Re: Pzavillion dv2555nr--dead video--need help

joerees wrote:
After 2 years of living with errors caused by video drivers, my laptop video has finally given up the ghost. I get absolutely nothing but a black screen, even during the pre-OS boot stages. It's out of warranty, and I refuse to again deal with HP about problems (they've been essentially useless in their tech support whenever I've needed them).

I'll probably just toss this in the landfill and buy something worthwhile, but first, I'm contemplating an attempt at fixing it myself. However, there are a few things I don't have any info about:

How do you get the case open? I've removed about 12-15 screws, but the back is anchored just as solidly as ever; presumably, ther are other hidden screws that I haven't been able to locate. Does anyone have a picture of where the screws are located?

Perhaps more important: is the nVidia video card built in to the mother boasrd, or is it replaceable? Since I can't get the machine to boot, I have no way of looking up the nVidia model number, so I'll have to do a bit of research in that regard, but if it is replaceable, I will try to procure a replacement.

(If anyone has any other suggestions, I welcome any and all help. FWIW, the driver problems I was having were that the screen would go blank for a few seconds, and then reappear with a message that the video drive stopped working, but the problem has been fixed. This would happen about 2 or 3 times a month. At other times (every month or so), the screen would just freeze (no response form mouse or keyboard, and no processing apparently going on), and the only remedy was to reboot. Then this morning, the screen froze in a pattern that looked like one of those pictures that were popular a few years back, which had a 3-D image when you blurred your eyes appropriately. I had to hold down the power button to reboot; it seemed to go normally, but after about 15 minutes it went to black, never to return.

I can be contacted at nicejoegreen@xxxxxxxxx


Does the laptop boot and display something when an external monitor is attached? If so, then there hope for some sort of replacement, maybe the screen. If not, the problem is more serious.

Your best bet is to see if you can find the service manual for your model of HP laptop. It will tell you how to take it apart and show you pictures of the major parts. If the nVidia chip is on the laptop motherboard, and nothing displays on LCD or external monitor, the nVidia chip is gone, which means the motherboard is pretty useless. I am not sure how hard it is to replace a motherboard in an HP laptop. With other brands, motherboard replacement is a major pain in the ass, due to almost complete disassembly, followed by reassembly, of course.

.... Ben Myers
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