Re:

[John]

RalfBo, welcome to Poasters Forums. From what you poasted it sounds like a bad hard drive to me. Do you know what make and model hard drive is installed in the notebook. If you find out, most likely that company will have software to detect and repair hard drive problems. If it is possible to boot up I would clear all temp files, all cache files, turn off any programs that are not necessary and run Scandisk and Defragmentation utiity. Does this happen with the battery only or when it is connected via the AC/adapter.



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John

[RalfBo]

Hi John,



Sorry for the delay in getting back with more information. The hard drive is a Toshiba MK6014MAP  6GB hard drive. I tried cleaning the disk and running scan disk which did not solve the problem. The problem is a lot worse when I am on battery power.



Where do I find software to detect and repair hard drive problems?



Ralf



 

[RalfBo]

Hi,



I still have the same boot up problems. I am not able to find any software to check my hard drive, but I was able to confirm that my battery was not part of any recall. I did install a BIOS upgrade(30W0107A.rom) which changed things slightly. Initially the computer would try to spin up the hard drive two times and if it did not boot it would just stop. Now the computer tries as long as it takes to start the machines (it can still be over 10 times). Does anyone have any other suggestions for what to do?



Ralf



 

[John]

RalfBo, if you have a startup disk or boot disk put it in the floppy drive and see if the system starts up fast to read the disk. Then let us know.





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John

[RalfBo]

John, I tried starting the system with a bootable floppy disk and there was no change to the problem. When it is attempting to start up it does not even make it to the place where I can enter the BIOS, it simply displays a black screen. I think it might be something that happens before it reads any disk information.

Ralf



Edited by - ralfbo on Jun 05 2002  09:23:39 AM

[John]

RalfBo, if you can get the system started run an up to date AntiVirus program. In particular looking for a Boot sector virus. Other than that I'm going to have to do some serious thinking on this one.



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John

[John]

Ralfbo, can you get to an A prompt. If you can let me know. Also if you can manage to get online you can go here to check your computer for a Virus free.

AntiVirus.





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John



Edited by - John on Jun 05 2002  10:57:02 AM

[RalfBo]

Thanks for your help, I am currently running an up to date version of McAfee virus software that is loaded at start up when I use the computer. I have not done a complete virus scan of the computer for some time and I will pay particular attention to the boot sector. I will do this scan tonight and let you know what the result is. I have had this virus software installed since I purchased the computer and so I expect if it did it's job that there should not be any viruses on the machine.



Ralf



NOTE: About the A:> prompt - I am able to boot up after sometimes two tries or up to 20 or 30 tries. While it is attempting to boot up the screen is black the floppy does not even try to boot.



Edited by - ralfbo on Jun 05 2002  11:20:09 AM

[John]

Ralfbo, I should have had you try this earlier but see if you can boot into safe mode. If so run Scandisk and Defrag from there.



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John

[RalfBo]

Hi John,  I can boot into safe mode, I can also boot the computer normally to Win98. Once the system comes up, everything operates normally and I have access to the internet and my applications all run. The problem lies somewhere before the boot action, before it counts the RAM and detects the computers hardware. I don't think that as the computer is cycling its power trying to boot up anything at all is read from the hard drive. Possibly it relates to the BIOS, but I suspect it is strictly a hardware problem or a power problem. At least on a desktop machine I get error messages showing up on the screen even if I remove the hard drive. On this lap top it just keeps cycling the power with a blank screen until it actually boots. As soon as I have the BIOS logo on the screen the boot process continues without any hic-ups. This problem seems to me more like someone trying to start a car but there is not enough power in the battery to turn over the crankshaft (this may not be a good analogy).

[John]

Ralfbo, a couple of last things you can try is to reset the MBR. Or try a low level format of the hard disk and reinstall Windows. I also have provided a link to a very useful site Computerhope that I have used from time to time. You might also keep visiting this site in hopes someone else has more ideas or information than I. My last resort would be to replace the hard drive or contact a repair facility. In either case let me know I will continue to help.



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John

[dcsun]

John,



I've searched for quite some time, but I wasn't able to find a utility for Toshiba hard drives.  I found this page: http://www.toshiba.com/taissdd/techdocs/MK6014/6014index.shtml which contains detailed specs and instructions for the drive, but no software.  Perhaps the full version of OnTrack's DiskManager (http://www.ontrack.com/diskmanager/) would do the trick.  A call to Toshiba's Storage Devices Division ((949) 583-3000) 7AM-5PM PST) may also provide more information.





David



==============================

 David W. Cook

 Chairman & C.E.O.

 DCSun Internet Technologies

 http://www.dcsun.com" target="_blank">http://www.dcsun.com

==============================



Edited by - dcsun on Jun 05 2002  6:49:18 PM

[John]

dcsun, David I found all of that early on. I didn't know if that would contribute to correcting the issue that RalfBo currently finds himself in with his Quantex (Compal) N30W notebook. However we are working on resolving his issue just doing it with caution.



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John

[dcsun]

I'm not sure if it's been suggested already, but Compal's website has a bios update that addresses many problems, including this: "System warm boot fail under AC mode".  It sounds like the problem that's being experienced.  The readme for the bios update is here: http://www.compal.com/Download/NB/30W%20Series/30W%20BIOS/30w0rela.txt , and the bios update is here: http://www.compal.com/Download/NB/30W%20Series/30W%20BIOS/30w0107a.rom





David



==============================

 David W. Cook

 Chairman & C.E.O.

 DCSun Internet Technologies

 http://www.dcsun.com" target="_blank">http://www.dcsun.com

==============================



Edited by - dcsun on Jun 05 2002  7:43:47 PM

[RalfBo]

Hi, I just found another interesting story similar to mine on the portablecomputer.com web site (this is the site that actually linked me to your Forum). Swiss writes about a power supply problem with N30W at this address: http://www.portablecomputer.com under support, interactive solution, support forum, general laptop support. Unfortunately I don't have my laptop with me at work so I have to try these things in the evenings. I do want to try and reseat and clean the contacts on the RAM and the CPU. I have learned quite a bit already and want to thank you for your support through this Poasters Forum. I will keep you up to date on what happenes to my system.



Thanks for the links to the BIOS upgrade - 30W0107a.rom I will try and upgrade the BIOS as well.



 

[RalfBo]

Hi, I tried the BIOS upgrade without any change to the problem. As well I tried reseating the RAM without success. There is only on RAM chip so I was not able to test for a bad chip. I wanted to also reseat the CPU but to be honest I have no idea where I could get access to it on the Laptop. How and where do I open the Laptop to do this?

Ralf



 

[John]

RalfBo, you might try starting the computer enter into the BIOS and see if there is an Anti Virus program that can be disabled. This might be keeping you from starting normally also. Then as I suggested if it does start normally do a low level format and fdisk, and reinstall windows.



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John

[RalfBo]

I have had problems with my Quantex N30W system for quite some time now, almost without fail the notebook will not boot up on the first attempt. Here is the sequence: With the power off I press the power button - the green light comes on and you can hear the hard drive spin up. After a few seconds there is something like a click sound, the hard drive stops (goes quiet) and the left green light goes off. A few seconds later the light comes on again and sometimes the Quiet Boot screen appears. Other times the computer just quits on the second try with the green light on and the display black (not so much as a flicker). I then hold down the power button until the power shuts off and repeat the procedure. Sometimes it will take 15 tries before the computer boots up. Once it is running I don't have any difficulties at all. Originally Quantex had replaced the hard drive in an attempt to fix the problem, but this did not help. The system was purchased in January of 2000.



I have also seen a note on battery replacements for this model, and I have to check if my computer might be affected. I am not sure that this is the issue as The problem also seems to occur when I have the AC adapter plugged in.



Any help would be much appreciated.