[TML] Computer problems

[shadow at shadowgard.com]

> On Jul 26, 2008, at 1:34 AM, GDWGAMES at aol.com wrote:
> > Compaq, about 4-5 years old, acquired as a Xmas gift from a relative  
> > when they bought a new one.

Ok, forget all suggestions involving motherboard swaps and most 
involving power supply swaps. Unless you can find the same model, you 
won't be able to swap motherboards and probabluy can't swap power 
supplies either (Compaq tends to have very proprietary versions of 
both).

> Can you get the make and model number from the front of the case.   
> This is typically a word plus a 4-digit number, sometimes 3-6 numbers  
> and letters), for example "Presario SR1010Z" or "Armada e500".  This  
> will make it much easier to locate specifications and service manuals.

Also check the label on the back of the case.

> > Fan, the monitor has an amber "power saver" light, and the CPU box  
> > has a light over the button on the front of the box.
> 
> The system's power supply is probably good, and the problem lies  
> elsewhere in the system.
> 
> At this point, I would check to see that the monitor works.  Plug the  
> new into a known-working old system, or plug a known-working monitor  
> in to the new system.  It's a long shot, but stranger things have been  
> known to happen - a broken monitor may never leave power-save mode.

Agreed
 
> > I get the light on the front and the fan starts up. there is a brief  
> > sound (brief = less than half a second) from the cd drive and the  
> > floppy drive, no beep, nothing on the screen.
> 
> Assuming that it's not the monitor, then you're probably dealing with  
> a hardware failure somewhere in the system.  Noises from the CD drive  
> and floppy drive are good, since that means the system is trying to  
> boot.    The options (in rough order of liklihood) are:
> - Hard drive
> - CD-ROM drive
> - RAM
> - video card (if separate from the motherboard)
> - motherboard
> - CPU

If the CPU is toast, I don't think you get the Floppy seek. 
 
> The hard drive and CD-ROM are easy to check.  Power off, open the case  
> and unplug the data cables (typically wide, flat ribbons on systems  
> that old*) from both the hard drive and CD.  I would also unplug the  
> floppy drive for good measure.  While you're in there, blow out any  
> big dust bunnies, and make sure all of the boards, memory, connectors  
> and whatnot are well seated (give each a gentle shove into its socket).
> 
> Then try to boot the system again.  If successful, you should get some  
> sort of text on the screen from the BIOS, ending with a "No boot  
> device" message. 

Compaq BIOS doesn't post worth a damn unless you know the right key 
to press at the right time.  But I think it will give *that* message.

Oh yeah, unplug the ethernet cable as well. Not sure about machines 
that old, but newer ones will try to boot off the network if there's 
a live ethernet connection and nothing else.


 If this works, shut it off again, and plug things  
> back in one  at a time (booting the system between each device, and  
> powering off before attempting to plug in the next device).  Once you  
> find the failed device, replace it - take the failed device to a  
> computer store, and get a new one with the same kind of connectors.   
> Larger capacity (e.g., a 120Gb drive instead of a 40Gb drive) or  
> higher performance (48x CD-ROM drive vice 32x) is OK.
> 
> If this doesn't work, power off, unplug the drives again (just so they  
> won't mess up any results) and replace the system RAM with known-good  
> components.  Try to boot again, looking for the BIOS screen as an  
> indication of success.
> 
> Many lower-cost or consumer systems have a video card built into the  
> motherboard.  If yours has a separate video card, power off and  
> replace that next (leave the known-good RAM in the system).  Try to  
> boot again, looking for the BIOS screen as an indication of success.

On a Compaq, he'll get "COMPAQ" in large letters (fills thre screen) 
unless someone has changed the defaults on the BIOS.

> If you've gotten this far with no luck, or if your system doesn't have  
> a separate video card, the problem is probably on the motherboard.  At  
> this point, you're probably looking at a needing a new computer.  If  
> you've got time on your hands and enjoy tinkering with computers, a  
> replacement motherboard isn't expensive, but swapping all of the  
> components and installing the new motherboard (without damaging  
> anything) is time-consuming.

On a Compaq, you have to replace the case, motherboard and power 
supply pretty much as a unit unless you've got access to one of the 
same model to transplant them from.

At 4-5 years old, the odds of getting parts from Compaq are low.

Compaq, like most of the mass market prebuilt systems, is 
*deliberately* designed so that the only upgrades are drives, cards 
and RAM. For anything else, you replace the entire box.


--
Leonard Erickson (aka shadow)
shadow at shadowgard dot com