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SL510: empty screen on startup, before any BIOS message

SL300/SL400/SL500, L400-L420 and L500-L520 Series
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tonfagun
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Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2010 7:49 am
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands

SL510: empty screen on startup, before any BIOS message

#1 Post by tonfagun » Tue Mar 05, 2013 12:28 pm

Hey everyone.

Just encountered my first real problem with my (about 2 years old) SL510. I can't find out the exact type of my SL510 right now, but it's the model with an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.1 GHz, 320GB HDD and an ATI Mobility Radeon.

The problem: When I turn the SL510 on, it seems that the display gets powered on (i.e. background light seems to work), but absolutely nothing appears on the screen. No BIOS message, nothing. For about 1 second I can see the HDD LED lighting up, and I vaguely hear some HDD sound for that long, but then both LED and sound stop, and nothing else happens. This is the state the machine remains in.

I can't get into the BIOS by pressing f-keys, nor can I boot from another device.

Things I already tried:
  • Remove RAM. In that case, I hear a sequence of BIOS beeps, which leads me to believe the BIOS is not the problem.
  • Replace RAM. Put in an older RAM brick that worked, doesn't change anything. So probably not a RAM problem either.
  • Taking the PC off the power, taking out both the main battery and the CMOS battery. Also, pressing the power key for about 1 minute. Reason: I read somewhere that sometimes a bad hibernation state can be fixed like this, but it didn't seem to help in my case.
  • Removing the HDD entirely. The SL510 beeps twice, then nothing else happens.
  • Checking for damaged USB ports, because I read somewhere they can cause a short circuit which would explain the symptoms.
That's all I tried so far. I'm still going to try to hook the HDD to another computer via an external HDD case to check if the disk is perhaps damaged, but I still have to buy such a case.

Until then, does anyone have any other idea what the cause of my problem could be, based on the symptom (black screen, no BIOS message). Any ideas what I could try to eliminate/determine some more causes? Right now I suspect the HDD is the most likely cause, or perhaps something on the motherboard that is related to the HDD.

ZaZ
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Re: SL510: empty screen on startup, before any BIOS message

#2 Post by ZaZ » Thu Mar 07, 2013 2:44 pm

If you think the hard drive is bad, then trying another might be the way to go. I'd guess motherboard, at least as much as one can tell over the internet.
ThinkPad L14 - 2.1GHz Ryzen 4650U | 16GB | 256GB | 14" FHD | Win11P
ProBook 470 G5 - 1.6GHz Core i5 | 16GB | 2.2TB | 17" FHD | Mint

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