Member Avatar for sasjzl

I have a Gateway MA7 MX5669 running Windows 7 that will power up but the only activity that can be seen is the CD Rom and the hard drive startup for a few seconds. I tried a trick that I read about where you press the 'on' key down for 60 seconds with the battery removed and then plug it in. It is supposed to bleed off some residual charge in the PC but it did not work for me.

I removed reinserted and then removed the two 1gb memory sticks. No beeps nothing different than before. I have hooked the laptop up to an external monitor.
Nothing. All the usual power lights are on and the fan is running as normal. It is as if the normal bootup got truncated after about 5 seconds.
I am thinking it is the motherboard because of not hearing any beeps when I removed the memory but I am also wondering if it is possible it could be something else like the video card. I would be very happy for it to be the video board.

What I am wondering is if anyone can tell me where I might go from here to determine what the issue is.

Thanks very much,
Jim Lee

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Dani AI

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A focused troubleshooting path to narrow this down without guessing: for ’s Gateway MA7, the symptoms (power lights/fan, a few seconds of drive activity, then nothing on internal or external displays) point to a failure that can be anywhere from a bad RAM slot to a dead logic board. The checklist below is ordered so each easy step either fixes the problem or gives a clear clue for the next step.

  1. Observe POST feedback carefully — listen for beeps and watch keyboard LED blink patterns. Many laptops don’t have a speaker or use LED blink codes, so document any repeating pattern (count and timing).
  2. Test memory systematically. Remove both sticks, then try one stick at a time in each slot (try stick A in slot 1, then slot 2; then stick B the same way). A single bad stick or a bad slot is common and quick to confirm.
  3. Remove drives and peripherals (HDD, optical, PCMCIA/express cards, USB devices) and try to power on. If a BIOS/POST screen appears without drives, the fault is later in the boot chain; if still black, the problem is earlier (RAM/CPU/board/video).
  4. External display checks: connect VGA/HDMI, power on, and press the laptop’s display toggle (Fn + the function key with a monitor icon). Also inspect the internal panel with a bright flashlight at an angle — a faint image means the backlight/inverter is bad; no faint image + blank external suggests GPU/board/POST failure.
  5. Reset firmware: disconnect AC and main battery, remove the RTC coin cell or use the CMOS clear method for a few minutes, then power up. Also reseat the LCD LVDS cable at the display and motherboard (do this only if comfortable).
  6. Secure data early. As @rubberman suggested, if recovery is needed, pull the HDD and attach it to another PC via SATA-to-USB or an enclosure to copy files before deeper surgery.

If none of the above yields POST/video, the logic board or the soldered GPU is the likely culprit. As noted, discrete replaceable video modules are rare on consumer laptops; as noted, replacing the board is the usual fix. Balance repair cost against replacement and, if sending for repair, give the shop the exact symptoms and which tests you already ran. Take ESD precautions and, if unsure, prioritize data rescue and professional diagnostics.

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Member Avatar for rubberman

A client of mine had the same problem on his HP ToughBook tablet computer. Nothing would bring it back. The only conclusion is that the system is fubar. The drive was ok and I was able to use my Linux system to backup his data files, but nothing would bring the tablet back to life (running Windows Vista). We could not even access the BIOS and run the restore partition. Since it is out of warranty (1 year - 2 years since purchased with no extended warranty), it will be cheaper to replace than to repair.

Member Avatar for caperjack

I would be very happy for it to be the video board.

very few laptops have changeable video board ,usually just really expensive gaming laptops

Member Avatar for Redskyhelp

Ok, Well the issue looks like you have a motherboard issue. You should replace it or repair that yourself but the computer will keep on having this issue over time it will become more and more Frequent. You can still get into your files by click the screen switch button witch make your screen refresh. So you can boot in safe mod. You need to do it a few seconds arfter the boot started. (i mean when you click the button).

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