Need help with an old Compaq Armada Laptop

Instrument-MechanicInstrument-Mechanic SF Bay Area
edited July 2007 in Hardware
:confused: The short: I had a working Laptop, I took it apart following a guide, dusted it off, reassembled it, truned it on, and now it doesn't work. :mad:

The Long: I wanted to clean this thing out and check it out inside. This is an old laptop that was given to me, and I had it working fine. It is a Armada M700, PIII, 700MHz, 64+128+256Mb Ram (yes it has a fixed to MB Ram Module). I installed XP Pro, installed a netgear wifi card, and I was happy. I noticed it was getting hot and the fan was not working whenI thought it should, so I went in for a look. Wasn't too dusty, so I put it back together. In the process the CMOS battery was disconnected, as was the main battery.

The machine turned on, I could hear it check the CD/DVD drive, the light for the CPU flashed, and the Compaq splash screen came on and it counted the RAM in KBs. It then beeped twice and an error 162 System options not set quickly flashed on screen, and then the screen turns off, and it just hangs in imbo. The cpu gets hot, and the fan kicks on. It responds to the keyboard and beeps, and it will sleep if I press the sleep hard button. I can even see a slight flicker to the screen (very minor). It will stay this way untill I reset it, or hit ctrl+alt+del. I have check the 162 error, and it leads to many talking about password problems, and it says to "Run computer setup" I dont know what that means, and I cant do anything with this thing including entering the bios. I have reduced the computer back down to the mother board, rechecked all connections, made sure all screws are tight, and pulled the main battery out while the CMOS battery was out. When I did that I got the 162 error, without that procedure, I get a splash and nothing. I also tried connecting the outboard floppy drive, and it checks that drive at start up, but it will start reading a disk, then quit untill I hit esc or return. I dont have any disk to try other than a bios update, and a windows XP rescue disk from another desktop, niether of which do anything, just read and quit.

I checked the CMOS battery, got 2.7Vdc on my Fluke, so I replaced that, now things are a little different. Now the computer turns on to Splash Compaq, no counting of RAM, no error codes, it just blanks out the screen, but the netgear Pcmcia WiFi card, locates and logs on to my router, WTF? :confused::(

I will post the pictures of my mess. If anyone has a clue as to what I can do, please let me know. This is an old laptop, that was given to me, so it is not a huge deal, just my pride that I usually fix problems not cause them. It would be nice to fix this thing as a secondary laptop for the house, and for the sake of "What the hell did I do!" I am willing to try anything at this point, maybe even candles and dancing ;)

Please Help.....

Comments

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited July 2007
    Does it have an external monitor function key?
  • Instrument-MechanicInstrument-Mechanic SF Bay Area
    edited July 2007
    Yes it does, and I tried that. I went slow as it has a weak video card, and got nothing. I did not try connecting it to another monitor, I will try that now. In the past, I have never used it with an external display though.

    Thanks for the tip, I will report back asap, and please keep it coming! :)
  • Instrument-MechanicInstrument-Mechanic SF Bay Area
    edited July 2007
    Wow THrax, You have made my day. Yes this thing is now working if I use an external monitor, but it wont switch back to it own. Got any ideas?

    THANKS A BUNCH!
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited July 2007
    There may be a short on the motherboard near the video chip; it's always possible since the laptop was disassembled. I take it the display worked before?

    Verify that the LCD's connection is seated properly <i>and</i> grounded. It's easy to miss one or the other, especially the grounding which is little more than a tiny screw locking down a metal loop no bigger than a washer.
  • Instrument-MechanicInstrument-Mechanic SF Bay Area
    edited July 2007
    I hear you, but why does she splash screen come on?

    Yes the LCD worked fine before. I will take it apart again, as I am getting used to that now, and check for grounding. Maybe I fried something, that would suck, but again, why does it work temporarily, then quit. Very strange, also when its plugged in to my desk top monitor, is sees that as the primary monitor, and it only flickers when I hit Fn+F4 which is the monitor switch control.

    Is there another way to switch monitors? Also thanks again, I posted this on another forum, and I got blasted for asking dumb questions, and was told that I must have put it back together wrong... losers!
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited July 2007
    Ah, yes, the splash screen comes up. Good point. You're saying it blanks after POST, as in when it goes to check the ESCD and boot Windows?
  • Instrument-MechanicInstrument-Mechanic SF Bay Area
    edited July 2007
    Well, If I connect it to my 19" panel, it is loading windows, and it works fine, just wont make the laptop monitor work. In windows, I went into settings and it detects the outboard monitor as the primary, that should not be, or atleast, I should be able to switch back and forth. I uped the resolution to sxga, and it works (its like an 8 or 16 MB GPU), it just wont switch to the laptops monitor. I am trying to enter the bios with no luck, it is supposed to be f10, but it does nto work, I have had this issue before... Maybe there is a setting in the BIOS for monitor choice. I will let you know.

    Please keep 'em coming!
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