Hello, this question is actually something that I didn't think I was going to be asking. But I remembered registering on this forum, and I'm very frustrated with the situations and would like to solve it ASAP, so I figured I ask here.

This is asking for a spouse kind of question. (Her PC has Windows 10 installed)

My girlfriend's laptop seems to be broken, it's Asus FX540GM, yeah it's already like 5 years old - it suddenly gave a blue screen of death, and after that It won't budge out of BIOS no matter what we've tried. (I admit, it has been making cranky noises for a while, so maybe it's not that "sudden")

We obviously tried turning it off and on, also resetting the default bios settings, then - physically opening the laptop, taking of the battery and putting it back, disconnecting the CMOS battery and putting it back (15-30 minute waiting time here) also, even if I thought it probably does nothing we tried taking off the memory chip and putting it back. Always comes back to the same BIOS utility screen after powering, it won't even break, but it won't budge either.

We haven't tried replacing anything, since we are unsure what to replace. The CMOS battery would be cheapest to try and replace, but since it's that wired/and glued version we can't get it from the local hardware stores unlike a free roaming lithium battery that most internet tutorials had.

Before this we didn't know a crap about laptop parts or even the possibility of changing them, all this work was based of tutorials, but since the PC doesn't budge and warranty is long gone, it's worth a try fixing ourselves. It would really suck to have to spend on a whole new laptop at this time, so if anyone knows for sure what part to replace ' ?



I'm pretty much "imbecile" when it comes to Linux, I'm only yet Linux curious and have not yet started my journey with it, so that's why I come here with this awkward windows machine question. Of course if the problem is solvable by a Linux remedies somehow, you can tell me that too '.

The blue screen of death can happen for any number of reasons but the cranky noises could be caused by a dirty or failing fan or a failing hard drive. Some BIOS's have a halt on hardware failure which could be one reason you are stuck at that point but I would expect maybe some type of error message to be displayed. Just a bad CMOS battery would not necessarily prevent a computer from booting.

You can try to boot the laptop from a USB drive with a live version of linux like Ubuntu and see if that works. If it does then I would assume the hard drive is bad.

That model of laptop has been shipped with HDD's and SSD's. If you had ugly noises, I would bet the was the hard drive. SSD's are significantly faster than HDD's, use less power, and make perfect replacements for spinners. They are also much more shock resistant in a laptop.

Best place to get 'how to' instructions on replacing a drice is the manufacturers web site. It will involve removing, usually the bottom, and other parts to access the hd. At 5 years of age, its worth the effort.

Best of luck with the repair.

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ScarabianSkillcraft,

According to the specs on this link, your Asus already has an SSD:
https://icecat.biz/en/p/asus/fx504gm...-76657168.html

Any noise from the laptop would be likely to come from a failing fan on this gaming laptop.

If the fan is failing or failed then the laptop will overheat leading to a BSOD.

A careful stripdown and further testing of hardware is needed to identify the root cause of the problem.

This ifixit link may help:
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/ASUS...eardown/109897

Hi, thank you for answering.

Error message that was on the "death screen" was something like "Critical process died" whatever that means.

Hi, thank you for answering, According to this menu the computer seems to have HDD instead of SSD if that matters. This is from the Bios menu, we can navigate the menu but are unable to get out of it.

I've understood now that it's probably not be CMOS battery then.

I've added the picture where it says it's the HDD version, I blurred the serial number because that's what people seem to do online, I have no clue whether it matters or not '.

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Hi, thank you for your answer.

By the way...

I've actually watched those "ifixit" videos, but I'm somewhat confused that it seems to be slightly different model. For example the CMOS battery was in different place, and had wires on it. I can't find exact image online to match it, but I suppose I could upload an image of this particular unit, if necessary.

Bought my wife a 17 inch Dell and took her broke ass Windows 10 Asus touchscreen laptop and put it on the shelf. Pulled it apart later and it is just a parts laptop now. Not worth fixing. Spilling coffee don't help much.

Cost was about between 200 to 300 bucks from Walmart. Just a 0ption.

The fan and CPU temperature seem to be ok at the moment but it isn't doing much. Not sure why you obscured the model number of the drive. We can not confirm if it is an SSD.

Hi again,

I blurred the serial numbers since some other people and tutorials seemed to do so over the internets, I thought they wouldn't matter, heh. But it would have been relevant after all?

I went to buy a new USB flash drive so I can either try to check it with Ubuntu or update the bios from the flash drive.

Edit: Ubuntu works on that PC, so I suppose it's not completely broken? but why won't it boot from windows? I didn't install Ubuntu since she would prefer having her old system, I mean i don't even know if steam and all that works on Ubuntu. I chose "Try it from the disc" option.

Post the output of presuming the drive is a hard disk of some sort. The SSD is much faster, and folks will tell you.

As for noise, if a drive is making any clicking noises, it's dead. Whirrs are ok. I had a fan in a RazPi 4 that I was driven to replace when it sounded like an aircraft in a tailspin. By the time I had received my fan-less case, the fan was like a skeleton in a dustbin!.

To me the question isn't what kind of mass storage device protocol is the issue so much as it is the fact that the OP might be facing a dead or dying hard drive. In which case if I were the op I'd start shopping around for a hard disk drive(HDD/Spinner)or Solid state disk drive(SDD) if the machine in question has a SATA interface for connection to internal storage devices such as HDDs or SDD.