HP Pavillion DV6500 Will Not Power Up

[allanc]

A client brings a HP Pavillion DV6500 laptop to me and it will not power up.

The symptoms were that the blue lights on the bezel are lit as expected.
The hard drive seems to 'try' to get up to speed and then it is quiet again and then nothing appears on the LCD.
Same thing with and without the battery.

Then, without the battery, I try holding the power button in for about 5 seconds.
The computer boots properly.
I wait about 10 minutes and then select 'shutdown' from within Windows.
Windows appears to shutdown properly, the LCD goes black but the blue lights on the bezel are still lit.
I wait about 10 minutes - no change.
I then hold the power button in for about 5 seconds and all of the blue lights go off.
I try this procedure about 3 times and exactly the same events occur.

Then, I try to power up again and I am back to the point where the blue lights stay lit and nothing appears on the LCD at all. This is regardless of how long (or short) I press the power button.

Currently, the hard drive is in a docking station and I am copying the data to an external hard drive.

All suggestions are appreciated.

 

[Adept PC Repair]

This is the notorious Nvidia chip problem within the DV series laptops.

The graphics chip needs reballing (take chip off motherboard and resolder all points and place back on, take a look at www.laptopreballing.co.uk)

This can also be repaired by reflowing, but due to the bad solder already being heated over and over again it is most likely going to be a temporary repair.

Once either of these are done, be sure to clean out the fan and any dust in the laptop, reapply thermal paste to both processor and GPU.


Do NOT purchase a replacement motherboard from ebay, most have simply been reflowed and sold as working (which they are at POS) but you will get them coming back to you, better to reflow than to purchase one of those. At least if it comes back to you under warranty you wouldn't have spent any money out.

Regards,
Ian

 

[allanc]

This is the notorious Nvidia chip problem within the DV series laptops.

The graphics chip needs reballing (take chip off motherboard and resolder all points and place back on, take a look at www.laptopreballing.co.uk)

This can also be repaired by reflowing, but due to the bad solder already being heated over and over again it is most likely going to be a temporary repair.

Once either of these are done, be sure to clean out the fan and any dust in the laptop, reapply thermal paste to both processor and GPU.


Do NOT purchase a replacement motherboard from ebay, most have simply been reflowed and sold as working (which they are at POS) but you will get them coming back to you, better to reflow than to purchase one of those. At least if it comes back to you under warranty you wouldn't have spent any money out.

Regards,
Ian

Thank you for the detailed info.
I have never done one of these before.
Would a one-hour minimum charge be sufficient (in your opinion)?

 

[Adept PC Repair]

Most likely going to take a bit longer than that, I charge 1 and a half hours labour for a reflow and 2 and a half hours for a reball.

You should be fine to reflow it really in my experience, just make sure you unscrew the actual fan from the plastic housing attached to the heatsink, you'll see what I mean when you open it up.

Most of the dust is trapped in there, give it a good clean out.

Do you have anything in order to reflow the GPU? I advise getting a rework station (with a temperature controlled heat output).

If you don't a well adjusted heat gun with a thin nozzle and a low temp setting will do it. Just be sure to constantly move around the gpu in small circles, never stop. Preheat the bottom of the motherboard slightly before the process (to avoid warping). Go around in circles on the gpu for 15 seconds, wait 5, then a further 15 seconds. Stop. Wait 15 minutes, do not move the motherboard.

Reflow done. Put on your thermal paste, put back together and wallah.

Temp setting should range from 240c up to around 350c and back down if you're using a rework station. Otherwise, if you're using a heat gun, move the heat gun gradually closer then further away to adjust temps old-school way.

Remember, make things short and sweet, be sure not to damage any capacitors or cause the gpu to fry.

You will know when things are done as you should hear the solder pop and sizzle.

All the best,
Ian

 

[Lone99star]

Have you checked nvidiasettlement.com to see if the machine can be replaced?

 

[allanc]

Most likely going to take a bit longer than that, I charge 1 and a half hours labour for a reflow and 2 and a half hours for a reball.

You should be fine to reflow it really in my experience, just make sure you unscrew the actual fan from the plastic housing attached to the heatsink, you'll see what I mean when you open it up.

Most of the dust is trapped in there, give it a good clean out.

Do you have anything in order to reflow the GPU? I advise getting a rework station (with a temperature controlled heat output).

If you don't a well adjusted heat gun with a thin nozzle and a low temp setting will do it. Just be sure to constantly move around the gpu in small circles, never stop. Preheat the bottom of the motherboard slightly before the process (to avoid warping). Go around in circles on the gpu for 15 seconds, wait 5, then a further 15 seconds. Stop. Wait 15 minutes, do not move the motherboard.

Reflow done. Put on your thermal paste, put back together and wallah.

Temp setting should range from 240c up to around 350c and back down if you're using a rework station. Otherwise, if you're using a heat gun, move the heat gun gradually closer then further away to adjust temps old-school way.

Remember, make things short and sweet, be sure not to damage any capacitors or cause the gpu to fry.

You will know when things are done as you should hear the solder pop and sizzle.

All the best,
Ian

I don't think that the client is going to want to spring for 2 hours labour on this computer.
I can't say that I disagree with him.
I have too many Pavillions come through these doors.
(good for me and bad for him).

 

[allanc]

Have you checked nvidiasettlement.com to see if the machine can be replaced?

I just did. Good suggestion.
However ...
The model is not included (that I could see).
The date for submissions is closed.
And, I think it is for U.S.A. residents only (we are in Canada).

 

[Lone99star]

i didn't realize the claims period was over.
I have 5 low end Compaq lappys coming.

Your claim has been approved to recieve a replacement computer in exchange for your malfunctioning HP notebook or tablet computer. Your RMA number is

 

[Adept PC Repair]

Yes, the claim procedure has ended now which is why I didn't mention it.

I believe it ended on the 14th March.

Only real way is to charge him the 2 hours labour i'm afraid, it definately takes around 1.5 hours to do a good job.

Regards,
Ian

 

[seedubya]

Reflows invariably recur - if you care about your customer then tell him to scrap it and replace. Personally I believe any tech. doing reflows is of questionable technical ability and/or honesty.

 

[Kitten Kong]

One of my suppliers offers a reflow / reball service. The warranty they offer me is for 3 months only. They have told me, that it is only a quick fix, and it WILL go again. Just don't know when.

Now when I see a DV series laptop with the nvidia chipset, and it has graphics problems, I simply inform my client, it is not worth the money to get it repaired. Yes it can be done, yes there is a warranty, but it will go again. Therefore it is cheaper for everyone concerned to purchase a new laptop. It is up to you, if you wish to charge them a diagnostic fee for this.

Also please do not replace the mobo from a supplier on ebay. Chances are that the only your thinking of, getting, is either faulty to start off with, or has been reballed/reflowed itself.

I did make a thread about it some time ago. I will try and dig the link up, and post it here shortly.

Here it is. http://www.technibble.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17394&referrerid=13002

 

[NETWizz]

I had a customer come to me who needed her laptop to do a graduate school presentation. She did not care when I told her that a re-flow, if it works will only last maybe 3 months if you are lucky.

Anyway, I only charged her 1 hour labor.

The laptop worked and she was happy. She knows the $70 she paid will most likely not last, but it does fall into my 90 day warranty. Should it fail again, she will get it fixed again and the warranty will be the rest of the 90 days or 30... whichever is longer.

Failure to be able to fix it again should it come back will result in a full refund. She understands this.

 

[allanc]

Reflows invariably recur - if you care about your customer then tell him to scrap it and replace. Personally I believe any tech. doing reflows is of questionable technical ability and/or honesty.

Yes, I told him to scrap the HP.
Like, I said, HP has been very good to me
I am also not going to change the diag fee.