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Help with Gateway Solo P3C
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I feel pretty silly posting this message, as I've been a firmware engineer since 1984! I have plenty of experience going inside a desktop PC. My laptop experience is quite limited though.
I've got an old laptop, a Gateway Solo P3C, 133 MHZ, that I am putting into a condition that it can be used to get online, very basically. It would be nice to put in a NIC card to allow for high speed Internet, but that's in a day or two. The hard drive is incredibly small, and FULL, so I'll get it a new hard drive and do the BIOS upgrade.
It was purchased used. I do not know the details. It was obviously used to get online in a work environment. It is in very good condition for its age.
It has a modem card installed, connected to COM3. I've looked and looked at the case, and opened everything I can find to open, looking for an RJ-11 connector. I cannot find it! Can someone tell me how to hook the phone cable to this PC even to test it?
Thanks,
Beth Harper
I've got an old laptop, a Gateway Solo P3C, 133 MHZ, that I am putting into a condition that it can be used to get online, very basically. It would be nice to put in a NIC card to allow for high speed Internet, but that's in a day or two. The hard drive is incredibly small, and FULL, so I'll get it a new hard drive and do the BIOS upgrade.
It was purchased used. I do not know the details. It was obviously used to get online in a work environment. It is in very good condition for its age.
It has a modem card installed, connected to COM3. I've looked and looked at the case, and opened everything I can find to open, looking for an RJ-11 connector. I cannot find it! Can someone tell me how to hook the phone cable to this PC even to test it?
Thanks,
Beth Harper
The Gateway P3C is an old one - so I'm speaking from memory since I have not come into contact with one of these in years. As I remembered it, this system does not have a built-in modem, so when you say it has a modem card installed, I'm assuming that you're talking about a PCMCIA modem, which is probably missing a dongle (the dongle is the part that contains a phone jack connector on one end, with the other end having a flat connector that plugs into the opening on the pcmcia card) and hence, no phone jack :o
A pcmcia modem without a dongle - and lots and lots of people will lose their "dongles" over time - is functionally useless. Although there are many sources for replacement dongles (look on eBay), it is probably just as cheap to buy a new pcmcia modem to replace your dongleless one. If you're looking to network the machine, you might even look at a combo pcmcia 56k/ethernet card - they'll come with two dongles: one for the phone line, the other for your ethernet cable. There are also pcmcia 56k/ethernet cards that have built-in phone jacks and ethernet connectors, albeit they're buikier because of the built-in connectors...
A pcmcia modem without a dongle - and lots and lots of people will lose their "dongles" over time - is functionally useless. Although there are many sources for replacement dongles (look on eBay), it is probably just as cheap to buy a new pcmcia modem to replace your dongleless one. If you're looking to network the machine, you might even look at a combo pcmcia 56k/ethernet card - they'll come with two dongles: one for the phone line, the other for your ethernet cable. There are also pcmcia 56k/ethernet cards that have built-in phone jacks and ethernet connectors, albeit they're buikier because of the built-in connectors...
Thank you.
It's up and running, just as the person who wanted it to work had in mind. Sure, it's quite old. It's serving this person's needs, after some basic "system administration" housekeeping tasks. Why spend $1500 for something you can spend $90 for?
I eventually got a technician who owns and operates the used hardware "junk store" locally to figure out what was what with it. It took him about 2 minutes. The dongle is pretty flimsy, and the person who has the Solo has bought a "like new" modem for it on E-bay, but this one is working okay for now.
Beth
It's up and running, just as the person who wanted it to work had in mind. Sure, it's quite old. It's serving this person's needs, after some basic "system administration" housekeeping tasks. Why spend $1500 for something you can spend $90 for?
I eventually got a technician who owns and operates the used hardware "junk store" locally to figure out what was what with it. It took him about 2 minutes. The dongle is pretty flimsy, and the person who has the Solo has bought a "like new" modem for it on E-bay, but this one is working okay for now.
Beth
how i can remove the password to get in the laptop. gateway solo 2000 p3c
i don't remember my password
i don't remember my password
Beth
The RJ11 connector should be right on the edge of the PCMCIA modem card. Usually you have to push it IN slightly for it to release and pop out. Connectors like this are very fragile. I've seen many PCMCIA card modems tossed out because the user inadvertently broke the RJ11 connector.
Cheers
George
PS I'm looking for an operating manual for that machine. Have you seen a pdf version of one?
The RJ11 connector should be right on the edge of the PCMCIA modem card. Usually you have to push it IN slightly for it to release and pop out. Connectors like this are very fragile. I've seen many PCMCIA card modems tossed out because the user inadvertently broke the RJ11 connector.
Cheers
George
PS I'm looking for an operating manual for that machine. Have you seen a pdf version of one?
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Originally Posted by BethHarper
I feel pretty silly posting this message, as I've been a firmware engineer since 1984! I have plenty of experience going inside a desktop PC. My laptop experience is quite limited though.
I've got an old laptop, a Gateway Solo P3C, 133 MHZ, that I am putting into a condition that it can be used to get online, very basically. It would be nice to put in a NIC card to allow for high speed Internet, but that's in a day or two. The hard drive is incredibly small, and FULL, so I'll get it a new hard drive and do the BIOS upgrade.
It was purchased used. I do not know the details. It was obviously used to get online in a work environment. It is in very good condition for its age.
It has a modem card installed, connected to COM3. I've looked and looked at the case, and opened everything I can find to open, looking for an RJ-11 connector. I cannot find it! Can someone tell me how to hook the phone cable to this PC even to test it?
Thanks,
Beth Harper
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Join Date: Dec 2003
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Originally Posted by moral
how i can remove the password to get in the laptop. gateway solo 2000 p3c
i don't remember my password
Alex Cavnar, aka alc6379
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Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 9,796
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Originally Posted by moral
how i can remove the password to get in the laptop. gateway solo 2000 p3c
i don't remember my password
Fallen Heroes Song ,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RfXBB0BRHY
Going with the Flow ,but the water is low and the rocks are big
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RfXBB0BRHY
Going with the Flow ,but the water is low and the rocks are big
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Originally Posted by capt2duck 
Beth
The RJ11 connector should be right on the edge of the PCMCIA modem card. Usually you have to push it IN slightly for it to release and pop out. Connectors like this are very fragile. I've seen many PCMCIA card modems tossed out because the user inadvertently broke the RJ11 connector.
Cheers
George
PS I'm looking for an operating manual for that machine. Have you seen a pdf version of one?
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