Start up problem

Topic: Start up problem (Read 2779 times) previous topic - next topic

Start up problem

December 08, 2005, 08:31:27 PM

Hello,

I have an old 1993 Compaq Laptop which I have periodically started up to keep it in shape. The last couple times, it will not start. I press the button, all the panel lights momentarily show and it sounds like normal, but within 2 seonds, it shuts off. The monitor part never lights up in that micro time. This unit has been stored on a self and protected from adverse conditions. The voltage from the supply is normal. Nothing else amiss except, I have noticed a strange odor in the past while it was running ---coming from the hard drive it seems. Last night I got brave and dismantled this unit and opened the hard drive. Interesting to see two disks in there with what appears to be a direct drive motor. The smell seems to be inside this case. Any clues for me to look for----as with electronics, nothing looks odd. Are there any tests I can do on this? The hard drine has a at least a 47 pin socket!!

John R

Start up problem

Reply #1 – December 08, 2005, 10:23:55 PM

Put that drive back together before you get it dusty!

As for trouble shooting. remove every part that doesn't need to be there for it to post. IE floppy(if it pops out) cd-rom(i know it doesn't have one) expansion memory(only if it has onboard ram) Battery and maybe even the keyboard. Take it down to the bare essentials. If it posts then start putting it back together piece by piece until it fails again. then you found the bad part.

Also if that drive fails to read. Throw it in the freezer for an hour or so then try it.

Start up problem

Reply #2 – December 09, 2005, 09:38:15 AM

Most of those hard drives just have adaptors on them, but then again, compaq was weird way back when. Do what he said.

Start up problem

Reply #3 – December 09, 2005, 09:56:49 AM

Oh and I think every old hard drive I've had apart has had a burnt electric smell to it.

Start up problem

Reply #4 – December 09, 2005, 10:23:49 AM

Quote

Put that drive back together before you get it dusty!

Too late.
Hard drives are assembled in "clean rooms", ultra-pure air, as dust-free as possible. As the read/write heads "fly" above the platters on a cushion of air about .5 microns thick (your hair is about 100 microns), any tiny speck of dust will act like a chunk of gravel, digging microscopic grooves on the surface, and destroying all the data. :nono:

Start up problem

Reply #5 – December 09, 2005, 12:30:48 PM

No big loss. It was a Compaq, after all.

Start up problem

Reply #6 – December 09, 2005, 02:22:19 PM

I have taken a couple hard drives apart and they worked after. Not for very long, but man there are strong magnets in there.

Start up problem

Reply #7 – December 09, 2005, 05:41:20 PM

If you opened the HD throw it away. it takes the smalled particle to destoy one, might work for a bit after reasembly and then poof. If i can find my old college books i can tell you the clearence and the size particle it takes to destroy one. That is why they put a seal on them and tell you not to open

as far as booting up it sounds like Bios, Look up the procedures for reseting bios.

Start up problem

Reply #8 – December 09, 2005, 07:09:38 PM

Hard drive will start getting read errors now and eventually burn the tip off the reading arm. Sounds like the PC was getting hot(the foul oder you were smelling) check memory chips and cpu. even if your hard drive was bad the computer would still boot up and give you a error reading drive c:/

Start up problem

Reply #9 – December 09, 2005, 08:55:14 PM

Check plugs, coil and wir.....

Sorry, i`m mad because my HD fvck4d the MBR and i cant restore it....

My Hard disks never lasts more than 3 years. Yeah, if you quit the shield of the disk is permanently unusable. But you can buy one pretty cheap if you wanna get alive that Pc. For 1993 , what processor has , memory, etc?

Start up problem

Reply #10 – December 09, 2005, 09:24:41 PM

my guess would be 486 33mhz, maybe pentium. Prolly 100mhz or so. Huck it. You could get a newer one on ebay for real cheap and not have to mess with it.

Start up problem

Reply #11 – December 09, 2005, 11:04:48 PM

Thanks for all the comments. Since this computer apparently has a value of less than $25, I was not to concerned to ticker with it. I did remove the addditonal memory card I had installed long ago; removed the modem; removed the hard drive and removed the keyboard. Could not disconnect the monitor lead or the floppy drive lead. Found out that the clicking noise I first hear is the floppy drive--its lead appears solid and I didnt remove it. Still have the flash of panel lights and the click and then death. Don't know what bios is. I put the compaq diagnostic disk in the drive which came with this machine in 1993, but of course the drive only clicks. I think its finished. The internal quarter sized battery is OK at a solid 3 volts. The portable battery brick is not an interference and remains the same as before--useless. I am out of ideas.

Start up problem

Reply #12 – December 20, 2005, 12:53:38 PM

Quote from: MexCougar

Check plugs, coil and wir.....

Sorry, i`m mad because my HD fvck4d the MBR and i cant restore it....

My Hard disks never lasts more than 3 years. Yeah, if you quit the shield of the disk is permanently unusable. But you can buy one pretty cheap if you wanna get alive that Pc. For 1993 , what processor has , memory, etc?

that will NOT be cheap to replace, they are getting hard to find.

also, sounds like 2 things are happeing. One, the bios battery went dead. you would need a bios flash floppy, if you could even get it to start posting after the the bios battery charged back up (would bet that it wouldn't) and 2 the voltage regulater went bad and ate up the hdd and maybe the MB too.