Question HP Pavilion Gaming 15-ec0xxx has problems to boot

I Mess With Windows

Commendable
Jul 9, 2021
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I have been using this computer for quite a while, and it always worked great. I have done some upgrades (RAM and thermal paste) but it never killed the device, it actually helped it out both times. The problem didn't happen after any hardware modification whatsoever. I was just watching a YouTube video when the blue screen appeared, saying that windows needed to restart because of a problem. At this point I wasn't scared at all, because this happened to me couple times and then after restarting everything was OK. But now, the computer would post fine everytime, but freeze while booting. I tried both UEFI and Legacy boot modes, I tried both SATA and NVME slots, and even booting to an external drive.
It does boot up sometimes, and then I can use it for hours and it works perfectly fine.
This is the only computer I can use for decent gaming so I would like it to work. I tried to boot to a Lubuntu USB drive, with a bit more success than windows. It successfully boots up more often. Then there is absolutely no problem doing demanding tasks at all.
 

I Mess With Windows

Commendable
Jul 9, 2021
77
4
1,545
One of the channels is actually bad, not the stick, but it is way too expensive to replace so I will stick to 16GB. Is my second slot likely to die like the first one did or should it last like normal? It is weird, only putting a stick in the dead slot results in a RAM error, and now putting both sticks results in perfect boot and system info saying 32GB RAM is installed but only 13.9GB is usable (a single stick)
 

itsduhhbzz

Commendable
Sep 21, 2021
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There's a good chance your mobo is still under warranty if its MSI or someone similar. They usually have a three year warranty. I would look into their warranty policies and hit their chat supports up! You may result in not having a mobo for a couple weeks but at the very least get back a replacement that functions.

Hope this helps!
 

itsduhhbzz

Commendable
Sep 21, 2021
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I see now where you mentioned this being an HP Laptop to begin with, yeah the motherboard would be controlled through their warranties. They usually last about 3 years, you can go to their support site and type in your serial number to confirm its status for sure, otherwise you could try using

https://partsurfer.hp.com/Search.aspx

to search for OEM parts that will fit that model, you should be able to order them I believe or at least investigate what the part number is to know what needs to be ordered. Maybe they'll send it pre branded cause I know as a warranty technician they give us software to use to apply proprietary information to the board's bios.
 

itsduhhbzz

Commendable
Sep 21, 2021
36
4
1,545
Well, both the CPU and GPU are soldered on the board, and I don’t have hundreds of dollars to waste on a new motherboard.
I am currently trying to repair this one, I opened a new thread about it


If its still under warranty HP will replace the Motherboard, especially if you give them the right symptoms for them to determine it to be needing a new motherboard.. hint hint