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Netbook locks up
Helpless Rock
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Recently my EEE PC 1000H has been freezing random. The things I have tried to deduct are thus;
I upgraded the RAM in January, but none of this has started until late March.
I also pretty much just run off Windows 7 (Build 7000) but this still happens in XP.
I don't really know if this makes any different, but the green plastic bit that is in the headphone jack has broken off. Could that be causing a short? I only think this because that's the direction it has to lean to get the black lines which is just weird. This seemed to start happening at about the same time that fell out, but that could just be coincidence.
So, yeah. The ultimate question here is how do I fix this or is my EEE PC borked?
- Sometimes it goes to the Blue Screen of Death, but it's also completely unresponsive. I have to hold down the power button to get it back up. Then oddly, the keyboard doesn't work at the boot menu until it gets all the way back into Windows.
- Whenever it's on my lap and I move it the likely hood of it dieing is pretty high.
- I've ran CoreTemp for a while a few different times under different situations and it's really never gone higher than 85C, mostly staying in the 70's, which seems high but as much as I could deduct from Google that shouldn't cause it to freeze like it is.
I upgraded the RAM in January, but none of this has started until late March.
I also pretty much just run off Windows 7 (Build 7000) but this still happens in XP.
I don't really know if this makes any different, but the green plastic bit that is in the headphone jack has broken off. Could that be causing a short? I only think this because that's the direction it has to lean to get the black lines which is just weird. This seemed to start happening at about the same time that fell out, but that could just be coincidence.
So, yeah. The ultimate question here is how do I fix this or is my EEE PC borked?
Helpless Rock on
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Unfortunately I can't help much more than that.
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What would I be looking for though? I have an idea on what a loose cable might look like, but will I actually notice it or would I need to do a lot of fiddling around with the delicates? I take handle taking the back panel off and installing more RAM or replacing the Hard drive, but disassembling the entire thing is a bit more.
Any other possible causes? And if there is no loose wire?
I'm almost at a point were I'd be willing to just fuck it and get the cheapest Dell Mini 10 and cannibalize the hard drive and RAM from this if I can't get it fixed on my own. If only money wasn't an issue.
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SC2 NA: exoplasm.519 | PA SC2 Mumble Server | My Website | My Stream
Steam: Car1gt // Tumblr // Facebook // Twitter
You'll likely be looking for a flat, ribbon like cable like this:
And no you won't be "fiddling around with delicates" you'll just disconnect and reconnect it and then see if that worked. As I said, disassembling a laptop usually isn't that hard these days.
SC2 NA: exoplasm.519 | PA SC2 Mumble Server | My Website | My Stream
I don't have any of that. In XP or 7.
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The problem is caused by moving the laptop, which could be flexing a cracked board. bad solder joint, or a defective cable, leading to a fault.
Could also be a loose piece of metal. Does the laptop sound like something's rolling around loose in it? If that's the case, taking off the "normal" user-access panels (for memory and hard-drive access), and gently tilting and tapping the loose bit out may solve your problem. If something metallic falls out, and doesn't look important like a lung or spleen, that may all that's required.
Hrm, I'm not sure I agree with you on that. Laptops certainly are a lot easier to disassemble than it was Back in the Day, but if someone is a total neophyte I'm not sure I'd point them towards the insides of their laptops so quickly - at least, not towards the ZIF ribbon cable assemblies. Those connectors are often not accessable until you're pretty far into the disassembly process, and those ribbon cable connectors are quite staggeringly fragile. They're designed to be handled by hummingbird neurosurgeons. I've seen many experienced techs shear the tabs off of them even when being careful - in addition to the amount of force being very hard to judge, the plastics used get can get quite fragile as a result of age and/or heat. A newbie is almost certain to damage the retention mechanism.
If the OP isn't to terribly concerned about making things worse, there's no harm in taking it apart and poking around to see if anything's obviously wrong. However, if one were to damage the connector, repair costs may suddenly skyrocket, as generally you're going to be replacing the entire board the connector was on, not just the connector itself.
The ribbon cable itself could be damaged, and that might be impossible to visually identify unless the damage is very severe (torn, pierced, very badly creased, etc.), which could mean you're risking the connector without localizing the problem at all.
If the OP isn't real comforable with disassembly, I'd recommend checking and make sure you're not under warranty. Getting warranty work done isn't always painless, but nearly all manufactuers take a pretty dim view of machines that have obvious signs of tampering. And having done warranty work on laptops, I can promise you we can almost always tell you've taken the thing apart.
I'd recommend contacting the manufacturer and finding an authorized repair center for that manufacturer (this looks like a place to start, this other reference lists some other providers, but it's hard to tell if it's up to date). Call them about what it would cost to have the laptop diagnosed (generally the diagnosis fee is applied towards the cost of repairs if you decide to go forward, but not always, check in advance), and decide if you'd like to go that route, or take the money that would go towards diagnosis/repair and get a new/used/refurbished replacement.
Do not take it to Best Buy (well, unless you have the extended warranty and you want to invoke that, I guess), or to your local clone shop. Laptop parts and service are pretty manufacturer-specific, down to the model. They won't have the parts or the training to deal with it, let alone actually repair it, and will have to at best outsource the repair. At worst, they'll damage it and give it back to you "repaired" in poorer shape than when you started.
Ultimately and reluctantly I just decided to switch back to the 1GB of RAM and see how things worked out. If the lock ups stopped then obviously there's my problem and if not then I'd dig into the insides a bit.
Almost sadly after switching back everything stopped. It's working perfectly fine now, if a bit slower, but I suppose I can take that as an improvement to being practically bricked. Hell, even my temp. went down 10C from a pretty constant 75-80C no matter what outside temp to right now at 60-68C.
I had a feeling all along that it was probably just the RAM, but the fact it didn't kick in until months after installing it and it seemed to me to only lock up after movement was done just didn't give me complete assurance.
Not sure if it was just the RAM stick itself or my computer, since some replies to this same question I posted on the EEEPC Forums had a guy having the same problems no matter which 2GB stick you threw in the thing. He guessed it was a problem with the graphics chip and the RAM or something.
Oh well. 1GB is better than no netbook, I guess.
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