Help: dead Compaq Presario 520

marksmarks
edited March 2006 in Hardware
Hi there,

Just a quick question on the off chance that someone knows of a way of
resurrecting my ancient Presario CDS 520.

I recently decided to upgrade the memory to 64mb. To do this I picked
up a pair of 32mb SIMMs on Ebay. Took the old memory out, slotted them
in, turned it on... and nothing. It didn't power up at all; no fans, no
BIOS beeps, nothing.

I then replaced the original memory cards, turned it on... Still
nothing.

Confusingly, if I slide the motherboard out and power the machine up
without it, the motors will start whirring.

I've presumably either blown something on the motherboard (processor?)
or inadvertantly disconnected something somewhere. Any clues would be
much appreciated...

Mark

Comments

  • lemonlimelemonlime Canada Member
    edited March 2006
    Hmm, sounds like something has shorted out.. does the system do anything whatsoever when the motherboard is installed? Any signs of life, or is it totally dead?

    Sorry if this is a stupid question, but did the laptop work properly before installing the new memory?
  • marksmarks
    edited March 2006
    Hey, thanks for the reply. The only sign of life with the motherboard installed is a tiny static 'click', which comes from the monitor I think. The monitor doesn't actually power up however.

    I've been told that I used EDO memory for the upgrade when I should have used fast-page, however this shouldn't have killed the system in itself. I've since put the original memory back in place and it's still dead.

    The system worked fine before I attempted the upgrade - by the way, it's an old desktop machine, not a laptop.
  • lemonlimelemonlime Canada Member
    edited March 2006
    marks wrote:
    Hey, thanks for the reply. The only sign of life with the motherboard installed is a tiny static 'click', which comes from the monitor I think. The monitor doesn't actually power up however.

    I've been told that I used EDO memory for the upgrade when I should have used fast-page, however this shouldn't have killed the system in itself. I've since put the original memory back in place and it's still dead.

    The system worked fine before I attempted the upgrade - by the way, it's an old desktop machine, not a laptop.

    Oh sorry, for some reason I thought that compaq model was a laptop :)

    I agree, using the wrong memory should not have fried anything. You should have got a post-beep code or some other error.

    A few troubleshooting suggestions:

    1) Remove the CMOS battery from the mainboard for about 5 minutes, reinsert and power on the system.. see if that makes a difference.

    2) Disconnect floppy drive, CDROM, hard drives. Remove any non-essential expansion cards (like modems, network cards etc). Try to boot up again, if it works, you can start adding one component at a time to determine which one is the trouble maker.

    3) Take a very close look at the mainboard, and ensure that the screws being used are not shorting anything out. Also check underneath the motherboard for anything metalic contacting the PCB. What you are describing sounds a lot like a short of some kind.

    Let us know how that goes..
  • marksmarks
    edited March 2006
    lemonlime wrote:
    1) Remove the CMOS battery from the mainboard for about 5 minutes, reinsert and power on the system.. see if that makes a difference.
    The battery is actually fixed (soldered?) in position, but there's a jumper to reset it. I removed that for five minutes... replaced it... powered up and...

    IT'S ALIVE!

    Thanks a lot for your help dude. Maybe I can make the old beast last another 12 years :D
  • lemonlimelemonlime Canada Member
    edited March 2006
    Fantastic! Glad I could be of help :D

    :thumbsup:
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