Member Avatar for jim999

Hi i have an old Compaq Armada 1120 running win 95.

I know its old but its used just for word processing.
>
>I tried to install a larger hard drive but i got theis error:

304 Keyboard or system unit error.

I put the old hdd in but it was the same.

If i boot with floppy i can use keyboard in dos. Although it is slow.

If i remove hdd i only get the keyboard error.

I get two short beeps as well.

It seems to me that there is no power to the drive.

Sometime it also comes up with:
No system disk or disk error replace disk and strike any key.

There is NO floppy in when this happens

Help

Jim,

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Dani AI

Generated

A few focused checks will narrow this down without throwing parts at the problem. and have already flagged connection/board issues and the CMOS battery — if the battery swap doesn't fix it, try these next steps in order.

  • Confirm the drive itself: listen/feel for any spin/vibration on power-up. If nothing, try the drive in a USB-IDE adapter or another machine. If it runs there the drive is OK and the laptop is not powering or recognising it.
  • See whether the BIOS/Setup lists a disk. If the drive is not visible in Setup that points at power/connection or motherboard-level detection rather than Windows or filesystems.
  • Inspect the disk mounting and edge connector for bent pins, misalignment or a different thickness/adapter that could prevent a proper seat. Old laptops often need the drive to sit exactly right for contacts to meet.
  • Look for obvious board damage around the drive and keyboard connector areas: cracked solder, burnt traces, or leaking/bulging capacitors. Those indicate a board repair rather than a simple swap.
  • If confident with a meter, check the drive power rail at the laptop connector (2.5" laptop drives use the 5V rail). Take care to avoid shorting pins or touching the board with metal.

Practical alternatives if repair looks expensive: use a USB-IDE bridge or a CF-to-IDE adapter (compact flash cards act like IDE disks and are common fixes for older laptops). They let the machine run without relying on the original drive electronics.

If none of the above isolates it, the fault is likely on the system board or its controller and repair may not be cost-effective. Before any invasive work, back up anything salvageable from the drive using the external-adapter route.

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for jbennet

you probably pulled loose/broke the ribbon cable

Member Avatar for jim999

you probably pulled loose/broke the ribbon cable

What ribbon cable the one to the floopys fine and there isn't one to the hdd

jim

thanks anyway :)

Member Avatar for jbennet

Theres one from the motherboard to the keyboard usually

Member Avatar for jim999

ok i'll have a look


Do you think it could be the cmos battery as it is definatly dead.

jim

Member Avatar for jbennet

probably yes

Member Avatar for jermaghs07

Try replacing the cmos bats, If that doesn't work you might have disconected the PATA conectors for the HDD which would be bad because i think on alot of older laptops they are soldered directly to the board.

To be honest you probably spent more on the new HDD than the laptop is worth.

Member Avatar for jim999

Nah i was given the drive so it doesn't matter

I will try the battery though

Thanks

Jim

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