HP Pavilion DV6 Not Booting

[TheAero1221]

Hello all. Basically just resubmitting my original post on this issue. Going to try and summarize better and explain what I've already tried to make giving advice a little easier.

My HP Pavilion DV6 7000 series is not booting. The issue presented itself after a hard reset of the computer, which I performed as a result of an unresponsive program.

Upon pressing the power button, the screen displays nothing at all. No backlight, no text. However the wifi key (F12) displays a steady amber light, and the caps lock key blinks fast 3 times on repeat.

I looked into the light codes for my machine, and found that the code corresponded to a memory module error, with the recommended fix of reseating the memory. I went ahead and did this to no avail.

On this laptop there are two memory slots, so I went ahead and removed one RAM stick, and tried again. No difference. I then tried putting the RAM stick in the secondary slot. No luck. I then tried using the second RAM stick, figuring that perhaps the first stick was toast. Again no luck.

In essence, I tried both RAM sticks both single and together on each of the memory slots in my machine in every possible combination to no avail. I also tried using the two memory modules from the laptop I am typing on now since I know they work. Still no luck.

To me this means that the memory slots themselves must be fried, but I do not see how it is possible that both slots failed simultaneously just from a hard reboot. Could this be a motherboard issue?

I also carefully disassembled the machine and took a look at the motherboard, keeping an eye out for bent pins around the CPU, or for brown/black spots on the motherboard that could be indicative of a short. No dice.

Anyone have ideas on how I should proceed? The laptop is several years old, and the warranty is no longer valid, so that is out of the question. Thanks for any and all advice.

[MKazi]

@TheAero1221

Thanks for reaching out to us on HP Support Forums. 🙂 I came across your post and would like to help.

I understand that you have an HP Pavilion dv6-7000 Entertainment Notebook. I read that the laptop does not boot after performing a hard shutdown. The laptop powers on and the screen in black, the caps lock light blinks 3 times. I have read your post comprehensively. Yu have reseated and swapped the memory modules on different slots and tried them individually. Have also tried using an alternate memory. Fabulous analysis. Spectacular diagnosis of the issue before posting. Kudos to you for that. You've done a remarkable job performing the steps. 

The evidence points towards a defective motherboard. However, before we come to a final conclusion, I suggest you to perform a BIOS rollback on the laptop. This might help. Please perform the steps mentioned under "Step 1: Recover the BIOS using a key press combination".

If the issue persists then please contact our HP phone support to explore the hardware service options for your laptop. 

I hope this information helps. Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions. Cheers! 🙂

[TheAero1221]

Hello MKazi,

  Thank you for the response. I apologize for the delay in my response, but I have been busy the past few days. I attempted the solution you suggested -recovering the BIOS- and unfortunately it was unsuccessful. I do not have the original hard drive for the machine, as I acquired the machine without the hard drive for a low price from the original owner who knew it was broken. I apologize for the inconsistency in my story, but I summarized what the original owner told me regarding the issues they encountered with the laptop. I was trying to keep things simple for my report, but it looks like I've just made things more complicated.

  Anyway, the original owner kept the hard drive, and thus the hard disk partition for the solution wasn't an option for me. I followed the instructions further down on the page that suggested a BIOS recovery using a flash drive was possible. Despite following instructions precisely, and plugging the USB into multiple slots for different attempts, I was not able to get a BIOS recovery to take effect. I tried both Windows + B and Windows + V key press combinations in my attempted fix as well, both to no resolve.

  At this point I believe the issue is with the motherboard. My concern is that the previous owner may have caused an ESD on the motherboard when attempting to fix the laptop themselves, before eventually giving up and trading it away to me. I believe this could be responsible for the multiple compounding issues the laptop seems to have at this point. If possible I would like to see what service could be done on the laptop to potentially repair it. Ideally, I would like to not have to purchase an entirely new machine. Once again, thank you for your reply. I hope all is well. Have a good evening.

Sincerely,

TheAero1221

Note: Multiple edits for clarity. Sorry for the confusion!