Laptop failure troubleshooting

[Twoyboy]

I have an ASUS G2 I bought back in 2007. It's been fantastic but just this weekend I turned it on and got nothing but a blank screen. Several months ago it had an issue where the screen would go greenish with lines down it for a little while. It did this several times over a month and then stopped, and I've had no other issues until now.

I tried playing it through my TV both from the VGA(?) output and the HDMI output but couldn't get a picture. The sound still seems to work because I get a certain sound upon booting up that still occurs, but the ASUS logo that displayed no longer does.

Does it sound like my GPU is fucked? If so, is my entire computer fucked? I can't really afford another comp right now, but my wife is looking into the possibility of claiming it on our contents insurance, but I'm not sure if we can.

Any other suggestions? Thanks.

[General Zod]

Have you opened it up and checked to make sure there's nothing loose or otherwise damaged?

[PeZook]

Such symptoms are indicative of a GPU failure, especially since you can't get a picture through your VGA and HDMI jacks.

It can be repaired, though it's a pretty complicated operation, and even if it's done, you will have to watch your thermal output very closely (most GPU failures aren't actually the chip itself, but its connections to the motherboard, and they're primarily caused by overheating). If you're heavily into gaming, it's unlikely the repaird will hold for more than 6 months.

[Zixinus]

In other words: yup, sounds like a hardware problem. As it is a laptop, you can only do shit to it with a workshop specialized in working shit like this. That means you have to bring it to some laptop repair service or whatever.

Overheating is no surprise. My netbook is running 50 degrees and can reach over 60 if being charged and on.

I would recommend that you ask for the HDD's contents to be saved because laptops are unlikely to be easily repaired. You might have to buy a new one, although I am unsure of the details of your guarantee.

[PeZook]

Generally speaking, re-settling the GPU is the most complicated repair that can be done. To the point that most manufacturers don't bother and just swap the mobo out. In Poland at least, most laptop repair shops aren't kitted out for this, I'm not sure how it looks in the US.

[Twoyboy]

Dammit. Thanks guys, I guess I'll cross my fingers and hope for insurance.

No Zod, I haven't opened it up for fear of doing more damage, but if insurance wont touch it I'll have a look before paying for repairs or a new one. Cheers.

[Dominus Atheos]

I tried playing it through my TV both from the VGA(?) output and the HDMI output but couldn't get a picture. The sound still seems to work because I get a certain sound upon booting up that still occurs, but the ASUS logo that displayed no longer does.

Probably a stupid question, but did you hit the monitor switch button? Usually it's FN + a symbol that looks like a square within a rectangle, on my laptop it's on the F4 key.

[Twoyboy]

Probably a stupid question, but did you hit the monitor switch button? Usually it's FN + a symbol that looks like a square within a rectangle, on my laptop it's on the F4 key.

Not such a stupid question, but yeah I did. However, not being able to see anything, I was taking guesses as to whether it was working or not.

However, I have a gut feel that Windows isn't even starting anyway. Startup seems to be far too quick, and no matter what I do or press, the computer doesn't seem to respond in any way.