ASUS A8JS Laptop won't Boot and there are lines across the screen

[ReasonTakesMe]

Hello,

I think my laptop problem may be quite serious, so I would be glad to read what anyone has to say. I’m just hoping to make the right decision, about whether or not I have to buy new hardware for example. My laptop is an ASUS A8JS (a little over 3 years old). The GPU is a GO Geforce 7700.

So, here’s the problem: I turned off my computer one night (last Thursday) and everything was working as expected. Then next morning I turned on my computer and Windows would not even begin to boot. When I turn the computer on the screen has lines down half of the screen (or down the middle), while the rest of the screen is black that rapidly fades to white. It has remained like that for a few days now. Nothing has changed.

I have tried rebooting the HDD (by holding down the power button without a power source).

I have reseated the RAM, HDD, battery, and VGA.

I have taken it into a shop (they said they would have to send it away) and talked with one repair guy; the computer repair guy said that he is almost certain that my GPU is broken. We were talking over the phone, but really what I show you in the picture is all that there is to see.

What do you think the problem is? I would like to keep using this notebook, as I don’t really want to change HDD, and it allows me to game (well it used to…) as well as everything else without forking out another arm and a leg.

Will I need to buy and install a new VGA? Motherboard? Can the GPU possibly be fixed? Any thoughts would be welcome. I am more than happy to attempt to repair it myself, but I do need to solve it pretty quickly. I work from home on my computer, so I basically just got laid off as well! Thanks ahead of time,

Ben

[CimmerianX]

1st thing I would do is hook up an external monitor and see what the video looks like. If it works, then you have a damaged LCD. If the external vid also fails, then its probably the vid card. If the vid card is on the MB (as it usually is on laptops, then you would need a replacment Mobo.

Is the 3 year old laptop still under warranty?

[ReasonTakesMe]

Thanks Cimmerian, I will give that a try; however, wouldn't it at least begin to boot if the screen was the problem?

I'll get back to you once I have tried it out.

[CimmerianX]

If it was just the screen, then you would see the 'boot' happening with the hard drive indicator and such. If there is zero activity, then its not a good sign.

MAny times with the graphics on the Mobo, if the graphic card is fried, the mobo is basically a loss.

Is the unit still under warranty? If not, be prepared for sticker shock and the cost of a replacement.

[ReasonTakesMe]

It is not under warranty anymore.

I hooked it up to a monitor earlier today. That created some action actually. The boot screen came up, asked me if I wanted to run windows repair (or start normally); the start normally did not boot windows, but it loaded before going to a black screen.

Tomorrow I will have everything I need to perform a system repair. Is there any hope?

[CimmerianX]

Oh yea... the fact that the unit boots and attempts to launch windows is great. Means that you only have a problem with the LCD and/or connector and not the motherboard.

So if you get your unit to boot, try safe mode before running a repair. As it is booting, use F8 then select safe mode. This will let your unit start with minimal services. This way you can certainly plug in a USB drive and get your most important data backed up.

Repairs are pretty safe IMHO, but I'm overly paranoid.

[ReasonTakesMe]

Shoot ... I don't know how I forgot to mention this, but there were still artefacts on the monitor :\. Not sure why the heck I didn't think to write that in my last post.

[CimmerianX]

Well, then that's no so good. I'd probably make a call to the manufacturer tech support. Even if it's out of warranty, they will usually still speak with you to diagnose. They just won't fix for free anymore.

I would take the drive out and make a full backup or take an image of the data right away.

[mephis]

I know I am little late to join this discusson and you maybe already solved the problem, but you havent mentioned here how. I had same problem on my A8Js. I got it fixed for 80€. It was VGA card problem. Its neccesary to solder some contacts. Problem however is that it keeps on happening. Two months after repair it happened again(lucky for me there was a waranty for repair) and after 5 months again. So I better start to think about replacement pc. Good luck to you all.

[ReasonTakesMe]

Hey Memphis,

I just bailed on my laptop. I don't think I would have been able to get that repair for under $200 here. That's just too much on an old unit ... ya know. So, I called it a day, and basically lost all respect for Asus as a brand. Plus their customer service did not exist.

Fortunately, the Internet markets will catch up with every brand.

Anyway, I didn't get the problem fixed on the old A8Js. I bought a desktop computer. All the best to you mate.

[mephis]

I know most of you would think this is a joke. I did at first too, but I got nothing to loose so I did it. And it went well. For this particular problem! I was baking it at almost 200degrees Celsius for 9 minutes(oven preheated) in oven. Then let it cool down and installed back to pc, and it works. If someone is interested I can supply photos of the process:-)
Bake it:-)
mephis out

[ReasonTakesMe]

LOL, that's awesome! I still haven't gotten around to selling mine for parts. It's just painful pulling out that old shell of a computer :\. If I can't get rid of it, then I might just have to bake it! You'll hear back from me if that's the way I go!

Awesome Mephis.