A single symptom can be listed under different groups. For example, No Video can belong to (1) Power-on or
(4) Display; but Flickering when powered should be listed in (4) Display. Or, in another example, a blue screen
can be caused by a driver conflict in Performance (4), but it can also be caused by a defective hard drive under
(6) Storage. Therefore, failures that share similar symptoms are noted.
If possible, make a record of the failure symptom, the phase of the boot-up sequence where the failure
occurs, and the most likely location in the failure tree (
Table 7-3 Failure classification by boot-up sequence
on page 78
and
Table 7-4 Failure classification by hardware devices and mechanical on page 79
). This will
help isolate the issue and indicate the next steps. For example, when the computer is running the operating
system, it may experience an issue with (4) Display, (5) I/O devices (keyboard, wireless, and so on), (6)
Storage, or (7) Mechanical components (stuck buttons, thermal shutdown, and so on).
NOTE:
“Uncategorized” is used if an issue found is not listed. For example, Bluetooth is offered on certain
hardware configurations; therefore, a Bluetooth issue can be classified under “I/O Device” if needed.
Failure classification by boot-up sequence
Table 7-3
Failure classification by boot-up sequence
1. Power-on
2. POST
3. Performance
1.
No Power on page 94
2.
Intermittent power-on, shutdown,
reboot on page 96
a
3.
AC adapter issue on page 97
4.
Battery not recognized, not charging
on page 97
5.
Battery discharges too fast
on page 99
6.
Burnt smell on page 100
1.
No video (with power)
on page 100
2.
Blinking lights on page 101
3.
Diagnostics error messages
on page 102
4.
BIOS password on page 103
1.
Intermittent shutdown on page 104
a
2.
Blue screen (BSOD) error on page 129
b
3.
Freeze at Windows Logo (hang/lockup)
on page 107
4.
Electromagnetic Interference (EMI)
on page 108
5.
No wake up on page 108
6.
Unresponsive on page 110
7.
Slow performance on page 110
c
8.
HP Smart Adapter warning message
on page 111
9.
Incorrect time and date on page 111
a,b,c
similar symptoms
78
Chapter 7 Troubleshooting guide
