Laptop not starting - video/overheating problems?

I have an HP dv6000 series laptop that is about 3 years old. It has worked great until the last few months, and is now giving me startup and resuming from sleep/hibernate problems. Last week I formatted the hard drive and reinstalled using the supplied recovery partition, but have seen no improvement in the problems. So I figure it must be hardware issues.

I'm hoping someone here can give me some help. Here are the symptoms:

The problems started with the display not coming back on if I closed the lid, then opened it within about 30 seconds. If I waited longer it was fine. The time I had to leave it closed gradually grew, to the point that if I closed the lid and opened it again within about 10 minutes, the display wouldn't come back on. The only fix was to force it to shut down with the power button, wait a minute or so, and turn it back on. Video/display issue?

Then, a few weeks ago, it got to the point where if I had to restart it (either forcing a shut down or otherwise), it would not restart, but would get stuck in some sort of startup loop. All lights would come on, I'd hear the DVD drive spin up, fan on, HDD spin up, then about 30 seconds later, everything stops, lights go out, then back on and the cycle repeats. Nothing ever comes up on the display. I then have to force a shut down, and try again. Sometimes I spend 30 minutes trying to turn it on. It always starts fine first thing in the morning (except on 2 occasions). Maybe an overheating or bad temperature sensor issue?

So, does anyone have an idea where I should start trying to diagnose this problem? Seems there is a video issue here somewhere, but I don't understand where the startup problem comes into play. Any ideas?

Chris

 

When you say 'everything stops, lights go out, then back on and the cycle repeats', presumably the laptop powers off and then you manually restart it, correct?

If the above is correct then the most likely explanation from the info supplied is that the LCD lid switch is probably malfunctioning.

Clarify this point and then I [this forum] can provide you with the info as to how best to proceed to resolve your problem.

In the interim, get a flash light, start your laptop and with the flashlight on, point it at the panel [close up] and see if you can detect a faint image at all prior to the unit shutting off.

Good Luck

 

Thanks for the response.

Sorry if I wasn't clear. When it goes into the cycle of trying to restart, it never turns off on its own. It appears to be trying to restart every 25-30 seconds on its own. I do nothing, and just sit and watch all the lights (power, wireless connection, touch pad, DVD controls, Volume, etc) turn off for about 1 second, then they come on the the cycle starts again. The only way I can stop the cycle is to hold down the power button to force it to shut off.

I'll give that a try the next time I have to restart it. But since I just spent an hour trying to get it to turn back on after uninstalling IE8 (since it doesn't work properly) and having to restart to finish the uninstall, I don't want to go through that again right now.

I'm far from a computer expert, but it sure seems to be a temperature problem. And it does seem like its been running hotter lately. But the strange thing is that I've noticed I can push the Quick Play button (which allows you to view a DVD or other media files without actually starting windows) and get into that mode and watch a video, but from there if I then try to get into windows, it shows the Windows Hibernating screen, then goes into the same cycle of trying to restart and I have to force shutdown again and then have to let it sit a while before it'll cone on again.

Chris

 

IMO, the fact that the panel remains blank is not an indication of heat problems as far as that is issue concerned.

The panel remains blank because.
1. The panel/backlight has gone
2. The inverter has gone
3. The LCD lid switch has stuck.

With point #3, the inverter which feeds power to the backlight is not activated and the panel remains blank. The laptop then gets to a point and then shuts down, this as a result of the settings you have in XP to the effect that 'the laptop should hibernate when the lid is closed'.

With the exception of the automatic restart, your laptop is showing all the symptoms of a stuck LCD lid switch. This consists of a magnet in the bezel of the panel and an electronic switch in the base which is generally situated close to the power button.

It's gonna be difficult to confirm the problem if shutting the laptop off is going to be problematic.

However, I would suggest while in XP that you disable the hibernation settings as regards the lid. Just set to 'ask me what to do'. Although when I had similar issues with a Dell this helped only a little.

As further advice, I would also say do not close the lid of the laptop at least until your issue is resolved.

Good Luck

 

By way of a PS. You could also try to connect your laptop to an external monitor [if you have one spare]. There should be a vga connector at the back.

 

Thanks for the info.

I just spent some time searching the web and found info about defective GPUs in HP computers that are overheating and causing all sorts of problems, including every one of the symptoms I've had (over heating, blank display, not booting up, loud beeping after trying to turn on, battery not holding a charge). Its hard to believe all those problems were caused by a bad GPU.

Turns out this is what is causing my problems, and I'm covered under HPs free repair. That's good news, but after reading all the horror stories of people waiting a month or two to get their repaired computer back, I'm a bit concerned. Oh well, nothing left to do but send it in...

Here's the link to HP's warranty for this overheating issue if anyone is interested.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&docname=c01087277#c01087277_identify

Chris

 

Well if it's under warranty, I would send it back. It's a hassle I agree but at least it will be fixed.

This still does not feel like a heat related problem but hey....For me if the laptop boots without issues in the morning after it has been powered off the night before then heat issues would be way down my problem solving list. But as you say it may well be the GPU that is just plain faulty.

Good Luck with HP

 

Well, I thought I was in luck, but I called HP and talked to a Case Manager, and found out they are only willing to give me a 50% discount on the repair. The fix for this problem is to replace the motherboard at a cost of $400 (or $200 if they offer you the discount). Only problem is they replace the defective parts with the same defective parts and people are reporting having the same failures after repair. What a joke!

Turns out I'm 3 months outside of the extended warranty that covers this defect. So I guess I'll just let it go and see how long it takes before I have a total system failure. I'm certainly not giving HP $200 + tax to give me another defective GPU/motherboard only to have it fail again.

Lots of good info at http://hplies.com/index.php

I guess that seals the deal for me with HP. Never again will I buy another HP product. This is the second major issue I've had with HP customer support not willing to fix a known problem.

Chris

 

hey just wanted to throw this out their...my mom had/is going threw the same problem but with a desktop slim line they sent it out to all the stores knowing they were defective and now they have to replace them and my moms is on the dfective list . but i would suggest ebay you could find your motherboard on their and not pay mabie 50.00 for it new in the box. just a sugestion
:major
or if you ever want to get rid of it i might be interested