Compaq wont boot

[pinki]

I have been asked to look at a Compaq machine that wont boot. When the machine is powered up it goes through it's ram check fine and displays the message 'F10 for setup'. However, entering F10, del, ctl, esc or leaving keyboard alone produces the following message.

162 - System options not set.

Your system configuration has changed since your last boot (addition of a hard drive, etc) or a loss of power to the Real Time Clock has occured. The Real Time Clock will lose power if the on board battery is not functioning correctly.

Pressing F1 will record the new configuration. If this message persists you may need to replace the onboard battery.


If I then press F1 or anything else I get the following message,

Parity Check 2

I have changed the CMOS battery, I have tried two more sticks of DIMMS, one 100 spec, one 133 spec. I have also tried booting from floppy, disconnecting cd rom and even disconnected the hard drive to see if I could produce another error.

On the motherboard there is a pressel switch which I assume is for clearing the CMOS, so I have tried that too.

I have some serial numbers from the motherboard which I have used in search engines and on the compaq site but this has also drawn a blank.

I am well and truly stumped and any help on this would be very appreciated.

[moospot]

Contacting Compaq is never a fun thing to do..but you may have to do it.

Sounds like the board is bad..

[dominique]

According to Compaq:

Power-On Self-Test Messages 

Message               Beeps    Probable Cause  Recommended Action  
====================  =======  ==============  ==================
162 - System Options  2 Short  Configuration   Run Computer Setup  
      Not Set                  incorrect

I couldn't find any other references to it. You probably have to change something in the Setup (F10) - don't ask me what! IBM's error code suggests the same course of action.



Compaq Australia has another suggestion (PDF file, p. 9):

4. You have just replaced the system board and receive the following error: "162 - system options not set". What is your next step?

A.Replace the system board.
B.Press F1 to save changes.
C.Swap the CPU.
D.Replace the RTC battery.

How old is the system? This page refers to two 162 errors on older (much older) systems.



You may just have to give them a shout:

Presario Technical Support

For technical support and questions relating to Presario desktops, notebooks, home imaging devices and consumer monitors.

Our technical specialists will be happy to assist you on:-

00 44 870 241 1545

The office is open: -

Weekdays from 8.00 AM to 8.00 PM
Saturday from 9.00 AM to 6.00 PM
Sunday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM

[pinki]

I have managed to sort it, quite a lot of messing around but if anyone is interested I can let you know how I did it. As you can see I'm a happy bunny now

[tdevil]

Up till 2 months ago I would have been interested in seeing the solution, but I overwrote all the compaq stuff on my PC

[pinki]

Well just in case anyone else is interested here's what I did ...

I removed the CMOS battery and then pressed the reset switch and left it for 10 mins. I also removed the modem and network card as well. I then refitted the battery and managed to get into the BIOS. I set that all up and then booted from floppy and popped a fresh install on. I did try to do this with the network card fitted but this produced the parity 2 error again, not sure why. Anyway, it's up and running with the modem installed and without the network card as it doesn't require it anyway.

Sorted

[Maelstrom]

I was going to suggest try kicking it. But since it is fixed now

[Maelstrom]

Originally posted by tdevil
Up till 2 months ago I would have been interested in seeing the solution, but I overwrote all the compaq stuff on my PC

Even the embedded bios??? How did you do that I would love t learn that trick. Except replacing the bios I didn't think you could flash upgrade their bios so it no longer registers compaq?

[pinki]

The machine still has all the Compaq Bios on it, I just adjusted a few bitz and pieces like 'boot from a drive' instead of cd rom etc, etc. And I would have kicked it if it was my machine, instead I just questioned its parentage

[Maelstrom]

Originally posted by pinki
The machine still has all the Compaq Bios on it, I just adjusted a few bitz and pieces like 'boot from a drive' instead of cd rom etc, etc. And I would have kicked it if it was my machine, instead I just questioned its parentage

Maybe it has an IBM daddy. Thats why Compaq's are sometimes proprietary.

[pinki]

Could have been worse, it could have been a Packard Bell