HP Pavilion does not Boot AT ALL!!

[reen.blom]

I tried to switch on my HP pavillion dv6000, all the lights go on, bot nothing happens on the screen at all, it does not even go to BIOS. After several seconds the lights flash- it restarts and the story repeats over and over again. There is no beeps or anything. it is just dead. :'-(

Last time I switched it off it was fine. From the very beginning it would give trouble- it sometime would not start, so i had to take out the battery and then put it back in, and then it would start. Now nothing seems to help. I have tried:

• taking out battery butting it back with power cable in and out
• trying sto start up without battery on the adapter only
• taking out RAM and sticking it back in
• disconnecting hard drive, honitor, etc and plugging it back in

What could be the problem? Somebody, help please!:icon_cry:

[fren]

I think your ACPI feature is not enabled in the bios. Take the battery out and then put it back in. Start then enter bios setup.

[reen.blom]

I think your ACPI feature is not enabled in the bios. Take the battery out and then put it back in. Start then enter bios setup.

Have done that as well. Nothing comes up on the screen, it just keeps restarting. The hardrive spins up and DVD-rom as well. The CPU fan also starts up, later on it switches off- it is that AMD's lownoise CPU temperature feature, Obviously CPU does not heat up. Well it restarts before then obviously.

:-( The scary thing is that it worked ok, and then all of a sudden- NOTHING.

I wonder if something died all of a sudden. Because it does not go into the bios. And it is not the screen because I tried connecting it to external monitor. Nothing .

:'(

[fren]

I think it's a video problem. I am not familiar with your laptop but some video boards in different laptops pop up from their connector on the system board. Try pushing it back in place.

[reen.blom]

Nopes, as tight as it can be.

I wonder why it does not go to BIOS, not displays POST. Can it be that BIOS went faulty?I mean the chip itself?(there was no attempts to flash it).

[Master_Vos]

It's a stupid remark but who knows it helps...
Maybe the CPU chip and the heatsink above it don't touch each other very well so the temperature rises massively when you boot the computer. If you really unplugged everything already, i think it's worth trying to take off the CPU fan + heatsink and check the cooling paste ( maybe add a bit if necessary).

There are no special beeps that could alert you?

I had a similar problem once and the cause of that was high mobo + CPU temperatures. But in your case i would also think it's the AGP card tbh.

[reen.blom]

Thank you Master_Vos

But this thing has temperature detection, and the fact that the fan spins up and stops after a while indicates that the CPU does not heat up at all.

I have read somewhere that ceirain HP laptops ha ve issues with BIOS and it has to be updated. Mine was not. And now that the BIOS chip can not be replaced without replacing the motherboard.... it looks like it is going to cost me an arm and a leg to get it going again. Thank you for the answers guys and gals!

[Master_Vos]

BIOS update doesn't always mean they have to replace the chip ( unless it's a bad manufactured chip that is). Maybe HP has released a new version of the BIOS + a tool to flash it. Instructions should be on their site. Flashing the BIOS could solve the problem.

And i thought we were talking about an old computer that started to get issues?

[jergrif73]

I have a similar issue. When starting up my laptop, the power lights come on and the hard drive light flickers three or four times and then nothing. When I put a cd in, the cdwill spin a couple of timesand the hard drive light will fliccker again three or four times and nothing. Something that happens that typically doesn't happen before entering teh operating system is that I have to hold the power button down about fiveseconds for it to turn off. Befroe when it ran fine, I could just hit the button before getting to the operating system. I have a Compaq Presario R3000 Series latop.

Steps that I have taken:

Removed and reinserted the hard drive
Removed and swapped slot 1 and slot 2 RAM
Tried to start up with only AC
Removed the AC and Battery and held down the power button for a hard reset
Started up without a hard drive (thelast time I accidentally did that, I at least got a "Can not find book disk" error.

I was told that it might be the BGA RAM on the video card, but after that I was told that the graphics card shares the computer RAM butupon loking at the specs it does appear that the graphics has its own RAM. Iam still at a loss for what and where the BGA RAM is. Also, in looking at my chip and heat sink, when I took the heat sink off to reseat the cpu, I noticed that the contact paste was solid and brittle. Is changing the graphics out hard to do? Or should I replace the chip? It did run a bit without a fan a few months agofor a couple of weeks. Any input isgreatly appreciated.

Product Name R3410US
US Product Number PR472UA#ABA
Microprocessor Mobile AMD™ Athlon™ XP-M Processor 2800+ with PowerNow!™ Technology
Microprocessor Cache 128KB L2 Cache
Memory 512MB DDR SDRAM (2 x 256MB) at 333MHz
Memory Max 1280MB DDR SDRAM (1 x 256MB, 1 x 1024MB)
Video Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 4 420 Go
Video Memory 32MB DDR (dedicated)
Hard Drive 60GB (4200RPM) Hard Drive(i)

[Master_Vos]

I would not mess up with the hardware too much if i were you... Have you tried already to disable the graphics card in the BIOS ? Maybe when its turned off you can boot normally.

[reen.blom]

BIOS update doesn't always mean they have to replace the chip ( unless it's a bad manufactured chip that is). Maybe HP has released a new version of the BIOS + a tool to flash it. Instructions should be on their site. Flashing the BIOS could solve the problem.

And i thought we were talking about an old computer that started to get issues?

Well the laptop is about 10-11 months old. It is AMD Turion Dual Core x64, 1.8 Ghz, 2 Gig of RAM 256 Nvidia card. So I would say it is still new. It was taken good care of, never dropped or anything.

I understand that one can flash the BIOS, and I would gladly do that, but unfortunately nothing comes on the screen, just LEDs flash as it restarts. I do not know HOW can a BIOS chip go faulty I just have no clue what else could that be. Thank you for advice though.

[reen.blom]

I would not mess up with the hardware too much if i were you... Have you tried already to disable the graphics card in the BIOS ? Maybe when its turned off you can boot normally.

I cant get into BIOS. :(

[reen.blom]

BIOS update doesn't always mean they have to replace the chip ( unless it's a bad manufactured chip that is). Maybe HP has released a new version of the BIOS + a tool to flash it. Instructions should be on their site. Flashing the BIOS could solve the problem.

And i thought we were talking about an old computer that started to get issues?

I have a similar issue. When starting up my laptop, the power lights come on and the hard drive light flickers three or four times and then nothing. When I put a cd in, the cdwill spin a couple of timesand the hard drive light will fliccker again three or four times and nothing. Something that happens that typically doesn't happen before entering teh operating system is that I have to hold the power button down about fiveseconds for it to turn off. Befroe when it ran fine, I could just hit the button before getting to the operating system. I have a Compaq Presario R3000 Series latop.

Steps that I have taken:

Removed and reinserted the hard drive
Removed and swapped slot 1 and slot 2 RAM
Tried to start up with only AC
Removed the AC and Battery and held down the power button for a hard reset
Started up without a hard drive (thelast time I accidentally did that, I at least got a "Can not find book disk" error.

I was told that it might be the BGA RAM on the video card, but after that I was told that the graphics card shares the computer RAM butupon loking at the specs it does appear that the graphics has its own RAM. Iam still at a loss for what and where the BGA RAM is. Also, in looking at my chip and heat sink, when I took the heat sink off to reseat the cpu, I noticed that the contact paste was solid and brittle. Is changing the graphics out hard to do? Or should I replace the chip? It did run a bit without a fan a few months agofor a couple of weeks. Any input isgreatly appreciated

If it is a problem with a graphics card, will it not give some beeps?

[jergrif73]

I would not mess up with the hardware too much if i were you... Have you tried already to disable the graphics card in the BIOS ? Maybe when its turned off you can boot normally.

Nothing ever shows up on my screen, and when I hit F12 as to when I would think that the computer would ask, nothing happens as well.

[jergrif73]

If it is a problem with a graphics card, will it not give some beeps?

I don't know if it would beep. I think that I am just going to spend $50 bucks on a replacement cpu chip and if that doesn't do it, well I don't know because the next thing to do is to purchase a mobo for around $300 which in that case I would just buy a new latop instead. :-|

[fren]

It depends on what computer you have. Some do not create beep code sounds and others do not have an internal speaker.

The bios will post on the screen if the cycle is complete.

To: reen.blom

Since your computer does not have onboard video, why don't you try to push the video board back in place. Try it first.

To: jergrif73

Since your computer has provided with an onboard video. Its memory shared with the system memory. No conflict with the video memory and it seldom failed.

Okay, guys, if you feel the problem is in your system board. Try these solutions first before replacing your system board/motherboard.

1. Plug your AC power adapter directly to the wall outlet. Don't use automatic voltage regulator or whatever alternative power supply source. Check also the output voltage of the automatic voltage regulator (if any). Use multimeter.

2. Check the output voltage of the AC power adapter. Use multimeter.

3. Maybe your power socket or jacket is loose on the motherboard/system board. Try to locate it, just wiggle each pin terminal (cold soldered), then solder it.

4. The battery cannot receive anymore charging from the power supply or the battery itself is almost dying.

But anyway, since, I think overheating is not an issue here. Try also to clean the cpu fan.

[reen.blom]

Thank you Fren!

You just confirm my suspicions that I will have to replace the motherboard, and the cheapest I found so far is aboput 200 British Pounds. OUCH.

The CPU fan is immaculate condition. Would the Lights still go on (It has a multimedia button bar with LEDs) and the rest would power up if there was something wrong with adapter? Will check that out though.

Thank you

PS Graphics card on that laptop is soldered on the board and its RAM as well. Suppose this is what makes that board so expensive. :(

[Master_Vos]

10-11 months old... Can't you still use waranty or something?
And after reading all these replies i think both Fren and your suspicions are right.... Unfortunately you'll have to pay quite a lot... However try Fren's suggestions first mate =)

[fren]

To: jergrif73 & reen.blom

There is nothing to lose if you will try my above advise.

[jergrif73]

It depends on what computer you have. Some do not create beep code sounds and others do not have an internal speaker.

The bios will post on the screen if the cycle is complete.

To: reen.blom

Since your computer does not have onboard video, why don't you try to push the video board back in place. Try it first.

To: jergrif73

Since your computer has provided with an onboard video. Its memory shared with the system memory. No conflict with the video memory and it seldom failed.

Okay, guys, if you feel the problem is in your system board. Try these solutions first before replacing your system board/motherboard.

1. Plug your AC power adapter directly to the wall outlet. Don't use automatic voltage regulator or whatever alternative power supply source. Check also the output voltage of the automatic voltage regulator (if any). Use multimeter.

2. Check the output voltage of the AC power adapter. Use multimeter.

3. Maybe your power socket or jacket is loose on the motherboard/system board. Try to locate it, just wiggle each pin terminal (cold soldered), then solder it.

4. The battery cannot receive anymore charging from the power supply or the battery itself is almost dying.

But anyway, since, I think overheating is not an issue here. Try also to clean the cpu fan.

I have tried the above measures and the power seems to be constant. I checked the voltage output and also. I can leave the latop on with the AC plugged in and after a bit plug it in, and the charging light will light up until the battery is charged once again.

The power jacket is nice and tight to the board, which I wouldn't think that it was loose as the laptop seems to be fine inthe power aspect. Could the cpu chip not being set correctly or being burned up or not having contact paste (enough to make full contact with the heat sink) prevent a boot up?

Also, does the following mean that the graphics card does NOT share the computers RAM but rather has its own RAM that could be bad:

Video Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 4 420 Go
Video Memory 32MB DDR (dedicated)

[Master_Vos]

the 32 is the graphics card own RAM. Meaning there's a small RAM chip on the card itself. However your graphics card should have TurboCache; which means the graphics card and the computer share system RAM when needed.

It's impossible i think that the computer refuses to boot due of bad contact between the heatsink and the CPU. However it may be possible that your CPU ( or another component) is fried...

I'm not sure if you have tried it; but have you tried to boot on just CPU, HDD and RAMM ? ( so remove graphics card and PCI devices)
Also, try to put in only 1 of the 2 RAM, the best case scenario would be that one of those RAM died...

[reen.blom]

Guess what happened today? I as usual press the start button just to see that it does not start... and it gives me 3 short beeps. Well of course I got the Ram out and the harddrive... for troubleshooting, and it was dead silent allthe time. Now I stick the RAM back and the bloody thing just started up. I have absolutely no clue why. I have been on it the whole bloody week and it did not make a sound and just kept restarting. It is working for now but I am afarid to sneeze or switch it off.

I am wondering now if it is some dry solder that lost contact. And truely,
if somebody offers you HP- JUST SAY NO!

Gonna see what's gonna happen next! Thank you guys for your support!

[reen.blom]

Somebody slapped on the table where the lappie was standing and it died and does not come on anymore...

I hope it is bad contact....:(

[scanyman]

Hi all, I have exactly the same problem on a hp DV6000 series laptop. I have have been advised by hp to send in for repair, they arent very forward in advising on what is the bottom line with the fault but as I can see several other postings on dani web with the same problem it would appear to be a common fault.

Was wondering if anyone has resolved yet.

I personaly think that it is related to an issue with hibernation. After doing research on the web found several postings pointing it to be a hibernation issue. Many suggest switching hibernation off on hps.

I had the same problem a few weks ago and managed to get it to work by leaving it on accessing the drive etc as you described until the battery went flat. I then charged the battery fully and it powered up ok. I hadnt had any further problems once hibernation was switched off until I had a Microsoft auto update, the pc then started crashing, I restored back a few weeks which switched back on the hibernation withour me realising. Because I left the laptop on it went into hibernation due to lack of activity and hasnt come out since, tried the battery drain idea again but hasnt worked this time.

Looks like its going back for repair unless anyone else has any ideas on this, perhaps if a knowledgeable HP technician is reading maybe we can get some advice.

Many thanks,

[reen.blom]

Thank you dear Scanyman!

It really does sound like somethingI am experiencing!

I really wish HP would come up with a hint at least. I do not think they have the decency to do so! I would encourage everyone to complain to HP, not like they care but at least I let them know that I do not want to deal with HP ever again!

[scanyman]

Hi reen.blom,

I take it your not back up and running yet then.

I am wondering how jergrif73 is getting on as well, one of us will bottom it Im sure soon.

[reen.blom]

Nopes it is still dead! I am trying to run the battery flat and see aht happens, but I doubt it....

Unfortunately I cant even take it where I bought it as I travel alot and now I am on the other side of the world!

This disgusting! I paid 800 British pounds for it and cant even get a decent reply from HP!

[fdguy3768]

Sorry for lurking....
I too have a Compaq r3000 that is doing the exact same thing. It will not boot, it powers on. I can tell that the screen has power. It does not show the POST. The hard drive light flickers, and DVD drive light also flickers. There appears no way to getto the BIOS.

Anyone having any luck fixing this??
Is it in the hibernation? How do I turn that off if it won't boot?

Thanks

[reen.blom]

I had to buy myself old pentium4 fujitsu Siemens to be able to work, because my HP is as dead as ever. NOTHING helps!

I am going to try and buy a motherboard for it later(I belive it packed up!) and seell the bloody thing! Now it is sitting in the cupboard waiting till I am able to afford to fix it!!!! :(

I hate HP!!! :mad:

[scanyman]

Hi Reen.Blom and the lurker (no problem in lurking as long as you do it quitely),

Just a quick catch up, as my HP is under warranty I sent it away just after the last posting, got the data off first with a lead I purchased from Maplin that allows the Hard Drive to be plugged into another pc.

Althought I spent 1/2 hour on the phone to India asking me to try the "hold the power button down for 30secs" technique they eventual transfered me to a local repair centre that have told me 7-10 working days. This will run off the map this week. If I get any info from them re fault and what has been repaired I will post for you.

Buy for now.