Weird Compaq PC problem

[I Like Waffle]

I picked up a compaq presario PC from a friend of mine recently...model SR1820NX if it matters.

Heres my problem, when i first tried to start it, it would come on fine, but the hard drive light would stay on, and nothing would display on the screen. So i pull the hard drive, test it in another comp, and figure the hard drive is toast because it wouldnt do shit in that one either, so i scratch that off the list.

Just a little while ago i got a known good hard drive and put it in it, loaded an xp boot cd in and still the same thing, HD light on, no display from the video card or onboard video. Also tried removing vid card and restarting, same thing. Tried flashing the cmos as well and that got me nowhere. Im usually pretty good with computers but this has me puzzled. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif

What else can i do?

Click to read more...

 

[bigaudiofanati2 10+ year member]

sounds like your ide cables or your jumpers are not set properly on something in the tower. Look inside and there should be little pins on the back of the cd rom drive the hard drive and if there is another hard drive there as well. Make sure one is set to slave one is set to master and on the other ribbon cable that one is set to master.

 

[I Like Waffle]

Im sure everything is set properly as noone has ever messed with them, ill double check the jumpers to be sure though. Right now im talking to one of the HP techs to see if they can possibly help. ill post back in a min

 

[I Like Waffle]

Hp support techs seem to be just indians on minimum wage following scripts so far. Well see how this turns out.

 

[bigaudiofanati2 10+ year member]

Ya I know what you mean

 

[I Like Waffle]

Brad Butler : Computer will not boot up, hard drive light stays on, nothing comes on monitor, tried several things but can not figure it out.

[An agent will be with you shortly.]

[You are now chatting with Anthony .]

Anthony : Welcome to HP Total Care for Desktop PC. My name is Anthony. Please give me a minute while I review your problem description details.

Anthony : Hello Brad, how are you doing today?

Brad Butler : Im doing fine, how about yourself

Anthony : I am doing great. Thank you for asking.

Anthony : If I understand correctly the computer is not booting to desktop. Is that correct?

Brad Butler : Yes, its actually not booting at all, it just comes on and displays a blank screen. Ive tried a few things but none of them have changed anything so far.

Anthony : Don't worry Brad, I assure you that I will try my best to fix the issue.

Anthony : In order to assist you in a better way, May I have the serial number and the product number of the computer?

we can find the product and serial number on the rear panel of the computer on a white bar coded sticker which is followed by a P/n and a S/n.

Brad Butler : What actually happened is one day it wouldnt boot up anymore, and i noticed the hard drive light stayed on, so i pulled the hard drive and tested it in another computer and it seems the hard drive is no good. I put another one in it, and put an XP install cd in the drive but still the same thing is happening.

Brad Butler : ok

Brad Butler : the product number is ER919AA and the S/N is CNH6081RNN

Anthony : Thank you for providing the information.

Anthony : May I know What operating system do you have installed (Windows 98, Me, XP or vista)?

Brad Butler : XP home

Anthony : Thank you for the confirmation.

Anthony : Before proceeding further I may require to ask few questions in order to isolate the root cause of the issue. So that we can fix easily. Is that okay with you?

Brad Butler : Sure

Anthony : Thank you.

Anthony : May I know since when you are experiencing this issue?

Brad Butler : Its been about a month since ive been able to use it

This is what ive got 15 minutes in.

 

[bigaudiofanati2 10+ year member]

LMAO it also might be what my sister had which was a blown motherboard. Just thinking openly about this

 

[I Like Waffle]

Motherboard looks fine, shouldnt it have burnt marks or something on it if it was messed up?

This "tech" is stupid as hell. Ive made it obvious to him that i know a bit about what im doing, and he wants to ask me shit like "is it plugged in" **** that. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

 

[timaishu 10+ year member]

Try re-seating the ram.

 

[I Like Waffle]

Ill try that. I just started it up again, same problem still. I also noticed that neither the keyboard or mouse turns on.

 

[timaishu 10+ year member]

Try plugging in a different mouse and see what happens.

Strangely enough, my mouse one day started preventing my computer from booting up. The computer on start up would not recognize the mouse and would cause the OS to hang.

May as well try.

 

[I Like Waffle]

I just tried booting it without ram and no beeps or anything happened, and according to tech guy this means the motherboard is shot

 

[I Like Waffle]

Brad Butler : no, its not even turning the monitor on at all. I also noticed that neither the keyboard or mouse come on.

Anthony : Brad, then this could be issue with power supply or with mother board.

Anthony : So first lets do mother board test and check.

Anthony : Please turn off the computer and then try to remove ram from the computer and then restart the computer.

Brad Butler : ok

Anthony : If you hear any beep sounds with out the RAM then the mother board is working fine, if you hear no beep sounds with out the ram then the mother board has gone bad.

Brad Butler : No beeps at all, still the same thing.

Brad Butler : Could you tell me the make and model of the motherboard so i can replace it?

Anthony : Brad, that means the mother board has gone bad.

Anthony : May I know when and where did you purchase the computer?

Brad Butler : It was from walmart, probably 2 years ago id say

Anthony : Okay, Brad, the computer seems to be out of warranty.

[This chat session is no longer active. Please start another chat session.]

Rofl. ***** hung up on me

 

[tigerf117 10+ year member]

No beeps with no ram = bad motherboard 99% of the time. There is always a possibility the power supply went out and killed the motherboard. Depending on the specs, not sure if it'd be worth it. I can try to find a replacement motherboard, but it's going to be pricey. Might want to think about buying a cheaper aftermarket board and a new case. You could probably do that cheaper/same price. Lemme know if you need help

 

[chithead81 10+ year member]

I was about to say power supply is bad ^