Boot Issue - Compaq Presario 4540

Hello All,

I am hoping that someone out there has experienced the following
problem. I maintain a handfull of Compaq Presario 4540's at my place
of employment. I've had 2 of them completely crap out on me in the
same way. They will not boot at all, even to a floppy. Additionally,
you cannot access the setup configuration (CMOS settings)... It
appears that the on-board video is not working, as there is no display
what-so-ever. The monitor light never turns green. When they are
powered on, the CD-ROM and hard drive are temporarily accessed, but
that is the end of it. I've tried removing cards (modem, NIC, etc...)
to narrow down the possibilities. Also, I've tried a known-good video
card. No luck, however. Thank you, in advance, for any commentary on
this annoying problem!

On 20 Oct 2003 08:19:22 -0700, cmatt (AT) ancillae (DOT) org (Geek4Hire) wrote:

These symptoms could be caused by a number of things. The first thing
to check is the RAM: try different modules and be sure the contacts
are clean and the module is fully seated. Also unplug all of the
drives as a bad drive/cable can sometimes hang the boot process.
Failing power supplies can also produce these symptoms, as can bad
CPUs (overheated due to dust clogging fans, heatsink and case
ventilation) and main boards.
- -
Gary L.
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