"pixelbrainz" wrote in message
...
Hi. I could really use some advice from some folks familiar with
Compaqs.

I have a Compaq Presario 5150 with a few problems. I got it from my
brother-in-law and it does not have any recovery disks. I just use it
for a
few odds and ends and I have other machines as well.

This thing takes about three reboots to load it's video driver,
otherwise
the only resolution available is 640 I've reloaded the sp8456 a coupla
times
and no fix. This is setup for Rage LT PRO 2x. I think this is
right, I
dunno maybe not

The PS-2 mouseport failed. Remove mouseport and re-install does not
fix.
Serial and USB work OK

I would like to add a hard drive but the CMOS setting are not
available.
F10 will get to a bios (sorta), but won't configure much. I gather
there
should be a CMOS utility on the hard drive but I cand find it nor can
I
download it from the Compaq/HP website.

If this is not resolvable, I guess I can live with it.

Anybody shed some light on this?

Many Thanks in Advance

Bob


The startup problem bring to mind the plague of bad capacitors in some
boards. You might take a quick look and see if there are bulging,
leaking caps on the board. If so, there is likely no solution except to
try another MB.

Q