same thing basically but you have to open the laptop to do the checking (which I do not advise to do unless you know what you are doing).
can you start the laptop with a live CD and does it show the same issue? I just want to see if it is a software problem or a hardware problem. Live CD's can be downloaded from any Linux website. If the issue persists, it may be a hardware problem which will require repair (if that is even possible, depending on the age)...