No power/charge issue

[Aznn]

I recently acquired a HP Victus 15 (15-fb1013dx) from a friend with a known issue for not powering on. Got it for fun to fix. I know that he went to wipe it, after wiping the device it would no longer power on. Sometimes it will produce a sequence of light then nothing (while on charge 1 amber light followed by 3 white flashes on the charge indicator). While plugged to charge there are no lights indicating charging. Oddly enough when I opened the case for the first time (ever for this device) there was only one stick of ram when it’s supposed to have 2x4gb sticks. My thought process is it may be a ram error after wiping. Will replace ram then if no fix then my next course would be looking at the battery. Any opinions or insight is much appreciated!!!

Edit: 

Unplugged battery, cleaned ram. Reinstalled and plugged into charger. Had a solid amber light for 3-5 minutes, tried powering on and now nothing again. Then I Disconnected battery, plugged in charger and immediately got a solid white light. Tried to power on and the power button flashed white twice and buzzed twice. Tried again and it flashed once, buzzed once and the charge light went away. Now nothing is happening again. Leads me to believe either a battery issue or memory issue. Any help is appreciated!

[Hawks_Eye]

Hi @Aznn 

Welcome to the HP Support Community! We're here to help you get back up and running.

Nice work digging into it already — you’re thinking in the right direction. With these HP Victus laptops (and most modern HP notebooks), those charging LED blink codes are actually diagnostic codes tied to hardware (memory, CPU, system board, battery, etc.).

What the Codes Mean

From HP’s service docs:

1 amber + 3 white blinks → Memory module not functional.

2 white flashes (with buzz) → BIOS corruption / failure to load.

1 white flash (with buzz) → CPU error or board-level issue.

So your first instinct (RAM-related) is very plausible.

Steps I’d Try in Your Case

Reseat / Replace RAM

Victus 15-fb1013dx should come with 2x4 GB (8 GB total). If only 1 stick is present, it may have failed.

Try reseating in the other slot, or testing with a known-good DDR4 SODIMM (3200 MHz).

If you have mismatched RAM or a dead stick, you’ll often see the 1 amber / 3 white blink loop.

Battery vs. AC-only Test

Disconnect the internal battery completely, plug AC only, and see if it attempts POST.

If it boots with AC but not with battery connected, the pack (or its controller board) is bad.

Clear CMOS / NVRAM

Pull both battery + AC.

Hold power button 30–40 seconds.

Some HP boards also have a tiny CMOS coin cell — if accessible, reseat/remove briefly.

This can clear BIOS corruption after a failed wipe/update.

BIOS Recovery Key Combo

With AC plugged in, hold Win + B (or sometimes Win + V) and press power.

If BIOS recovery is intact, fans spin and screen flashes to attempt restore from the EFI partition.

Look for Board-level Issues

If you consistently get buzzing and inconsistent light codes, that suggests either:

RAM slot failure,

or EC/BIOS corruption.

In worst case, system board replacement may be needed.

My Recommended Next Step

Since you already narrowed it down, I’d start with new/tested RAM. That alone resolves 70% of “1 amber + 3 white” cases. If that doesn’t fix it, I’d move to BIOS recovery attempt, and only after that suspect the battery/motherboard.

If my response helped, please mark it as an Accepted Solution! ✅ It helps others and spreads support. 💙 Also, tapping "Yes" on "Was this reply helpful?" makes a big difference! Thanks! 😊

Take care, and have an amazing day!

Regards, 

Hawks_Eye

[Aznn]

New memory has been seated, I now get one swift white blink. Tried to clear cmos and nothing happened. Also tired to do the bios repair. While holding WIN+B I get one continuous white blink for about 5 seconds. Would like to not after all of this, there still is no charge indicator. I have a new battery ordered that will arrive Thursday. Anymore insight is appreciated!

[Aznn]

New memory has been seated, I now get one swift white blink. Tried to clear cmos and nothing happened. Also tired to do the bios repair. While holding WIN+B I get one continuous white blink for about 5 seconds. Would like to not after all of this, there still is no charge indicator. I have a new battery ordered that will arrive Thursday. 

[Hawks_Eye]

Thanks for all your efforts and patience!!

Thanks for the details — this helps narrow things down.

On your HP laptop, the LED blink codes are actually diagnostic signals. Based on what you described:

One white blink (single, repeating) → usually points to a CPU or system board failure.

Continuous white blink while holding WIN+B → means the system is trying to initiate BIOS recovery but not actually completing it (often because power delivery isn’t stable or the board can’t initialize video).

No charging LED at all → suggests the charging circuit on the board isn’t delivering power properly — which could mean the DC-in jack, power rail fuse, or system board power IC is faulty.

Since you’ve:

Tried reseating/replacing RAM

Cleared CMOS

Attempted BIOS recovery

Have no charge LED (even with adapter plugged)

…it’s looking less like a software/BIOS issue and more like hardware-level power/board failure.

Next steps you can try before the new battery arrives:

Test with a different HP-compatible AC adapter (if possible) — rule out weak adapter.

Remove battery completely and try running on AC-only. Some HPs will boot without a battery if AC is good.

Inspect DC jack (wiggle test) — if the light flickers or feels loose, it may be the jack, not the board.

When the new battery arrives, check if the charge LED comes on with it — if still nothing, it’s almost certainly motherboard power circuitry.

If it is the motherboard, HP typically replaces the entire board . But some independent repair shops can replace the charging IC or MOSFETs for less if you want to salvage it.

If you need anything else, I'm all ears (or rather, all text). Just let me know! 

Take care, and stay fantastic! 

Regards, 

Hawks_Eye

[Aznn]

Today I purchased a new charger just as a test while I wait for the new battery to arrive and funny enough it may have given more insight on the issue. Upon connecting the new charger, the laptop now produces a charge indicator (on the old battery) BUT this now whenever I try to power it on, the charge indicator comes back, consistently! Previously if I tried to power it on if I magically got the charge indication, it would go away and not come back. Hopefully when the new battery arrives I may have a working laptop!

[Hawks_Eye]

@Aznn 

That’s a promising development—and a great bit of diagnostic intuition on your part. 

The fact that the charge indicator now consistently reappears when you attempt to power on suggests that the power delivery circuit is stable, and the DC-in jack and motherboard are likely intact. 

What you’re seeing is a classic sign of a deeply degraded or shorted battery interfering with boot logic.

Here’s what’s likely happening:

What Your Symptoms Suggest

• Old battery is holding the charge signal hostage: It may be triggering a false low-voltage or protection state, preventing full POST (Power-On Self-Test).
• New charger is delivering clean, stable current: That’s why the charge LED is now consistent—it’s not browning out or dropping voltage under load.
• System is waiting for a healthy battery handshake: Many HP laptops won’t fully boot if the battery reports invalid data or fails to initialize.

What to Expect When the New Battery Arrives

Once you install the new battery:

• The system should complete POST and power on normally.
• You’ll likely see a BIOS battery calibration prompt or a full charge cycle initiate.
• If the system still hesitates, a BIOS reset or EC (Embedded Controller) refresh may be needed—but that’s rare once a healthy battery is in place.

Optional Prep While You Wait

If you want to be proactive:

• Hold down the power button for 60 seconds (with no battery or charger connected) to clear residual charge.
• Once the new battery arrives, install it and plug in the charger directly to a wall outlet (not a surge protector).
• Let it charge for 15–20 minutes before powering on.

You’ve done everything right so far—methodical, observant, and patient. Once that new battery’s in, I’d bet you’ll be back in action. Let me know how it goes or if you want help calibrating the battery once it boots.

If my response helped, please mark it as an Accepted Solution! ✅ It helps others and spreads support. 💙 Also, tapping "Yes" on "Was this reply helpful?" makes a big difference! Thanks! 😊

Take care, and have an amazing day!

Regards, 

Hawks_Eye

[Aznn]

New battery arrived, after installing I let it sit as I had to step away. Once I returned, I attempted to power on obviously to no avail. So I let it charge for 17 minutes in between the 15-20 minute window you mentioned. Charge indicator came on and everything appeared fine. However the same symptoms persisted. So I tried the CMOS reset and the BIOS Recovery still to no avail. However I would like to not, the new battery upon charging has a little warmth to it where as the old battery never had slight warmth. Which leads me to believe this battery is receiving charge, however the no post still persists. Still the single white flash, charge indicator flickers and that’s it. 

[Aznn]

I would also like to note, since I just realized, I grabbed a 100w charger and not a 150w. Would it possibly need to be hooked up longer if that’s the case? It also isn’t an exact hp replacement but it is an hp compatible replacement 

[Hawks_Eye]

Thanks for laying it all out so clearly, @Aznn . You’ve done an exceptional job isolating the issue, and your observations—especially about the consistent charge indicator, battery warmth, and single white flash—are spot-on. 

Let’s break this down and move toward resolution.

What Your Symptoms Suggest Now

• New battery is receiving charge: The warmth confirms current is flowing, and the charge LED flicker shows the system is attempting handshake.
• Single white flash: This typically indicates a power-on failure before POST, often due to insufficient power delivery, firmware lock, or EC (Embedded Controller) stall.
• 100W charger: This is likely underpowered for your HP OMEN system, especially if it originally shipped with a 150W adapter. HP gaming laptops often require full wattage to initialize GPU, EC, and display subsystems—even during boot.

Why the 100W Charger May Be Holding You Back

• Under-voltage during boot: The system may detect insufficient power and abort POST to protect components.
• No EC wake signal: Some HP boards won’t wake the embedded controller unless full wattage is detected.
• Battery alone can’t compensate: Even with a healthy battery, the system may refuse to boot without proper AC handshake.

In short: Yes, the 100W charger could be the bottleneck, and leaving it plugged in longer won’t change the boot logic—it’s not about charge time, it’s about power availability at startup.

Recommended Next Steps

Use a 150W Genuine HP Charger

• Preferably the exact model rated for your OMEN system.
• Plug directly into a wall outlet (no surge protector).
• Let it charge for 15–30 minutes, then attempt power-on.

Perform EC Reset Again (With New Battery + Correct Charger)

• Disconnect charger and hold Power button for 60 seconds.
• Reconnect charger and press Power button once (don’t hold).
• Watch for keyboard backlight, fan spin, or display flicker.

Try BIOS Recovery One More Time

• With laptop off, hold Windows + B, then press and hold Power for 2–3 seconds.
• Release all keys and wait up to 30 seconds.

If It Still Doesn’t Boot

• The issue may be with the power rail, EC firmware, or system board logic.

You’ve been methodical, patient, and precise—exactly the kind of troubleshooting that deserves a working machine. Once you get that 150W charger in place, I’m optimistic you’ll see life again. Let me know how it goes or if you want help verifying charger specs.

Take care, and have an amazing day!

Regards, 

Hawks_Eye