Calling the UberGeeks

[SeaCat]

Okay guys and gals here's the problem.

Picked up a computer on the side of the road yesterday. Older one I know but still, if I can fix it then I'll give it to a friends kids so they can play.

Compaq Presario 5451. (IT runs I believe Win 98)

I say I believe it runs Win 98 because I can get no display, and for some reason it doesn't seem to be accessing the hard drive. (The hard drive light does not come on. Then again neither do the lights for the floppy or the CD but I can hear them accesing.) I know the monitor is good, it's mine. The connections to the power supply and the ribbon cable are good. Any ideas other than scavenge parts and chuck the box? (That's the next step.)

Cat

The ultimate idea here is to either repair or build a smallish system for my wife and my best friend. She can't afford to buy a comp but her kids need one for school.

 

[Guest]

hrm. its hard to tell you what to try without being there to put hands on.
im wondering if there is power to the harddrive...what shape the motherboard is in...ect. it could be that the hard drive itself is crashed and thats an easy enough fix with another hard drive.
however...it could be that the motherboard itself has run its lifespan and is no longer functioning properly...hence the side of the road.
if you can not access it through the cd rom drive as the first boot, then you might need to trash it all together.

 

[zeb1094]

hrm. its hard to tell you what to try without being there to put hands on.
im wondering if there is power to the harddrive...what shape the motherboard is in...ect. it could be that the hard drive itself is crashed and thats an easy enough fix with another hard drive.
however...it could be that the motherboard itself has run its lifespan and is no longer functioning properly...hence the side of the road.
if you can not access it through the cd rom drive as the first boot, then you might need to trash it all together.

I agree with vella. The only thing I can suggest is to pull the HD and CD and hook them up to a working system too see if they work. Now as for the display, if it is on the moutherboard your fucked, if it had it's own board then just replacing that might be the cure.

The system could be going through the boot even thought the disk lights don't lite up if it has been modified from it's original parts. Also is there memory in the dim slots, is there a cpu present, both of which could have been scavenged by the original owner.

Other than the above I don't know what to do without getting my hands on it and poking and proding.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

I would first make sure the drives are operational by trying them in a stable system I know works. Many people just tos old computers, but some are a little more savvy and will damage or wipe the HD to make sure personal information isn't scavenged.

 

[cloudy]

nothing works in a Compaq but Compaq parts, too. Found that out the hard way.

 

[oggbashan]

nothing works in a Compaq but Compaq parts, too. Found that out the hard way.

I know. The 5.25 boot drive on my Compaq 386 that I use for transferring data from 5.25 floppies to 3.5 floppies (don't ask) died. Anyone else's drive won't do. My computer geek didn't have an old 5.25 drive. My friendly High Street computer store produced a brand-new, sealed, unused Compaq 5.25 drive. No charge to me because no other local idiot is likely to want spares for a Compaq 386.

Og

 

[BlackSnake]

Run the serial to see if has been lifted before you get too attached to it

 

[hugo_sam]

Just an odd thought Cat
As someone who had, and has messed with some ot these 'old' machines.
Check the memory, both for being there, plugged in properly and /or functioning.
I have had that type of problem happen before.
It could be anything mentioned by the others or
it could be loose memory or an overheated processos.
PM/email or IM me for more detailed stuff.
I also have a lot of old parts around.

Hugo

 

[R. Richard]

Okay guys and gals here's the problem.

Picked up a computer on the side of the road yesterday. Older one I know but still, if I can fix it then I'll give it to a friends kids so they can play.

Compaq Presario 5451. (IT runs I believe Win 98)

I say I believe it runs Win 98 because I can get no display, and for some reason it doesn't seem to be accessing the hard drive. (The hard drive light does not come on. Then again neither do the lights for the floppy or the CD but I can hear them accesing.) I know the monitor is good, it's mine. The connections to the power supply and the ribbon cable are good. Any ideas other than scavenge parts and chuck the box? (That's the next step.)

Cat

Definitely sounds like a motherboard problem. If the parts will play with other systems, than I would try to find a [cheeeeeaaaap!] motherboard on eBay.

JMHO.

 

[TheEarl]

Like other people have said. Motherboard and HDD as prime suspects

Generally speaking, when I'm testing a potentially buggered machine, I tend to strip it and try each piece individually in a tried and tested spare machine. The only way to be certain.

The Earl

 

[SeaCat]

Oh joys, it seems like I have a little bit of work ahead of me. (First off is to dig in my storage area and find a machine there that runs Win 98 and not XP.)

Actually this is a good thing. It will keep me occupied for a while.

Cat

 

[Guest]

Before you do anything drastic....

Does it make any beeps when you power on? Is the one short beep? or a series of beeps? If you get no beeps, try pulling the modem out of it and try again. A lightning fried modem will short the PCI bus and prevent the machine from doing anything.

 

[Weird Harold]

I say I believe it runs Win 98 because I can get no display, and for some reason it doesn't seem to be accessing the hard drive. (The hard drive light does not come on. Then again neither do the lights for the floppy or the CD but I can hear them accesing.) I know the monitor is good, it's mine. The connections to the power supply and the ribbon cable are good. Any ideas other than scavenge parts and chuck the box? (That's the next step.)

I suspect you're wasting your time -- I had a hand-me-down HP Pavilion that was doing the same thing and I never did get the video to work; even with the MB jumpered to use a video card instead of the onboard video controller.

The drives are probably useable with another MB and the power-supply is probably good, but I think what you've got is only good for cannibalizing to make some other computer work.