I've been trying to revive an old laptop that my relative gave me, but it's stuck on a black screen when I turn it on. First, I tried discharging any static electric build-up, but that didn't help. Next, I suspected an issue with the RAM sticks, so I tested every combination and made sure they were seated correctly, yet still no luck. I decided to give it a thorough cleaning since it was in terrible condition. After cleaning out the dust and applying new thermal paste, I noticed that the fans didn't make any sound when it booted up, which felt like progress. I also connected it to an external monitor via VGA, but there was still no display. Now I'm stumped and considering that it might be a motherboard or CPU issue. Any advice or troubleshooting steps would be greatly appreciated!
1 Answer
Have you checked if there's any output at all? Sometimes the screen won't show anything while the laptop is still booting up, but you might see lights on the keyboard or fans spinning. If that's happening, it could be a display issue or a sign that something else is wrong.
Yeah, the keyboard lights and fans work just fine when I boot it, but the screen stays black.