining where everything is and a schematic for troubleshooting.Surprisingly, it appears that there is a separate external cover for the RTC battery, meaning easy access. So, when I get home tonight from work, this will be the first thign I will do.

Update:
I really thoght that this had a shot, but it failed. I pulled the RTC and the regular battery and let them sit overnignt. Then replaced both. The result was the same. The HD spins for about 2 seconds and then stops. I think it probably is the MB. I'll probably try to find an HP repair location. Thanks to everyone for trying.

I am not familiar with the symtoms you list but I am a big believer in periodically reformating the computer HDD, say every 12-24 mo to avoid problems. I also replace the HDD after 36-48 mo. I replaced my Thinkpad T43 HDD last weeking with a new shiny fast 100GB 7200RPM Hitachi ($150). You can get a used 40GB 5400RPM HDD on ebay for about $25 plus S&H (I just did). Itsa cheap fast way to possibly find a solution.

MisterNice

This isn't a matter of bad data on the HD--it's never getting that far.

I have this same problem, power comes on for a few seconds then computer shuts down. Brought it in for repair and the Hard Drive is fine, as suggested I pulled the HD and attached a cable and saved all my data ^
I sent the computer out and will post back when they respond. I think it may be the power supply (internal) and the cooling system.
I see I am not the only one with this problem

My money's on a bad motherboard on Vulcan's.

But his is hanging, not shutting down.

Coming on for a second or two and then shutting down is usually a power supply issue.

(Oh, wow, my first post on here, LOL)

Anyways, based on my experience with dealing with unwell motheboards, I'm suspecting one of two things:

a) Motherboard problem, specifically problem with capacitors or heat sensor on motherboard (some HPs, but particularly Sony Vaios, are bad about caps on the motherboard going bad)

b) *POSSIBLY* an issue with the heatsink not providing enough cooling (either cooling fan not operating or heat compound needs to be replaced)--this is by far a less expensive fix ($5 verses $100 or more depending on age of PC).

(With the laptop starting up then shutting down--as opposed to staying on but not showing any video, or not powering up/erratically powering up--this does point to it being more of a problem with the PC thinking it's overheating)

Depending on your budget, there are a few places that do specialise in this sort of repair, including http://www.ikenfixit.com (usually he will do repairs for $50-300 depending on what exactly needs to be done, with power jack and cap replacement being cheaper).

Another possibility re HP laptops in particular--many HP laptops tend to have the power jacks become loose over time (due to the power cords used putting excessive stress on the jacks), and if this is not corrected in due course this can take out the entire power stage of the motherboard (I've recently had to replace a motherboard on an HP ZE4500 because of this issue).

One good thing on HP motherboards--generally you can find verified working motherboards for around $150 or so for more recent kit and cheaper for older machines, if you either feel adventurous in installing them or know someone who feels comfortable with working with laptops. (Vaio mobos are horrifically expensive--around $500 or so for Pentium III machines; Toshibas are among some of the more economical to restore :))

(Yes, for the record, I've repaired PCs and laptops for work and for fun :3)