[GasparB123]

Hello, I'm looking for some help with a HP G42-380LA notebook. I received this laptop not booting, with a black screen and blinking caps lock. I took it apart and found out that the previous person who opened this machine had cleaned the old thermal paste but had not put on new paste (How?!?!?). I applied some Artic MX-2 and changed the thermal pad on the GPU (ATI/AMD Mobility 4250). After that I reassembled the computer and turned it on. It worked, I thought I had fixed it. The next day I turned it on again and once more, black screen and blinking caps lock. I tried powering it on a second time and it booted. Normally I have to power cycle the machine 2-3 times, and it boots when it feels like it, basically. I had updated this machine from 2GB to 8GB of RAM, and installed a SATA SSD. When it boots, it works perfectly fine. But that's when it wants to boot.

I am absolutely stumped and cannot find a solution. If anyone could give some tips or help out, I'd be very thankful.

 

[Corday]

Try a Power Reset.

 

[GasparB123]

Try a Power Reset.

I'd tried this before, but decided to do it again. I must have done something wrong the first time, beacause it worked, at least for the moment. I'll keep testing it. Thank you very much

 

[GasparB123]

Try a Power Reset.

Nope, it started doing it again

 

[spunk.funk]

This is the HP Diagnostic Blinking codes and what they mean. Match the speed and amount of blinks to show you what it means.

 

[GasparB123]

View attachment 332144

This is the HP Diagnostic Blinking codes and what they mean. Match the speed and amount of blinks to show you what it means.

It looks like it could be a CPU problem, beacause the caps lock blinks once, 2-3 seconds pass, and it blinks again.

Could the CPU fail like this, working some times and not others?

 

[Corday]

It looks like it could be a CPU problem, beacause the caps lock blinks once, 2-3 seconds pass, and it blinks again.

Could the CPU fail like this, working some times and not others?

Absolutely.

 

[GasparB123]

Absolutely.

Is there any solution other than changing the CPU??

 

[spunk.funk]

The CPU may have been damaged by overheating since there was no Thermal Paste applied previously.
The best you can do is take it apart and remove the heat sync, reseat the processor, clean it off and apply new thermal paste, reseat the RAM, make sure all other cables are connected properly, put it together and see how it goes. If it fails, the processor or motherboard may have been damaged during the process.

 

[GasparB123]

The CPU may have been damaged by overheating since there was no Thermal Paste applied previously.
The best you can do is take it apart and remove the heat sync, reseat the processor, clean it off and apply new thermal paste, reseat the RAM, make sure all other cables are connected properly, put it together and see how it goes. If it fails, the processor or motherboard may have been damaged during the process.

I'm from Argentina, and this model of processor (Athlon II P360) is hard to come by. Luckily I have a colleague that found one in an old parts bin and working. I'm going to see him today, try reseating everything, and if that fails, change out the CPU and see if that works. I'll keep you posted