A niece brought home an HPdv2000 notebook with an absolutely blank black
screen. There is no beep or fan noise on startup -- nothing but the normal
lights at the top of the keyboard. I tested the AC adapter following the
instructions on the HP Website. The AC adapter is OK. I reseated the RAM and
tried each DIMM individually in both slots, but nothing worked. My niece
took the notebook to Geek Squad before she came home and was told by Geek
Squad that the motherboard is bad. Is there something else I should try
before telling her that Geek Squad may be right.

On Fri, 26 Dec 2008 17:01:33 -0600, "William J. Lunsford"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>A niece brought home an HPdv2000 notebook with an absolutely blank black
>screen. There is no beep or fan noise on startup -- nothing but the normal
>lights at the top of the keyboard. I tested the AC adapter following the
>instructions on the HP Website. The AC adapter is OK. I reseated the RAM and
>tried each DIMM individually in both slots, but nothing worked. My niece
>took the notebook to Geek Squad before she came home and was told by Geek
>Squad that the motherboard is bad. Is there something else I should try
>before telling her that Geek Squad may be right.
>

Try plugging a VGA monitor into the VGA port to see if you get any
display on that first.

Thanks! I'll try that and report back tomorrow.

"bobmct" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Fri, 26 Dec 2008 17:01:33 -0600, "William J. Lunsford"
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>A niece brought home an HPdv2000 notebook with an absolutely blank black
>>screen. There is no beep or fan noise on startup -- nothing but the normal
>>lights at the top of the keyboard. I tested the AC adapter following the
>>instructions on the HP Website. The AC adapter is OK. I reseated the RAM
>>and
>>tried each DIMM individually in both slots, but nothing worked. My niece
>>took the notebook to Geek Squad before she came home and was told by Geek
>>Squad that the motherboard is bad. Is there something else I should try
>>before telling her that Geek Squad may be right.
>>
>
> Try plugging a VGA monitor into the VGA port to see if you get any
> display on that first.

On Sat, 27 Dec 2008 10:38:05 -0600, "William J. Lunsford"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>The external monitor didn't work either. I suppose I'll have to tell my
>niece that Geek Squad may be right about the bad motherboard. Thanks again
>for the suggestion.
>
>"bobmct" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> On Fri, 26 Dec 2008 17:01:33 -0600, "William J. Lunsford"
>> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>
>>>A niece brought home an HPdv2000 notebook with an absolutely blank black
>>>screen. There is no beep or fan noise on startup -- nothing but the normal
>>>lights at the top of the keyboard. I tested the AC adapter following the
>>>instructions on the HP Website. The AC adapter is OK. I reseated the RAM
>>>and
>>>tried each DIMM individually in both slots, but nothing worked. My niece
>>>took the notebook to Geek Squad before she came home and was told by Geek
>>>Squad that the motherboard is bad. Is there something else I should try
>>>before telling her that Geek Squad may be right.
>>>
>>
>> Try plugging a VGA monitor into the VGA port to see if you get any
>> display on that first.
>

Remember that there is a function button combination to toggle/cycle
through the LCD/external monitor. I recommend this because my similar
Compaq V3000 went black and the external worked. Fortunately it was
still under warranty. Hopefully the DV2000 is new enough.

Good luck.

Unfortunately, the fn+f4 toggle didn't do anything and the machine is out of
warranty. I suggested that she look for a new notebook on sale. She's not
interested in a desktop machine that would be easier and cheaper to repair
and upgrade. She doesn't sit at home with her computer the way her old uncle
does.

"bobmct" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Sat, 27 Dec 2008 10:38:05 -0600, "William J. Lunsford"
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>The external monitor didn't work either. I suppose I'll have to tell my
>>niece that Geek Squad may be right about the bad motherboard. Thanks again
>>for the suggestion.
>>
>>"bobmct" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>>news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>> On Fri, 26 Dec 2008 17:01:33 -0600, "William J. Lunsford"
>>> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>>
>>>>A niece brought home an HPdv2000 notebook with an absolutely blank black
>>>>screen. There is no beep or fan noise on startup -- nothing but the
>>>>normal
>>>>lights at the top of the keyboard. I tested the AC adapter following the
>>>>instructions on the HP Website. The AC adapter is OK. I reseated the RAM
>>>>and
>>>>tried each DIMM individually in both slots, but nothing worked. My niece
>>>>took the notebook to Geek Squad before she came home and was told by
>>>>Geek
>>>>Squad that the motherboard is bad. Is there something else I should try
>>>>before telling her that Geek Squad may be right.
>>>>
>>>
>>> Try plugging a VGA monitor into the VGA port to see if you get any
>>> display on that first.
>>
>
> Remember that there is a function button combination to toggle/cycle
> through the LCD/external monitor. I recommend this because my similar
> Compaq V3000 went black and the external worked. Fortunately it was
> still under warranty. Hopefully the DV2000 is new enough.
>
> Good luck.

Pull out the battery. If you can get to it, pull the internal battery too.
Check that internal battery's voltage, probably should be 3V, or google the
type and see what it's supposed to be. Put it back in if it's good and
restart the system. Sometimes just pulling all the batteries out can reset a
locked up mobo.

If that doesn't do it, try removing the HDD and restart. Are there any
mini-PCI cards attached under doors on the bottom of the machine? Pull them
out and try again.

If nothing works, the geeks are probably right. Check the prices on new
laptops before replacing the mobo on an older one. You can transfer data
from laptop HDDs with a cheap USB adapter, basically you convert the old
laptop's HDD into an external USB drive.

If there's data on the HDD you need to keep, tell the geeks not to lose it.
Make them promise, and if they say no ask to talk to the head geek at the
store. Don't let them take the lazy road.

Good Luck!

-John O


"path" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:gj9jrr$v26$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Two things to check that I can think of..
>
> First, even though it sounds stupid, check the screen brightness settings,
> usually adjustable through a Function key and the F row of keys. I once
> had an IBM warratny repair order put in and the tech that came out "fixed"
> my problem by doing just that...the user had turned off his laptop LCD
> monitor and forgot how to turn it back on and sent it in for "repair".
>
> Secondly, connect the laptop to an external monitor to check if it is
> maybe a video problem with the on board video
>
> Good luck.
>
>
> "William J. Lunsford" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:Zhd5l.9819$(E-Mail Removed)...
>>A niece brought home an HPdv2000 notebook with an absolutely blank black
>>screen. There is no beep or fan noise on startup -- nothing but the normal
>>lights at the top of the keyboard. I tested the AC adapter following the
>>instructions on the HP Website. The AC adapter is OK. I reseated the RAM
>>and tried each DIMM individually in both slots, but nothing worked. My
>>niece took the notebook to Geek Squad before she came home and was told by
>>Geek Squad that the motherboard is bad. Is there something else I should
>>try before telling her that Geek Squad may be right.
>>
>