timbular

I am new to this forum but hoping there are some bios experts out there that could give me suggestions.

My computer details:

Hp pavilion zv6130us, and Hp pavilion zv6007
both have the same bios chip.
Both have the same processor. Amd 3200+

The problem:

After having the zv6130 for about a year a glass of tea was spilled next to it and some tea got on the keyboard... It wasn't drowned in it, but there was a little bit that came out when the computer was picked up and tilted. I immediately unplugged it and removed the battery. The computer stopped working after that, if I recall it would come on and freeze up. Being stupid and cheap I did not purchase an extended warranty that would have covered this. So I decided to take the computer apart and dry and clean the parts. So I disassembled the computer while using a grounding strap. I removed the battery from the mother board and used a tooth brush and Isopropyl Alcohol to clean the sticky tea of the motherboard. The tea only got one corner of the motherboard. I removed the cooling block and fan from the CPU and then removed the CPU to make sure there was no tea anywhere. It was OK, there was no tea around the CPU. I put everything back together, but I used the old dielectric grease between the CPU and heat sink. After putting it back together, I turned it on and it worked fine. I was so relieved and happy. It worked fine for about 2 months. Then one morning I used it to look something up for my mother and it was fine. When I went back about three or four hours later it wouldn't come on. I had it set to have the screen saver kick in when Idle for about 5 min, then after another five it would hibernate. I would usually shut it completely down unless I would be back to it within a few hours. I assumed it was in hibernation, but it would not wake up. Moving the mouse, punching on keys, even hitting the power button wouldn't do anything. I had to hold down power button for 4 sec. to get it to shut off. So power it on, the fans come on, the light for the drive comes on, and that's it. Shut it down by holding the power button for 4 seconds and it shuts off. Sometimes if you look really close to the monitor when you try to start it you can see the monitor flicker once very fast. (Almost can't see it) but then all you get is a black screen. Buttons don't work, mouse doesn’t work, and you have to hold the power button down for 4 seconds to get it to shut off.

At first I thought the hard drive crashed and wouldn't let it boot up. A friend told me that even if the hard drive wasn't installed it would go to the bios page. He thought maybe the monitor was bad, so I hooked up another monitor to the VGA port on the back and got nothing. I tried inserting the start up recovery disks, and you can hear the DVD drive wind up but then nothing.

So I thought that either the motherboard is toast or the CPU went out. I did read about the heat sink grease or dielectric grease that goes between the CPU and the heat sink being very important. That it keeps the CPU cool. I bought some arctic silver and took the computer back apart and installed this grease. When I started the computer it did the same thing as before. I shut it off and then started it again. This time I got some loud beeps and some words on the screen... It showed the processor the memory and said something that it failed to boot the previous time, press f1 for setup, f2.....etc. I tried to press the key but it was locked up. I shut it off and restarted it and it does what it did before, just a blank screen. I turned it on and off a dozen times trying to get that screen to pop up again, but with no luck. Being able to get words on the screen makes me think the monitor is probably OK. I read some posts on another forum of usurer's with similar problems. One even had a link to a manual. So I read the manual and decided to reset the PC. I took the RTC battery out for over 5 minutes and then reinstalled it. Plugged in ac power cord (battery pack still removed) and pressed the power button. I got to the HP splash screen and the words Please wait... appeared in the bottom left corner. So I waited, and waited, nothing is happening. I pressed the power button for 4 seconds and shut it off. I then started it up again, this time I got no splash screen. It's back to the state it was before removing the RTC. I got no beeps, no nothing. So I removed the battery and tried it again. Nothing happened. Still a black screen. I tried resetting it again and again and still nothing. Now no matter what I do, I can't seem to get to bios or splash screen to come up again. It seems to me that something is causing the computer to crash or lock up before it can even post.


Things I've done:

I picked up a zv6007 relatively cheap. This computer works, but has a problem with the USB ports.

I removed the CPU and memory and installed the zv6130's memory and CPU in it and powered it up and it runs. Boots up and runs. This tells me that the memory and CPU are good.

I ordered two PLCC Chips, one programmed with original bios, and one with the latest version. I also ordered two PLCC Sockets.

Removed the bios chip from the zv6130 and installed the socket. Installed the plcc chip with original bios, and reset the cmos. Plugged in the power cable and pressed the power button...Nothing happend...theres no power. It's like it's not plugged in. I removed the chip and inspected the socket and all the legs are soldered snugly. Double checked chip placement and orientation...everything looks good. I then reinstall the original chip that I removed from the board and pressed power button.... It comes on! But will not boot to bios. It acts like it did before...just a black screen. This makes me think that the socket is installed correctly. So now I am confused, and slightly aggravated. I contacted the people I got the chips from to verify that the correct bios data was used, and they assured me that the chips programmed successfully. I then removed the chip and installed the other new chip, and no power. Why does my chip allow power but there successfully programmed chip doesn't? I'm to the point that I am pulling my hair out.

I then remove the chip from the zv6007 and install it in the zv6130. Same chip number, and to my knowledge, same bios versions. Computer powers up, but will not boot to bios, acts just like the chip that was originally in the zv6130. Cleared the cmos, and tried again...But same results as before.

The only thing I have left to do is install the socket on the zv6007 and install the original chip from the zv6130. If this works in the 6007 then I know the chip is good and that something else is at fault. Then it would be give up time, and part it out on e-bay.

Any body got any comments or suggestions? Open to just about anything at this point.


Timmy