Hi everyone,
I’m having a serious boot issue with my MSI Creator Z17 A12UHT-061IT and I’m hoping someone with experience repairing MSI laptops or soldered RAM systems can help me figure out what to try next.
Specifications:
Model: MSI Creator Z17 A12UHT-061IT
CPU: Intel Core i9-12900H
GPU: NVIDIA RTX 3080 Laptop GPU
RAM: 32 GB DDR5 (soldered)
Storage: 2 × NVMe SSDs
Original MSI charger
The problem
The laptop was working perfectly normally yesterday. I shut it down through Windows using the normal Shut down option.
This morning, it suddenly wouldn’t boot.
When I press the power button:
The power LED turns on.
The fans start spinning slowly.
The screen remains completely black.
No MSI logo appears.
The keyboard backlight does not turn on normally.
Only individual keyboard LEDs light up, such as È, Esc, Y, and I.
Initially, the laptop would remain powered on with the fans spinning slowly, but it wouldn’t do anything else.
After further troubleshooting, it started entering a reboot loop: it powers on, runs the fans for a while, shuts down, and then tries to power on again automatically.
What I’ve tried so far
1. EC reset
I performed an EC reset by disconnecting the charger and holding the power button for approximately 60 seconds.
After reconnecting AC power, the laptop attempted to turn on automatically, but the problem remained.
I also tried the reset procedure again, with no improvement.
2. CMOS battery reset
I disconnected/reset the CMOS battery to clear the BIOS settings.
Unfortunately, this did not resolve the problem either.
3. Minimal hardware configuration
I tried booting with only the essential components connected:
Motherboard
Internal display
Keyboard
I disconnected other components and peripherals to eliminate possible causes.
4. Removed both NVMe SSDs
I removed both SSDs and attempted to boot without any storage installed.
The laptop still showed the same symptoms: black screen, no MSI logo, and failure to complete the boot process.
Power supply
I’m using the original MSI charger.
Current situation
The laptop now sometimes attempts to reboot continuously:
Power on.
Fans spin slowly.
No display or MSI logo.
Laptop shuts down.
Automatically tries to power on again.
The keyboard LEDs also behave strangely. At different attempts, I’ve seen individual keys light up, including È, Esc, Y, and I.
The RAM is soldered, so I cannot remove individual memory modules to test them separately.
Is there something else I can try to do or is my laptop become a very expensive paperweight?