HP Touchsmart 310-1037 Black Screen on start up

When I press the power switch, the switch lights up, the fan wooshes, and I hear some clicking, but screen is black.

I've tried unplugging it and holding down the power switch, and then restarting. That worked a couple of times, but no more.

I tried the F5, F10 routine, and that didn't work.

I took the back off, and reset the RAM cards, and checked the battery, and no go.

I think this is a fairly common problem, and I've heard that it might be the motherboard, but I don't just want to buy a motherboard without knowing what the exact problem is.

I plan on contacting HP Support later, but in the mean time, does anybody know any further diagnostics to help me narrow down the problem? Thanks in advance. Ed

 

The clicking you hear may be the hard drive controller circuitry on the hard drive's pc board failing and the hard drive will need to be replaced. Sorry, but with that said, I don't think there's much chance of recovering any data files from the drive unless you take/send it to a service center capable of forensics where they'd go through the drive platter-by-platter in a clean room. Very expensive! rolleyes

 

Thanks for the reply.

Dang, well I hope it's not the hard drive. That's the last thing I need. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve. Am going to try another monitor, just to confirm it's not the display. Also will remove HDD, ODD, and one RAM stick and re-try. A replacement CPU can be tried for $15.

 

Do you have a video card to try?
The video chip on the board might be dead.

If you don't see the BIOS screen at all, it sounds like the computer is booting but you have no video.

 

Hey thanks. That's entirely possible.

I think the video is incorporated into the motherboard on these.

Today I removed the HDD, ODD, and pared it down to 1 stick of RAM, and re-tried it.....still black.

I also tried re-seating the CPU....still black.

The output voltage on the power supply is good....19.5V, and it's supposed to be 18.5V.

The only other really cheap fix would be a new processor for like $20.

We like this computer. A new motherboard is $114. Might be worth a shot, I can always return it or sell it on ebay if it doesn't do the trick. Better than $400 for a new computer.

Any thoughts welcome. Ed