hp pavilion ze5200

[qis]

Hey everyone, this is my first post.
I expect it's a lost cause, but if anyone can shed any light or come up with any suggestions i'll be very greatful.

Oki, I found a laptop in the bin today.
I know, not an everyday occurence.

The Hdd(and i assume associated unit) has been removed, which suggests somoen broke their lappy, ripped out disk, and ditched it.

Anyway, it' visually in good nick, no cracks in screen or anything, ram still attached.

However, i've whacked a power supply from an old external disk into it.
Upon pressing the power button i get a couple of flashes then it switches off.
That is, the blue power light comes on for 2-4 seconds, the lightning symbol(faulty power?) flashes a few times, and the light above the speaker button/near the battery sometimes flashes amber. and then nothing.
If i dont have the battery inserted i get nothing at all, no flashes, nothing.

That's about all the testing i can think to do.
I've tried opening the case, but once i got all the screws out i couldn't figure out how to seperate the case, it seems to be attached towards the rear somehow...

I'm not very up on laptops but the things that occour to me as possibilities are:

the psu i am using is incompatable(but why do i get any lights at all when i press the power key)

the battery is toast- more than likely, but surely the thing should still do something unless...

the psu in the laptop is toast(again, how do i get lights if the psu is toast?)

the thing wont start without an hdd present(very doubtful)

something else.

Has anyone got any ideas what could be the problem, or any suggestions as to how i could go about diagnosing the fault?
Any suggestions wehre to go to find out how to open the case.

I'm reluctant to accept the thory that it's just broke, i'd like to know in what way it's broken.

Worst case, i'll strip it and use some of it's components in my via board.

I've got no money and loads of time on my hands, so i need a project anyhow.

any and all help appreciated

-chris

[Chaky]

Is there a Floppy drive?

I don't know Sony laptops very well, but I do know that HP laptops do not store BIOS settings in a FLASH ROM. Instead they use hard disc. So if that is the case then try obtaining a boot floppy disc for that particular model. And a hard disc too.

Anyway, MBO actually does work without CPU. POST part, that is.

[Chaky]

Anyway, if you see something in a thrash bin, it's there for a reason.

[qis]

Is there a Floppy drive?

I don't know Sony laptops very well, but I do know that HP laptops do not store BIOS settings in a FLASH ROM. Instead they use hard disc. So if that is the case then try obtaining a boot floppy disc for that particular model. And a hard disc too.

Anyway, MBO actually does work without CPU. POST part, that is.

It's not doing anything beyond flashing a couple of lights, so i dont think it's the bios, surely at least a fan should spin or something?

I expect it's got some kind of power issues.
I can't make sense of the fact that there's obviously some kind of power getting in.
It only does anything with the battery in and the ac addapter running.
That strikes me as strange, surely the battery shouldn't make any difference if it's getting power from the ac.
The ac should make no difference if it's getting power from the battery.
seems wierd.

i know it's in the trash for a reason, but as said, i've not got much else to do with my time after i complete my exams.

Any ideas how to open a pavilion laptop?

-Qis

[Chaky]

A dead battery could be a reason it's behaving like it is. Maybe the AC power is for recharging only and without (or dead) battery it just cann't operate.
Wuldn't be the first one.
Anyway, except for a memory stick, there isn't much to salvage. Everything is intergrated and parts that are not (CD drive, display ect.) is custom made for that model. (shape and stuff)

Unless you stumble on a exact model of sony laptop again...

[Chaky]

Usualy those things have some wierd shaped screws that need wierd shaped screwdriver to unscrew (say that 10 times fast).
If that's the case, you will have to go to the hardware store (not a pc-shop) and get the set of scrwedriver tips of all shapes and sizes.
Some of the screws may be covered with stickers. Some parts may be without screws whatsoever, but hooked on with those easy-to-break little plastic hooks.

And you can allways smash it open.

[Chaky]

I must be getting old.
It's HP isn't it?
It will never boot without hard disk.
Nor give any life signs because it has no bios settins and can not do post.
I imagine that someone's laptop battery died, and that someone, in his indefinite ignorance, threw away, otherwise working, laptop and ripped it's HD in process leaving an empty shell of a laptop....

[Chaky]

Update to my reply:
Replace HP with Compaq.
I apologise, for my memory chip is buggy.

[qis]

I must be getting old.
It's HP isn't it?
It will never boot without hard disk.
Nor give any life signs because it has no bios settins and can not do post.
I imagine that someone's laptop battery died, and that someone, in his indefinite ignorance, threw away, otherwise working, laptop and ripped it's HD in process leaving an empty shell of a laptop....

That's an interesting idea,

have you any idea how far the laptop wouldd get without a hdd? i.e should the fans spin or screen fire up anything?

I figured out how to open it. So at least i can salvage the cd frive for my via board if all else fails.

The power thing's really got me confused.
It's almost like the thing only works of the battery, and the battery's not holding any charge at all. so it only has a tiny charge to give to the system..
but that's probably completely wrong!

i'll have a look around and see if there's any way to slap bios settings onto a seperate hdd...

Thanks for the replies!
i'll post any other info i'm able to garner.

i'd call it a lost cause were it not for the amazing nick the actual case is in. the screws are all fresh, there's no fluff of any volume in the fans.