20 Aug
2006
20 Aug
'06
5:19 p.m.
Cameron Kaiser wrote:
I think this one is on-topic. I got a Compaq Portable
III dumped on my
doorstep (more or less literally, actually), and while I don't really
collect PCs, this one's form factor fascinated me. However, it seems like
it's failing POST or its equivalent -- when I turn it on, the caps lock
light on the keyboard (literally hanging on by a few threads) blinks, then
the three lights on the front bezel and the 5.25" floppy light blink three
times accompanied by three beeps from what appears to be the power supply?,
and it just sits there, doing three beeps pause three beeps pause ..., until
I turn it off.
Nothing else spins up and nothing shows on the screen, even with me messing
with the contrast. Any suggestions, or is there a troubleshooting manual to
give me some starting points to see if I can refurbish this? Is the fact that
the keyboard is probably incompletely connected to blame?
How do you know the keyboard is "incompletely connected"?
I assume that those "few threads" are actually capable of
carrying current?
The connector for the keyboard is *recessed* in the lower right
(front) corner of the machine. There is a snap-in plastic
plug (round with a slot cut in it's face for the keyboard
cable) that covers up the actual connection.
The disk LEDs are located on the front upper right of
the unit -- right below the power LED.
The "contrast" control is actually more of a *brightness* control.
Can you see *anything* ("keep alives") glowing in the display?
Does the floppy *do* anything?
Compaq used to have documentation (very limited) for this
on their web sight (legacy product archive). I am not sure
if it is still there (I haven't checked since before HP merger).
I'll dig through my archives to see which of those documents
I have saved.
*Expect* the battery to be dead. That means you'll need
to replace it (with some sort of kludge). It also means
you will have to run the setup program -- which means
a bootable "setup" floppy (I think I have images of these
for you if they aren't on the Compaq site).
Also, the floppy drives often get flakey on this box.
Which means you're screwed when you need to run the
setup floppy! :-/
--don