I understand that the more clear that I am with the problem, the better the chances somebody can help me. Here is the situation.

I have a Compaq R3000z laptop computer. (The Z was because it was built to order)
Athlon64 CPU 3000, 756MB ram, ATI64mb video card..40Gig HD, WIFI..

Up until yesterday, the laptop was working fine. Last night however, the screen was feezing in a shaken like, slightly blurred manner. (Best way to describe image I had.)

When it did this, the entire laptop froze up. I restarted it a couple of times and the problem seemed to go away....for a few minutes.
As soon as I tried to do something, the screen started flashing on and off.

Next, when I started it, the computer appeared to come on. I say this because the power light came on and the PC lights came on (WIFI, ETC)...but the screen was totally dark. There was no image whatsoever anywhere during the power up.
At this point, I was able to access the files on the laptop via another PC on my network. I therefore set out to transfer all my files off the PC.

This morning, the laptop will power up, but nothing else seems to happen.
What I mean is that the power light comes on..but that is it.
I do not see the HD trying to load up and I can no longer access it when on via my network.

I have pulled each stick of ram to eliminate them.
I have pulled the DVD rom.
I have removed the HD and even changed it out with another one.
I have pulled and reseated the video card.
I have confirmed the CPU fan is spinning when powered on.
I have pulled and re-installed the CPU. I did not see any physical damage on the CPU when I pulled it.
I have tried to use either the battery or the transformer to eliminate either as a power problem.
I have pulled the cable going to the LCD and tried to power the laptop up via the the VGA output to a desktop monitor. The monitor did not see any input from the PC. (Asked if PC cable was connected.)

I have also tried to use both the XP boot disk and repair disk on both HD's (One I am certain is good.)
WHen I tried this, the DVD rom spun a couple of times and that was it.

Occasionally, I will get a couple of beeps when I turn it on (Strikes me as some sort of warning.) ..but that is it.

When on, the power light is on but that is it. It will shut off normally when I press and hold the power button. The DVD rom will open and spin up a little if I pop the drive open. That is about all it will do.

What else can I check?
Since I disconnected the LCD, I feel like I eliminated that.
I do not know how to eliminate the CPU since I do not have a spare.
And the same goes for the motherboard.

And help at all will be appreciated.

1/11/2007 10:08:05 AM

Sounds a lot like a problem I had in a Thinkpad R40. I eliminated RAM, LCD, HDD, etc., and the only other solution I could come up with was that maybe it was an onboard video problem, which is a little harder to diagnose, but much harder to fix. Let's see what others say though. The only difference is that my screen would freeze, and it would seem to have small squiggly lines horizontally across the screen. It's a very difficult phenomena to explain.

[Edited on January 11, 2007 at 10:14 AM. Reason : ]

1/11/2007 10:12:58 AM

Yeah..if the video is the problem, I do not have a spare card to try.
I was originally thinking that might not be the issue though because the nature of the problem did not stay the same.
If the video card was the issue, I am wondering why it might have first allowed me to transfer files via my network and now it will only power the CPU fan and a couple of lights.

I have a feeling it is either the CPU, Motherboard or Power supply.

I just wish I knew somebody who has a laptop that uses an athon processor.
Of all the bad scenarios, that is probably the best and easiest to replace.
And right now, I feel the like the only things that I can not totally eliminate are the CPU, MB, and video card.

[Edited on January 11, 2007 at 10:41 AM. Reason : .]

1/11/2007 10:37:55 AM

Found it.
One of the antenna wires going into the WIFI card had worn through enough of the tape seperating it from the keyboard that it was grounding out.

1/11/2007 11:16:52 AM

so it ended up being a grounding issue? hmm...might have to break out the screwdriver and laptop again.

1/11/2007 4:08:16 PM

wow, nice find!

1/11/2007 4:26:21 PM

okay, so i can't find a grounding issue on mine (R40), and I've looked at all the wires, from and to wifi, from lcd and into motherboard. nothing. any other ideas would be great.

1/11/2007 7:24:22 PM

Senez...
Do you have a VGA out?
Does the probem ever occur on the VGA out if you do?

I am wondering about your Display inverter.

If the problem does happen with the VGA out, I would agree that maybe the onboard video is bad.

Is the video card seperate or embedded in the motherboard?

[Edited on January 11, 2007 at 9:12 PM. Reason : .]

1/11/2007 9:10:00 PM

video card is onboard. i have VGA out, but never use it.

1/11/2007 10:13:22 PM

Enable the VGA out.
Disconnect the lcd via the cable.
Then try to run the laptop on a desktop monitor.
If everything works fine, you have now isolated the problem to be in the lcd.
If you have the same problem, you know to look in the other direction.

1/12/2007 12:11:50 AM