Computer won't boot

[clapper62]

I have a compaq presario 2286 that will not boot from either the hard drive or floppy.

the computer starts up and the compaq logo displays on the screen but after that just a blank screen with a blinking cursor at the top.

when I try booting from the floppy drive the computer seems to access the drive but then moves on to the blank screen.

I have tried another floppy drive that I know is good with same results.

I have tried several boot disks within the drive and one seems to access the drive longer but the end result is the same.

question : do compaq computers require a special boot disk
all of the other disk boot my dell computer just fine.

I have disconnected the hard drive and get a message on the screen "operating system not found" with or with out a boot disk in the floppy drive.

an odd thing (I believe) is that when I watch the bios go through the memory check it only goes to 27 Megabytes
(not sure what the total memory is) 27MB seems like an odd number.

I have made sure that the memory is inserted securely but have not tried replacing the memory. Could this be a memory issue?

I can get into the bios settings so I am assuming (maybe mistakenly?) that the bios and the processor are functioning

One more thing if I start the computer and leave it on for a very long time (approx. 10 minutes) it will make it to the windows 98 splash screen and the graphics at the bottom of the screen are moving like the operating system is loading but as I write this I am still waiting and it has been approx. 40 minutes since I started the machine.

any ideas?

Thanks

 

[notinNEWYORK]

My friend the Programer....all of the major manufacterers have their own software. The dell boot disk will not boot the compaq desktop. Even within the same company different PC's have their own boot disks. I had a Compaq presario 2100 that wouldn't boot off another Compaq disk. So you need to go to the Compaq website and find the precise boot disk for your computer. Luck





1

 

[clapper62]

Thank you notinNEWYORK

Just spent almost an hour looking on the support web site for a way to create a bootable floppy for this machine the closest I could find was a program "sp9477.exe" which claims to create a recovery disk but when I run it is tells me that the disk format is invalid have you gotten bootable disk downloads from compaq, if so could you point me in the right direction to the site you got them from

Thank you

 

[wolluf]

Any standard win9x/ME boot disk should boot any PC. You've almost certainly got a hardware problem (according to Compaq spec, should have 32MB RAM) - quite possibly RAM. Compaq machines generally need Compaq replacement/update components.

 

[edfair]

More likely a BIOS problem. Even with a RAM problem you should (but they don't always do it) kick out of the memory test section.
Try reseating the memory 4 or 5 times and the processor several times. Sometimes you get corrosion that affects signal transmission and reseating breaks through to make good contact.


Ed Fair
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[Grenage]

I agree, Wolluf quite rightly says a basic win98 boot disk should get you up and running.

You are most likely looking at a bad piece of hardware, try removing one of the RAM sticks if there is more than one or replace with some known working RAM.

If you leave the computer at the point where it "blinks" for a while, does it display a message then?

 

[clapper62]

Thanks for all your replies,

wolluf I was pretty sure that the boot disk did not have to be special thanks for the confirmation. But I still can't understand why it seems to try to boot from the floppy but cannot do it. also I can't understand why I don't get a "non system disk or disk error message"

edfair I do not think it is a bios problem and correct me if this is not sound reasoning but I can get into the BIOS setup and change settings and save them also isn't the compaq splash screen generated by the bios if it were bad could I still get into setup and still see the splash screen?

Grenage If I leave the computer on after the blinking cursor comes up it stays like that for quite sometime (approx. 10 min.) and then the Windows 98 splash screen comes up. This screen has a line at the bottom that moves from left to right across the screen and that is moving giving the appearance that the operating system is loading but after waiting over an hour and a half with no change after that I got the feeling that that was as far as it was going to go.

information update:
I was able to get to the selective startup screen although it takes an annoyingly long time to do and before I ran out of time and had to go to work I tried the Dos Prompt option and the safe mode option but the computer stopped responding after both of these options were selected.

based on the replies and my own obsevations I am beginning to think it is the memory that 27Megabytes still bothers me

I will try to put some known good memory in if I can get some.

unless someone has any other idea of the problem.

 

[BadBigBen]

Hola,

Clapper - after the mem replacement if the maschine still does what you describe, check your IDE cables if they are firmly in place aswell as the jumpering... these things can bog down the init process of loading the OS...

Ben

 

[chuka]

I assume you did the first aid steps like:

1) Reseting the CMOS with a jumper.
2) Loading default CMOs setup.

Try to disable you l1 and l2 cache, lower memory speed in the bios, disable all performance setup is the BIOS.

Have you tried to boot from CDROM?

 

[clapper62]

Thank you for your replies

BigBen I have reseated all the cables and even replaced the floppy cable as far as the jumpers the computer worked before so I am assuming that the jumpers are ok unless the connection on one has become bad I suppose it's possible.

chuka I tried loading the default settings in the BIOS and I took the battery out for a while which to my understanding will also reset the BIOS. Is there a jumper on this model that will do this? I will look into the cache recommedation but assuming thier is not a hardware problem shouldn't the default setting work? I have not tried to boot from the CD (This is my father's computer) but he has a CD labeled Compaq Recovery Disk that I tried before I brought the machine to my house. Is this a bootable CD?

Going to try to pick up some memory today 8/31
will post the results

Again thanks for all the replies.

 

[clapper62]

Tried new 128MB memory card today 9/1 with same result except that now when the memory check runs it test 123MB instead of 27MB ANYBODY!! have another sugestion

Thanks

 

[chaps]

Compaq machines can be real fun to work on. There is a lot of proprietary stuff e.g. special memory etc. You may need an F10 & diagnostics disk. Or try tapping the f10 key while booting and see if you can get into the configuration, or diagnostics utility that is normally on the hard drive and accessed during boot up. Compaq’s normally have a hidden partition that contains utilities on the drive. If you can get in to it you can do some tests etc. Or you may be able to simply change your boot sequence so that the CD-ROM boots first. Then place your operating system disk in the CD-ROM drive, boot it up and reinstall your operating system. You are in for the time of your life trouble shooting a Compaq; it will be an eye opening experience. The answer to your question is yes the Compaq has special disks for recovery and install, for utilities and diagnostics. However sometimes it is possible that you can use a normal Windows boot disk, or Windows OS system CD-ROM disk. But finding and fixing your problem is going to be the fun of it. It maybe the hardware, or software, or both. Best to do some more searches at the Compaq web site.

Mike

 

[clapper62]

Ok I got hold of the Compaq Quick Restore CD and was able to boot from it.(This CD is supposed to automatically re-install the operating system as it was from the factory).

When I boot to this CD it goes through a few screens like licensing and warnings that all my data will be lost and then it says "Formatting Harddrive 1" and that's it, it hangs there and does nothing.

So I replaced the 4.3 gigabyte(I think?) hard drive with a 1.7 gigabyte drive that I had laying around and re-booted with the cd and it went so far as to re-partition the drive and then went to the above screen and also just stopped there.

can I rule out a processor problem here. I can't believe that the computer would do all that it's doing and still have a problem with the motherboard or processor(maybe i'm wrong?).

 

[BadBigBen]

Hi there Clapper, it still sounds to me like a MEM prob... ways back I had a similiar prob, the comp would lock up and do nothing at all after around 5 to 10 min or so... after replacing the mobo (wasn't it) I replaced the CPU (it wasn't it) I got the notion to replace the MEM (with an entirely different manufacture and namebrand had a no name stick of RAM) it ran smoothly from then on... btw all memtests reported the MEM as good... it came to me to try the MEM since my PC locked up within the BIOS setup screen...

if you can get into the BIOS setup do load the default values and go with them... which should take care of your memory hole aswell (there is a setting in the BIOS for the NT OS which reserves a 1MB space between the 15 and 16 mb in the memory configuration of your system... which you don't need if you're not running NT)...

Ben

 

[chuka]

Clapper

You need to start working on your bios.
1) Load the default.
2) Disable internal CPU cache.
3) Modify all teh settings especially the memory ones to be the slowest, not auto but slowest.
4) Disable any performance parameters in the BIOS.
5) Make sure to go over each parameter in the BIOS and modify it.
6) Check if there is an updated BIOS from the manufacture!!

And then boot again.

 

[BionicJohn]

Hi, Clapper62,

A friend with a similar Compaq had a similar problem - very very slow performance.

The problem was that the small cable which powered the CPU fan ahd become disconnected from the socket on the mo-bo. Reconnecting it, the PC worked properly. However, I could not get the cable to not click home securely to the mo-bo, and I suspect that if the PC is moved then it could become disconnected again.

I believe some Pentium processors close right down in the event of over heating.

HTH

Iechyd da! John
18:39 07/09/2003 BST

 

[clapper62]

Thanks all for the continued input

BigBen I will try some new memory when budget allows
but does anyone know why it only reports 123Meg with a 128mb card(I know the first 640K is reservered) and I suspect that the rest of the missing memory is being used by the video.

chuka I'm gonna go through the BIOS with a fine tooth comb
but I still believe (considering the machine worked in the past) that the default settings should be sufficient here.

BigJohnD the only fan in this model is in the power supply and it is working.

this machine is so old that I know that it is really not worth the effort (I have since given my father a replacement computer) but it bothers me that I can't isolate the problem. I'm beginning to hate compaq computers
I can't understand why I can't at least boot to dos from a floppy.

Anyway I'm gonna stick with it short of replacing the processor and motherboard (Curiosity???) and I really appreciate all the input I can get Thanks

 

[mainegeek]

Replace the cmos battery.

 

[clapper62]

mainegeek: sorry did that besides the setup BIOS
routine is saving my settings when I change them
so I'm assuming the battery is good.(Wrong Maybe??)