A long post, I know, but I wanted to get all the details in. My brother sent me his zv5000 laptop to try and repair the power connector. He said that it wouldn't charge the battery and that he would have to move the plug around to get power. After doing some research, it seemed like a bad power jack, which is a very common problem with HP's. So I took the laptop apart and checked out the connector; it seemed fine. When I put it all back together, it wouldn't boot. My brother said that it worked before he sent it too me and I forgot to try it when I got it. The power LED and all the lights on the keyboard would turn on, the processor fans ran for about 3 seconds, then shut off, and there was no display or HDD activity. I figured, the motherboard probably died, which I was going to replace anyway. After getting a used one from Ebay, I put it in the laptop and it did the same thing. So, I grabbed a different processor and tried that. No luck. I have gone so far as to take the board completely out of the laptop and with just power and the display hooked up, no RAM, no HDD, no keyboard, and tried to boot. Nothing. I have also tried using an external monitor, with no luck there. The only things that have been common are the processor fans/heatsink and the power supply. The power supply voltage checks out ok, about 18.5Vdc. I am really at a loss as to what it could be. Is there some reset on the board that I am missing? I really don't want to put any more money into this thing. My brother doesn't really want it back, but I want to try to figure it out anyway. Any help would be appreciated.

Not being an electrotechnician, but it seems to me like power related issue. Have you tried different power brick? Also how about the invertor inside of the notebook?

I have not tried a different power supply, but I did measure the output voltage. It was 18V like it should be. If it is something on the board, why are both of my motherboards doing the same thing? Could my power supply be failing under a load?

If the LED's are lighting and you are getting fans its not the adapter/DC jack..I'd try reseating the RAM or running off one slot only. Also be sure the video cable connector didnt bend over a pin when you plugged it in. Is it shutting down or will the LED's stay lit? Has to be RAM or CPU issue..

I have tried many different RAM chips in both memory slots, but this doesn't make a difference. The LEDs stay on until I power down the laptop. The thing that gets me is that both of the motherboards and processors do this, in any combination. Do I need to have any RAM installed to boot this thing? I have also tried booting with and without the LCD display connected. Still no POST. Could it be that the CPU fans aren't being detected? Would this cause the laptop to stop its boot process?

This sounds akin to my issue only I did repair a faulty jack. Here is my post. Let me know if you have any info that might help... sounds like we are in the same boat. Must be something pretty simple we are overlooking.

OK: Took the HPZV5000 apart and yep the solder joint was broke. Solderred it and it's now nice and sturdy.

Put computer back together.

Plugged in the power cord and the charging light lit right up! Yipee...

Now here's where the sad part starts:

Turned on the computer, power lights came on and the hard drive light flashed once then nothing! It just sets there.

Screen black, no sounds, nothing but the blue power light on, the charging light on, the three short cut lights are on, Wireless Internet NOT on.

So what did I do wrong guys... anyone got any suggestions?

I hope it's something simple. This is the big reason I don't really like laptops; you can't take out different parts, such as video cards, power supplies, etc. to see if one may be bad. Who knows? Maybe these boards are super sensitive to ESD, and Stagger, you and I zapped ours. Maybe there's some secret procedure know only to HP techs that make these things work...

Is there anyway to determine if a new mobo is really needed? Also how do you know what mobo you have?

I've taken my HPzv5000 apart again and put it all back together one more time. This is what I now get:


Plug in power cord, battery charging light is lit.
Power on.
LED light light up, but WIFI light does NOT
Both fans kick on, the one kicks off ( I think this is suppose to happen since it's not hot enough for both fans to be on)
HD spins for just a second, HD light comes on the right back off.
Then NOTHING!
Just sits there with the power on.

Hooked up another monitor and no change.

Did the CPU stay attached to the heatsink when you disassembled? If so theres your problem.. Need to remove from heatsink and unlock CPU socket then reinstall and lock down.. (Small screw on socket).. The thermal pad on these is a tar garbage substance and ceramic paste works alot better anyway..

Really? When I removed the cpu, it did come off with the heatsink. I will try and unlock the socket tonight. Trying to install into a locked socket won't damage the cpu pins, would it? I'll post my finding later tonight.

When I removed the CPU I just pulled it out (didn't know about the locking at the time) and it did stay on the Heat Sink, it was glued! I didn't see any point of taking it off the heat sink.

When I went back to install it I tried and tried to push the pins in the socket, then I found the locking screw and finally got the pins in and locked it down. I did check the pens after I discoved the locking screw to make sure they weren't bent. They looked fine. So I set the Processor in and locked it down. (there was a slot in the heat sink that allowed me to lock and unlock the CPU with out removing it from the heat sink.)

Anxiously awaiting reply.

Thanks!

That was it! I locked the CPU in, put in some RAM, and viola, bootup! Thank you so much Ikenfixit! I would have never even thought of checking for that lock. Give it a try Stagger, I think that'll do it.

Was your CPU pins out of the socket? Did you glue it back to the heatsink with anything? Man I hope this does the trick. Ken is very helpful, thanks a bunch man!

Still don't understand why the CPU has to be unglued from the heatsink, then inserted in the socket, then locked down and then glued. My CPU pins are in the socket and locked.

Yeah, it seems like the pins were not all the way in the socket. You have to remove the CPU from the heatsink so that you can turn the locking screw and secure the CPU. You may need to turn the screw one way, place the CPU in the socket, and turn the screw the other way to lock it. First, though, clean all that gunk off of the CPU and heat sink with some alcohol. This is thermal paste, which conducts heat between the CPU and heatsink. You should be able to pick this up and any computer parts store. Apply a small amount (just enough to coat the CPU when the heatsink is tightened down) of new paste before tightening down the heatsink. Slap in some RAM and you should be ready to go!

Hey glad to hear success! More than welcome guys!