Cause of modem woes ?

[juliaatpcgp]

I have an old Compaq Armada E500 laptop.

The internal modem doesn't work (nothing at all happens) and I cannot get a USB plug in one to work either (there's a lot of noisy tones but no connection).

The battery doesn't charge anymore, but taking it out and running it on the mains doesn't cure the noise. The laptop usually runs on the mains as it's does go on the road.

Could the cause be anything to do with the fact that every time you start it up, it emits a loud crackling sound for a few seconds ? Do I need to worry about this ?

Thanks for your help.

Regards,
Jay

 

[G0AOZ]

Can you determine if the "crackling sound" is coming out of the speakers, (try turning volume down etc), or if it is a physical noise caused by something arcing inside? If the latter, then I would get expert attention to it right away, as this could be a hazard resulting in serious damage, fire, etc.

The USB device may be operating system dependant - you didn't say what the machine was running...

ROGER - G0AOZ.