Laptop With HDD out

Acer 5552-5898 bought in 2011.
Power disconencted
Battery out

Opened the laptop.
Bottom panel reveals
BIOS chip
BIOS chip Battery
HDD

Battery CR2032 installed meters 3.2volts at battery holder pins.
Did not bother to take it out and measure.

Noticed that the HDD was missing screws to hold it in.
This is the first time I opened the case door.
So was this a "like new" refurb?
Not sold as such.
Bought at Microcenter in Tustin CA.

Took HDD out.

So, what happens if I plug in the battery and try to power up?
Will it destroy what is left?
Should it go to the BIOS and say no HDD?



So maybe I will buy a new Win 7 laptop but i want the learning
experience not necessarily a buying experience.
Isn't that what this group is all about, learning?

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On Tue, 22 Sep 2015 10:30:05 -0700
OldGuy wrote:

Acer 5552-5898 bought in 2011.
Power disconencted
Battery out

Opened the laptop.
Bottom panel reveals
BIOS chip
BIOS chip Battery
HDD

Battery CR2032 installed meters 3.2volts at battery holder pins.
Did not bother to take it out and measure.

Noticed that the HDD was missing screws to hold it in.
This is the first time I opened the case door.
So was this a "like new" refurb?
Not sold as such.
Bought at Microcenter in Tustin CA.

Took HDD out.

So, what happens if I plug in the battery and try to power up?
Will it destroy what is left?
Should it go to the BIOS and say no HDD?



So maybe I will buy a new Win 7 laptop but i want the learning
experience not necessarily a buying experience.
Isn't that what this group is all about, learning?

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ---

I would find out if it would boot up using a Linux Mint DVD. Just use
the power adapter that came with it, instead of the battery.

That is one good thing about Linux, if just the hard drive goes bad,
you can still access the Internet, and do what ever you want to do with
just the DVD.

On Tue, 22 Sep 2015 12:47:09 -0500
Johnny wrote:

On Tue, 22 Sep 2015 10:30:05 -0700
OldGuy wrote:

Acer 5552-5898 bought in 2011.
Power disconencted
Battery out

Opened the laptop.
Bottom panel reveals
BIOS chip
BIOS chip Battery
HDD

Battery CR2032 installed meters 3.2volts at battery holder pins.
Did not bother to take it out and measure.

Noticed that the HDD was missing screws to hold it in.
This is the first time I opened the case door.
So was this a "like new" refurb?
Not sold as such.
Bought at Microcenter in Tustin CA.

Took HDD out.

So, what happens if I plug in the battery and try to power up?
Will it destroy what is left?
Should it go to the BIOS and say no HDD?



So maybe I will buy a new Win 7 laptop but i want the learning
experience not necessarily a buying experience.
Isn't that what this group is all about, learning?

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints:
---

I would find out if it would boot up using a Linux Mint DVD. Just use
the power adapter that came with it, instead of the battery.

That is one good thing about Linux, if just the hard drive goes bad,
you can still access the Internet, and do what ever you want to do
with just the DVD.

I should have mentioned you can use a USB flash drive, it's a lot
faster.

On 22/09/2015 18:48, Johnny wrote:
On Tue, 22 Sep 2015 12:47:09 -0500
Johnny wrote:

On Tue, 22 Sep 2015 10:30:05 -0700
OldGuy wrote:

Acer 5552-5898 bought in 2011.
Power disconencted
Battery out

Opened the laptop.
Bottom panel reveals
BIOS chip
BIOS chip Battery
HDD

Battery CR2032 installed meters 3.2volts at battery holder pins.
Did not bother to take it out and measure.

Noticed that the HDD was missing screws to hold it in.
This is the first time I opened the case door.
So was this a "like new" refurb?
Not sold as such.
Bought at Microcenter in Tustin CA.

Took HDD out.

So, what happens if I plug in the battery and try to power up?
Will it destroy what is left?
Should it go to the BIOS and say no HDD?



So maybe I will buy a new Win 7 laptop but i want the learning
experience not necessarily a buying experience.
Isn't that what this group is all about, learning?

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints:
---

I would find out if it would boot up using a Linux Mint DVD. Just use
the power adapter that came with it, instead of the battery.

That is one good thing about Linux, if just the hard drive goes bad,
you can still access the Internet, and do what ever you want to do
with just the DVD.

I should have mentioned you can use a USB flash drive, it's a lot
faster

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/univers...easy-as-1-2-3/
mount your drives(s), recover your data, view your partitions (gparted)
including the hidden 'recovery' and oem partitions.

Invaluable when Windows says no!

--
Laughing Spam Fritter

OldGuy wrote:
Acer 5552-5898 bought in 2011.
Power disconencted
Battery out

Opened the laptop.
Bottom panel reveals
BIOS chip
BIOS chip Battery
HDD

Battery CR2032 installed meters 3.2volts at battery holder pins.
Did not bother to take it out and measure.

Noticed that the HDD was missing screws to hold it in.
This is the first time I opened the case door.
So was this a "like new" refurb?
Not sold as such.
Bought at Microcenter in Tustin CA.

Took HDD out.

So, what happens if I plug in the battery and try to power up?
Will it destroy what is left?
Should it go to the BIOS and say no HDD?


No. The laptop will remain perfectly stable with the
hard drive removed.

The purpose of this test, is to see if the BIOS will reappear
again, indicating much of the hardware is in good shape.

Once the BIOS delivers the appropriate snotty message
about "nothing to boot from", you can turn it off again.

You could next try it with a brand new hard drive of the
appropriate shape (height) and connector type.

If that works, your next step would be to clone over
the original disk. Then, try booting the new clone
inserted into the machine.

It sounds like your CR2032 is in great shape.
The main battery likely keeps the CR2032 from
discharging.

My laptop has:

1) 4 screws holding the 2.5" drive to the metal tray.
2) Screws to hold the tray in place.

That's so the drive doesn't move around if the laptop
is inverted or carried like a briefcase.

Paul

En el artículo , OldGuy
escribió:

Isn't that what this group is all about, learning?

This group is about Windows 7. Your ****ed laptop has nothing to do
with Windows 7. You will get much better advice in a more appropriate
group.

Would you go into a car repair workshop with a faulty toaster? No?
Then why ask in a group dedicated to Windows 7 about what is clearly a
hardware issue?

Jeezus wept.

--
(\_/)
(='.'=) Bunny says: Windows 10? Nein danke!
(")_(")

En el artículo , Stormin'
Norman escribió:

Say what you want the way you want to say

I shall, thank you. He's been on and on about his laptop which is
clearly suffering from a hardware issue. Maybe he should take the hint
and ask himself why he expects help in a group dedicated to Windows 7,
which is software.

Again, would you take a toaster into an auto repairer and ask them to
fix it? Because that's roughly analogous to what the OP is asking. He
deserves much the same reaction he would get from the mechanics in that
garage.

--
(\_/)
(='.'=) Bunny says: Windows 10? Nein danke!
(")_(")

In article , says...

En el artículo , Stormin'
Norman escribió:

Say what you want the way you want to say

I shall, thank you. He's been on and on about his laptop which is
clearly suffering from a hardware issue. Maybe he should take the hint
and ask himself why he expects help in a group dedicated to Windows 7,
which is software.

Again, would you take a toaster into an auto repairer and ask them to
fix it? Because that's roughly analogous to what the OP is asking. He
deserves much the same reaction he would get from the mechanics in that
garage.

He probably asked here because people here in general have shown they're
prepared to help. Personally I don't really care about the topic
provided it doesn't get out of hand and I will answer if/when I feel I
have something to add. Willing to bet a lot of others feel the same.

Your vehemence that it's the wrong newsgroup for topic shows a lot about
you IMHO. Don't like it then just ignore it is easy enough to do.

Mike Tomlinson wrote:
Jeezus wept.

continuing this OT subthread...

In the mid 16th century, the French royal typographer versified the
Greek New Testament, which turned those words into the shortest verse in
the Bible.

--
Mike Easter

FredW wrote:
On Tue, 22 Sep 2015 12:48:51 -0500, Johnny wrote:
On Tue, 22 Sep 2015 12:47:09 -0500
Johnny wrote:
On Tue, 22 Sep 2015 10:30:05 -0700
OldGuy wrote:

Acer 5552-5898 bought in 2011.
Power disconencted
Battery out

Opened the laptop.
Bottom panel reveals
BIOS chip
BIOS chip Battery
HDD

Battery CR2032 installed meters 3.2volts at battery holder pins.
Did not bother to take it out and measure.

Noticed that the HDD was missing screws to hold it in.
This is the first time I opened the case door.
So was this a "like new" refurb?
Not sold as such.
Bought at Microcenter in Tustin CA.

Took HDD out.

So, what happens if I plug in the battery and try to power up?
Will it destroy what is left?
Should it go to the BIOS and say no HDD?



So maybe I will buy a new Win 7 laptop but i want the learning
experience not necessarily a buying experience.
Isn't that what this group is all about, learning?

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints:
---
I would find out if it would boot up using a Linux Mint DVD. Just use
the power adapter that came with it, instead of the battery.

That is one good thing about Linux, if just the hard drive goes bad,
you can still access the Internet, and do what ever you want to do
with just the DVD.
I should have mentioned you can use a USB flash drive, it's a lot
faster.

+1 (from experience, proven in practice)

;-)


Depends on the flash.

I have a Sandisk that reads at 3MB/sec. I once had Linux
on that. Once. Not any more. It was *awful*. A DVD sustained
read is faster than that.

I have other USB flash that weren't all that expensive and
they read at 30-40MB/sec. And those work just fine for OS
or for installer purposes.

If you look at about 70% down this page, the new Z170 chipset
from Intel now only supports XHCI. While you may have become
used to USB stuff booting no problemo, that's about to change.
Perhaps not for a modern release, but if you reach for a USB
stick that has a long term support release it might not boot.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9485/i...vga-supermicro

The staff at Intel need better drugs. What possessed them
to remove EHCI ?

And this is why chipsets should not be single-sourced.
There should be competition in the industry for chipsets.
While many of the chipset makers weren't all that good at
it, it did offer options if you spotted a feature that
you didn't like. I'd be buying the VIA chipset in this case :-)
Because it would have booted.

Paul

Mike Tomlinson wrote:
En el artículo , Stormin'
Norman escribió:

Say what you want the way you want to say

I shall, thank you. He's been on and on about his laptop which is
clearly suffering from a hardware issue.

And that's why I want to hear what the resolution is.
The symptoms are just a bit strange, and it would
be interesting to discover the root cause.

I have a computer here, that the BIOS "freezes" if
you connect a hard drive where the MBR is full of zeros.
In other words, no 0x55AA signature at the end. A person
could quite innocently use a certain kind of erasure
utility, reboot, and find themselves frozen in the BIOS.
I bet you've never heard of that before. Now, if you
didn't know the history leading up to that point in time,
you might mistakenly assume it was a hardware fault.
Or even throw the drive away, assuming the drive was
somehow "broken". It wasn't. And using another computer
to put a non-zero MBR on the drive, "fixed" it. None
of the other computers in the house, have that bug.

Paul

En el artículo , Mike Easter
escribió:

In the mid 16th century, the French royal typographer versified the
Greek New Testament, which turned those words into the shortest verse in
the Bible.

That's interesting, thanks. I suppose you could also call it the Bible,
redacted to two words.

--
(\_/)
(='.'=) Bunny says: Windows 10? Nein danke!
(")_(")

On Tue, 22 Sep 2015 17:39:56 -0400, Paul wrote:

Mike Tomlinson wrote:
En el artÃ*culo , Stormin'
Norman escribió:

Say what you want the way you want to say

I shall, thank you. He's been on and on about his laptop which is
clearly suffering from a hardware issue.

And that's why I want to hear what the resolution is. The symptoms are
just a bit strange, and it would be interesting to discover the root
cause.

I have a computer here, that the BIOS "freezes" if you connect a hard
drive where the MBR is full of zeros. In other words, no 0x55AA
signature at the end. A person could quite innocently use a certain kind
of erasure utility, reboot, and find themselves frozen in the BIOS. I
bet you've never heard of that before. Now, if you didn't know the
history leading up to that point in time,
you might mistakenly assume it was a hardware fault.
Or even throw the drive away, assuming the drive was somehow "broken".
It wasn't. And using another computer to put a non-zero MBR on the
drive, "fixed" it. None of the other computers in the house, have that
bug.

Paul

What happens if you attempt to boot from other than the hd, a usb stick
is my favorite.

dave61430 wrote:
On Tue, 22 Sep 2015 17:39:56 -0400, Paul wrote:

Mike Tomlinson wrote:
En el artÃ*culo , Stormin'
Norman escribió:

Say what you want the way you want to say
I shall, thank you. He's been on and on about his laptop which is
clearly suffering from a hardware issue.
And that's why I want to hear what the resolution is. The symptoms are
just a bit strange, and it would be interesting to discover the root
cause.

I have a computer here, that the BIOS "freezes" if you connect a hard
drive where the MBR is full of zeros. In other words, no 0x55AA
signature at the end. A person could quite innocently use a certain kind
of erasure utility, reboot, and find themselves frozen in the BIOS. I
bet you've never heard of that before. Now, if you didn't know the
history leading up to that point in time,
you might mistakenly assume it was a hardware fault.
Or even throw the drive away, assuming the drive was somehow "broken".
It wasn't. And using another computer to put a non-zero MBR on the
drive, "fixed" it. None of the other computers in the house, have that
bug.

Paul

What happens if you attempt to boot from other than the hd, a usb stick
is my favorite.

For that particular bug, as soon as the BIOS sees that drive,
you're "frozen". Doesn't matter what other tasty boot devices
are connected to the computer. The BIOS does a taste test on
everything, before moving to "blinking cursor" state. And
that's when the trouble happens.

A similar kind of bug (with a different root cause) also exhibited
as a BIOS symptom. The SIL3112 BIOS module, the module that would
provide Extended 0x13 Int support (ability to read SIL RAID array
or single drive, when booting from the BIOS), that used to freeze
up if the drive capacity was 1TB or higher. A fix was issued, but
the fix came out pretty close to the end of BIOS support for
some motherboards, so there would be people who didn't get
that one. (Leaving them to add a different SIL module to the
BIOS, if they had the software to do it.)

So in both those bugs, the BIOS insists on checking every
connected hardware device. If any hardware device triggers
a freezing bug, your only choice immediately at that point,
is to disconnect the offending device.

Paul

Battery out.
HDD out
Checked CMOS battery is OK at 3.2V installed.
Reseated the BIOS chip and two RAM modules.

Power by external.
Power on then ... get nothing on the display.

I suspect that the BIOS was messed with.

So, is there a BIOS image app for the paranoid?

--

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