Compaq Presario - Won't Boot, No BIOS

Question

bclapper 0 Newbie Poster

16 Years Ago

My laptop won't boot, doesn't POST and am trying to see if it's terminal or prohibitively repairable. When powering up, it whirs, the fan starts and a few seconds later ( between 3 & 10) it shuts down never reaching the onscreen COMPAQ logo. Happened after a restart when I couldn't get a USB stick recognised and it never breathed life again

It beeped on one occasion at the beginning of 'the troubles' but I didn't note what the sequence was and it hasn't squeeked at me since

Have tried a new battery, no battery with AC only.
Have tried swapping RAM, no RAM, 1 Stick of RAM
Have tried a new hard drive, freshly formatted
Even tried booting from an XP disc - nothing works

I get nothing on the display so have no messages to report. All seemed fine until the last re-start. Am guessing it could be a failed CPU or motherboard which wouldn't make for an economic repair. Any suggestions?

Compaq Presario 2178EA (AMD)
Windows XP SP2
1 Gb RAM (2 * 512 Crucial)
20 Gb HDD

Thanks in advance

bc

troubleshoot-hardware

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Latest Post 11 Years Ago Latest Post by JimTe

cguan_77 8 Nearly a Posting Virtuoso

16 Years Ago

yup, it could be a bad mobo, if that's the case then it's beyond economical repair..but anyway you can still have your RAM, HDD, and your processor.. but try to reseat your processor..make sure that the fan is properly seated.. check if it works..

techno t 0 Junior Poster in Training

16 Years Ago

My laptop won't boot, doesn't POST and am trying to see if it's terminal or prohibitively repairable. When powering up, it whirs, the fan starts and a few seconds later ( between 3 & 10) it shuts down never reaching the onscreen COMPAQ logo. Happened after a restart when I couldn't get a USB stick recognised and it never breathed life again
It beeped on one occasion at the beginning of 'the troubles' but I didn't note what the sequence was and it hasn't squeeked at me since
Have tried a new battery, no battery with AC only.
Have tried swapping RAM, no RAM, 1 Stick of RAM
Have tried a new hard drive, freshly formatted
Even tried booting from an XP disc - nothing works
I get nothing on the display so have no messages to report. All seemed fine until the last re-start. Am guessing it could be a failed CPU or motherboard which wouldn't make for an economic repair. Any suggestions?
Compaq Presario 2178EA (AMD)
Windows XP SP2
1 Gb RAM (2 * 512 Crucial)
20 Gb HDD
Thanks in advance
bc

Try clearing the BIOS, remove the CMOS battery for a few minutes and then replace the battery and try again.

Also it could well be a thermal problem. I had a Compaq EVO N1015v brougt in to me for repair, it kept on shutting down at the Compaq screen. After probing around for with it for an hour or so I decided the CPU was getting rather warm (it was a mobile AMD 1700+) so cleaned the fans,vents and fins out, re-applied thermal paste and it booted fine.
AMD Athlon processors are power guzzlers and churn out a gut load of heat, they need to be kept as cool as possible. I regularly clean out my Athlon laptop just to keep the damn thing stable and the CPU running as cool as possible.

Hope that solves the issue for you mate.

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techno t 0 Junior Poster in Training

16 Years Ago

on the n1015v it was by the modem, which was behind one of the back panels on the bottom of the case.

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wapa17 0 Newbie Poster

16 Years Ago

I had the same problem.

Possible sulution: Since I removed the modem-card the system works perfect !

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mattyprice4004 0 Newbie Poster · Answer 1 · 2008-03-15T15:48:52+00:00

I know it sounds stupid, but my NC6000 did this the other day.

I tried everything to no avail- then turned it upside down and gave it a "good few hard knocks" to it's base (very hard lol!)

And it works well now, booted straight away. Good as a last resort, worked for me.

Good ol' HP!

bclapper 0 Newbie Poster · Answer 2 · 2008-03-15T16:45:35+00:00

Try clearing the BIOS, remove the CMOS battery for a few minutes and then replace the battery and try again.*

Is that a relatively easy step? I don't have an issue opening the chassis up, I just may be a bit limited on tools - 1 set of old precision screwdrivers :D

bclapper 0 Newbie Poster · Answer 3 · 2008-03-15T21:06:53+00:00

Been looking at the HP Service Manual and it requires a near full strip-out to get to the CMOS battery. Not sure I have that much confidence in not effin' something up if I go that deep.

Have also noticed that when AC is plugged in there is nothing from the 3 status lights at the front of the unit - Power Status, Hard Disk Activity or Battery Status. Caps, Num lock, trackpad and mute all light up with the power button itself for those few seconds of 'life'. Hmm!

The AC lead was tested for current and seems ok. As not even the charging light comes on could this be power related?

techno t 0 Junior Poster in Training · Answer 4 · 2008-03-20T17:02:25+00:00

I had the same problem.
Possible sulution: Since I removed the modem-card the system works perfect !

Possible shorted modem from a lightning strike causing the system not to boot up. Or just a dead modem in general.

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chipsinstitute 0 Newbie Poster · Answer 5 · 2010-02-06T10:40:33+00:00

Dear sir/ madam,
i want bios no of compaq laptop model no 12xl414a

Bob_180_Bob 41 Posting Virtuoso · Answer 6 · 2010-02-06T16:38:35+00:00

Dear sir/ madam,
i want bios no of compaq laptop model no 12xl414a

Hi chipinstitute and welcome to Daniweb,
You have hijacked an old thread from Mar 20th, 2008. If you want information, please start your own thread and supply a lot of information about your machine, OS and your problem.

I have no idea what you are after, "BIOS no" , if you want some information on your BIOS on your computer download and run http://software.informer.com/getfree-berlarc-adviser/

Tymnus 0 Newbie Poster · Answer 7 · 2010-05-16T04:32:29+00:00

Thanks. I was having problems with my Copaq SR1410NX. Couldn't get past the COMPAQ welcome screen. Removed battery from motherboard and unplugged for a few minutes. Replaced battery, plugged back in, and then I was able to get into BIOS.

shashi plp 0 Newbie Poster · Answer 8 · 2010-06-02T15:32:58+00:00

i want to download the bios for compaq c700

richmods 0 Newbie Poster · Answer 9 · 2012-08-01T21:52:46+00:00

For all of you looking for an answer on this topic...I have experienced this several times in my 15 yrs as an IT professional. Here is what you do: Unplug the AC power, remove the battery and then hold the power button down for 20 seconds. Put the battery back in and reconnect the AC power and your machine should now boot.

shorty.medlock 0 Newbie Poster · Answer 10 · 2013-07-21T21:31:33+00:00

Old thread but I did find my problems with this notebook with the same problems. The integrated modem shorted and took out the 5v rail on the converter.

JimTe 0 Newbie Poster · Answer 11 · 2013-10-09T16:09:42+00:00

Remove fan and CPU, clean fan and apply heat grease under fan. Compaq F600 is a very poor design, lets face it it is a piece of junk. This fixed my compaq for awhile but I have gottne tired of taking this computer apart, it just gets too hot. Hard starting most of the time. Try turning the power off while holding down the insert and scroll key. Best advice throw the Compaq in trash can (That is a sure way to fix the problem for good}and buy another computer, just make sure that it is not a Compaq or a Vista operating system.