Dead Presario 700 - Fix

[asharma]

Just a couple days ago; my Presario 715 started acting up. Whenever I pressed the power on button the green light came up but nothing happened after that. I could hear the sound of one of the drives for a few seconds but that's all I was getting.

From an old thread on this forum (Feb 2004), I found the feedback of someone who suggested tapping the notebook and turning it upside down. I tried that and it worked. Despite that I was quite frustrated.

Just a few hours ago I found the solution. Now it's working just fine. Here's what I did (remember it's only appliable if the green light is coming on but it's not doing anything after that)

1. Make the laptop run once by tapping or whatever works; as soon as the Compaq screen comes up press F10 to go to BIOS setting.

2. Change the boot sequence to Floppy, HD, CD Drive, Network.

3. Save and Exit.

Your Presario 700 should work just fine now.
The problem seems to be with some loose connection of CD Drive, which gets ok by tapping and it works. By changing the bootsequence we let the HDD take over right after the Floppy thus eleminating the CD Drive from the boot process.

I found a bunch of people with the same problem on the forum. I hope this helps them all.

[JANINE]

this may have worked for you but dont be certain that it'll wotk for the other ppl on the forum. we appreciate your advice here but evidently these ppl have different problems to the one you described. sometimes a little tap will work by knocking whatever has become dislodged back into place temporarily but its a better idea to get it put back permanently. ok so you might have to spend a little bit of cash but surely well spent cash will ensure you have your lappy longer.

consider it... ;-)

[asharma]

this may have worked for you but dont be certain that it'll wotk for the other ppl on the forum. we appreciate your advice here but evidently these ppl have different problems to the one you described. sometimes a little tap will work by knocking whatever has become dislodged back into place temporarily but its a better idea to get it put back permanently. ok so you might have to spend a little bit of cash but surely well spent cash will ensure you have your lappy longer. consider it... ;-)

The tapping was driving me crazy too. That's what the fix is for!
The laptop doesn't need anymore tapping after this fix. It's been working just fine. No more problem with starting up. Even the CD Drive has been working fine.
I agree that it may only work in a particular situation but I did see a few posts in an old thread from 2003 to 2004 about Presario 700's telling about exactly the same symptoms I had.
Just trying to help here!

[jerm3000]

I have the same problems with my presario 700, but nothing is working...will not post on LCD screen nor on an external, but everything (lights, drives, fans, etc) sound and look like they are working just fine. Talked to HP for an hour and was basically told...Sorry your computer is out of warranty...cant help you!!!!!!!!!!

[asharma]

I have the same problems with my presario 700, but nothing is working...will not post on LCD screen nor on an external, but everything (lights, drives, fans, etc) sound and look like they are working just fine. Talked to HP for an hour and was basically told...Sorry your computer is out of warranty...cant help you!!!!!!!!!!

Hi,

I did some research and what I found was that all Presario have some design problem with the Heat Pad which is under the CPU. Due to overheating it deforms and the CPU becomes loose in the socket. The permanent solution is to open the laptop and replace the pad. The temporary solution that I have been using for months is; turn off the laptop then tap the laptop hard at the bottom between Battery and Harddrive, this helps CPU get back in the right position and then start the computer. It's anoying but it works. I'll try to find that weblink I came across and post it sometime because those guys also repair the laptops and have done this for quite a few Presario users who were facing this problem.

[jerm3000]

Hi,

I did some research and what I found was that all Presario have some design problem with the Heat Pad which is under the CPU. Due to overheating it deforms and the CPU becomes loose in the socket. The permanent solution is to open the laptop and replace the pad. The temporary solution that I have been using for months is; turn off the laptop then tap the laptop hard at the bottom between Battery and Harddrive, this helps CPU get back in the right position and then start the computer. It's anoying but it works. I'll try to find that weblink I came across and post it sometime because those guys also repair the laptops and have done this for quite a few Presario users who were facing this problem.

I will try to do that, I have knocked on it trying to get it to work, but I will try that exact spot. If you find anything out about specifics or fixes by all means please tell me. THank you!

[JANINE]

I will try to do that, I have knocked on it trying to get it to work, but I will try that exact spot. If you find anything out about specifics or fixes by all means please tell me. THank you!

this isn't the best thing to do. hitting the machine may actually do more damage then good in the long run. it is possible that your cpu has come loose from its socket but my guess is that in this instance your graphics chip might have gone which would mean replacing the main board.

[jerm3000]

this isn't the best thing to do. hitting the machine may actually do more damage then good in the long run. it is possible that your cpu has come loose from its socket but my guess is that in this instance your graphics chip might have gone which would mean replacing the main board.

I have been looking around to try and find a cheap motherboard for it so that may be what I do. I know how to take the whole thing apart just fine, is there a place that I could open it up and push on instead of banging on it? :?: That may be a little better than smacking on it :cool:

[JANINE]

i suppose that you could always try reseting the cpu in its socket. while your about it, check the wiring and connections are secure and not damaged too.

[BuggZ]

Tapping on a laptop to get it to work is never a good idea, because if tapping worked before and now tapping on the same place doesn't work anymore most people end up thinking "I can tap it just a little harder and maybe then it will work again." I was asked by a friend to look at his Toshiba laptop because the LCD would suddenly go dark for no reason. He discovered that by "tapping" on the back of the LCD, the display would often come back on. This worked for about 2 weeks, then suddenly didn't seem to help anymore. He tried tapping a little harder and sometimes the LCD would come on again, sometimes not. After about a month he brought the laptop to me to see if I could fix it. I found the cause was a known backlight/inverter problem for several models of Toshibas including his 1805 series. Toshiba had even extended the normal warranty to cover this problem. However, his "tapping" had damaged the ribbon cable on the edge of the LCD and now when the LCD would come on it had 4 or 5 horizontal lines running across the middle of the screen so Toshiba would not replace the LCD under warranty. Just my 2c on tapping based on personal experience.

[jerm3000]

I hear ya there. I have stopped messing with it too much . I am going to play it safe and buy a good used motherboard and swap it out. I also got some PCTIM material to replace the old used heat transfer pad between the spreader and the processor.

[freespace]

Thanks asharma,
your advice of changing boot sequence worked a treat with my presario with a like problem.

[aOneGirlArmy]

Now... when you say "tap"... I am assuming not to hit the thing... but I have "tapped" everywhere and nothing I do will fix this problem... I opened it up... everything looks fine.. I even had other people take a look and they said its all good...I am about to throw it at a wall... Does anyone else have any other solutions for a stubborn laptop like mine?

[BuggZ]

What is the problem you are having with your laptop? What model is it? I would need a little more information before I could even attempt to answer your question.

[linkco]

What is the problem you are having with your laptop? What model is it? I would need a little more information before I could even attempt to answer your question.

Hi, well the main problem is the presario 700 won't initiate, when you press the "on" button, the green light comes on, and thats it, no other thing happens, no post on LCD, nothing, so if theres any solution on this, let us know, i have tried changing the boot order, seems to get better but some times won't start, after several times of pressing the on button.

[shepherd]

I've posted my problem today (AS A NEW POST).
Changing this boot sequence, how can it work, cos all your doing is putting the drive (with bad connection) into a different part of the sequence or does the sequence complete when one of the drives boots up??

I like the sound of the CPU chip being loose. If this heat cover was not fitted would the chip just fall out of is it held in place by any other means??

Cheers.