Boot Issue - Compaq Presario 4540
 

Hello All,

I am hoping that someone out there may have some experience with the
following issue: I maintain several Compaq Presario 4540's at my place
of employment. Two of them now have completely "died"... There is
absolutely no video display. You cannot boot at all, even from a
diskette. You cannot go into the setup config either. The incorporated
video is obviously failing, but is this the real issue or just the
result? When you boot the computer, the hard drive and CD-ROM are
accessed temporarily. However the monitor light never turns
green....and that's about all you get! I've tried removing cards (NIC,
modem, etc...) to narrow down the possibilities. I've also tried a
known good video card. Any thoughts? Thanks for any response, in
advance!

Check the power supply.
HH

"Geek4Hire" wrote in message
om...
Hello All,

I am hoping that someone out there may have some experience with the
following issue: I maintain several Compaq Presario 4540's at my place
of employment. Two of them now have completely "died"... There is
absolutely no video display. You cannot boot at all, even from a
diskette. You cannot go into the setup config either. The incorporated
video is obviously failing, but is this the real issue or just the
result? When you boot the computer, the hard drive and CD-ROM are
accessed temporarily. However the monitor light never turns
green....and that's about all you get! I've tried removing cards (NIC,
modem, etc...) to narrow down the possibilities. I've also tried a
known good video card. Any thoughts? Thanks for any response, in
advance!

Any thoughts?

CMOS reset and/or replace the CMOS battery.

Dale

Thanks to those that responded to this post. I did try a known good
power supply, with no success. I also tried resetting the CMOS, but
would that matter? Even if the battery is completely dead, the
computer should still boot up with default settings, right? Of course
you would not be able to save CMOS settings, however..... Where's the
trash can? LOL.

(Geek4Hire) wrote in message . com...
Hello All,

I am hoping that someone out there may have some experience with the
following issue: I maintain several Compaq Presario 4540's at my place
of employment. Two of them now have completely "died"... There is
absolutely no video display. You cannot boot at all, even from a
diskette. You cannot go into the setup config either. The incorporated
video is obviously failing, but is this the real issue or just the
result? When you boot the computer, the hard drive and CD-ROM are
accessed temporarily. However the monitor light never turns
green....and that's about all you get! I've tried removing cards (NIC,
modem, etc...) to narrow down the possibilities. I've also tried a
known good video card. Any thoughts? Thanks for any response, in
advance!

Thanks to those that responded to this post. I did try a known good
power supply, with no success. I also tried resetting the CMOS, but
would that matter? Even if the battery is completely dead, the
computer should still boot up with default settings, right?

Right. But if the battery wasn't dead, and somehow the CMOS was corrupted, or
"confused", and saving that condition, a reset might have cured it. It was a
long shot but easy thing to try...

The other thing to try is to disconnect everything and pull all cards, and try
to boot. Add video back first, and then add things back until you find
something that causes the problem. If the problem still exists with minimal
devices connected then its something onboard the systemboard, and your screwed.
If its a device, replace it.

Dale

If your computer came with a video pcb that you can remove and you boot from
floppy disk, you should see and hear the fdd booting (for a bout 30secs) and
could try the video card. If the card is part of the mainboard (not on a
AGP/PCI slot) try this:
Disconnect all drives (data and power cables), use a power supply and memory
which you know that are not damaged. If you still have the same problem:
97%probabilities: system board gone
2% probabilities: processor gone
1% probabilities: both
If it still doesn't work, you don't need a tech, you need an exorcist.