Old laptop refusing to boot.. Help~~

[theplanb]

Hi.
A friend of mine brought an old laptop saying it's not booting.
It's.. MegaImage brand and the model is Megabook 911

When I first turn it on, here are the following messages before it refuses to go on.

Phoenix NoteBIOS Version 4.05 04 I
Copyright 1985-1996 Phonex Technologies Ltd., All rights reserved


CPU = Pentium 150 MHz
0000640k System RAM Passed
0031744K Extended RAM Passed
System BIOS shadowed
Video BIOS shadowed
UMB upper limit segment address: F239
System CMOS checksum bad - run SETUP
System Configuration Data Read Error

Press <F1> to resume, <F2> to setup _


I tried F1 and F2 and it's no go. Indeed, I tried all the buttons I can press but it wouldn't budge from that screen. I can still hear the fan noise so I don't think that's the problem.

I tried F8, F10, or F12 while it's still checking memories to see if I can get into bios setup before the error message appears but it's no go.

I'm suspecting the CMOS battery might be dead given its age although I don't know if this is the usual sign.

Can somebody help me on this plz???~~

 

[johnjkr1]

Even if the CMOS battery were dead, it should let you go into bios. The first thing to do is disconnect everything you can and see if you can get into the bios (remove hard drive, all but one mem stick, battery, external devices, pcmcia cards, etc). Alot of the time lockups such as these are a loose or dead accessory (hard drive, etc)

 

[jlr69t]

Well it's pretty bad when you barley get through the bios info and sys test section. Sorry to say but with a lap top that old there can be a lot of things wrong with it, I guess the best place to start will be replacing the cmos battery.

Can you get far enough to enter the bios?

Who makes the Megabook 911 or is that its name?

 

[lobadobadingdong]

System CMOS checksum bad - run SETUP
System Configuration Data Read Error

this can sometimes be a bad sign, and usually is either an indication that you need to clear and configure the bios, or that the bios chip itself is toast.

 

[redbeard1]

DO you get any keyboard response? Try an external keyboard and see if that works.

 

[theplanb]

I've taken out the floppy cd-rom and extra memory stick and battery, but didn't make a difference.
The MegaImage is a Korean brand name but I can't seem to find its website
no keyboard response but I don't get keyboard error.
Let me try extnal keyboard and see what happens..

The thing is I don't know how to replace cmos battery or take out HDD.. I might have to do some screw driver job which I don't really feel comfortable with.

Is there a generic way of clearing CMOS without fiddling with the jumpers? (not sure if it has one)

Thanks guys! and redbeard
It was the keyboard....

After I plug in the keyboard I could go into the bios setup where the configuration was set to default (I think it automatically did it after the cecksum bad error)

Now it works like a charm

Thanks again.