This HP DV9000 boots up fine but there is no display video. I did some
checking and found out this is a very common problem.
http://www.pointoflaw.com/archives/2...vidia-clas.php The GPU
overheats and then the video stops functioning. I disassembled it and found
the heat sink vents clogged with dust. I used my new, economical, 852D
rework station to try and reflow the solder on the GPU though I don't think
it got hot enough to melt the solder. I should have tested the external
video before disassembling the entire thing but now with just the power
adapter and RAM plugged in, the external video is working but the laptop
screen flashes dimly once and that's it. My question is, since the external
video is working, (it displays "No OS found,") does that mean the GPU is
working fine and there is a problem with the laptop screen? Before
disassembling it I tried using the special function key to switch the
display output to the external monitor without the external monitor plugged
in to see if it had inadvertently been switched to the external monitor only
setting. That didn't work but now I'm wondering if with all the key pressing
when there was no video, perhaps I left it in the state where it's now
switched to external video only. In the interim, the CMOS battery was
removed and I was wondering if that would reset the video to enable the
laptop display.

Let me summarize.

1. Unit came on. You could hear the Windows logon wav file. No display on
screen.
2. Disassembled unit. Cleaned fan and heat sinks. Used rework station in
attempt to reflow solder to GPU.
3. Reconnected the RAM and power supply with the motherboard attached to the
case with a couple of screws.
4. Powered on, no laptop video but video works to external monitor.
5. Is the GPU good?
6. How to proceed next?

Thanks for your reply.
--
David Farber
Los Osos, CA

David Farber wrote:
This HP DV9000 boots up fine but there is no display video. I did some
checking and found out this is a very common problem.
http://www.pointoflaw.com/archives/2...vidia-clas.php The GPU
overheats and then the video stops functioning. I disassembled it and found
the heat sink vents clogged with dust. I used my new, economical, 852D
rework station to try and reflow the solder on the GPU though I don't think
it got hot enough to melt the solder. I should have tested the external
video before disassembling the entire thing but now with just the power
adapter and RAM plugged in, the external video is working but the laptop
screen flashes dimly once and that's it. My question is, since the external
video is working, (it displays "No OS found,") does that mean the GPU is
working fine and there is a problem with the laptop screen? Before
disassembling it I tried using the special function key to switch the
display output to the external monitor without the external monitor plugged
in to see if it had inadvertently been switched to the external monitor only
setting. That didn't work but now I'm wondering if with all the key pressing
when there was no video, perhaps I left it in the state where it's now
switched to external video only. In the interim, the CMOS battery was
removed and I was wondering if that would reset the video to enable the
laptop display.

Let me summarize.

1. Unit came on. You could hear the Windows logon wav file. No display on
screen.
2. Disassembled unit. Cleaned fan and heat sinks. Used rework station in
attempt to reflow solder to GPU.
3. Reconnected the RAM and power supply with the motherboard attached to the
case with a couple of screws.
4. Powered on, no laptop video but video works to external monitor.
5. Is the GPU good?
6. How to proceed next?

Thanks for your reply.

I dealt with the same model computer over the Christmas holiday. It is
hard for me to imagine the video chip being a problem if the external
video works. That being said, you are correct about MANY such computers
having a video problem. I did the blow torch/ shield from the heat
method, and the computer worked for about a day. Long enough to take
all the data off the hard drive for the owner.

To tell you the truth, I would not put too much labor into this model
computer. Especially with it's history. You could be making a career
choice.

Ken wrote:
David Farber wrote:
This HP DV9000 boots up fine but there is no display video. I did
some checking and found out this is a very common problem.
http://www.pointoflaw.com/archives/2...vidia-clas.php The
GPU overheats and then the video stops functioning. I disassembled
it and found the heat sink vents clogged with dust. I used my new,
economical, 852D rework station to try and reflow the solder on the
GPU though I don't think it got hot enough to melt the solder. I
should have tested the external video before disassembling the
entire thing but now with just the power adapter and RAM plugged in,
the external video is working but the laptop screen flashes dimly
once and that's it. My question is, since the external video is
working, (it displays "No OS found,") does that mean the GPU is
working fine and there is a problem with the laptop screen? Before
disassembling it I tried using the special function key to switch
the display output to the external monitor without the external
monitor plugged in to see if it had inadvertently been switched to
the external monitor only setting. That didn't work but now I'm
wondering if with all the key pressing when there was no video,
perhaps I left it in the state where it's now switched to external
video only. In the interim, the CMOS battery was removed and I was
wondering if that would reset the video to enable the laptop
display. Let me summarize.

1. Unit came on. You could hear the Windows logon wav file. No
display on screen.
2. Disassembled unit. Cleaned fan and heat sinks. Used rework
station in attempt to reflow solder to GPU.
3. Reconnected the RAM and power supply with the motherboard
attached to the case with a couple of screws.
4. Powered on, no laptop video but video works to external monitor.
5. Is the GPU good?
6. How to proceed next?

Thanks for your reply.

I dealt with the same model computer over the Christmas holiday. It
is hard for me to imagine the video chip being a problem if the
external video works. That being said, you are correct about MANY
such computers having a video problem. I did the blow torch/ shield
from the heat method, and the computer worked for about a day. Long
enough to take all the data off the hard drive for the owner.

To tell you the truth, I would not put too much labor into this model
computer. Especially with it's history. You could be making a career
choice.

Hi Ken,

For $80 I can send the motherboard in to have the GPU reflowed and have a
modified heat sink installed to keep it from overheating again. It comes
with a 60 day warranty. The gentleman that fixes it says he's had a very
high success rate and if he can't fix it, there's no charge and free return
shipping. I'm curious enough to see if that will fix it for good. If this
all works out, I'll let you know.

Thanks for your reply.
--
David Farber
Los Osos, CA

On Thu, 16 Jul 2015 15:30:30 -0700, "David Farber"
wrote:

For $80 I can send the motherboard in to have the GPU reflowed and have a
modified heat sink installed to keep it from overheating again. It comes
with a 60 day warranty. The gentleman that fixes it says he's had a very
high success rate and if he can't fix it, there's no charge and free return
shipping. I'm curious enough to see if that will fix it for good. If this
all works out, I'll let you know.

I also send out the boards for repair. I have the same hot air SMT
desolding station, but have had lousy luck with reflowing the video
chips. Of the various HP and Dell laptops with the alleged Nvidia
problem, I've only successfully (long term) repaired 2 out of 7
attempts. The big problem is that I can't easily operate the
motherboard outside of the case to see if I've succeeded. If I wanted
to continue doing these repairs, I would need to build a fixture.

There are three types of repairs for this problem. The cheap and easy
fix is to reflow the BGA video chip and hope that it hold. It usually
will if you don't bend the motherboard when you reinstall it. That's
probably why both yours and my reflow jobs were failing after a few
days. The not so cheap solution is to remove the chip, clean up the
pads, and reflow solder a new chip in it's place. That's much more
work, more expensive, but far more reliable. There are also those
that will remove the chip, clean off both the chip and the PCB, and
reball the motherboard. I've only had one of those done, and it
worked just fine, proving that there's probably nothing wrong with the
Nvidia video chips. It's possible that the vendors that replace the
chips are using recycled chips in this manner.

Some people have made a business out of replacing the chips, so prices
have fallen.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/230491379295

Ask your vendor if they replace and/or reball the video chip. If so,
they're probably ok. If they only reflow the existing chip with a
heat gun or oven, you may have problems.

Incidentally, I had no luck when I tried to reflow the motherboard in
a toast oven. I only did one and it was totally dead when I was done.
Oops. However, these JetDirect cards worked 100%. However, LJ2300
controller cards had only one success out of three:
http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/pics/repair/BGA%20reflow/


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Thu, 16 Jul 2015 15:30:30 -0700, "David Farber"
wrote:

For $80 I can send the motherboard in to have the GPU reflowed and
have a modified heat sink installed to keep it from overheating
again. It comes with a 60 day warranty. The gentleman that fixes it
says he's had a very high success rate and if he can't fix it,
there's no charge and free return shipping. I'm curious enough to
see if that will fix it for good. If this all works out, I'll let
you know.

I also send out the boards for repair. I have the same hot air SMT
desolding station, but have had lousy luck with reflowing the video
chips. Of the various HP and Dell laptops with the alleged Nvidia
problem, I've only successfully (long term) repaired 2 out of 7
attempts. The big problem is that I can't easily operate the
motherboard outside of the case to see if I've succeeded. If I wanted
to continue doing these repairs, I would need to build a fixture.

There are three types of repairs for this problem. The cheap and easy
fix is to reflow the BGA video chip and hope that it hold. It usually
will if you don't bend the motherboard when you reinstall it. That's
probably why both yours and my reflow jobs were failing after a few
days. The not so cheap solution is to remove the chip, clean up the
pads, and reflow solder a new chip in it's place. That's much more
work, more expensive, but far more reliable. There are also those
that will remove the chip, clean off both the chip and the PCB, and
reball the motherboard. I've only had one of those done, and it
worked just fine, proving that there's probably nothing wrong with the
Nvidia video chips. It's possible that the vendors that replace the
chips are using recycled chips in this manner.

Some people have made a business out of replacing the chips, so prices
have fallen.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/230491379295

Ask your vendor if they replace and/or reball the video chip. If so,
they're probably ok. If they only reflow the existing chip with a
heat gun or oven, you may have problems.

Incidentally, I had no luck when I tried to reflow the motherboard in
a toast oven. I only did one and it was totally dead when I was done.
Oops. However, these JetDirect cards worked 100%. However, LJ2300
controller cards had only one success out of three:
http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/pics/repair/BGA%20reflow/

Hi Jeff,

I just sent an e-mail to the eBay vendor you linked and directly quoted your
question about whether or not they do just a reflow or replace and/or reball
the chip.

It turns out the guy that I was going to send my board to for an $80 repair
needs the entire laptop so I nixed that idea.

Thanks for your reply.
--
David Farber
Los Osos, CA