wont boot

[Dane J. Graham]

i have a laptop from work that i was asked to look at. when i start it, it only gets to the point where it ways '32768 KB OK'. it will not boot past this. anyone know what the problem might be, or anything i can try to see what is wrong?

[Golden Screwdriver]

You didn't mention a brand name. I think that you have an error in your BIOS. Can you get into "SETUP?"

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Greetings from
Del Rio, Texas

[Paleo Pete]

No error messages or beep codes? More info would be helpful. Could be bad memory, and memory test above 1MB turned off in BIOS...no telling without some more info.
Could also be a heat problem, BIOS setting, CPU failure...
Please post machine type, components, any error messages or beeps. Maybe we can offer better advise.



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How come the gene pool has no lifeguard?

[Dane J. Graham]

it is a compaq armada 4100 line. i dont know what memery or what speed because i cannot boot. i cannot get into bios, unless i am doing something wrong. there are no beeps and no error messages. when i turn on the power, it shows a number in the upper left continually rising to 32768 KB and then it stops. nothing else happens.

[jevans]

What kind of devices do you have attached? ie. Modem?, sound card?, net card?, #of HD?, CDROM? Have you tried booting with a boot disk?
Try disconecting all unnessisary devices like the modem, sound card and net card if they exist. This will eliminate any device conflics.
Have you tried replacing the memory? (I do not think this is the problem, because it seems to be getting through the memmory test, 32768KB = 32MB)Testing different memory would rule this out.

[Dane J. Graham]

this laptop is set up to run on our network. however, right now there are no network cards, modems, or even a cdrom drive installed. i took the floppy drive out and booted it, but the same thing happened. a co-worker said he tried a boot disk, but maybe i should try again. i am about to open it up and see if i can find anything, but i doubt it. im thinking it might be dead. anyone have any suggestions on what to try?

[Dane J. Graham]

i dont think anything shorted out with this, although i am going to track down who was using it lately. it could be the power supply, i am going to open it up and look at it. it doesnt make any sound. i think something is not connected right inside. its just that these damn laptops are so hard to open up. if there are any more suggestions, feel free to give them. thank you

[Dane J. Graham]

it wouldnt be the internal battery, would it?

[PCSolutions]

It appears to be hanging on the hard drive detection
Check the hard drive parameters in the BIOS
Press Delete during boot = AMI, Award BIOS
Press Esc during boot = Toshiba
Press F1 during boot = Toshiba; Phoenix; Late model PS/1 Value Point and 330s
Press F10 when cursor junps to top right-hand corner of screen = Compaq
Press F10 when logo screen is displayed = Compaq
Press F2 during boot = NEC
Press Insert during boot = IBM PS/2 with reference partition
Press Tab during boot = Emachine
Press reset button twice = some Dells
Ctrl Alt + = Misc computers
Ctrl Alt ? = Some PS/2s, such as 75 and 90
Ctrl Alt Enter = Dell
Ctrl Alt Esc = AST Advantage, Award, Tandon
Ctrl Alt Ins = Zenith, Phoenix
Ctrl Alt S = Phoenix
Ctrl Alt Shift + Num Pad Del = Olivetti PC Pro
Ctrl Esc = Misc computers
Ctrl Ins = some PS/2s when pointer at top right of screen
Ctrl S = Phoenix
(credit to Vern)

can you boot to a floppy?

[Dane J. Graham]

i could never get into the bios. boot never went that far. i tried everything i could think of and even broke the thing completely apart to check connections. after talking to the compaq tech support (after waiting 1/2 hour) we figured out the motherboard is probably done for. oh well, i cant think of anything else to do. maybe ill smash it with a bat, like in the movie 'Office Space'.