My Laptop Died!


PokeParadox

Founder of Pirate Games - Penjin Coder
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OK basically I turned on my pc this morning to be greeted with a completely blank screen, DVD drive spins up, HDD too and 3 beeps (long short short) are heard.

Nothing I do is helping this thing turn on... This is my main pc and the one I do my coding on. So my first question is does anyone know what the bleeps mean?

Second is does anyone have any vague idea as what could be wrong...
I'm not a happy bunny with this right now... <_<
 
Dead graphics card - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power-on_self-test#Original_IBM_POST_beep_codes

How old is the laptop?
 
Could be memory related too. Try reseating the memory sticks (should be accessible via a panel on the bottom of the laptop). If there are two sticks installed, try with each of them by themselves if that doesn't help.
 
It may be covered under warranty in that case. If it's not due to something stupid that you've done (guessing not) then even the supplier claims it's out of warranty now, by law in the UK they should still have to repair it for you. Before getting involved in all the warranty crap, you could try the basic stuff like opening the back up and giving it a good dusting with a vacuum cleaner, it's surprising what that suddenly fixes :p
Out of interest, what make is it?
 
LOL, I remember watching my dad vacuum out his computers :lol:
If your computer does all the things that it should when booting except for the screen, it's likely your card, but it could be a bricked screen too.
 
You don't want to use a vacuum cleaner because a typical vacuum cleaner is belt-driven and can give off static discharge. In a repair shop you would use a direct-drive vacuum cleaner with ESD-safe plastic nozzles but at the same time I would never think to use a vacuum cleaner on a laptop.

In all honesty once a laptop is dead like this I've only rarely seen them come back to life without a system board replacement. And a system board replacement out of warranty never makes sense unless you hunt ebay for weeks and get lucky.

If it were my laptop and I had given up hope of warranty replacement, I would strip it down. I would remove all the drives, the wireless card, any other removeable cards. I would try to re-seat the CPU if it is a socketed one. Only once have I seen the resocketing fix a dead laptop, however. I would make sure the CPU fan is not blocked or somehow not spinning because perhaps it is not and the computer can sense this. If there are more than two leads coming to the fan then it probably does have this ability and is therefore refusing to turn on. Doubtful after only a year or two.

I would also re-seat all connectors internally and try running the laptop with just the system board, CPU, RAM, and LCD. Look at all the external connectors and see if any pins are bent against the ground shield. Also, try removing the CMOS battery if it has one and leave it out for a few minutes and reinsert it. Again, only once have I actually seen each of these ideas fix anything. It's probably a dead system board.

If you have never taken a laptop apart before, I'll tell you the most fool-proof way: Take several sheets of blank paper and draw small diagrams of each stage. Then, as you remove each screw lay them next to the diagram, next to like ones. After this, draw arrows going from each pile to their spots. Tape them down with scotch tape. Then, move onto the next step and draw another diagram. I start at the bottom of the notebook, move onto the top, remove the keyboard, unscrew LCD hinges and connectors, remove LCD, remove any bezels and CPU heatshields, move onto various connectors and system board screws, and voila at that point system board is out. Been using my paper/tape method since 1997 in various shops and it has never failed me.

edit to add:
Also forgot to suggest two more ideas: Try connecting a VGA monitor and see if anything shows on it. Also try checking the voltage coming from the DC adapter. It is admittedly extremely rare to see them fail.
 
PokeParadox said:
sony vaio fz21s

I bought it in Spain... this makes things like getting it repaired under warranty tricky...

It might make it a little bit trickier, but with Spain being in Europe and Sony being an international company you should still be able to get it repaired. If you need any advice try phoning up the ECC (number on http://www.ukecc.net/). They're like trading standards, but for europe. I've been helping a friend sort a dispute with a company in Norway and I suggested phoning the ECC, which he did and they were V helpful.

Oh, and never had any problems vacuuming any PCs, whether it's desktops or laptops. Up to you if you do that though, after taking into account what quacky says.
 
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Thanks guys, as expected there has been some top advice, some of which I'd already tried others which I'll give a whirl on Monday (working all day tomorrow unfortunately...)

I do actually think it might be worth giving Sony a call see if they can do anything.

The VGA suggestion... I don't have a VGA cable here... I'll go and buy one on Tuesday to ease the fact that I only have an EEEPC to work on currently and we can see what happens with my laptop...

I think failing in everything I may have to bite the bullet and get a desktop to connect to my TV...
 
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