Compaq Presario 300 Presario 305 Series Maintenance and Service Guide - Page 66

Before You Begin Removal Sequence Product Description Presario 305 Model Specifications Troubleshooting Pin Assignments Solving Minor Problems (continued) Parts Catalog Battery Operations Index Audio Display PC card USB Battery pack Hard drive Power Modem Battery gauge CD/DVD drive Hardware installation Printer Keyboard Touchpad/pointing device Diskette/diskette drive Memory Infrared Display Problems You can perform a self-test on an external VGA color or monochrome monitor as follows: 1. Turn off the monitor. 2. Turn off the computer. 3. Disconnect the monitor signal cable from the computer. 4. Turn on the monitor and allow it to warm up for one minute. The display should be white. A narrow black border may also appear on the left and right sides of the display. Either of these displays indicates that the monitor is working properly. Problem Probable Cause Solution(s) Characters on computer display are dim. The brightness control is not Adjust the brightness of the display by pressing set properly. Fn+F10 hotkeys. Computer is in direct light. Move the computer or adjust the screen. You may have a screen saver or screen blanking utility installed. Press any key to refresh the screen. Screen timeout was initiated. Press any key to light the screen. System initiated Suspend Press the Suspend Button to exit Suspend. after a user-defined timeout expired. Computer initiated a low battery Suspend or Hibernation. q Replace the battery pack and exit Suspend or Hibernation. q Connect the computer to an external power source and exit Suspend or Hibernation. Computer screen is blank and external monitor displays information. Power Management, which controls Suspend and Hibernation, is disabled and the battery pack has discharged. q Replace the battery pack and turn on the computer. q Connect the computer to an external power source. Display was switched to the Press Fn+F4 to display information on the external monitor. computer screen; press Fn+F4 again to display information. Display switch is stuck. Tap the switch. Fn+F4 hotkey combination CRT or other display device Check your connections to ensure that an does not switch between is not connected properly. external device is connected properly. internal and external displays. Display is blank and the Suspend icon is flashing. System is in Suspend mode. Press any key or touch the Touch Pad. Internal display is blank and the screen on an external monitor displays information. Display function was switched to the external monitor. Use Fn + F2 to switch between LCD or CRT. Internal display flashes or has garbled characters when computer is connected to external monitor. Using 1024 × 768 or higher resolution on external monitor and have toggled back to internal display, which supports up to 800 × 600. Restart the computer. This display panel has a Improper display cable continuous pattern across it connections. (e.g., a "jailbars" pattern), has a single color on it, or has garbled graphics across the entire panel. This failure is for patterns across the entire panel (not just on one section). Defective display cable. Reseat the display cable to the following until the problem is solved: 1. System board 2. Display assembly Replace the display assembly. Defective inverter board. Replace the display assembly. Defective system board. Replace the system board. Ghost bars extending from graphics on the display. Common characteristic of STN displays. 1. Change the background colors. 2. Adjust the Contrast of the display by using Fn + F5 (¯ ) or Fn + F6 (- ). A single line, small group of lines, or block appears on the display panel. This failure occurs in only a section of the display panel. Defective display panel. Replace the display assembly. The light tubes on the edge of the display panel do not light up at all and Power-On SelfTest (POST) completes when the unit is powered up.* Improper backlight or display cable connections Defective inverter board. Defective display cable. Defective display panel. Replace the display assembly. Replace the display assembly. Replace the display assembly. Replace the display assembly. Defective system board. Replace the system board. The light tubes on the edge of Defective system board. the display panel do not light up at all and Power-On SelfTest (POST) does not complete when the unit is powered up.* Replace the system board. Backlight (brightness) cannot Improper display cable be adjusted with Fn + F7 (¯ ) connections. or Fn + F8 (- ).* 1. Reseat the display cable to the system board. 2. Replace the display assembly. Defective inverter board. Replace the display assembly. Defective display cable. Replace the display assembly. Defective system board. Replace the system board. Contrast cannot be adjusted with Fn + F5 (¯ ) or Fn + F6 (- ). Improper display cable connections. 1. Reseat the display cable to the system board. 2. Replace the display assembly. Defective inverter board. Replace the display assembly. Defective display cable. Replace the display assembly. Defective system board. Replace the system board. * This problem indicates that the backlight or its power circuitry has failed. Since you cannot observe the POST result on the display panel when the backlight is not functioning, connect the unit to an external monitor before powering the unit up. If an external monitor is not available, verify that POST completes by opening and closing the display, listening for the single or double beep, and watching for the LEDs turn on at the front of the computer. Hard Drive Problems CAUTION: To prevent loss of information, always maintain an up-to-date backup of your hard drive at all times, in case of errors or failures. Problem Probable Cause Solution(s) Accessing information on the hard drive is much slower than usual. Hard drive entered low power state due to timeout Wait for the system to restore the previously and is now exiting from it. saved data to its state prior to initiating a low Hard drive is fragmented/not optimized or has errors. Run ScanDisk and Disk Fragmenter. Errors occur after starting Additional hard drive has not been specially from an additional hard drive. prepared with necessary software. Boot from the original hard drive or a specially prepared hard drive. Hard drive does not work. Hard drive is not seated properly. Turn off and unplug the computer, remove the battery pack, and remove and then reinstall the hard drive. System does not recognize a The drive is not properly seated. hard drive. The drive is damaged. Remove, then reinsert the drive. Try using the hard drive in another bay to verify that the problem is with the drive. Run ScanDisk on the drive. The drive was inserted while system was on or in Shut down the computer before inserting or Suspend or Hibernation. removing a hard drive. DriveLock settings cannot be The DriveLock settings are accessible only when accessed in Computer Setup. you enter Computer Setup by turning on (not restarting) the computer. Completely turn off the computer. Turn the computer back on, then run Computer Setup by pressing F10 when the blinking cursor light appears in the upper-right corner of the screen. Hardware Installation Problems Problem Probable Cause Solutions(s) A new device is not recognized as part of the computer system. Cable(s) of new external device are loose or power cables are unplugged. Power switch of new external device is not turned on. Ensure that all cables are properly and securely connected. Turn off the computer, turn on the external device, then turn on the computer to integrate the device with the computer system. Device is not seated properly. Turn off the computer and reinsert the device. Keyboard Problems Problem Probable Cause Solution(s) Embedded numeric keypad on Num Lock function is not enabled. Press the Fn+NumLk keys to enable the computer keyboard is Num Lock function and embedded numeric disabled. keypad. Screen is blank and keyboard A screen timeout has been is working. initiated. Press any key to refresh the screen. QuickLock/QuickBlank has been initiated To enable the keyboard and return your information to the screen, enter your power-on password. LCD has been disabled Press Fn+F4 to cycle from external monitor to internal LCD. Memory Problems Problem Probable Cause Memory count during Optional memory expansion card is installed Power-On Self-Test (POST) incorrectly, is incompatible with is incorrect. the computer, or is defective. Solution(s) Ensure that the optional memory expansion card is installed correctly. "Out of Memory" message is displayed on the screen or insufficient memory error occurs during operation. System ran out of memory for the application. 1. Check the application documentation for memory requirements. 2. Install additional memory. Too many TSR (terminate-and stay-resident) Remove from memory any TSR applications are running. applications that you do not need.