Why does this happen? First with 2 RAM sticks, now with one

The weirdest thing is happening with this laptop.

Problem:
Laptop won't boot up. Can't get into BIOS either.
No display, nothing on the screen.
Only thing that happens after I push the power button is I hear two short beeps.

I had this EXACT same problem 5 months ago. What I did to fix it was I removed one of the RAM sticks. It had a 1GB in each slot. I took one out and the computer booted up fine. It didn't matter which slot the stick was in, and it didn't matter which ram stick I used. As long as there was only one stick in the laptop, it would boot up fine. So I installed a 2gb stick into one slot and left it like that.

Fast forward 5 months, to today, the same thing is happening.
What do I do now? I can't do the same thing I did then. If I remove another stick, I won't have any ram in the computer!

What I tried:
-I tried 4 different working ram sticks (3 different brands),
-Inserted into 1st slot only, then 2nd slot only, then both slots.
-Opened up the laptop and replaced the CMOS battery (seemed really low, multimeter showed 0.1V).
-Had a hard time finding a replacement CMOS battery so the batt was out for over 24hrs, I figured that reset the CMOS.
-If I take out both ram sticks, power light turns on but there is no beeping, but still doesn't boot (which I assume is normal since there is no ram inserted).

Laptop:
Gateway W340UA
Windows Vista

PLEASE help. ANY suggestions are appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Not a single person on this forum has any suggestions?

Sounds like either the slot or the IMC is dying to me.

Thanks for the reply.

Is the IMC replacable, or is there a way to check/diagnose it? I don't mind taking the laptop apart completely. I've done it once and I'm about to do it again to check the cpu pins and thermal paste (possible causes I found searching online).

Reseating the CPU could potentially help.

You won't be able to replace the IMC unless you're very good at soldering.

ATMINSIDE said:

Reseating the CPU could potentially help.

You won't be able to replace the IMC unless you're very good at soldering.

Click to expand...

Considering the cpu is soldered to the motherboard I would think he'd need to be "very good at soldering" for that as well.


3sum, this would be a scenario where baking the motherboard may be a prudent attempt if you can't narrow down anything else.

bob4933 said:

Considering the cpu is soldered to the motherboard I would think he'd need to be "very good at soldering" for that as well.


3sum, this would be a scenario where baking the motherboard may be a prudent attempt if you can't narrow down anything else.

Click to expand...

Is this one? My Core2 laptop had a socket instead of being soldered. I assumed since he mentioned checking pins that he knew he could remove the CPU.

A solder reflow from baking could work here. I always say that it should be a last ditch effort, but we're clost to last ditch efforts for sure.

More assumptions with out even bothering to spend 2 seconds chdcking. Good work leading him to do something that's not even possible.
I'm glad you concur with my baking concensus.

I had no idea what baking the motherboard was until I searched around. It's actually baking the motherboard! Never knew one could do that. I suppose I"ll try that if I don't figure out what else to try in the next few days. Thanks for the replies.

3sum said:

I had no idea what baking the motherboard was until I searched around. It's actually baking the motherboard! Never knew one could do that. I suppose I"ll try that if I don't figure out what else to try in the next few days. Thanks for the replies.

Click to expand...

Yep!
It literally gets the board hot enough to make the solder re-flow.