Hello!
I have a Recoil laptop I bought back in 2021. I believe it's a TongFang GM5ZG7W chassis. Last night I was using the laptop on my desk, attached to my external monitor (lid down) via HDMI. I decided to take it to the sofa, so I disconnected the monitor, but when I opened the laptop lid no image came up. The machine was still on, just wouldn't respond. I shut it down by holding the power button down, turned it on again, and then the POST screen came up (PCSpecialist logo) - but then when Windows 10 was supposed to have been displayed, the display turned itself off again. I shut the machine down again, but then after that the screen stopped turning on AT ALL. No PCSpecialist logo on startup.
Connecting my monitor or my TV to the laptop's HDMI port does nothing (the monitor doesn't respond at all; the TV detects there's a device plugged in but says it isn't outputting a signal). I was afraid my GPU was fried because of this, but this isn't actually a very useful piece of info for troubleshooting because apparently some Tongfang laptops will only output an HDMI signal if its internal screen works (source).
This is what happens when I turn the laptop on now:
1. The fans will start spinning, the keyboard LEDs will light up. At this stage the laptop won't respond to any FN+FKey commands (it won't dim keyboard leds, won't toggle the touchpad on/off, etc)
2. If I don't press any buttons after powering the laptop on, after around 30 seconds the laptop will turn itself off.
3. However, If I press ESC (I think other keys work too, but I know I can reproduce this 100% of the time with the ESC key), after maybe 10 seconds the keyboard will gain some functionalities. I can play with the keyboard LED lights; I can toggle the touchpad ON and OFF (the indicator light will turn on/off). Also, when I press the Office/Game/Turbo Mode Switch, its indicator will cycle through the Office Mode (off), Game Mode (white, faint light), and Turbo Mode (both white, bright), which didn't happen before.
4. Most importantly, the laptop does not turn itself off. It will remain on indefinitely, and the fans will turn on/off if for whatever reason it starts getting hot.
I'm not sure this is the case, but I suspect that (2) might happen due to some error for not properly shutting the computer down. Pressing ESC might skip the error, allowing the laptop to load the Windows Sign On screen. Unfortunately, it's very hard to be sure of this because I had all my audio devices turned off (for unrelated reasons), so I can't attempt to make it play a sound.
Things I have tried:
- Cleaning and repasting.
- Removing the RAM sticks, and trying to turn the laptop on with all permutations of sticks/ports.
- I tried to disconnect the jumper that controls BIOS Reset, and I also tried disconnecting the CMOS battery and rebooting, as per the instructions here.
- Pressing and holding the power button for 60 seconds.
None of this helped with the display issue. Does anyone have any idea what I should do? I'm out of warranty for parts, but still have a couple of months left for labour.
Chassis & Display
Recoil Series: 15.6" Matte QHD 165Hz sRGB 100% LED Widescreen (2560x1440)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen™ 9 Eight Core Processor 5900HX (3.3GHz, 4.6GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair 2933MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 3070 - 8.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB INTEL® 660p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 1800MB/sR | 1800MB/sW)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated SD Memory Card Reader
AC Adaptor
1 x 230W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Battery
Recoil Series Integrated 94WH Lithium Ion Battery
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Wireless Network Card
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ Wi-Fi 6 AX1650 M.2 GAMING + BLUETOOTH 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.2 PORT (Type C) + 3 x USB 3.2 PORTS
Keyboard Language
PER-KEY RGB BACKLIT PORTUGUESE MECHANICAL KEYBOARD
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Keyboard & Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Dead Pixel Guarantee
1 Year Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 3 to 5 working days
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
I have a Recoil laptop I bought back in 2021. I believe it's a TongFang GM5ZG7W chassis. Last night I was using the laptop on my desk, attached to my external monitor (lid down) via HDMI. I decided to take it to the sofa, so I disconnected the monitor, but when I opened the laptop lid no image came up. The machine was still on, just wouldn't respond. I shut it down by holding the power button down, turned it on again, and then the POST screen came up (PCSpecialist logo) - but then when Windows 10 was supposed to have been displayed, the display turned itself off again. I shut the machine down again, but then after that the screen stopped turning on AT ALL. No PCSpecialist logo on startup.
Connecting my monitor or my TV to the laptop's HDMI port does nothing (the monitor doesn't respond at all; the TV detects there's a device plugged in but says it isn't outputting a signal). I was afraid my GPU was fried because of this, but this isn't actually a very useful piece of info for troubleshooting because apparently some Tongfang laptops will only output an HDMI signal if its internal screen works (source).
This is what happens when I turn the laptop on now:
1. The fans will start spinning, the keyboard LEDs will light up. At this stage the laptop won't respond to any FN+FKey commands (it won't dim keyboard leds, won't toggle the touchpad on/off, etc)
2. If I don't press any buttons after powering the laptop on, after around 30 seconds the laptop will turn itself off.
3. However, If I press ESC (I think other keys work too, but I know I can reproduce this 100% of the time with the ESC key), after maybe 10 seconds the keyboard will gain some functionalities. I can play with the keyboard LED lights; I can toggle the touchpad ON and OFF (the indicator light will turn on/off). Also, when I press the Office/Game/Turbo Mode Switch, its indicator will cycle through the Office Mode (off), Game Mode (white, faint light), and Turbo Mode (both white, bright), which didn't happen before.
4. Most importantly, the laptop does not turn itself off. It will remain on indefinitely, and the fans will turn on/off if for whatever reason it starts getting hot.
I'm not sure this is the case, but I suspect that (2) might happen due to some error for not properly shutting the computer down. Pressing ESC might skip the error, allowing the laptop to load the Windows Sign On screen. Unfortunately, it's very hard to be sure of this because I had all my audio devices turned off (for unrelated reasons), so I can't attempt to make it play a sound.
Things I have tried:
- Cleaning and repasting.
- Removing the RAM sticks, and trying to turn the laptop on with all permutations of sticks/ports.
- I tried to disconnect the jumper that controls BIOS Reset, and I also tried disconnecting the CMOS battery and rebooting, as per the instructions here.
- Pressing and holding the power button for 60 seconds.
None of this helped with the display issue. Does anyone have any idea what I should do? I'm out of warranty for parts, but still have a couple of months left for labour.
Chassis & Display
Recoil Series: 15.6" Matte QHD 165Hz sRGB 100% LED Widescreen (2560x1440)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen™ 9 Eight Core Processor 5900HX (3.3GHz, 4.6GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair 2933MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 3070 - 8.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB INTEL® 660p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 1800MB/sR | 1800MB/sW)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated SD Memory Card Reader
AC Adaptor
1 x 230W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Battery
Recoil Series Integrated 94WH Lithium Ion Battery
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Wireless Network Card
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ Wi-Fi 6 AX1650 M.2 GAMING + BLUETOOTH 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.2 PORT (Type C) + 3 x USB 3.2 PORTS
Keyboard Language
PER-KEY RGB BACKLIT PORTUGUESE MECHANICAL KEYBOARD
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Keyboard & Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Dead Pixel Guarantee
1 Year Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 3 to 5 working days
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland