Compaq Presario F500 - Repairing the Black Screen of Death

[666rexx]

wow finally a solution thanks a ton I will try it, what have I got to loose right

[giecik182]

What i must have to repair my laptop that's way or method??

[nukpanatech]

@giecik182 You need something to shield the rest of your motherboard, but expose the GFX chip like Aluminium Foil and a Paint Stripper/Heat Gun to heat the chip up. You'll also need a phillips head screwdriver to open the system up fully.

[jpl1981nfr]

TOP VIDEO CHEERS FOR THIS SORTED MY ISSUE OUT WITH NO PROBS... IF ANYONE ELSES HAS SAME ISSUE HEAT NEEDS TO BE ISSUED FOR 2 MINS THEN LEAVE TO COOL THEN 2 MORE MINS THEN HEY PRESTO YOUR AWAY..

[nishantishacker]

very helpful.

[lilkuz2005]

i have one of these laptops. the wifi card dosent work and it black screens all the time, im about to reflow it. i just wanted to know if you have had any problems since the reflow ? does your wifi work ? ive read that its an issue with the nvidia chipset that causes the wifi not to work. please reply, thanks for the tut

[stevew1011]

Excellent video!

Nice explaination of the theory and practice. 262°C seems very hot, I did the same but chicked out at around 200. It stil worked but who knows for how long.

It's interesting to note that the reason the WIFI stops working is that the GPU in intergrated into the Northbridge in this chipset, that's the chip that needs to be reflowed. The laptop seems to have a terrible design. The main air inlet for the cooling fan in on the bottom so soft surfaces are deadly!

[stevew1011]

@stevew1011 What sort of temperatures are you seeing when the laptop is running? I see maximums of around 75°C on each CPU core and 90°C on the GPU.

Also useful to know is that this laptop will support 4GB of RAM even though HP say only 2GB.

[katsrayoflight]

all I did was unplugg keep battery installed, wrap in a heavy blanket turn it on till it clicked and acting like it was going to boot, and left it ... about 25 minutes later I heard the fan on, after about an hour I uncovered it and let it cool over night, in the morning while coffee was brewing I turned on the laptop, and it booted, i am typing on it right now!!!

[nukpanatech]

@katsrayoflight That is pretty much the same theory, but its a dangerous way of doing it. By doing so, you're heating the system up to a dangerous level, which indeed reflows the GPU but at the same time reflows everything else and can lead to warping of plastic internally and externally. Plus the way I do it takes an hour tops xD But I'm glad to hear you're back online with yours.

[MuscIeBound]

@katsrayoflight Hey man! Thanks for adding this comment. I wasn't game for taking the thing apart, but your post gave me some hope. I just wrapped my f500 in tin foil and then a blanket. Let it sit for maybe an hour and a half and then all of a sudden i heard the windows login sound. I was fucking thrilled! Thanks! It's works great again, tho i'll be getting extra cooling before i put it back into everyday use.

[cdjme252]

Excellent video. My F500 has just encountered the black screen of death but I kind of knew it was coming coming as the graphics were starting to get dodgy. Doesn't seem like HP in the Uk are planning to do anything whereas the US seems to have replaced motherboards.

I suppose it is safe to assume that my laptop is now scrap? Would doubt any computer shop could/would fix it?

[nukpanatech]

@cdjme252 Thank you very much! I don't know if any shop would repair it - it never hurts to ask, but if you're going to scrap it - send it my way! :P You're right though, they did some sort of product recall shortly after the problem was discovered but only in the USA. Again, some shops in america would repair it but it's a long way around and would possibly be less time consuming and costly to repair it and upgrade :/

[nukpanatech]

@cdjme252 to replace it and upgrade* rather!

[kikiamorfishball]

once you've taken out the motherboard, how do you remove the gpu from the main silicon plate without damaging it?

[nukpanatech]

@kikiamorfishball I've not attempted this, I know some are in need of reballing as well as reflowing and for that you need to remove the chip. My best idea would be to flow some liquid flux underneath it so the heat is distributed evenly, heat with a paintstripper gun or similar until the solder liquifies and then use a Screwdriver or tongs to gently lift it away from the board. It may be a 2 man job. One on Screwdriver/Tongs one on the heat gun

[seymop]

How long do you anticipate this to last? I have a ps3 that I reflowed and it lasted a month. Great video by the way.

[nukpanatech]

@seymop I'm unsure, I reflowed it, placed new conductive paste on the chip it's self and on a copper shim. I had one from my Dell Vostro 1400 that I mentioned, but it's the right size to protect this chip. I also pasted the Processor as well. I've been pretty much running the laptop constantly since I fixed it in this vid, and it's still going. So I'd say as long as you keep the system cool enough, it should be an indefinate fix! Thanks a bunch!

[Damieboo]

NUKPANA \o/