ArghWonderist wrote:Fuck, my laptop seems to have died. I'm back to this old clunker.
Anyone know what it means when the laptop turns on, but the screen stays blank and the CapsLock key's light flashes on and off steadily, but nothing else happens? It's either something simple, or it's fucked, I'm guessing. Argh!
(Lsuoma, sent an email about login)
Can be as simple as a dead battery to a completely fried mobo, bad memory, BIOS failure, CPU failure... These are some CAPSLOCK LED codes:
LEDs blink 1 time CPU CPU not functional
LEDs blink 2 times BIOS BIOS corruption failure
LEDs blink 3 times Memory Module error not functional
LEDs blink 4 times Graphics Graphics controller not functional
LEDs blink 5 times System board General system board failure
LEDs blink 6 times BIOS BIOS authentication failure
Count the flashes before the pause.
If it's spaced equally (flash/pause) as in your description, you're probably dealing with a fried CPU. But even before that, I'd start with taking the battery (the little one on the mobo, not the laptop power battery) out and replacing it. Sometimes that's the real problem.
If you have BIOS corruption, try rebooting a time or two. Sometimes it can recover it. Otherwise you'll have to reinstall the BIOS and your mfg should have help site for that.
If it's the memory, start with reseating it.
If it's the graphics controller it's a shop repair at a minimum.
General system failure can be fixed with a new battery (sometimes) but is usually a major problem requiring a new motherboard.
BIOS authentication errors typically happen when you replace old parts with new parts. The BIOS is supposed to update itself, but you may have to do it manually during boot.