hp notebook will not turn on...

phykia · 03-10-2008, 12:46 PM

i've had my notebook for several years now, so tech support is unwilling to help. anyway, just the other day my computer decided to take a crap. the culprit may have been static electricity but i am unsure if that is the case. my computer is an hp pavilion ze4900 that will not turn on. i've tried unplugging the ac adapter and battery from each slot and sit for a little while and plugged everything back in. each and every time i go to press my power button, the orange power indicator light blinks on and then off. i've tried resetting my cmos and when i do that, the orange indicator light also blinks on then off. i've also tried to remove my battery and use only the ac adapter and then tried to power on, again the orange indicator light blinks. obviously my computer is not turning on long enough to see if my bios is the problem since i'm unable to get my computer on to see if it posts. there's obviously enough electricity to tell me that something is wrong with my computer. i'm wondering if static electricity can drain a battery? or could my bios chip be fried? help would be greatly appreciated. thank you!

**TriggerFinger** · 03-10-2008, 04:37 PM

hi,

check your RAM sticks. try powering ON using one RAM stick at a time if you have more than one installed. Similarly you can test your RAM sticks on another computer that accepts same type of RAM sticks.

i had my BIOS chip fried once before on a similar laptop. the BIOS chip for that type of laptop is i think can be found when you open the WiFi/modem door at the bottom. The BIOS chip for this type of unit is PLCC type as far as i can recall and it can be easily pried out of its container. However your symptom does not indicate a corrupted BIOS chip (not unless it is shorting out the whole mobo). Anyhow if your BIOS chip is corrupted, you can try ordering one from BIOSMAN. I ordered mine from them sometime ago and my lappy survived a bad flash.

Do post back if you have tried something out.

phykia · 03-10-2008, 05:40 PM

i don't understand how memory would affect my computer not turning on at all. if that were the case my computer would still turn on but would not post, or am i wrong? in this case, my computer will not even attempt to turn on. the only thing it does when i press the power button is that a orange power indicator light blinks once.

**TriggerFinger** · 03-10-2008, 05:50 PM

Hi,

you are right it would not post if RAM is bad.

static electricity can fry an electronic component but i do not think it can or will drain a battery. a shorted component however will. did this happen out of no reason at all? i mean did you try to flash the BIOS? considering it to be caused by static electricity, how were you able to arrive to this suspicion; did you touch anything inside the laptop?

Going back to the original symptom, you said it would not even power ON. aside from the orange light are there any light/LEDs that come on?

phykia · 03-10-2008, 07:07 PM

okay, i tried switching out memory anyway... and as i thought, that was not the problem.

now as far as my suspicions, this is because for a little while now... i've noticed my house has been having some static electricity lately. when i touched my mouse, it discharged some static electricity (unfortunately, my USB mouse has a metal accent which could've caused the static electricity). this has happened before with no problems except the power of my notebook suddenly turning off. each time the power dies, i give it some time to sit, but i still was able to power up my notebook with no problem. just this last time i haven't been able to power it up. i know static electricity is a problem, but i should still be able to turn on my computer. the reason why i ask if static electricity drains batteries is because i'm wondering if my ac adapter is not working correctly and my battery is drained because of the ac adapter not working. i'm going to the store shortly to get a voltmeter to check to see if my ac adapter is the culprit. if not, i'd like some other suggestions as to what it could be.

i'm wondering if the problem lies with power because of the orange blinking power indicator. so we'll see soon.

phykia · 03-10-2008, 07:10 PM

also, another thing...

even when i try to run just the ac adapter and plug it in after letting it sit for a little while, it also blinks. i'm thinking it's getting power, but maybe not enough?

anyway, i'm off to wal-mart...

**TriggerFinger** · 03-10-2008, 07:26 PM

about the electrostatic discharge... if your power source of your laptop is properly grounded i do not think it would really matter. although some power supplies have 2 prongs instead of 3.

ok then.. just post back the results of your voltage measurements.

phykia · 03-10-2008, 08:05 PM

okay, multimeter is telling me there's power going into the ac adapter. also, i pulled out my battery and noticed that there was an area that i could press and would tell me the charge of battery... kinda like an energizer battery where you press the bottom and somewhere along the body of the battery. i have a fully charged battery, and power is obviously getting to the computer fine and dandy, but there's a problem with it starting up when i hit the power button... and now i'm stuck yet again.

phykia · 03-10-2008, 08:12 PM

i'm also wondering if my cmos battery is dead. then again if that were the case, everything would go back to default factory settings, right? or would it even start?

**TriggerFinger** · 03-10-2008, 08:31 PM

if cmos battery is dead or dying it will restore default BIOS setting values and it will surely send out an error... but it will still power up (not necessarily complete boot) and will show you the error.

phykia · 03-10-2008, 10:11 PM

okay, so... i'm beyond stumped at this point.

hopefully, my hdd is not fried. this is all i can hope for at the moment until i pick up an adapter so i'm able to plug it into my husband's desktop computer.

i was wondering if you have any expertise in perhaps an electricity regulator or ...??? well, in general something that is perhaps not allowing enough power to the computer to work properly. but even if that were the case, the computer still should be able to run off of the battery. so all in all, i think it's safe to assume that the power button is not working correctly or my mobo is fried. my only question is that with a fried mobo the computer would not start up, right? i've never had this happen, so i'm just trying to narrow down the possible problems. thanks again for all the help.

**TriggerFinger** · 03-10-2008, 11:42 PM

I apologize but I am not familiar on the location of the orange light the you see blinking. I have ZE4115 and i see an orange light blinking but it is for the battery. My unit has a problem with the power switch so I use the first button to right of the power ON button to power it ON. Somehow my unit powers ON this way.

If I will use my ZE4115 as reference, the blinking orange light means it is a warning for a discharged battery. I also noticed that if my battery is totally discharged and I do not plug in the power brick, each time i power it ON it will blink a few times and then turns OFF (due to no power).

Anyhow... have you checked the output of your power brick (input of your laptop) if there is any measured voltage at all? If there is power, then it could be defective DC jack or probably the mobo, that is why your battery does not charge as there is no power going into the whole system.

Btw... my ze4115 looks like this.

phykia · 03-10-2008, 11:59 PM

i doubt the problem lies in the ac adapter or the battery. the battery is full and completely charged. the computer should still be able to boot up with just the battery alone but even that is not happening. so somewhere lies a problem... and i think it's the mobo because my hdd still spins. oh so confused.

abuser4lif3 · 03-11-2008, 05:53 AM

I think you power supply cable is damaged so it can't distribute power properly and laptop turns off... try replacing your power supply cable. Good luck!

phykia · 03-11-2008, 07:28 AM

my notebook doesn't even turn on to begin with. and even then, if the battery is fully charged does it still go thru the same power supply as ac/dc power?

anyway, i'm guessing i would have to take my entire computer apart. however, granted i know a bit about computers, but i have no idea what a power supply cable looks like on a notebook.

phykia · 03-11-2008, 11:50 PM

i've gone over my problem with many friends, and they are telling me that perhaps my BIOS is dead. i'm still curious if static electricity can make a BIOS chip go bad or corrupt. anybody have this happen before to them?

**TriggerFinger** · 03-12-2008, 01:44 AM

that is also a possibility... a corrupted BIOS chip would not give you anything on the screen. the laptop would turn ON but not boot. the power LED would definitely light up but nothing more.

the only way as I see it is to replace the BIOS chip. you can order it online. i am positive there are a lot of shops that do that kind of service.

daddywoofdawg · 03-12-2008, 10:42 PM

Hello,
I would say no the most likely cause would be a power surge could short out or fry a board the also is a power inverter that may have been fried.have you tried unplugging the ac adpater and starting it with just the battery.and then the other way around?if you can get it to boot go to power options and make sure that you don't have it set for hibernation when battery is low.also up in your f number area see if there is any buttons that my have been pushed causing it to go into hibernation.you say you hear the fan and HDD so I don't think the mobo is fried.

**bhahar84** · 03-13-2008, 10:17 AM

Did you try to power reset the laptop? Take out the battery, unplug the power cord. After disconnecting power and take out the battery, try to press the power button on laptop for almost 30 seconds. Now try to put the battery in, and plug the power cable back. See if the laptop can be turned on?

otherwise, it might be the power supply itself has been the issue here. Try to replace the power cord if you have a extra power cord, otherwise you can send the laptop back to manufacturer if you are still in warranty so that they can check through the issue

abuser4lif3 · 03-13-2008, 10:49 AM

sending back to manufacturer should definitly do the trick - except thay have very bad Customer service... :D

03-10-2008, 12:46 PM	#1 (permalink)
phykia Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 11 OS: XP	hp notebook will not turn on... i've had my notebook for several years now, so tech support is unwilling to help. anyway, just the other day my computer decided to take a crap. the culprit may have been static electricity but i am unsure if that is the case. my computer is an hp pavilion ze4900 that will not turn on. i've tried unplugging the ac adapter and battery from each slot and sit for a little while and plugged everything back in. each and every time i go to press my power button, the orange power indicator light blinks on and then off. i've tried resetting my cmos and when i do that, the orange indicator light also blinks on then off. i've also tried to remove my battery and use only the ac adapter and then tried to power on, again the orange indicator light blinks. obviously my computer is not turning on long enough to see if my bios is the problem since i'm unable to get my computer on to see if it posts. there's obviously enough electricity to tell me that something is wrong with my computer. i'm wondering if static electricity can drain a battery? or could my bios chip be fried? help would be greatly appreciated. thank you!

03-10-2008, 04:37 PM	#2 (permalink)
TriggerFinger Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: USA Posts: 11,853 OS: Vista SP1, XP SP3, PCLinuxOS2007	Re: hp notebook will not turn on... hi, check your RAM sticks. try powering ON using one RAM stick at a time if you have more than one installed. Similarly you can test your RAM sticks on another computer that accepts same type of RAM sticks. i had my BIOS chip fried once before on a similar laptop. the BIOS chip for that type of laptop is i think can be found when you open the WiFi/modem door at the bottom. The BIOS chip for this type of unit is PLCC type as far as i can recall and it can be easily pried out of its container. However your symptom does not indicate a corrupted BIOS chip (not unless it is shorting out the whole mobo). Anyhow if your BIOS chip is corrupted, you can try ordering one from BIOSMAN. I ordered mine from them sometime ago and my lappy survived a bad flash. Do post back if you have tried something out. __________________ DBAN - Memtest86+ - BartPE - Linux LiveCD - ImgBurn - HDD Diags - Disk Copy HOW TO BURN AN ISO FILE Last edited by TriggerFinger; 03-10-2008 at 04:39 PM.

03-10-2008, 05:40 PM	#3 (permalink)
phykia Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 11 OS: XP	Re: hp notebook will not turn on... i don't understand how memory would affect my computer not turning on at all. if that were the case my computer would still turn on but would not post, or am i wrong? in this case, my computer will not even attempt to turn on. the only thing it does when i press the power button is that a orange power indicator light blinks once.

03-10-2008, 05:50 PM	#4 (permalink)
TriggerFinger Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: USA Posts: 11,853 OS: Vista SP1, XP SP3, PCLinuxOS2007	Re: hp notebook will not turn on... Hi, you are right it would not post if RAM is bad. static electricity can fry an electronic component but i do not think it can or will drain a battery. a shorted component however will. did this happen out of no reason at all? i mean did you try to flash the BIOS? considering it to be caused by static electricity, how were you able to arrive to this suspicion; did you touch anything inside the laptop? Going back to the original symptom, you said it would not even power ON. aside from the orange light are there any light/LEDs that come on? __________________ DBAN - Memtest86+ - BartPE - Linux LiveCD - ImgBurn - HDD Diags - Disk Copy HOW TO BURN AN ISO FILE

03-10-2008, 07:07 PM	#5 (permalink)
phykia Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 11 OS: XP	Re: hp notebook will not turn on... okay, i tried switching out memory anyway... and as i thought, that was not the problem. now as far as my suspicions, this is because for a little while now... i've noticed my house has been having some static electricity lately. when i touched my mouse, it discharged some static electricity (unfortunately, my USB mouse has a metal accent which could've caused the static electricity). this has happened before with no problems except the power of my notebook suddenly turning off. each time the power dies, i give it some time to sit, but i still was able to power up my notebook with no problem. just this last time i haven't been able to power it up. i know static electricity is a problem, but i should still be able to turn on my computer. the reason why i ask if static electricity drains batteries is because i'm wondering if my ac adapter is not working correctly and my battery is drained because of the ac adapter not working. i'm going to the store shortly to get a voltmeter to check to see if my ac adapter is the culprit. if not, i'd like some other suggestions as to what it could be. i'm wondering if the problem lies with power because of the orange blinking power indicator. so we'll see soon.

03-10-2008, 07:10 PM	#6 (permalink)
phykia Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 11 OS: XP	Re: hp notebook will not turn on... also, another thing... even when i try to run just the ac adapter and plug it in after letting it sit for a little while, it also blinks. i'm thinking it's getting power, but maybe not enough? anyway, i'm off to wal-mart...

03-10-2008, 07:26 PM	#7 (permalink)
TriggerFinger Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: USA Posts: 11,853 OS: Vista SP1, XP SP3, PCLinuxOS2007	Re: hp notebook will not turn on... about the electrostatic discharge... if your power source of your laptop is properly grounded i do not think it would really matter. although some power supplies have 2 prongs instead of 3. ok then.. just post back the results of your voltage measurements. __________________ DBAN - Memtest86+ - BartPE - Linux LiveCD - ImgBurn - HDD Diags - Disk Copy HOW TO BURN AN ISO FILE

03-10-2008, 08:05 PM	#8 (permalink)
phykia Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 11 OS: XP	Re: hp notebook will not turn on... okay, multimeter is telling me there's power going into the ac adapter. also, i pulled out my battery and noticed that there was an area that i could press and would tell me the charge of battery... kinda like an energizer battery where you press the bottom and somewhere along the body of the battery. i have a fully charged battery, and power is obviously getting to the computer fine and dandy, but there's a problem with it starting up when i hit the power button... and now i'm stuck yet again.

03-10-2008, 08:12 PM	#9 (permalink)
phykia Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 11 OS: XP	Re: hp notebook will not turn on... i'm also wondering if my cmos battery is dead. then again if that were the case, everything would go back to default factory settings, right? or would it even start?

03-10-2008, 08:31 PM	#10 (permalink)
TriggerFinger Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: USA Posts: 11,853 OS: Vista SP1, XP SP3, PCLinuxOS2007	Re: hp notebook will not turn on... if cmos battery is dead or dying it will restore default BIOS setting values and it will surely send out an error... but it will still power up (not necessarily complete boot) and will show you the error. __________________ DBAN - Memtest86+ - BartPE - Linux LiveCD - ImgBurn - HDD Diags - Disk Copy HOW TO BURN AN ISO FILE Last edited by TriggerFinger; 03-10-2008 at 08:39 PM.

03-10-2008, 10:11 PM	#11 (permalink)
phykia Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 11 OS: XP	Re: hp notebook will not turn on... okay, so... i'm beyond stumped at this point. hopefully, my hdd is not fried. this is all i can hope for at the moment until i pick up an adapter so i'm able to plug it into my husband's desktop computer. i was wondering if you have any expertise in perhaps an electricity regulator or ...??? well, in general something that is perhaps not allowing enough power to the computer to work properly. but even if that were the case, the computer still should be able to run off of the battery. so all in all, i think it's safe to assume that the power button is not working correctly or my mobo is fried. my only question is that with a fried mobo the computer would not start up, right? i've never had this happen, so i'm just trying to narrow down the possible problems. thanks again for all the help.

03-10-2008, 11:42 PM	#12 (permalink)
TriggerFinger Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: USA Posts: 11,853 OS: Vista SP1, XP SP3, PCLinuxOS2007	Re: hp notebook will not turn on... I apologize but I am not familiar on the location of the orange light the you see blinking. I have ZE4115 and i see an orange light blinking but it is for the battery. My unit has a problem with the power switch so I use the first button to right of the power ON button to power it ON. Somehow my unit powers ON this way. If I will use my ZE4115 as reference, the blinking orange light means it is a warning for a discharged battery. I also noticed that if my battery is totally discharged and I do not plug in the power brick, each time i power it ON it will blink a few times and then turns OFF (due to no power). Anyhow... have you checked the output of your power brick (input of your laptop) if there is any measured voltage at all? If there is power, then it could be defective DC jack or probably the mobo, that is why your battery does not charge as there is no power going into the whole system. Btw... my ze4115 looks like this. __________________ DBAN - Memtest86+ - BartPE - Linux LiveCD - ImgBurn - HDD Diags - Disk Copy HOW TO BURN AN ISO FILE Last edited by TriggerFinger; 03-10-2008 at 11:49 PM.

03-10-2008, 11:59 PM	#13 (permalink)
phykia Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 11 OS: XP	Re: hp notebook will not turn on... i doubt the problem lies in the ac adapter or the battery. the battery is full and completely charged. the computer should still be able to boot up with just the battery alone but even that is not happening. so somewhere lies a problem... and i think it's the mobo because my hdd still spins. oh so confused.

03-11-2008, 05:53 AM	#14 (permalink)
abuser4lif3 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 11 OS: Windows Vista	Re: hp notebook will not turn on... I think you power supply cable is damaged so it can't distribute power properly and laptop turns off... try replacing your power supply cable. Good luck! __________________ laptop-top.com - sweet...

03-11-2008, 07:28 AM	#15 (permalink)
phykia Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 11 OS: XP	Re: hp notebook will not turn on... my notebook doesn't even turn on to begin with. and even then, if the battery is fully charged does it still go thru the same power supply as ac/dc power? anyway, i'm guessing i would have to take my entire computer apart. however, granted i know a bit about computers, but i have no idea what a power supply cable looks like on a notebook.

03-11-2008, 11:50 PM	#16 (permalink)
phykia Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 11 OS: XP	Re: hp notebook will not turn on... i've gone over my problem with many friends, and they are telling me that perhaps my BIOS is dead. i'm still curious if static electricity can make a BIOS chip go bad or corrupt. anybody have this happen before to them?

03-12-2008, 01:44 AM	#17 (permalink)
TriggerFinger Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: USA Posts: 11,853 OS: Vista SP1, XP SP3, PCLinuxOS2007	Re: hp notebook will not turn on... that is also a possibility... a corrupted BIOS chip would not give you anything on the screen. the laptop would turn ON but not boot. the power LED would definitely light up but nothing more. the only way as I see it is to replace the BIOS chip. you can order it online. i am positive there are a lot of shops that do that kind of service. __________________ DBAN - Memtest86+ - BartPE - Linux LiveCD - ImgBurn - HDD Diags - Disk Copy HOW TO BURN AN ISO FILE

03-12-2008, 10:42 PM	#18 (permalink)
daddywoofdawg Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 2 OS: xpp	Re: hp notebook will not turn on... Hello, I would say no the most likely cause would be a power surge could short out or fry a board the also is a power inverter that may have been fried.have you tried unplugging the ac adpater and starting it with just the battery.and then the other way around?if you can get it to boot go to power options and make sure that you don't have it set for hibernation when battery is low.also up in your f number area see if there is any buttons that my have been pushed causing it to go into hibernation.you say you hear the fan and HDD so I don't think the mobo is fried.

03-13-2008, 10:17 AM	#19 (permalink)
bhahar84 TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Malaysia Posts: 1,386 OS: Windows XP SP2, Vista Ultimate My System	Re: hp notebook will not turn on... Did you try to power reset the laptop? Take out the battery, unplug the power cord. After disconnecting power and take out the battery, try to press the power button on laptop for almost 30 seconds. Now try to put the battery in, and plug the power cable back. See if the laptop can be turned on? otherwise, it might be the power supply itself has been the issue here. Try to replace the power cord if you have a extra power cord, otherwise you can send the laptop back to manufacturer if you are still in warranty so that they can check through the issue __________________ .:CPU-Z::Power Supply::Recuva::Unlocker::SensorsView::PSU Calculator::Everest:.[/center] Last edited by bhahar84; 03-13-2008 at 10:27 AM.

03-13-2008, 10:49 AM	#20 (permalink)
abuser4lif3 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 11 OS: Windows Vista	Re: hp notebook will not turn on... sending back to manufacturer should definitly do the trick - except thay have very bad Customer service... :D __________________ laptop-top.com - sweet...