Laptop not starting

[Brynr]

Hi,
I've had my PCspecialist laptop now since Feb 2017 and it's been working fine up until now however I shut it down normally on Sunday, but when I went to restart on Monday it wouldn't:
The power indicator above the keyboard lights up but nothing seems to be happening on screen, then after 10-15 seconds the fans go nuts, then it all shuts down (power light & fans).

I've removed the battery and plugged into mains and the same thing happens.

Anyone got any suggestions? This has come out of the blue and is most annoying!

(EDIT: air coming from the back of the laptop is not hot so doesn't seem to be temp related to the layman)
Thanks

Spec:

Chassis & Display	Octane Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)	Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-7700k (4.2GHz) 8MB Cache
Memory (RAM)	32GB HyperX IMPACT 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card	NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 - 6.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1, G-SYNC
1st Storage Drive	960GB KINGSTON UV400 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (540MB/R, 500MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive	NOT REQUIRED
Memory Card Reader	Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor	1 x 330W AC Adaptor
Battery	Octane Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (82WH)
Power Cable	1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Thermal Paste	ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card	Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Wireless/Wired Networking	GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-8265 M.2 (867Mbps, 802.11AC) +BT 4.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options	4 x USB 3.0 Ports + 2 x USB 3.1 Type C Ports
Keyboard Language	OCTANE SERIES BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Operating System	Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
Operating System Language	United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media	Windows 10 (64-bit) Home DVD with paper sleeve

 

[Bastet]

Can you reach safe mode via force restarting 3 times?
Is the hard drive flashing/lit or not?
Can you connect an external monitor to see if there’s any picture?
Is Windows up-to date as well as graphics card drivers?

 

[Brynr]

Hi,

Can you reach safe mode via force restarting 3 times?
Is the hard drive flashing/lit or not?
Can you connect an external monitor to see if there’s any picture?
Is Windows up-to date as well as graphics card drivers?

Safe mode - I'll have to investigate, thanks for the suggestion. I've tried starting more than 3 times though so might not get traction. It's reminded me that I've got a win 10 install on a flash drive so will see what happens when I boot with that in.
No hard drive flashing.
External monitors are also blank when plugged in.
Windows is up to date and worked on Sunday, though it doesn't seem to get near to a windows startup.

Thanks

 

[ubuysa]

In addition to the above, can you boot the WIndows installation media?

 

[Brynr]

Hi,
Now had opportunity to try these things and no luck. No life in any screen. Doesnt spring into life when different boot media inserted (though external dvd drive does whir up). No safe mode etc. Have tested the hard drive and that still works in another machine.
Any suggestions I can try at home before having to spend money on a just over 2 year old machine?
Thanks.

 

[SpyderTracks]

What warranty did you select?

 

[Brynr]

Only the standard one, so might just be plain out of luck. My two desktops from here are still going strong so didn't think about upgrading, but I guess that's the risk you take.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Only the standard one, so might just be plain out of luck. My two desktops from here are still going strong so didn't think about upgrading, but I guess that's the risk you take.

I think even with the standard one, you get three years labour included. Does sound like it may be a mobo failure possibly in which case expensive fix.

 

[Brynr]

Thanks for the help on here.
I've contacted PCS and now have instructions on how to remove keyboard to play with Ram (still under warranty), if that doesn't work it would be circa £220 for a new motherboard + shipping.
Not the best, but also not the worst in the whole scheme of things.

 

[SpyderTracks]

it would be circa £220 for a new motherboard + shipping.

That’s actually a lot better than I expected.

 

[Archway]

I bought an Octane III, also in Feb 2017, and had this problem very early on. The clue is that the blue keyboard backlights, which come on very early in the boot process, do not come on. The PC specialist logo never appears and there is no disk activity indicator. After about 20 secs the fans turn on full blast for 20 secs or so before the system shuts down.

After this first occurred I had thought that a BIOS reset (Fn+D 20 secs, power on with Fn+D for another 20 sects) had fixed it but it may have been a coincidence (see below).

More recently it came back. About two weeks ago I dropped it onto a desk (from about 6") while putting it in its bag and on restarting later the same problem occurred. No amount of Fn+D made any difference so I wondered if I had dislodge something. After removing two hard drives (testing after each one) and then two sticks of RAM I had added, it still wouldn't restart but removing the last hard disk (boot drive) fixed the problem and allowed the BIOS to start normally suggesting that the disk was loose. Normal function persisted after returning all the removed components.

The problem came back yesterday; this time, no obvious reason. Again, Fn+D was useless. Removing the boot disk made no difference but removing the additional RAM did. MemTest64 on the RAM finds no errors.

is the problem intermittent loose components, an intermittent MoBo fault or is just that fiddling about somehow resets the BIOS? Anyones guess unless someone has a permanent fix for this. I have a silver warranty (labour) to Feb 2020 but when simply removing and returning add on components fixes it there seems to be no real point persuing this.

 

[Brynr]

Hi - the symptoms do sound very similar.
I shelled out the £218 for a new motherboard which has fixed the issue (for now?...).
My laptop has not undergone any knocks or drops - it's pretty rare that it gets moved nowadays - and my issue happened when it hadn't been significantly touched, though it is resting on the desk which would have had small movements transmitted to it from hitting the keyboard etc.

If you are moving your laptop around (and given the weight of it you're mad!) maybe you are at higher risk of dislodging components?

Would be interesting to know if this is an inherent manufacturing problem and I should expect this to happen again (potentially out of warranty)

 

[ubuysa]

I bought an Octane III, also in Feb 2017, and had this problem very early on. The clue is that the blue keyboard backlights, which come on very early in the boot process, do not come on. The PC specialist logo never appears and there is no disk activity indicator. After about 20 secs the fans turn on full blast for 20 secs or so before the system shuts down.

After this first occurred I had thought that a BIOS reset (Fn+D 20 secs, power on with Fn+D for another 20 sects) had fixed it but it may have been a coincidence (see below).

More recently it came back. About two weeks ago I dropped it onto a desk (from about 6") while putting it in its bag and on restarting later the same problem occurred. No amount of Fn+D made any difference so I wondered if I had dislodge something. After removing two hard drives (testing after each one) and then two sticks of RAM I had added, it still wouldn't restart but removing the last hard disk (boot drive) fixed the problem and allowed the BIOS to start normally suggesting that the disk was loose. Normal function persisted after returning all the removed components.

The problem came back yesterday; this time, no obvious reason. Again, Fn+D was useless. Removing the boot disk made no difference but removing the additional RAM did. MemTest64 on the RAM finds no errors.

is the problem intermittent loose components, an intermittent MoBo fault or is just that fiddling about somehow resets the BIOS? Anyones guess unless someone has a permanent fix for this. I have a silver warranty (labour) to Feb 2020 but when simply removing and returning add on components fixes it there seems to be no real point persuing this.

You're still in warranty so I'd call PCS and talk this over with them. It might be an issue they're familiar with.....