Compaq Presario Laptop heat sink problem

[Ritesh Agarwal]

I have a compaq presario 2500 and has a problem of heat sink for about a year now. I had stopped using it and was using other m/c. But for some reasons I need to use this compaq laptop and I want to investigate this problem.

The problem is that when the laptop boots up it's cold and there is no constant flickering of mouse initially. After few minutes when the processor gets heated up constant flickering starts which stays. You could temporarily (for couple of seconds) get rid of this flickering by using the ESC key, but that is of course not a solution. I also have to elevate the laptop and provide an opening on the bottom otherwise laptop will go off without any indication whatsoever.

What I don't understand is whether the constant mouse flickering is connected with the heat sink problem or not. For this I tested by using a wireless mouse and keyboard. The flickering doesn't go away. The problem is probably not in the synaptics touch pad but something else.

I would appreciate if somebody could give their opinion on this issue or direction to some other forum that can help.

Thanks a lot.

Ritesh

[Roger Faucher]

You don't really tell us why you characterize this as a "heat sink problem". If there truly is a heat sink problem, then it should be corrected, especially since the computer exhibits other heat-related symptoms (having to elevate the laptop). Is there a fan? Is it operating?

Also, please describe your system more precisely. According to HP, "More than 300 products contain the term "presario 2500". Check the labels for a precise model or sub-model name and post it here.

Make a great day!

Roger

[Jules]

About the mouse problem: I'm wondering if you have checked the mouse pointer options in the mouse section of the control pannel. Maybee the 'flickering' you notice is due to 'trails' being enabled or the 'enhance pointer precision' being unticked. On a notebook there will also be options for the touchpad settings- check those.
About the heat problem: yes it is true that if a notebook processor gets too hot it will just turn itself off. Most notebooks should be used on a table with no cloth on it so that the air can reach the fan and air intakes. If you have been using the notebook in a dusty environment then the intakes, heat sink, fan etc may be clogged up with debris - you need to clean them out (turn the notebook off first).

[Ritesh Agarwal]

Dear Roger and Jules:

Thanks for your responses.

The model is Compaq 2580US. I bought it in 2003. There are few updates on this problem however.

I contacted my computer people at school where I go and they blew pressurized air through the two fans. Lot of dust came out. The laptop didn't flicker for 2 days. I thought the problem got solved. It seemed to me earlier one/both of the fans might have accumulated lot of dust and thereby taking more power and therefore more processing. But now the problem has come back again (although it feels it is on a little bit lower level than before, but substantial nevertheless)

It has made me believe that there are other things at work other than the heat sink fan getting dust.

Now when I say flickering it means that mouse is flickering so much that if you click/doubleclick nothing will happen. When the flickering goes away for few seconds then I do whatever has to be done. Sometimes I have to use ESC key judiciously to get rid of flickering for a while so I can do something continuously.

Now I've tried my best to explain this weird behavior. I would definitely appreciate your ideas on this.

Thanks a lot,

Ritesh

[sam primrose]

My flatmate had a similar problem on a different brand laptop. The screen flickering sounds like the F5 key is stuck. This could be a hardware thing that the key shorts when warm. Not sure what the solution is but the F5 key refreshes the screen, producing a flicker.

Sam

[Adrian Holmes]

I had exactly the same problem with my Presario when the F5 key got stuck down accidentally on the integral keyboard.
Freeing the f5 key cured the problem.