Advent laptop not booting

elvch01

Hi,
a friend has given me their Advent 7116 laptop to look at because it is not booting at all. The symptoms are as follows:

It powers-on and displays an Intel logo "splash screen" with

<F2> BIOS Setup / <F12> Boot Menu / <TAB> Skip boot logo

at the bottom of the screen.

My problem is that it simply sits there and does not respond to <F2>, <F12> or <TAB> so I can't even consider booting from a CD/DVD. The keyboard itself appears to be functional (at least in-part) because the scroll-lock and num-lock keys cause the appropriate LED to light/extinguish when pushed. I can also hit <CTRL><ALT><DEL> and the laptop resets itself

I am puzzled - can anybody suggest what I might be able to do to ressurect the machine? There is nothing of worth on the hard-drive and in any case, I can always take the drive out and back it up on another server. Reinstalling a new operating system is an option - but if I can't even get the machine to go into BIOS setup and it does not want to boot, then I'm stuck

busenbust

Stuck, and not just the keyboard :rotfl:

My problem is that it simply sits there and does not respond to <F2>, <F12> or <TAB> so I can't even consider booting from a CD/DVD.

Have you actually tried booting from a CD because sometimes (provided the Bios settings have been cdrom-enabled) the machine will simply just auto-detect - according to what I said in parenthesis.

elvch01

busenbust wrote: »

Stuck, and not just the keyboard :rotfl:

Thanks for that insighful and helpful post :rotfl: but since I can press ctrl-alt-del I'm not sure itsjust the keyboard. I think I will try an external USB keyboard when I an borrow one

Now does anybody have any sensible suggestions?

busenbust

elvch01 wrote: »

Thanks for that insighful and helpful post :rotfl: but since I can press ctrl-alt-del I'm not sure itsjust the keyboard. I think I will try an external USB keyboard when I an borrow one

Now does anybody have any sensible suggestions?

busenbust wrote:

Have you actually tried booting from a CD because sometimes (provided the Bios settings have been cdrom-enabled) the machine will simply just auto-detect - according to what I said in parenthesis.

Actually, given that no one responded to your post, I did include the above...but anyhow, best of luck Mr Sensible :rolleyes:

elvch01

busenbust wrote: »

Stuck, and not just the keyboard :rotfl:



Have you actually tried booting from a CD because sometimes (provided the Bios settings have been cdrom-enabled) the machine will simply just auto-detect - according to what I said in parenthesis.

Yes I have - I have put in a windows 7 boot DVD and it doesn't even attempt to boot. I have verified the DVD is ok by booting from it on another laptop

busenbust

Also, and I realize this might be a long shot, if you do have access to another machine - and sounds like you do - you could try downloading a boot Linux install and then transfer that install (it will probably be an .iso image) to a usb stick, and then try booting up with that.

elvch01

busenbust wrote: »

Also, and I realize this might be a long shot, if you do have access to another machine - and sounds like you do - you could try downloading a boot Linux install and then transfer that install (it will probably be an .iso image) to a usb stick, and then try booting up with that.

a long shot, but worth a go - I think I've got an old USB DVD drive somewhere too (proably at the bottom of my pile of bits & bobs)

busenbust

elvch01 wrote: »

a long shot, but worth a go - I think I've got an old USB DVD drive somewhere too (proably at the bottom of my pile of bits & bobs)

I must admit, it's a difficult one. Looks like you have undertaken the sensible options. I like the idea of trying an external usb/ps2 keyboard. Hope you get it sorted asap

andy2004

How old is the laptop ??, could it possibly be the CMOS battery at fault. cr2025 or something along those lines.
Also I would remove the cover to the hard drive and check to make sure its connected, is its PATA shouldnt be a problem, but SATA likes the drivers installed before it boots up.
whilst your at it, check the memory connections.

elvch01

Well its sorted now I think. I removed all the casing I could and found quite a lot of dust which I blew out with compressed air. I took out the hard disk (SATA) to analyse on another server and this allowed me to get to the BIOS & the boot menu So a new hard disk was probably going to be the answer, but I reformatted & re-partitioned the original disk on a new server & then reassembled everything & installed Windows7. It wouldn't surprise me if the machine actually needs a new hard disk soon, but it appears to be OK for the moment

busenbust

elvch01 wrote: »

Well its sorted now I think. I removed all the casing I could and found quite a lot of dust which I blew out with compressed air. I took out the hard disk (SATA) to analyse on another server and this allowed me to get to the BIOS & the boot menu So a new hard disk was probably going to be the answer, but I reformatted & re-partitioned the original disk on a new server & then reassembled everything & installed Windows7. It wouldn't surprise me if the machine actually needs a new hard disk soon, but it appears to be OK for the moment

Well done for persevering! :T Glad you got it sorted