Member Avatar for ceedog70

I have a hp pavilion dv2225nr that gets power but no boot just solid leds. I have reseated the memory, tested the hard drive on another system, but still the solid leds. I disassembled the laptop and noticed that there was no thermal compound on the cpu. I applied some to the cpu and still the same thing. Could it be the cpu or the motherboard? I'd appreciate any help. Thanks

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by brandym7

Dani AI

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Short answer: yes — a failed CPU can produce a complete no‑boot, but in laptops it is a relatively rare cause. More common culprits are power-delivery (adapter/DC jack/VRMs), bad RAM, corrupted BIOS, or board-level faults (voltage regulators, chipset or embedded GPU). Laptop CPUs are often BGA-soldered, so a defective processor typically means motherboard-level repair rather than a simple swap.

If the machine never POSTs (no beeps, no POST LED blink pattern, fans don’t spin) that pattern is consistent with CPU failure — but it is also exactly what a dead power rail or failed power MOSFET will do. Intermittent POST or reaching BIOS (as experienced) points away from a permanently dead CPU and toward memory, BIOS or board instability. ’s suggestion to check external video is useful for separating a display problem from a no‑POST problem.

Try this prioritized checklist before concluding the CPU is bad:

  1. Confirm the adapter and DC jack with a known-good AC adapter; try AC only (remove battery).
  2. Power-discharge: remove battery/AC, hold power button 15–30s, reconnect.
  3. RAM: test with one known-good module in each slot, or try other compatible modules.
  4. Remove drives and nonessential peripherals (HDD/optical/WiFi) and attempt POST.
  5. Watch for beep/LED blink codes and consult the service manual for their meaning.
  6. Clear CMOS (battery or BIOS reset jumper) to rule out BIOS corruption.
  7. Inspect for physical damage: bulging caps, burn marks, liquid residue.
  8. Clean any thermal compound or conductive paste from board contacts with isopropyl alcohol.

If the CPU is in a removable socket, swapping with a known-good chip is definitive; if it’s soldered, replacement usually requires board replacement or professional reflow/rework. If unsure or uncomfortable with board-level work, seek a technician for a voltage-rail and board trace diagnosis — that will avoid needless part swaps.

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Member Avatar for sittas87

Hi
tell me how far does it actually boot. Does it boot to a certain point then shut's down? Or is there no display whats so ever? If there's no display then try a desktop monitor to see if the display comes up.

Member Avatar for ceedog70

no boot whatsoever, i tried the external monitor still nothing. But I was on HP website checking out the waranty info which this laptops' warranty expired back in February. To my surprise I noticed a list of product numbers that could be sent in for for free repair and mine was one of them. They were aware of the no boot and i'm glad I went to their site cause i would've never known. They're shipping me all the packaging material needed and no cost to me. Talk about a happy camper. Thanks!

Member Avatar for sittas87

Talk about being lucky. I must say thats quite interesting. Its eighter they doing great service or they realized afterwards the lack of "no Boot" issue's.

Let us know how it went and what they say was causing it to happen.

Cheers for now
sittas

Member Avatar for ceedog70

thanks, I will let you know when I receive the laptop back from HP

Member Avatar for julio_carrera

Hey ceedog70,

I am so glad I found this website, I read you comment I guess what! my HP laptop had the same problem, I checked the HP website and true my also was under the free repair program,
thank you for the tip.
I should be getting the box from hp this week to ship it, have you recieved your already, they said I might take long because the storm they got in Houston Texas,
I just joined this group hopefully I could be a help to others as well,
thanks again,
Julio C. Carrera

Member Avatar for brandym7

I have a Toshiba Tecra M7 that won't boot and up until this morning nothing worked. This is what I've done so far this morning WHEN it does decide to boot.
1. Power up computer from off with ESC key.
2. Released ESC key, pressed F1. Unit went into the BIOS setup screen.
In the BIOS page I changed the 1st boot to CDROM so that it will boot the OS disk

No longer a blank screen and MICROCODE, CMOS, PIT, APIC, MEMORY AND HDD CHECKED OK.
So, turned off and start up from CD to load the files
Now it starts loading the files from CD but then froze and there is nothing on the screen once again. Now I'm back to square one. It won't boot up after the freeze...

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