Think my laptop may be bricked...

Arzy

Honorary Master
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Apr 18, 2004
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29,019
Fek. Got up this morning to make coffee and as I walked by the room I normally leave my laptop in I noticed the eerie blue glow. Not making much of it I continued on my way till it registered that somethings not right. Went back and saw the BSOD, WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR.

Not a great way to start the day. Rebooted and let it attempt to do an automatic repair. It started. It stopped. It restarted. It stopped. Back to BSOD. Fek.

Tried to boot from USB and do a refresh or reinstall but can't even get the installer/recovery to load from USB. Windows logo, restart, windows logo, BSOD.

Ok. Removed SSD. Swapped HDD to primary. Tried install from USB again. Still can't even get passed the windows logo, BSOD

Create new bootable USB. Same story.

Remove HDD. Popped in older clean SSD. Try and boot from USB. Windows logo and BSOD.

Reset BIOS to default. Boot from USB. Logo. BSOD.

Flash new BIOS. Boot from USB. Logo. BSOD.

Busy downloading Mint but I'm not expecting much.

Dont think it's gfx, memory checks out in BIOS but it's on board so I can't even remove to test, battery and power seem fine as it still runs plugged in or not. So my uninformed guess is an error with the cpu.

It's served me well for 5 years but I do believe that our electricity problems have finally led to something breaking.

Anyone have advice on something I may have missed?
 

WAslayer

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May 13, 2011
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WHEA stands for Windows Hardware Error Architecture of I recall so essentially, you have faulty hardware somewhere.. Since you have soldered RAM, you can't remove to test but, you can do a bootable memtest to test the RAM for errors, assuming you can boot it..

Overheating CPU is another thing to check for, so make sure CPU fan is still working and is not full of dust..
 

Willie Trombone

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Joined
Jul 18, 2008
Messages
60,038
Fek. Got up this morning to make coffee and as I walked by the room I normally leave my laptop in I noticed the eerie blue glow. Not making much of it I continued on my way till it registered that somethings not right. Went back and saw the BSOD, WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR.

Not a great way to start the day. Rebooted and let it attempt to do an automatic repair. It started. It stopped. It restarted. It stopped. Back to BSOD. Fek.

Tried to boot from USB and do a refresh or reinstall but can't even get the installer/recovery to load from USB. Windows logo, restart, windows logo, BSOD.

Ok. Removed SSD. Swapped HDD to primary. Tried install from USB again. Still can't even get passed the windows logo, BSOD

Create new bootable USB. Same story.

Remove HDD. Popped in older clean SSD. Try and boot from USB. Windows logo and BSOD.

Reset BIOS to default. Boot from USB. Logo. BSOD.

Flash new BIOS. Boot from USB. Logo. BSOD.

Busy downloading Mint but I'm not expecting much.

Dont think it's gfx, memory checks out in BIOS but it's on board so I can't even remove to test, battery and power seem fine as it still runs plugged in or not. So my uninformed guess is an error with the cpu.

It's served me well for 5 years but I do believe that our electricity problems have finally led to something breaking.

Anyone have advice on something I may have missed?
RAM failure is likely
 

Willie Trombone

Honorary Master
Joined
Jul 18, 2008
Messages
60,038
WHEA stands for Windows Hardware Error Architecture of I recall so essentially, you have faulty hardware somewhere.. Since you have soldered RAM, you can't remove to test but, you can do a bootable memtest to test the RAM for errors, assuming you can boot it..

Overheating CPU is another thing to check for, so make sure CPU fan is still working and is not full of dust..
Yeah soldered ram sucks. Wonder if it can at least be disabled in BIOS?
 

|tera|

Master of Messengers
Joined
Mar 31, 2006
Messages
25,906
Fek. Got up this morning to make coffee and as I walked by the room I normally leave my laptop in I noticed the eerie blue glow. Not making much of it I continued on my way till it registered that somethings not right. Went back and saw the BSOD, WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR.

Not a great way to start the day. Rebooted and let it attempt to do an automatic repair. It started. It stopped. It restarted. It stopped. Back to BSOD. Fek.

Tried to boot from USB and do a refresh or reinstall but can't even get the installer/recovery to load from USB. Windows logo, restart, windows logo, BSOD.

Ok. Removed SSD. Swapped HDD to primary. Tried install from USB again. Still can't even get passed the windows logo, BSOD

Create new bootable USB. Same story.

Remove HDD. Popped in older clean SSD. Try and boot from USB. Windows logo and BSOD.

Reset BIOS to default. Boot from USB. Logo. BSOD.

Flash new BIOS. Boot from USB. Logo. BSOD.

Busy downloading Mint but I'm not expecting much.

Dont think it's gfx, memory checks out in BIOS but it's on board so I can't even remove to test, battery and power seem fine as it still runs plugged in or not. So my uninformed guess is an error with the cpu.

It's served me well for 5 years but I do believe that our electricity problems have finally led to something breaking.

Anyone have advice on something I may have missed?
Switch it off.
Remove power cable and battery. While battery removed press the on button a few times. Hold it in, press it etc.
This should flush it. Connect just the power cable and switch it on. If it works fine you can turn off and reinsert the battery.
 

Arzy

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Joined
Apr 18, 2004
Messages
29,019
Switch it off.
Remove power cable and battery. While battery removed press the on button a few times. Hold it in, press it etc.
This should flush it. Connect just the power cable and switch it on. If it works fine you can turn off and reinsert the battery.
Thanks for the advice, tried but also difficult to complete, battery isn't removable without stripping the entire case.
 

Rickster

EVGA Fanatic
Joined
Jul 31, 2012
Messages
20,434
I think i had this BSOD too, it was my overclock, too much CPU voltage.

Try boot into memtestx86 and run a test.
 

|tera|

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Thanks for the advice, tried but also difficult to complete, battery isn't removable without stripping the entire case.
Let it deplete.
Switch on the laptop, enter BIOS and leave it running.
Test then what I suggested.
 

Arzy

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Apr 18, 2004
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29,019
Unfortunately managed to drain the battery to the point it wouldn't even turn on anymore, plugged it back in and the process repeats itself.
 

|tera|

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Unfortunately managed to drain the battery to the point it wouldn't even turn on anymore, plugged it back in and the process repeats itself.
Sucks. Check for a refurbished unit if you have spare cash. Or check Carb for a decent 2nd hand one.
 

Arzy

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Apr 18, 2004
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29,019
Ow. Decided to send it in and have it checked out, R25k to repair so that is definitely not happening.
 

|tera|

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Ow. Decided to send it in and have it checked out, R25k to repair so that is definitely not happening.
That's just insane.
Sad stuff bro. Not fun when this happens.
 

Arzy

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Apr 18, 2004
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Oh well, it's served me very well for just over 4 years. Must have heard me mention I want to get a new one and committed suicide.
 

|tera|

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Mar 31, 2006
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Oh well, it's served me very well for just over 4 years. Must have heard me mention I want to get a new one and committed suicide.
Yep. Mine has been running since 2013, it's a i5 Dell Inspiron. I've upgraded it a lot, SSD, RAM etc. and it's still giving joy.
Sometimes things last decades, sometimes a few months, or few years. You can never know.
 

Exaelea

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2005
Messages
922
25k to fix a 4 year old laptop... name and shame the place.
You can buy a pretty darn decent one for that price now.
 

Arzy

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Apr 18, 2004
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Don't think it's out of line, the laptop cost more than that when I bought it 5 years ago. It's an Asus ROG G751, I had an issue with the power connector just shy of a year after buying it and they gave a brand new replacement unit which has now died.
 

ponder

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Jan 22, 2005
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Don't think it's out of line, the laptop cost more than that when I bought it 5 years ago. It's an Asus ROG G751, I had an issue with the power connector just shy of a year after buying it and they gave a brand new replacement unit which has now died.

If you're keen for an experiment send it to me, haven't had a challenge in ages ;)
 

Peon

Expert Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2006
Messages
3,666
Disable things in BIOS. As many things as possible such as NIC's and Bluetooth etc,etc. Essentially all you want is enough enable to use the KB and fresh install. If that succeeds then start enabling things in BIOS to see which tanks the laptop. Also remove the DVDrom.

EDIT: Before you do any of this, go fetch a hammer and put it next to the laptop before going into BIOS. Your laptop might start feeling a lot better.
 
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