Question about my laptop's black screen issue!!

[Aman Gupta]

Hi guys

 

I have an Asus R510-JX laptop. Its an entry level gaming laptop released back in 2016.

 

Here are the specs:

i7-4720HQ

GTX 950M (DDR3 - 2 GB)

8 GB RAM (4 GB soldered to the motherboard)

1 TB HDD

15 inch Full HD display

 

About 3 months ago, I switched it ON one fine morning, and I could hear it booting up (the HDD would spin, the lights would be lit normally), but the screen wouldn't power up/or it would and just display the black color, not sure which one it is.

Although I shone a bright torch at the screen before powering it up, and I could see light flowing through the screen, and after pressing the power button, the torch-light wouldn't flow through the screen.

 

So, I went to a laptop repair shop, and he first said the graphics card is not working and needs replacement, then it seemed to work for about a month, and same issue returned, so I went back and the laptop repair-guy said, a few ICs around the GPU were not working properly, so he "fixed" something again, and it worked for 2 days, and then the same issue, after that he asked me to get the mobo changed.

 

Now what I can't figure it out is, why the BIOS won't even show up, because it is the first thing that works and checks all other components if they're OK. Or am I wrong to assume that? Could someone tell me the process of booting up?

I feel if the GPU is not working, even in that case it shouldn't affect the normal working of the laptop, it should boot up with the help of CPU and the internal GPU it has.

 

Sorry for the long post guys, but I'd love some solid advice.

 

Thanks

 

 

[TheElectronicGeek1]

3 minutes ago, Aman Gupta said:

Hi guys

 

I have an Asus R510-JX laptop. Its an entry level gaming laptop released back in 2016.

 

Here are the specs:

i7-4720HQ

GTX 950M (DDR3 - 2 GB)

8 GB RAM (4 GB soldered to the motherboard)

1 TB HDD

15 inch Full HD display

 

About 3 months ago, I switched it ON one fine morning, and I could hear it booting up (the HDD would spin, the lights would be lit normally), but the screen wouldn't power up/or it would and just display the black color, not sure which one it is.

Although I shone a bright torch at the screen before powering it up, and I could see light flowing through the screen, and after pressing the power button, the torch-light wouldn't flow through the screen.

 

So, I went to a laptop repair shop, and he first said the graphics card is not working and needs replacement, then it seemed to work for about a month, and same issue returned, so I went back and the laptop repair-guy said, a few ICs around the GPU were not working properly, so he "fixed" something again, and it worked for 2 days, and then the same issue, after that he asked me to get the mobo changed.

 

Now what I can't figure it out is, why the BIOS won't even show up, because it is the first thing that works and checks all other components if they're OK. Or am I wrong to assume that? Could someone tell me the process of booting up?

I feel if the GPU is not working, even in that case it shouldn't affect the normal working of the laptop, it should boot up with the help of CPU and the internal GPU it has.

 

Sorry for the long post guys, but I'd love some solid advice.

 

Thanks

 

 

Sounds like the gpu is dead. Turn it on in the dark and see if the backlight comes on. It'll just display black like you said or it'll look exactly the same as being off. It's not the same on all laptops but my xps m1710 display wouldn't even turn on the backlight when the gpu died. Also try shining light on the front and see if you can see anything, maybe the backlight is just broken. As for the boot process, when you push the power button the bios will run a couple checks, older computers would tell you what it was checking and it would sometimes run a small memory test, then if there were errors like no keyboard or no fan rpm signal, it would tell you and you could proceed or go to the bios config screen, if there are no errors or you continue with them it'll attempt to boot from the devices set in order in the bios config and once one succeeds it continues to boot from there. Your computer could actually be booting completely fine but the gpu is dead. My xps did that when the gpu was dead and i'd eventually head the windows 7 startup sound but the screen is off.

[Aman Gupta]

10 minutes ago, TheElectronicGeek1 said:

Sounds like the gpu is dead. Turn it on in the dark and see if the backlight comes on. It'll just display black like you said or it'll look exactly the same as being off. It's not the same on all laptops but my xps m1710 display wouldn't even turn on the backlight when the gpu died. Also try shining light on the front and see if you can see anything, maybe the backlight is just broken. As for the boot process, when you push the power button the bios will run a couple checks, older computers would tell you what it was checking and it would sometimes run a small memory test, then if there were errors like no keyboard or no fan rpm signal, it would tell you and you could proceed or go to the bios config screen, if there are no errors or you continue with them it'll attempt to boot from the devices set in order in the bios config and once one succeeds it continues to boot from there. Your computer could actually be booting completely fine but the gpu is dead. My xps did that when the gpu was dead and i'd eventually head the windows 7 startup sound but the screen is off.

So the modern laptops rely on the Nvidia/AMD GPU as well, apart from the Intel GPU present in the CPU to power up?

 

Also, during the initial power-up where we see the laptop manufacturer's logo, which component powers it up during the POST check run by BIOS? Is it the CPU or is it just the ROM doing every check?

[TheElectronicGeek1]

Just now, Aman Gupta said:

So the modern laptops rely on the Nvidia/AMD GPU as well, apart from the Intel GPU present in the CPU to power up?

 

Also, during the initial power-up where we see the laptop manufacturer's logo, which component powers it up during the POST check run by BIOS? Is it the CPU or is it just the ROM doing every check?

I think the bios chip checks that everything works and runs little tests on everything to make sure it's there and working and turns on the computer. The chipset is what handles some of the pcie lanes and the usb/sata lanes or whatever other ports your computer has. The video out is on the dedicated gpu so if it fries it probably won't put out anything. The intel gpu renders all the 2d stuff and whatever you tell it to, then that goes out of the intel gpu chip through the discrete gpu and out the video. Hooking up a second monitor probably won't work either.

[Aman Gupta]

11 minutes ago, TheElectronicGeek1 said:

I think the bios chip checks that everything works and runs little tests on everything to make sure it's there and working and turns on the computer. The chipset is what handles some of the pcie lanes and the usb/sata lanes or whatever other ports your computer has. The video out is on the dedicated gpu so if it fries it probably won't put out anything. The intel gpu renders all the 2d stuff and whatever you tell it to, then that goes out of the intel gpu chip through the discrete gpu and out the video. Hooking up a second monitor probably won't work either.

Ah okay, yeah that scenario fits with what I am seeing.

 

So, if I had to get the GPU removed, and let the laptop boot off of just the CPU, would it work?? Do, I need to reconfigure something else as well?

[TheElectronicGeek1]

Just now, Aman Gupta said:

Ah okay, yeah that scenario fits with what I am seeing.

 

So, if I had to get the GPU removed, and let the laptop boot off of just the CPU, would it work?? Do, I need to reconfigure something else as well?

No you literally need a new gpu. And i'm pretty sure yours is soldered to the board. So you need an entirely new motherboard.

[Aman Gupta]

1 minute ago, TheElectronicGeek1 said:

No you literally need a new gpu. And i'm pretty sure yours is soldered to the board. So you need an entirely new motherboard.

Oh well. A new mobo will cost a lot, I'll buy a new laptop itself, and sell this for spares.

 

Thanks for all the help though!!

[TheElectronicGeek1]

1 minute ago, Aman Gupta said:

Oh well. A new mobo will cost a lot, I'll buy a new laptop itself, and sell this for spares.

 

Thanks for all the help though!!

Yeah no problem. Maybe go and check if your gpu is removable. Not likely for the 900m series but check anyway.