Honestly not sure

ZacMan1987ZacMan1987
edited March 2007 in Hardware
Ok, I don't know if this IS a hardware or software problem at this point. So, I'll describe it and let you guys be the judges.

About 2 months ago, my computer was finally returned to me from a mobo replacement. At first, things seemed fine. Then, about 2 weeks ago, my first problem occurred. I had a hard system hang. All hardware appears to be on and functioning, but all processes (and I mean everything) just stops dead. No mouse movement, no nothing except screen on, drives spinning, and external clock still running. Happened at totally random times.

Pretty soon, I start noticing it happening more and more frequently. Yesterday, the problem just went exponential on me. Started hanging every 5-10 minutes, and now, the system won't even boot 8 out of 10 times. I push power on, no response. No system clock on the external panel, no screen power-on, no nothing. Won't even check the system RAM. I've tried booting in safe mode, tried booting from CD. It doesn't seem to be software dependant at all, because none of that changes a thing. When I tried booting from CD, got almost through the load process, crash.

My specs are as follows:

Clevo D900T Laptop
P4 3.4 Ghz
2 GB System RAM (533 Mhz DDR2)
2 55 GB 7200 RPM HDs (Hitachi Travelstars methinks).
2 Optical Drives
ATI Radeon Mobility X800

Any other info you need, just let me know.
Thanks!!

Comments

  • Trance-Lord-SnyderTrance-Lord-Snyder Eastern PA Member
    edited March 2007
    If the computer won't even boot, it's definately a hardware problem. Has your bios been updated at all? Or has it been the same since you've gotten it?

    I would suggest calling the company you purchased the laptop from, I hope it's still under warranty. If you open the laptop yourself, I'm not sure they will honor the warranty. It sounds like either a bad part, or a heat problem. I'm not expert though so if I'm wrong, don't hurt me. =D
  • ZacMan1987ZacMan1987
    edited March 2007
    Yeah. It's under warranty. I was hoping in the beginning to avoid that route b/c dealing with thier support dept in the past has been a nightmare. They had my computer for a grand total of about 7 months.

    1 almost fire and 2 trips back and forth to Cali later, it was fixed, but now, problems again.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2007
    I would run the hard drive test from the drive manufacturer and also a pass or two of Memtest-86. Even with the warranty it might speed things up to know if it's the RAM or the hard drive before you send it back. It will also be some insurance against a misdiagnosis at the repair center. :)
  • edcentricedcentric near Milwaukee, Wisconsin Icrontian
    edited March 2007
    Does it ever blue screen, or just lock?
    Sounds like hardware.
    Either heat or power would be my first guesses.
  • ZacMan1987ZacMan1987
    edited March 2007
    Ed,
    No blue screen. Just lock. Sound starts skipping, fan control remains active, screen stays on. Everything else gone.

    Pro,
    I would run memtest, but the computer won't run in ANY program configuration for any length of time. Not CD boot, not Safe Mode. Nothing. It's even crashed in the startup config screen.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2007
    Memtest runs off a bootable floppy or cdrom. Besides testing RAM, it also is an excellent way to help narrow down whether your problem is hardware or software. If Memtest can run for a couple hours without the system locking up you'll have a good idea that it's software related. :)
  • ZacMan1987ZacMan1987
    edited March 2007
    profdlp wrote:
    Memtest runs off a bootable floppy or cdrom. Besides testing RAM, it also is an excellent way to help narrow down whether your problem is hardware or software. If Memtest can run for a couple hours without the system locking up you'll have a good idea that it's software related. :)

    Yeah. Even Memtest crashed.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2007
    If you have more than one stick of RAM, test them one at a time. If not, try borrowing a stick and test it again with that.

    If it still fails, I'd suspect either the motherboard or the PSU. Do you have a spare PSU you can try?
Sign In or Register to comment.