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K.O.'d laptop, I need some help! And a sweet commish deal!
16 years ago
General
*Typing from family computer*
Lord, please forgive me for what I'm about to say...
Short version: My laptop is down and I need to get it repaired or a new one. If you have any tips or would like some service (i.e. commissions), either one would be widely welcomed. :D For the commissions part head to the bottom of this post, I assure you its a pretty sweet offer.
Long Version: I'm chilling in my room, using my laptop and talking on the phone with my bud
CJ-Fox. All of a sudden, out of nowhere my laptop screen turns a yellow tint. I get a wee bit worried and restart the comp. Everything is fine and dandy for a little while until the screen turns yellow again. Now I'm getting even more nervous, so I shut it down again and start it up again.
It starts up with a yellow screen, but I figured maybe I can get through this and fix it. All of a sudden the screen scrambles with white and whatever color was currently on the screen. I could no longer see what's on the screen. So now even more nervous and a little annoyed, I had to shut the computer down and call HP (the computer company and also the biggest mistake of the night...). So after paying 50 bucks just for some foreign sounding guy to go on his computer and run a "diagnostic", my laptop now has a black screen AND wont even boot up (without restarting over and over again).
This whole problem wouldn't be too if some of my art files (don't worry, no requests are stuck on it) along with a mess load of other data (including animation data and programs) was stuck on that piece of schnap. Not only that, but I'm going back to college in 2 months, and a computer is NECESSARY...
If you haven't noticed where this is going by now, here it is: If you have any tips on how to bring a "dead" laptop back to life, I'd greatly appreciate it.
But assuming that its this far gone, I'd either need to get it repaired or just get a new one, but I still have to back up the data. So I would like to do commissions for my little cause.
Considering that you'd be paying for something, I think I'd be compelled to go by the "Anything goes rule", but I still have SOME standards. And to make it sound like an even sweeter deal, I'll do 2 fully colored fully detailed pics (I rarely do anything less, even with requests) per payment, and you can pay ANYTHING you want! The amount of characters and complication of the pic would of course be negotiated upon. This is when I wish I was a better and less prude artist...
$1? Cool! $10? Sure! $20? Heck yeah! $500? You'll be my new best friend (j/k). A penny? Uh, sure... at this point, any help is good help! This is something not a lot of artists would do! So if you want one, or care about my situation, just hit me up on this journal or with a private message.
But don't think I'm a COMPLETE dead beat. I do have a job, but being an 18 year old college student working for minimum wage (6.55/hour) just isn't gonna cut it... or at least not quick enough.
And don't worry those who are still waiting for their requests, you are still my top priority. Any further requests, though, are closed until this situation get handled...
If you still have any tips on laptop repairs, I'm all ears! :D
----
[Laptop Repair Funds]
Offer:2 fully colored and detailed pics per payment. Situation and amount of characters negotiable.
Price: Up to you!
Goal: $400 Currently at: $50
Lord, please forgive me for what I'm about to say...
Short version: My laptop is down and I need to get it repaired or a new one. If you have any tips or would like some service (i.e. commissions), either one would be widely welcomed. :D For the commissions part head to the bottom of this post, I assure you its a pretty sweet offer.
---Long Version: I'm chilling in my room, using my laptop and talking on the phone with my bud
CJ-Fox. All of a sudden, out of nowhere my laptop screen turns a yellow tint. I get a wee bit worried and restart the comp. Everything is fine and dandy for a little while until the screen turns yellow again. Now I'm getting even more nervous, so I shut it down again and start it up again.It starts up with a yellow screen, but I figured maybe I can get through this and fix it. All of a sudden the screen scrambles with white and whatever color was currently on the screen. I could no longer see what's on the screen. So now even more nervous and a little annoyed, I had to shut the computer down and call HP (the computer company and also the biggest mistake of the night...). So after paying 50 bucks just for some foreign sounding guy to go on his computer and run a "diagnostic", my laptop now has a black screen AND wont even boot up (without restarting over and over again).
This whole problem wouldn't be too if some of my art files (don't worry, no requests are stuck on it) along with a mess load of other data (including animation data and programs) was stuck on that piece of schnap. Not only that, but I'm going back to college in 2 months, and a computer is NECESSARY...
If you haven't noticed where this is going by now, here it is: If you have any tips on how to bring a "dead" laptop back to life, I'd greatly appreciate it.
But assuming that its this far gone, I'd either need to get it repaired or just get a new one, but I still have to back up the data. So I would like to do commissions for my little cause.
Considering that you'd be paying for something, I think I'd be compelled to go by the "Anything goes rule", but I still have SOME standards. And to make it sound like an even sweeter deal, I'll do 2 fully colored fully detailed pics (I rarely do anything less, even with requests) per payment, and you can pay ANYTHING you want! The amount of characters and complication of the pic would of course be negotiated upon. This is when I wish I was a better and less prude artist...
$1? Cool! $10? Sure! $20? Heck yeah! $500? You'll be my new best friend (j/k). A penny? Uh, sure... at this point, any help is good help! This is something not a lot of artists would do! So if you want one, or care about my situation, just hit me up on this journal or with a private message.
But don't think I'm a COMPLETE dead beat. I do have a job, but being an 18 year old college student working for minimum wage (6.55/hour) just isn't gonna cut it... or at least not quick enough.
And don't worry those who are still waiting for their requests, you are still my top priority. Any further requests, though, are closed until this situation get handled...
If you still have any tips on laptop repairs, I'm all ears! :D
----
[Laptop Repair Funds]
Offer:2 fully colored and detailed pics per payment. Situation and amount of characters negotiable.
Price: Up to you!
Goal: $400 Currently at: $50
I'd start by explicitly getting a quote to replace just the LCD with no other services. Doing this yourself with a screen you purchase yourself can cost as little as $50, but a store will obviously charge several times as much for labor, and they could tell you anything with the same kind of jargon auto mechanics use. Doing it through HP through the mail is a nightmare. Realistically, replacing the LCD is very simple, and the screen and ribbon cable are usually one piece. Don't bother with any "advanced" diagnostics costing a lot of $$$, or think that a virus or bad battery is causing this.
Also, DO NOT under any circumstances try to do a system restore. Computer companies don't give a damn about your pictures and stuff, and thanks to the paranoia about viruses being "unrepairable", the companies will usually tell you to wipe out everything on the hard drive as part of their diagnostics routine. That is never necessary. I am almost totally certain the LCD is the problem, not the computer, so don't let anyone touch the hard drive.
You wouldn't happen to have a monitor around, or somebody local who could let you borrow one? I don't know if you have to explicitly enable the external video connector, but it should be possible just to get the thing to boot up with an external monitor. At the very least, that would let you burn your stuff to a CD or put it on a memory card. You should have a USB thumbdrive anyway, because they are great for making backups.
I did try connecting the laptop to my family computer monitor, which is pretty much just "plug and play". But the laptop itself wont even get past booting up, now, much less showing anything on either screen. I'm hoping that's related to the LCD not working (kinda high hopes). The HP representative said that it was most likely something wrong with the motherboard. Looking back now, that seems like a pretty vague answer to just get me to send it in.
Fortunately there are a couple local computer shops around my town, and one of my friends has a job in one of them so maybe I'll be in luck for a discount repair, or at least discounted supplies.
What's funny about the backing up data situation is that I do have a Simple Tech 320GB External hard drive sitting right on my desk, and I've been backing things up every so often. But like many other PC users, I never thought to back up the most recent data (or even all of it) until its too late...
Thanks for taking the time to try and help. If you do have any more tips or ideas, I'd like to hear them. :D
I did some reading on this, and apparently, some laptops require you to push a key combination to switch on the external monitor (meaning, to turn it on, not necessarily to override and disable the main LCD). I'd be worth looking up the documentation for your particular HP model to see what key combination is needed, if any. Some laptops require you to go into the BIOS to fiddle with port settings which are helpful for diagnostics. That isn't possible if the display doesn't work, so there has to be some kind of override to get an external display working.
"Motherboard problem" is a pretty typical response from tech support. Due to the level of integration of laptop parts, practically everything is blamed on the motherboard. I still think it's only the LCD that's dead, but it helps if you have a friend in a local computer shop, so you don't get stuck with an extra display if that doesn't fix the problem. LCDs are quite easy to replace, really.
I tried the key combo, but still nothing appeared on the external monitor. And when I try to start it up, it gets next to nowhere before shutting off and trying again. I did manage to find out that hitting F10 takes it somewhere that'll keep it from shutting down (probably the main laptop configuration), but without the screen turning on, that's not possible.
I did take my laptop to my mom's workplace where they have a few people who specialize in computers. They said they pinpointed the problem to a faulty hard drive. So today I set out to pick up a new one from my friend's workplace, and at a pretty good price too (160GB for $45).
After a few minutes I managed to place the new hard drive in, but to no avail. Nothing comes on the screen and it restarts in a matter of seconds... Lucky for me, they have a decent return policy.
I'm currently trying to unscrew all the screws and see if maybe something may have slipped out of place, but the screws are starting to get dull. If I keep pushing it, I may ruin the screws.
Obviously they don't! If the screen won't turn on, that's a screen or POST (start-up diagnostics) issue. The hard drive should be completely irrelevant, since that part is tested after POST turns on the screen. Simply taking out the hard drive entirely should get you to a POST screen if the LCD is working. A lot of people blame the hard drive by default because it's typically the least reliable component in any computer.
I'm not saying they are misleading you on purpose, but even if the hard drive is dead, the LCD should still show a picture. I'm convinced the screen is dead, and that's what needs to be replaced.
F10 is used to get into the BIOS (or "Setup Utility") on the HP dv9700, as well as some other brands of laptops. If the computer seems to pause rather than reset after hitting the F10 key, that tells me the motherboard and keyboard are working correctly. The constant restarts are most likely due to the computer not being shut down properly when the LCD finally gave out.
There simply has to be a way to get the external monitor working.
If you're using XP, or possibly Vista, here's something you can try. Upon turning on the laptop, hit F8 repeatedly, in the same way you hit F10 previously. If the laptop seems to pause for a while, hit the down arrow key twice, and then enter. This should get Windows to start up in Safe Mode, which disables a lot of start-up checks, and might prevent the laptop from resetting constantly. This might buy you more time to get the Fn-F4 key combination to work, so you can get an external screen working.
If this doesn't work, you can also try holding down the Ctrl key while the computer is starting up. On some Windows installs, holding the Ctrl key is used instead of pressing F8. Then, push the down arrow key twice, and then enter, as described above.
More information can be found here, in the Maintenance and Service Guide.
Yeah, turns out its not exactly a hard drive failure. His office team was busy at work fixing their work room, so I guess he rushed his look through and assumed something. I did take it to my friend's local computer shop where I was told something could actually be burned out either on the inverter (below the screen) or on the mother board. But something's not allowing the power to make its way all the way though the laptop. Fortunately the the local comp shop is willing to look into the problem, pinpoint the problem, repair and replace the problem for a price MUCH cheaper than what HP's offering and even cheaper than buying a new screen along with whatever else needs to be replaced.
As for still trying to mess with it myself, I tried both the F10 and F8 key. The F10 keeps it on, the F8 didn't do anything and neither did holding the Ctrl key. As for the external monitor buttons them selves, turns out I can hold the Fn+F4 buttons, but still, nothing appeared on the external screen. I tried at different points to get it working, but it didn't work.
I think I forgot to mention that those guys still have the old hard drive trying to back it up, but they gave me my laptop back so I can set out to fix it on my own. I'm hoping to take it down to the shop tomorrow and maybe they can do something about it once and for all.
That and I know nothing about computers. The one I have is over ten years old. I think I just got lucky that it has survived as long as it has without dieing.
And you're lucky that your computer lasted so long. I'm beginning to think that a lot of electronics now a days are cheaply made. The only products that I can trust that can take a hit are Ipod Nanos and Nintendo Products...
Whatever you come up with, besides paypal, would be beneficial to the both of us.
Also would money order be ok?
Yes, Money-Orders are very easy for me. As aforementioned when buying things off Ebay that's how I do it...and I've bought a lot of things off Ebay.
But thanks for the input, I'm not sure I can stick with HP much longer until I hear them step their game up, because apparently my problem isn't that rare... and yet no one can point out the TRUE problem...
Hopefully, the laptop is configured to allow booting of a CD before the hard drive. If not, sometimes pushing the space bar a few times as the PC is booting up will force it to boot from an alternate drive, like the CD drive. Unfortunately, this all depends on how the PC's BIOS is configured. In the wonderful world of Windows, booting from a CD is almost considered voodoo.
Normally I'd say that it's just a problem with your LCD monitor, many of the symptoms are characteristic of monitor failure. However, the fact that your computer won't even boot up now may hint at a larger problem. Conversely, if it were just the rebooting problem, I would suggest it was a hard-drive failure. And while such failures can have some ... interesting effects, I would expect those to crop up after you were already having booting problems.
It's possible something went weird with either your monitor driver or your video card. Either one may lead to a variety of strange effects, from a yellow tint, to a few dead pixels, to a weird flash of colors reminiscent of a hookah-smoking caterpillar. What I'm concerned about is that fact that you started having booting problems after this guy started messing with your computer and running his diagnostics. It's possible he screwed it up even worse than it already was, and I would look into calling him on that. Did you get his name?
Also, I would love to take you up on this name-your-own-price deal. I can afford to offer a decent price, I'm not some jerk who will just come along and demand quality for 25c. :-P Should I send you a Note on the matter, or should I just post it here?
As for the commission part, yeah, any help is good help, and I did say any price is up to the commissioner. I know what I'm getting myself into and I can't get mad since I gave them the option. I'd prefer if you noted me about what you'd like. But dont forget that I still owe you a request too.