Compaq Presario C500, Won't POST, Blinking Power Light

[Anna Marchetti]

So I've got this old Compaq Presario C500 from a customer. I went to boot it, I can hear the fan come on, the hard drive sounds like it's spinning up, but nothing ever really starts. No BIOS beeps, nothing on the screen, it just never gets to POST. I've Googled around and one suggestion is a power issue, but I know that the cord and battery have been recently replaced on this unit. I've checked this also by removing the battery and trying to turn it on with just the charger plugged in to no avail.

I'm hoping the motherboard isn't fried but I'm trying to think what else it can be. At this point I've disassembled and put the laptop back together twice and there don't seem to be any loose connections. I've ever disconnected and re-connected the keyboard just to test if I can get any BIOS beeps at all.

Anyone have any ideas as to what might be up?

 

[Laptop_Nerd]

Hi,

Here are some other troubleshooting steps that may help in solving or identifying the issue.

- Start by doing a hard reboot, remove the battery and unplug the AC adapter then press and hold the power button for 20 seconds then see if it would boot up normally.
- If these doesn't work, do check the AC adapter if it's supplying enough voltage or try another AC adapter that has the same voltage and see if it will boot up normally.
- Do also try to boot the laptop without its battery and see if it would work.
- Next is to reseat the RAM if using a different AC adapter will not work. Remove them all for couple of seconds then put them back in making sure everything is seated properly.
- Another step you may want to try to check if the LCD is okay or not is to connect an external monitor and see if you'll get any display from it.
- And if all these will not work the problem lies inside the motherboard itself.

 

[Anna Marchetti]

I tried all of these previously, as they are all good ideas. I also disassembled and reassembled it one more time this morning, and now it comes on.

Bleepin' computers, ammirite? Thanks very much though for the advice!