44 replies to this topic

[Liqid]

ok something tells me this isnt going to help much but here is what happened today i grabbed my Windows XP HOME EIDITION cd and placed it into the drive. went into settings and changed the boot order to load CD first when it tried to start up from the CD i got this message on my screen " L18151 of the INF file \i386\txtsetup.sif is invalid " Setup can not continue Press any key to continue Pressing the key lets it loop back into trying to load from the HDD thats all i have for now..... ill be waiting. thanks guys

[Ztruker]

One long and two short beeps almost always indicates a video card/chipset problem. The beeps occur before you get anywhere near booting, right?

What is the make and model of the laptop? You can check on the manufacturers website and see if there is a BIOS update. Perhaps flashing the BIOS will make it work again, but it's unlikely.

I would recommend having this moved to our Hardware Forum. Maybe the hardware types will have some ideas but from my experience you are looking at replacing the mother board.

[Liqid]

i wouldnt know how to flash the BIOS
never did it and never heard of it

odd that i would have to opt for changing the mother board though because ( as stated above )
this laptop was always kept in a prime storage location
never abused and honsely....... VERY hardly used. Its still very VERY young in its life expectancy.

I can probably count how many hours its been in operation. Even though she bought it about 3-4 years ago,
its probably been used the equivelant of someone who purchased one say around several months ago. Not even close to a year.

Make a model.. think i posted that above or i posted it on another help forum
here it is

HP Pavilion dv5000... fully loaded

i did some research and according to their PDF , users manual ( i mean the full one, not that chinsy little booklet you get at the store which is only good as a coaster )

[Ztruker]

You didn't finish your last sentence. I also looked at their Maintenance and Diag manual and did not find anything that applied. Ditto for Users Guide. I still think our hardware forum would be a better place to work on this problem. One of the moderators could move it there is you'd like. Let me know and I'll have it done for you.

[Liqid]

yea lets move it to hardware actually the last line i was going to say applies to what i found to be the cause of the beeps anyway in the begining i was under the impression that the beeps meant Display adapter problem (MDA, CGA) which is the title of this thread lol

[8210GUY]

I see you have been through the wringer there lol, you've obviously tried a lot of things, I have read through the thread but apologies if I touch on areas already touched, but what I find when something is being so awkward is to go back to basics, and try and check whats going on with the components trying to eliminate them as we go, unfortunately there are no real tests for the board, so many times the board is a desperate leap of faith with no guarantees, and of course being a laptop makes it much harder to swap things about, but although usage\storage\handling is a factor, it doesn't mean you can't get the odd throw back. First questions are what is the exact model of the system ? they have many variations listed under that product range, and next is what make is your bios ? if you watch the screen as it first starts to boot, the 1st line is usually the make, your looking for say Award, AMI etc, then we can see what the error beeps are saying. I can see why the guy's have suggested a bios update, it may be a way to go, but we will know more once I can get my head round this better, once I can check the bios makers codes we may try provoking reactions by removing the ram, but lets get this info first so I can look deeper.

[Liqid]

exact model of the system
well thats all i can really say. The only way i can currently get the make and model isby looking at the chassis of the unit
its a HP Pavilion dv5000
i really dont know where else to look for the rest of the info

what page are you looking at to see model types? Maybe i can help narrow it down.

as for the BIOS version... im not totaly sure but i dont think it tells me anything other then the screen of
Press F10 for ...
Press F*something* for .....


otherwise i can get past that screen

If i went into SETUP..... would i see the BIOS version in there?

[8210GUY]

Here is the page, it has a few models listed lol, but with this page, and looking at the sticker(s) on the back you will hopefully identify the exact one.
As to identifying the bios, most systems put up the first line of text which states who the maker is, if your not seeing that then maybe entering the bios will give such info, but TBH I can't recall ever seeing anything like that, but then I've never really looked either, so can't hurt to try I guess.

[Liqid]

hoestly im starting to hate this little machine
it cant get any info about its exact model at all


Im looking at the website linked above.
Im guessing its a tossup between
HP Pavilion dv5000ea Notebook PC
and
HP Pavilion dv5000 CTO Notebook PC

but the only reaon i say that is because the unit itself tells me NOTHING... well nothing more then
HO Pavillion dv5000
no other extending information

im looking at the BIOS screen now
this is what i see on main:

System Time:
System Date:

Notebook Model: Pavilion dv5000 (ET818UA#ABA)
System Board ID: 30A4

Processor Type: AMD Turion™ 64
Processor Speed: 2000MHz
System Memory: 2048 MB

BIOS Version: F.33
KBC Version: 49.38

Serial Number ( no need to publish this)
UUID Number ( no need here either...)


THen when i goto the ADVANCED TAB

Video Graphic Mode = Sideport ***Here i have a choice of UMA+ SIDEPORT but since im not using an external monitor, i think its supposed to be SIDEPORT***

Other then this information. theres nothing else really to speak of related to model numbers and such

now im more stumped then the previous message

[Liqid]

sorry i forgot to answer one more thing the BIOS are PhoenixBIOS version F.33

[Liqid]

ok here is the update
i found the model on the HO website finally

i had to do a search for the numbers
ET818UA

the model it pertains to is this one
HP Pavilion dv5000ea Notebook PC
http://h10025.www1.h...t...ng=en&cc=us

going through the trouble links right now
if anyone has an idea on the next step let me know

[8210GUY]

Great stuff, now we can try and figure out whats up, now according the the 1 long beep and 2 short beeps you say happens, that code is for a checksum error apparently, and it suggests a new motherboard may be the solution, so given all the testing you have done with the others, it sounds like this is your problem, but different makers use different codes, hence my asking which bios yours was to confirm.

Now don't immediately panic, lets just check and try a couple of things first, lets try the simple one, enter the CMOS settings, and check that your date and time are correctly set, if they are wrong you need a new CMOS battery, that little thing can throw some real curve balls at you when it plays up, so check those details, including the year, should it be this then looking at the manual it's a simple case of undoing a few screws to remove a panel, lift a card which appears to be stuck with double sided tape as best I can see, then you should see it, it's the same panel for the ram to start with, the pic is on chapter 5.8 RTC Battery of the Maintenance and Service Guide
.
Next if your feeling brave (assuming the above didn't help), then a bios update can't hurt, F.54 appears to be the latest going by the link you gave above (in the downloads section), as your not getting anywhere currently it would be hard to make things worse, should none of this help I fear it's time to take it to a shop who has more specialised equipment to replace the board, I hope it doesn't come to that, but given all the things tried I can't see any other easy choices, hope something here helps anyway.

[Liqid]

just to be clear in my understanding when you say enter the CMOS thats the BIOS setttings area isnt it? Thats where i can set the machine to test its HDD, sent a password for startup, looks like a DOS screen with a blue background color. In this area usualy pressing F10 means SAVE SETTINGS AND EXIT if thats the case then in the next few minutes ill start it up, enter that area ( F10 ) and check the date time year seconds milliseconds, minuscule seconds, titanium seconds, infinitesimal seconds ... ok i went too far... sorry Ill go there and verify the time As for doing a BIOS update (incase the first part doesnt work ) i saw that on the other website but its something i need to download..... since i cant get this machine tin any usable form right now how would i download INTO this machine? As far as i can tell.... it doesnt even recognize anything attached to it. Would it be as simple as buring it to a CD, set the machine to boot from the CD/DVD drive stick the CD in there and restart the machine?... id hope so... but again, its not a sure fire and i know that, and its ONLY if the first part doesnt work. So let me know if im correct and ill move forward with it Thanks

[8210GUY]

Yes within the bios area the 1st page (usually) has the clock showing time\date, compare what that says to todays (at the time you do this) actual time\date, if it is wrong change it, you should have instructions to the right or at the bottom as to what keys to use, but they vary from page up\down to +\- (plus\minus), the tab button moves you from hours to minutes to seconds etc, then F10 and confirm save\exit to come out of it, don't change anything else in there, see what happens and let us know. The bios update can be downloaded to any system, then probably best to save to a thumb drive, but a CD may work as well, so see whats most convenient for you, they should have a guide to how to do this, but important notes; 1st you can kill your board if a flash goes bad, but when your at the state you are now it's hard to make things worse, but this is a worst case situation, but you need to be aware it can happen. 2nd and most important, NEVER power off a system while flashing the bios, it can (and probably will) kill your board, at least it would have to go back to the makers for them to replace the chip and re-flash with a good bios, not sure on cost, but often people will bin it and replace, so make sure your plugged into the mains, the most ideal is to have a UPS, then if you suffer a power failure it will hopefully keep it going until it completes, but do not use battery power when doing this, but make sure the battery is at full charge, it will be a safety net incase of a power-cut, hopefully this moves you closer to an answer\solution.

Edited by 8210GUY, 13 September 2009 - 07:33 AM.

[Liqid]

cool found and downloaded what i need also burned it to a CD and changed the boot order its currently running the CD drive right now while i type. been going for a good minute or so actually so i hope its actually doing something When it comes to something like this... i dont know how long its supposed to be running for but im ... ok im back again.... while the cd was running and hte drive light is blinking away i went and ironed a pair of pants and get ready to go out with wifey sure enough... the drive is still going. I dont think its doing anything but reading the disc and not taking information now what? cause i need to leave.. cant just turn it off while in this BIOS FLASH process and it seems stuck. grrrr