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Phil Hobbs

On 02/08/2018 11:09 AM, wrote:
I have a laptop that is acting really weird. It's an older ASUS,
probably ten or twelve years old. It was plugged in, closed, sitting
on a table. It worked fine a few days before the problems started. The
display keeps shaking. The machine takes forever to boot up. And then
acts weird. But if I push down hard on the lower left side of the
machine it works fine. As long as the pressure is kept up and in just
the right area.
I spoke to my son about this problem because he knows more about
this kind of thing than I do. He said it sounded like a video card
problem that he and some of his computer whiz friends have run into.
Apparently the video processor can get too hot and the BGA under it
can start to debond.
He has a hot air rework tool and he said I might be able to reflow
the chip. Is this something that a rank amateur can likely do?
Eric

Since the machine is on its way out anyway, why not give it a whirl? Do
your backups first, of course.

Laptops use the circuit board as a stressed structural element, so they
sometimes crack when mistreated, e.g. when picked up horizontally by a
front corner. I had one go like that, and the symptoms were similar to
yours. Now when I need to one-hand a laptop I pick it up near the hinge
instead.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC / Hobbs ElectroOptics
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510

http://electrooptical.net
http://hobbs-eo.com