Great Mystery Compaq Presario 1200XL Laptop

[Brad]

Hi,

I have a Compaq Presario 1200XL laptop computer that one day,
would not power up. I tried another power supply, replaced a dead
RTC/cmos battery, etc. I removed the RTC battery, main battery, and put it
away. A month later, I decided to try it again. It powered up!
Everything seemed just fine, but it only lasted for a couple days before it
happened again. Again, I put it away. A month or so later, it powered
up and again everything seemed just fine. I downloaded ROM Paq
SP15611 and I "flashed" the bios. About a day and 1/2 later, the
laptop "died". Now it won't boot up. Again after a long rest period,
it came back to "life", but for how long? Note: It won't power up
after a week's "rest", but it will power up after a longer rest such as a
month!

Did anyone have the same experience with this or similar model laptop?

Thanks in advance, Brad

Before you type your password, credit card number, etc.,
be sure there is no active keystroke logger (spyware) in your PC.

 

[Ken]

Hi,

I have a Compaq Presario 1200XL laptop computer that one day,
would not power up. I tried another power supply, replaced a dead
RTC/cmos battery, etc. I removed the RTC battery, main battery, and put it
away. A month later, I decided to try it again. It powered up!
Everything seemed just fine, but it only lasted for a couple days before it
happened again. Again, I put it away. A month or so later, it powered
up and again everything seemed just fine. I downloaded ROM Paq
SP15611 and I "flashed" the bios. About a day and 1/2 later, the
laptop "died". Now it won't boot up. Again after a long rest period,
it came back to "life", but for how long? Note: It won't power up
after a week's "rest", but it will power up after a longer rest such as a
month!

Did anyone have the same experience with this or similar model laptop?

Thanks in advance, Brad

Before you type your password, credit card number, etc.,
be sure there is no active keystroke logger (spyware) in your PC.

By not booting up I assume you mean there is no text of any kind on the
display? Or do you mean it does not reach the operating system?

If it were my computer the first thing I would do is clean the contacts
of the RAM. It sounds a lot like a bad connection and the RAM is
essential to it booting to even a bios screen for most computers.

 

[David Nebenzahl]

If it were my computer the first thing I would do is clean the
contacts of the RAM. It sounds a lot like a bad connection and the
RAM is essential to it booting to even a bios screen for most
computers.

True, but it's hard to see how that would explain the bizarre behavior
the O.P. reported (what, do the memory chips magically unseat
themselves, then reseat themselves in the interval?).


--
Made From Pears: Pretty good chance that the product is at least
mostly pears.
Made With Pears: Pretty good chance that pears will be detectable in
the product.
Contains Pears: One pear seed per multiple tons of product.

(with apologies to Dorothy L. Sayers)

 

[Ken]

True, but it's hard to see how that would explain the bizarre behavior
the O.P. reported (what, do the memory chips magically unseat
themselves, then reseat themselves in the interval?).

I assume your question is sincere: Any contact is subject to
interruption, even those using gold to prevent corrosion. Temperature
changes often are enough to move such contacts and provide an
intermittent contact. It really is not magic at all.

I cannot say definitively that this is his problem, but that is one
area I would eliminate before suspecting others. It would also be nice
to have an explanation of exactly what is happening with respect to his
failure to boot.

 

[PeterD]

True, but it's hard to see how that would explain the bizarre behavior
the O.P. reported (what, do the memory chips magically unseat
themselves, then reseat themselves in the interval?).

Easy to explain: the notebook has a (large) capacitor that is across
the backup battery so that when that battery is replaced, the settings
are not lost. He removes the backup battery, then in the (couple of
weeks) time the capacitor finally discharges and the configuration
settings are lost, and the computer can reboot.

Many of these (not all!) have a jumper somewhere that will short that
capacitor to give the same effect.

Above reply does make assumptions as to what teh OP is doing, however.
<g>

 

[David Nebenzahl]

Easy to explain: the notebook has a (large) capacitor that is across
the backup battery so that when that battery is replaced, the settings
are not lost. He removes the backup battery, then in the (couple of
weeks) time the capacitor finally discharges and the configuration
settings are lost, and the computer can reboot.

I don't get it; how would the settings not being lost lead to the
computer not being bootable? This would seem to defeat the whole purpose
of nonvolatile configuration settings, unless I'm missing something
obvious in your reply.


--
Made From Pears: Pretty good chance that the product is at least
mostly pears.
Made With Pears: Pretty good chance that pears will be detectable in
the product.
Contains Pears: One pear seed per multiple tons of product.

(with apologies to Dorothy L. Sayers)

 

[PeterD]

I don't get it; how would the settings not being lost lead to the
computer not being bootable? This would seem to defeat the whole purpose
of nonvolatile configuration settings, unless I'm missing something
obvious in your reply.

Corrupted hard drive data... I've seen it happen where it would only
boot if the computer NVRAM data was set to factory specs (telling the
BIOS to find out what the drive is). Very rare... But then again, the
OP's problem seems a bit unusual, too! <g>