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Compaq V3000 Dead due to a failed bios update.

Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 4:55 am
by vini
Hi Guys,

I have done some reading here and I have seen a lot of people with problems similar to mine with their Compaq/HP laptops. I have tried to update the bios on my compaq V3000 and half way through the update the laptop shut off. From then on it was naturally dead.

I have attempted to use the crises recovery disk that lots of people seem to have successfully used to fix their bios but I have not had much luck. It seemed to have worked, it read the disk and beeped as per other people's experiences. However when the floppy drive's light turned off the laptop just sat there. After some time I decided to turn it off myself and turn it on again but it didn't work.

I have sent the laptop to HP and have requested them to reflash the bios but they are telling me that they cannot do it and that I would have to buy a new bother-board, however buying a new mother board might not be worth it since the laptop is only worth about $700 AUD.

Anyway, I was wondering if there is anyone with a similar or same laptop that have managed to solve a problem similar to this one and could share the information with me. Also if you can fix the bios by reflashing or replacing it I will be happy to talk to you.

Any information will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Vini

Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 2:02 pm
by Sharedoc
Well, you got the manufacturer reply explaining the situation.
You may find a cheaper mainboard from eBay

Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 4:13 am
by vini
Sharedoc wrote:Well, you got the manufacturer reply explaining the situation.
You may find a cheaper mainboard from eBay
I am not sure yet if this is the best way since I know the bios can be reprogrammed. They didn't even try this they just want to cut corners and replace the whole thing.

It seems to me that their service centre people are not very well trained on these things.

Extended Warranty for your LAPTOP

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 8:09 am
by username
buddy.. I have the same problem.. HP made lousy laptops which go dead automatically.. I My V3000z was dead.. i claimed it's warranty, but after 1 month of it's return, it went dead again ... for no apparent reason!


Thus later I came across this site:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/docu ... c=en&cc=us

However, even though my notebook is dead.. and it has the same serial number and model number as mentioned in the list, I cannot avail this facility as this offer is valid for USA only.

HP sucks.. I hate them for this. my 800$ notebook is worth 0$ because of their lousy products/services.

My motherboard is dead

Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 10:07 am
by notebookwizard78
Never flash from windows.

For HP systems: right click the servicepack and choose extract (install winrar first). Then copy the rom to a boot floppy and perform the flash procedure from DOS, using the appropriate flash utility.

If the Boot Block area in the bios is still intact there may be a key combination to flash the BIOS directly from a CD containg the ROM (you may have to rename the ROM before burning). Contact the manufacturer of your BIOS to see if this is even possible. It may be something simple as holding down ctrl+F1 during boot.

Depending on the type of BIOS chip you may be able to de-solder it (find person who is really good at this kind of stuff) and put it in an programmer to reprogram it.

Also HP maybe able to reprogram the motherboard, using a in-cicuit programmer. There is a special debug input on a motherboard that can be used to program a soldered bios. The charge may be quite acceptable.

There may also be electronics enthousiast who can reprogram the board in your living area. It may be hard, but no impossible. There are lots of options. Maybe you can find a person that repairs vcr's / tv's and stuff. They tend to be very resourcefull. May take a month for them to figure it out.