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Attempting to repair liquid damaged laptop

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09-24-2016 , 08:40 AM

Troy_AF

adept

Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 733

I have a laptop which has been liquid damaged and now gets the error "boot device not found 3f0", when I try to turn it on. Is this saying that the hdd is not found?

One person advised me to get a windows 10 recovery disk and to try to do a factory restore that way. Would it be worth trying a new hdd?

I've dried out the laptop as best I can. It has been stripped for a week and all the components thoroughly dried out..

cheers.

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09-24-2016 , 09:07 AM

mesmerized

help me decide

Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 946

turn it on go into BIOS see is the HD being seen there , if not then getting a new HD is first option , and easy to swap out and see is that detected.

also have u got another Desktop or laptop to use ? u could try using a bootable USB device or disk and see what happens (if anything when plugged in) this will let us know if anything else is broken/blown.

if not

how confident are u stripping down a laptop ?

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09-24-2016 , 11:18 AM

Troy_AF

adept

Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 733

Quote:

Originally Posted by mesmerized

well when I go to do a hard drive check using the hp diagnostics it says no hard drive installed. where in the bios do I see if it's listed?

yes I have another hp laptop, an older version with windows 7. Would I be able to swap the hdd over and try that?

I'm confident to strip it because tbh if I break anything else I don't really care since I've had it replaced free of charge.

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09-24-2016 , 12:25 PM

mesmerized

help me decide

Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 946

Quote:

Originally Posted by Troy_AF

yes once ur sure its fully dry u can try the second HD

check BIOS first to see is ur original one actually being detected>>>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eULEtVZkGDc

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09-24-2016 , 01:10 PM

Troy_AF

adept

Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 733

Quote:

Originally Posted by mesmerized

yes once ur sure its fully dry u can try the second HD

check BIOS first to see is ur original one actually being detected>>>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eULEtVZkGDc

the menu on that vid looks different to mine, but when on the main screen of the bios (where it has system date/time etc) there is no hard drive on the list.

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09-24-2016 , 01:42 PM

Troy_AF

adept

Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 733

ok I went ahead and swapped the hard drive with the known good hard drive. The same thing still happens on startup and I still do not see the hdd in the list but it does now do a hdd check and tests fine. Does this mean I most likely just need a new hdd or does it probs mean that both the hdd and motherboard are faulty?

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09-24-2016 , 04:37 PM

mesmerized

help me decide

Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 946

Try 'broken' HD in ur other laptop see what happens and also check BIOS

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09-24-2016 , 05:21 PM

Troy_AF

adept

Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 733

Quote:

Originally Posted by mesmerized

Try 'broken' HD in ur other laptop see what happens and also check BIOS

yep I get the same error on startup, so that is confirmed faulty hdd. I just need to know if the motherboard is screwed also.

However Im still not sure how to check for hdd in the bios because even with the good hdd in the good laptop the bios menu lists no hdd. that youtube vid looks like a different setup to mine.

also though, when I put the known good hdd in the suspected damaged laptop the same error pops up, BUT it is able to do a hdd test and it passes. So then why will windows still not boot up even though we know the hdd is good? Is this because this hdd is from an older version (older version is windows 7 i3 processor, newer laptop was windows 10 i5)

Last edited by Troy_AF; 09-24-2016 at 05:48 PM.

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09-24-2016 , 05:51 PM

mesmerized

help me decide

Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 946

Quote:

Originally Posted by Troy_AF

yep I get the same error on startup, so that is confirmed faulty hdd. I just need to know if the motherboard is screwed also.

However Im still not sure how to check for hdd in the bios because even with the good hdd in the good laptop the bios menu lists no hdd. that youtube vid looks like a different setup to mine.

also though, when I put the known good hdd in the suspected damaged laptop the same error pops up. could this just be because this hdd is not suitable for the newer laptop?

the original HD might not be faulty it might just be corrupt OS so its like if u put a brand new one with no OS on it , it would say same thing.

the video is pretty old but if u look(dont change anything) in BIOS u should see some info on ur HD , whats the make and model of ur Laptop .

or if u post screen shots might be easier.

when u plug the new one into ur old Laptop tho and it says no boot device that could be a problem. Lets try see what BIOS tells us first

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09-24-2016 , 06:25 PM

#10

mesmerized

help me decide

Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 946

http://support.hp.com/ie-en/document/c00439024

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09-25-2016 , 05:36 AM

#11

Troy_AF

adept

Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 733

Quote:

Originally Posted by mesmerized

suspected damaged laptop is a HP 15 ab245sa
good laptop is a HP Pavilion g6 notebook

both hd's, one on left is good.

these shots are suspected damaged laptop with the good hd in

error on startup

bios

hd test in progress, which when finished it says pass.

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09-25-2016 , 05:48 AM

#12

mesmerized

help me decide

Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 946

when you click on System configuration

is there an option called boot? if so click and see does it list ur HD

or somewhere in system config

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09-25-2016 , 07:58 AM

#13

Troy_AF

adept

Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 733

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09-25-2016 , 08:04 AM

#14

mesmerized

help me decide

Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 946

do u have any portable bootable devices i.e a usb stick ? (check pm pls)

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09-25-2016 , 12:05 PM

#15

Troy_AF

adept

Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 733

Quote:

Originally Posted by mesmerized

do u have any portable bootable devices i.e a usb stick ? (check pm pls)

I haven't but I'm going to try and get hold of one asap, or a blank dvd to load windows onto then try and reinstall. I'll let you know when I find someone who can borrow me one.

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09-29-2016 , 12:58 PM

#16

Troy_AF

adept

Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 733

Quote:

Originally Posted by mesmerized

do u have any portable bootable devices i.e a usb stick ? (check pm pls)

yes I have got hold of a usb stick

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