Seemingly impossible problem - urgent help, please

The_Ink_Goddess · May 15, 2010

I have what appears to be a variation on the Windows "Black Screen of Death." I use Vista and I have a Fujitsu Siemens Amilo laptop. When I switch it on, it whirrs and hums like it's a normal startup. However, after a couple of seconds, the second green light goes out and it goes completely dead. There is nothing but the black screen. I have tried to use my recovery DVD but it does nothing. It seems like it tries to start it, but can't. Pressing F8 does nothing. I am so frustrated and I feel like I'm about to chew my hand off. Can someone help me?

dpaterso · May 15, 2010

Sounds ominous!

This is an obvious-as-all-heck question, no insult intended, but is your power supply plugged in and switched on -- you're not trying to boot off a dying battery?

I only ask because I'd always expect F8 to work, unless something on your motherboard has gone pffft.

(I'm using the same laptop, BTW. Coming up to 3 years of faithful service. But I back everything up every day, just in case.)

-Derek

kurzon · May 15, 2010

Power supply's the first thing that springs to mind for me, too.

Margarita Skies · May 15, 2010

I am so sorry that you're going through this, Beth.

I hope you get it fixed soon. I've had the blue screen of death in my other laptop a few years ago but never the black one and I never had the problem that you're experiencing.

PEBKAC2 · May 15, 2010

Does it get far enough to post (do you hear any beeps at all after you turn it on before it shuts itself off)? Do you see any text on the screen before it stops boting? It sounds like it's not even loading the BIOS. Pressing F8 won't do anything if it's not getting to the point of booting Windows. The recovery CD won't help either, if the BIOS isn't loading.

My first thoughts are the same as dpaterso -- sounds like a really dead battery or a power supply problem.

backslashbaby · May 15, 2010

Do you know if your DVD is bootable? And does it do the exact same thing whether trying to boot from the hdd or the DVD? How many beeps are there, if you get any beeps? Do you see anything on the screen at all, at any time?

Sorry for the interogation, lol

aadams73 · May 15, 2010

When this happened to my desktop it turned out to be the power supply. I don't think anything else would cause that on/off symptom.

Xvee · May 15, 2010

Second green light, the one with the icon that looks like a can, is the hard drive. Laptop hard drives break very easily from overheating. I've broken two in six years. Despite being called a laptop, it's best to prop the machine up with something to give the bottom circulation.

Can you tell us what the icon looks like next to the green light that goes out?

You can also try pulling out the drive and boot the machine to see if you get the same symptoms.

AnkleSneeze · May 19, 2010

Also a number of laptops have issues with their power jacks failing, try wiggling the power plug and see if any of the lights cut out.

Miss Plum · May 19, 2010

Xvee said:
Second green light, the one with the icon that looks like a can, is the hard drive. Laptop hard drives break very easily from overheating. I've broken two in six years. Despite being called a laptop, it's best to prop the machine up with something to give the bottom circulation.

Very similar experiences here.

The last technician who replaced my hard drive essentially advised me not to use my laptop on the top of my lap.

Xvee · May 19, 2010

Miss Plum said:
Very similar experiences here.

The last technician who replaced my hard drive essentially advised me not to use my laptop on the top of my lap.

Oh no

, you don't need a tech. Just undo a couple of screws and it slides right out. Just buy the exact same drive online and save some money on the service. Easy-peazy.

Baryonyx · May 21, 2010

Hiya,

I'm experiancing the exact same problem with one of my laptops.

I heard from a computer guy who I phoned that if you uplug the computer, remove the battery and hold down the power button for about 2 minutes it may solve the problem.

Didn't work for mine since mine is apparently because the backlight has died but for some laptops its supposed to fix it.

Hope it works for you!

Seemingly impossible problem - urgent help, please

The_Ink_Goddess

we're gonna make it out of the fire

dpaterso

Also in our Discord and IRC chat channels

kurzon

Margarita Skies

PEBKAC2

Will crit for food.

backslashbaby

*

aadams73

A Work in Progress

Xvee

I Need Monkeys

AnkleSneeze

Old guy, be rough

Miss Plum

Xvee

I Need Monkeys

Baryonyx

Seemingly impossible problem - urgent help, please

we're gonna make it out of the fire

Also in our Discord and IRC chat channels

Will crit for food.

~~~~*~~~~

A Work in Progress

I Need Monkeys

Old guy, be rough

I Need Monkeys

*