Need help diagnosing a problem with an old Compaq laptop

[Salvador]

Hi,

I don't know where to post this exactly, so please forgive me if I'm in the wrong place.

Anyway.. I have this old Compaq LTE Elite C/50 CX that I bought about 5 years ago from my work. It's in perfect shape and still works great as a photo dump for my digital photos. I hadn't fired it up in 6 months though and when I went to start it up, it started going through the memory count and when I looked down at it the next time, it was dead. I tried a different outlet to see if it was trying to start off of a dead battery because it was plugged into the a switched outlet and still nothing.

Now.. I don't think it's the hard drive because it's not even powering on. The battery charge light does come on, so I don't know if that has anything to do with the power supply or not. I would think that it would be the switch or something, but it turned on the first time I went to fire it up.

I hastily took the thing apart last night (at 1 am -- big mistake!) to see if I could see anything and when I was plugging the LCD screen back on the motherboard via a little ribbon cable, I cracked this metal thing that surrounded the cable. I wonder if this is critical or not? I hope it wasn't a ground or anything.

Anyway.. I don't know where to start with a laptop. I know that this is an outdated old machine, but it has absolutely every option (docking station, etc) and works perfect for what I use it for. If anyone could help me out here, it would be most appreciated!

TIA,

Sal

 

[Darkcirc]

It sounds like your battery died, compaq armada's are notorious in my mind for spontaneous battery death. Try it without the battery in, and then with the batter and without the wall adapter. If all esle fails contact ambit on these forums, he might be able to get you a replacement. beloved patriot luck. Oh and remember to do the dance that drains the capacitors, as compaqs also like to get 'stuck' with the capacitors charged in a half boot type scenerio.
dc

 

[Salvador]

The battery that I keep in the laptop is dead, but it never has been a problem. I have a good battery, but I keep that one in the fridge for when I need it.

BTW.. Someone just suggested that it might be the CMOS battery. That makes sense because I know that it's never been changed and this thing is about 6 or 7 years old.

Does this sound like the problem to you?

Oh and remember to do the dance that drains the capacitors, as compaqs also like to get 'stuck' with the capacitors charged in a half boot type scenerio.

What would that be exactly? I know to hit the power switch on a desktop ps without it being plugged in, but what do you do with a laptop ps?

Also.. I was plugging in the ribbon cable from the LCD late last night and there is a little metal clip that surrounds the cable further up the cable from where it plugs in. I broke this off trying to get the connector back in before I realized that you have to lift the clip on the motherboard before you insert the cable. Do you think that this clip is anything more than a grip or something for the cable? I'm hoping that it isn't some sort of grounding device or something.

Thanks again. I'm off to check the CMOS battery.

Sal

 

[Darkcirc]

Most of the CMOS batteries in Armada's I've used are LiON, so they are recharged with the machine. That being said they can still die (have yet to see it). The dance my friend is to hold down both power buttons and the lid closed detefctor, if you are missing a power button (might be) and/or the lid I have no idea. I would say give a call to compaq, they still support my Proliant 5k they just won't send parts out free. Compaqs biz support is generally pretty good. They'll also explain the magical dance. As far as the metal clip, its prolly just a ground or retainer of some sort, they have lots of superflous bits and pieces in them. In fact at my old job we supported over 300 Armada's from your series to M700s and my predecessor Swore up and down if you didn't have pieces (whole or not) left over when you were done fixing it. Cheers
dc

 

[Salvador]

Hi. Thanks again for your reply. I'm still not sure what you are telling me with this "dance"? Hold down both power buttons? Do you mean the slider button to turn it on and the resume button? What's this with the lid? How would you turn it on with the lid shut? I'm confused.

The battery in this thing is a Nicad. It looks like a half of a Slim Jim with a little tail connector. I think it might be dead because it started to boot and just died like it usually does when I don't have it plugged in correctly and the battery is dead. The service manual says that this battery can get critically low if it sits more than 90 days and it certainly has sat that long or longer. I tried plugging it in though for about 6 hours and still no go, so I wonder if I killed the battery by trying to boot the laptop before letting it charge?

The problem is that I think a new auxiliary battery costs $20-$30 and I'd hate to spend that money on this laptop, especially if it's not the problem. Do you know of any place that sells these type of batteries on a trial basis? Do you know of any sources for cheap Compaq replacement batteries? Too bad that this thing is proprietary. I'd love to be able to pick up a watch battery at Home Depot for $5 and try it to see if this is the problem.

I figured that the metal clip probably was just to support the cable because it's very flimsy and hard to handle to get into the little slot. I found the ground strap and where to plug that in as well. I'm set there, all I have to do is figure out how to get this thing to power on.

I'll probably give Compaq a call to see if they support this thing. I remember them being very good about support, but that was nearly 4 years ago now.

Thanks again.

Sal