hp compaq nc6000 problems

[Darryl E]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ktvanhorne

Like you, I found this fix to be very helpful. I fixed my "new" second hand laptop back in March. It worked until last month when I had to tighten the screw again.
However, it is now July, and it is not working again. I have tightened it again, but this time it didn't bring it back to life. I unscrewed the top left screw and scraped the copper contact circle as clean as I could with my little screwdriver and even added some aluminum foil as suggested above. Still nothing.

Any other ideas? My fan screw is starting to strip from me tightening it so much. If there are other ideas, please send them!

Sorry pal, my glee was a bit premature!

[Darryl E]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FreeEnterprise

Mine had the same problem, It would boot but only one light would come on and the fan would speed up and then the system would shut down...

Pressure on the fan assembly would cause it to boot up ok, for a few minutes then it would lock up.

So, I stripped the computer all the way down (the Maxim 1987 chip is UNDERNEATH the motherboard, in the corner where the heatsink screws to the board.

Also, my hinge on that side was really tight... So I used some tri-flow on it and moved it around for a while (did both hinges at the same time) they are still stiff, but better than they were.

Finally I found the chip, (my youngest daughter helped me find it.) I then got my trusty soldering iron... Tip was WAY too big... Borrowed a friends... His was too big too...

Went to the garage for my "old" iron. It had a smaller tip, and was adjustable down to 15 watts. (better for board repair, less heat is good). I then filed down the tip with my dremel tool until it was very sharp. Then touched each prong with the iron, (you can see the solder move almost instantly when you touch it) Make sure you let it cool between as you don't want to fry the chip. I also took off the metal bracket around the main chip as it was so close to the Maxim 1987 chip that my iron couldn't get in there without removing that...

Before I started I looked and looked, and couldn't see any not connected... But, figured since I was in there might as well try it... Laptop was dead anyway...

After soldering I put it all back together. (tip, the little ribbon holders are easy to remove with a small flathead on each side, the clip stays on the thin cable just pulls out when the brackets move up about 1/16th...)

After it was all together, I fired it up, and it worked perfect. I have started and restarted about 20 times, since yesterday when I did it. It seems to be working fine!

Thanks for the tips guys. I took a picture of the chip on the board if anyone wants to see it. (its at home, but I can upload later if anyones interested)...

hi, i'd like to check those pictures..

[__spc__]

Found this thread and decided for a final last attempt at curing the boot problem, mouse issues and constant fan noise.

I have two boot problems, th eorange light issue, and also one where it sits on the F10/HP screen for an absolute age - this latter was fixed by removing a CD from teh drive when booting (doh!).

I found that a small black cable (for the touchpad?) had been caught under one of the central securing screw columns. I untrapped it, and now the laptop boots fine and my intermittent mouse issue has gone away! I wonder whether this pinched wire was causing a hardware detection issue on boot..?

I pulled apart the fan and removed a huge 'mat' of dust etc. Laptop now runs cool with the fan running only on boot and really heavy demand.

[billniceguy]

i have v6000 compaq..do the above things appl to my laptop? I get nothing on screen no matter what, tnx

[digitalage]

I've a problem with a nc6000 laptop. The laptop won't start - there is something wrong with the motherboard. An electronic technician tries to find where the culprit is, but he had no luck so far. It happens that, if I plug the power, the external power enters the protection mode. I wish I know if you experienced this problem and how did you fix it. What is the component that often cause this problem for this particular mainboard?

I'd like to know if there's a way to get one good motherboard. Anyone has such one?

[gtstephenson]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FreeEnterprise

Mine had the same problem, It would boot but only one light would come on and the fan would speed up and then the system would shut down...

Pressure on the fan assembly would cause it to boot up ok, for a few minutes then it would lock up.

So, I stripped the computer all the way down (the Maxim 1987 chip is UNDERNEATH the motherboard, in the corner where the heatsink screws to the board.

Also, my hinge on that side was really tight... So I used some tri-flow on it and moved it around for a while (did both hinges at the same time) they are still stiff, but better than they were.

Finally I found the chip, (my youngest daughter helped me find it.) I then got my trusty soldering iron... Tip was WAY too big... Borrowed a friends... His was too big too...

Went to the garage for my "old" iron. It had a smaller tip, and was adjustable down to 15 watts. (better for board repair, less heat is good). I then filed down the tip with my dremel tool until it was very sharp. Then touched each prong with the iron, (you can see the solder move almost instantly when you touch it) Make sure you let it cool between as you don't want to fry the chip. I also took off the metal bracket around the main chip as it was so close to the Maxim 1987 chip that my iron couldn't get in there without removing that...

Before I started I looked and looked, and couldn't see any not connected... But, figured since I was in there might as well try it... Laptop was dead anyway...

After soldering I put it all back together. (tip, the little ribbon holders are easy to remove with a small flathead on each side, the clip stays on the thin cable just pulls out when the brackets move up about 1/16th...)

After it was all together, I fired it up, and it worked perfect. I have started and restarted about 20 times, since yesterday when I did it. It seems to be working fine!

Thanks for the tips guys. I took a picture of the chip on the board if anyone wants to see it. (its at home, but I can upload later if anyones interested)...

I did an upgrade on one of these nc6000 machines for a friend. New hard drive and more memory. Shortly after the upgrade his machine started having this power symptom. I went thru this thread and found the suggested fix w/ the Maxim chip being the culprit. I took the laptop to work and took it all apart. I looked carefully at the motherboard with particular interest in the Maxim chip. (Using a microscope). While I did not see a specific fractured solder joint I speculate that is the fault. This component is a 'J' lead component where the solder is only in contact with the pad at the bottom of the J (and that solder is mostly under the body of the component). This particular location was discolored as well (usually from excess heat). I decided to resolder the leads (there is plenty of pad space on the board for solder) and let the solder wick up the side of the J lead. I'm using a specialized solder iron with a very very tiny tip that will allow soldering fine pitch components. I did a careful inspection after the solder work and cleaned the flux away with alcohol. Re-assembled the machine and tested it overnight.

My friend has been using his machine for two months now with no issues.

My conclusion is that the J lead component having very little solder at the base of the J cannot reliably do the job in a high thermally stressful environment. But making a good (low impedance) solder joint will promote reliable operation.

Solder work on this board is not for the home hobbiest but it really can be easily resolved with the right equipment and skill.

Hope this helps some of you with your problem.

Tom Stephenson

[Thor_CY]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dhakir

I've also had the orange light problem for a week before I finally got it working (partially) again.

My problems began when I removed the battery and connected the AC adapter directly to the laptop, as suggested in the manual (to preserve battery life). Probably it was a bad coincidence, but after that it would not boot normally (orange light and sometimes the blue led as well, but no green power light). I thought the adapter had somehow burned something out, since I followed all suggestions in this thread (including opening the laptop several times) and tried booting it at least 30 times, trying different things, but it had NEVER come back again.

Yesterday, I disassembled it completely, checked the entire motherboard, disconnected everything and tried booting it, and nothing. Then I assembled it back and was ready to take it to some tech support (my warranty has expired so I couldn't take it to hp), until today I noticed there was an extra screw. It was one of the fan assembly, so I opened it again and put it there. But I had forgotten to remove the battery this time (I always removed it before disassembling), so I don't know if it helped somehow (probably it didn't), so I tried booting it as I always did after changing things. Miraculously, it went on (by the way, I then noticed that during the first 2 seconds or so you can notice whether it's going to boot or not - the fan does not make so much noise and the green light turns on almost instantly). My happiness didn't last long, though; after some minutes on (without touching it), the screen went off. I rebooted and the orange light came back on. I then tried moving it here and there, until I found out that by pressing the right side of the keyboard (in my case, it's not above the keyboard, it's the right edge of the laptop that works better) with quite some strength (I had tried similar stuff before, but never that hard, since someone in the thread suggested not to press it too hard), it would boot. If I let it go, sometimes the screen goes off and everything apparently stops responding. Then I have to boot it again.

Anyway, what I could notice, booting the laptop without one of the plates, is that there is the fan assembly can move, like, a millimeter or so, if I press it very hard. There are 2 screws around it, and apparently the region where it needs pressure is the lower left corner - quite distant of these screws. Normally, a very tightened keyboard screw (the left one, when the laptop is upside down) should be able to hold it in place, but it can still go loose. I had unscrewed the keyboard a few times before this problem happened (to upgrade the memory), and also had moved the laptop around quite a lot, and it had never happened. Suddenly it went off, and it was just by luck that I found out it was still working and not burned out. I still don't have a solution to make sure the fan assembly will keep tightly in place, so I'm afraid of using the laptop again and having it lock up in the middle of something important. I just couldn't believe such a small displacement could make a difference - there must be some bad quality sensor or connector near that region. Someone in the thread mentioned the fan could "tilt" and be somewhat "loose". For me, it had always seemed secured enough in place, until I found out this incredibly small displacement could be the difference between booting or not booting.

To sum up, my suggestions to anyone with the "orange light" problem would be:

- Remove the keyboard
- Remove the LED board (unscrew 2 black screws on the back of the laptop)
- Remove the memory and keyboard plates
- Push down hard the lower left corner of the fan assembly (the thick metal around the fan)
- Try booting it on while pushing this part down

If it works, release the fan assembly and if the screen goes off, then you have to make sure this part will somehow remain pressed to avoid the problem from happening. In theory, screwing really hard the keyboard screw close to the fan assembly should do, but not always.

I think it's really a shame for hp that this notebook, which seems quite sturdy, has such a problem with something that's not even broken. No wonder so many people sell this laptop cheap on eBay...

[ttelgrande]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gtstephenson

I did an upgrade on one of these nc6000 machines for a friend. New hard drive and more memory. Shortly after the upgrade his machine started having this power symptom. I went thru this thread and found the suggested fix w/ the Maxim chip being the culprit. I took the laptop to work and took it all apart. I looked carefully at the motherboard with particular interest in the Maxim chip. (Using a microscope). While I did not see a specific fractured solder joint I speculate that is the fault. This component is a 'J' lead component where the solder is only in contact with the pad at the bottom of the J (and that solder is mostly under the body of the component). This particular location was discolored as well (usually from excess heat). I decided to resolder the leads (there is plenty of pad space on the board for solder) and let the solder wick up the side of the J lead. I'm using a specialized solder iron with a very very tiny tip that will allow soldering fine pitch components. I did a careful inspection after the solder work and cleaned the flux away with alcohol. Re-assembled the machine and tested it overnight.

My friend has been using his machine for two months now with no issues.

My conclusion is that the J lead component having very little solder at the base of the J cannot reliably do the job in a high thermally stressful environment. But making a good (low impedance) solder joint will promote reliable operation.

Solder work on this board is not for the home hobbiest but it really can be easily resolved with the right equipment and skill.

Hope this helps some of you with your problem.

Tom Stephenson

[ttelgrande]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gtstephenson

I did an upgrade on one of these nc6000 machines for a friend. New hard drive and more memory. Shortly after the upgrade his machine started having this power symptom. I went thru this thread and found the suggested fix w/ the Maxim chip being the culprit. I took the laptop to work and took it all apart. I looked carefully at the motherboard with particular interest in the Maxim chip. (Using a microscope). While I did not see a specific fractured solder joint I speculate that is the fault. This component is a 'J' lead component where the solder is only in contact with the pad at the bottom of the J (and that solder is mostly under the body of the component). This particular location was discolored as well (usually from excess heat). I decided to resolder the leads (there is plenty of pad space on the board for solder) and let the solder wick up the side of the J lead. I'm using a specialized solder iron with a very very tiny tip that will allow soldering fine pitch components. I did a careful inspection after the solder work and cleaned the flux away with alcohol. Re-assembled the machine and tested it overnight.

My friend has been using his machine for two months now with no issues.

My conclusion is that the J lead component having very little solder at the base of the J cannot reliably do the job in a high thermally stressful environment. But making a good (low impedance) solder joint will promote reliable operation.

Solder work on this board is not for the home hobbiest but it really can be easily resolved with the right equipment and skill.

Hope this helps some of you with your problem.

Tom Stephenson

[ttelgrande]

Sorry for the double post. My internet froze. This J lead, is it part of the maxum chip? or is something else. I have 16 of these machines and one is showing these symptoms now. Also have others that one or more keys on the keyboard dont work. is that fixable or is it whole new keyboard time?

You guys are very helpful, thanks