Compaq diagnostic partition

[ilovetheusers]

Here's the background info:

I have a Compaq Armada 1573dm I am getting for on call work (it's just for pinging and e-mail from home so it's hand me down poop p233 96mb 3gb).

I'm setting it up and there is a major annoyance where the numlock key turns on at boot. Normally this is not biggie but in a laptop the numlock turns on the function key and half the keypad is unusable until I turn it off. It's just a minor annoyance I could live with but don't want to.

I can't find the BIOS on this machine no matter what I do. I get to the diagnostics partition compuke uses but it's every bit of useless. I have created a setup diskettes and boot from them but can not do anything as it keeps telling me that "The computer is not supported by this version of the program".

I can only assume that the monkeys in out hardware lab decided to image the machine using the wrong image and put the incorrect diagnostic partition on when imaging the hard drive. I've been to HP/Compaq site and can't seem to find any updates for the system partition on this machine. I'd give it to the monekys to fix but they would only throw an image on the machine that does not work properly (and is 95b and bluescreens as soon as it boots), so I'm pretty much on my own unless I want the worst image on earth.

Here's the questions:

1. Can I blow away the diagnostic partition on a compaq and not even use it? I have been told I can by some and not by others so who is correct?

2. If not - does anyone know where on compaq/hp's site I can find an update for an Armada1573dm laptop cause I can't find it. All the drivers are there but there is nothing about the diagnostic partition.

[Shard92]

Is this what you are looking for? Not sure if this is right software or not... http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/fi...load/8093.html


---edit----

or maybe this?http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/fi...load/8076.html

[ilovetheusers]

Nope. Didn't help.

I just wacked the partition but I still have not way to the bios. Is there any way to get to the actual bios of this darn thing to make any setting changes??

[Ya_know]

I recall it was the ROMPaq installed in the Compaq system partition that acted as the BIOS for the PC. This is very hard to believe if you have never seen it. Unfortunately I haven’t seen one like this in a long time, so I can't offer any more insight. You do need to install either this or another utility into a system partition on the drive to access any of the typical system setup items you would normally see in a CMOS on other PC's...

[ilovetheusers]

Yeah, that's kind of what I was thinking. Oh well.

I wonder what would happen if I cleared the cmos?

[shamus]

Originally posted by ilovetheusers
Yeah, that's kind of what I was thinking. Oh well.

I wonder what would happen if I cleared the cmos?

I have 5 old 4170es's and a couple older 7222's at work. I have been able to do exactly that with them . Wipe the cmos and then set the bios with the diag disks. But, (as you know) Compaq is so proprietary that if you don't have the right ROMPaq, as YK mentioned, yer SOL.

as an aside:
Why the h*ll would you put the bios on the HDD?????
Why would you consider BIGFOOT as a good idea for a HDD??

Good luck.

[Eagle PC Diagnostech]

Go to the above link (in Shard's post) and download the rompaq for the bios in your machine.
You can keep it on a floppy, just use a boot disk to access it.

http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/fi.../us/index.html

Or use this link, don't know what operating system you plan to use.

[ilovetheusers]

Originally posted by Eagle PC Diagnostech
Go to the above link (in Shard's post) and download the rompaq for the bios in your machine.
You can keep it on a floppy, just use a boot disk to access it.

http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/fi.../us/index.html

Or use this link, don't know what operating system you plan to use.

The link shard posted should have the correct software but that is what is installed and does not work. From my experience with compukes I have noticed that most of the drivers I have downloaded from their site do not work for the hardware I have put them on. Just like all large manufacturers they make 6 versions of the same machine and release drivers for them that only work for half.

your link, I was there earlier. Dunno, just missed it I guess. Got the rompaq now and will try it tomorrow.

Thanks guys!

[gbech]

Most newer Crappaq laptops do have a hot key to get into the bios at boot. Usually it is the f10 ot f12 key when the "Compaq" splash screen hits at first power on. Another possible solution is to pull one of the RAM chips (or add one). After you boot for the first time after install you will be prompted to (F4) save changes or F1 or 2 for setup.

Hope this helps and good luck....

[ilovetheusers]

Thanks everyone!! After updating the rompaq I was able to run the diagnostic utility and get into the BIOS and turn of the annoyance.



THANKS!

[silencio]

Originally posted by shamus


as an aside:
Why the h*ll would you put the bios on the HDD?????
Why would you consider BIGFOOT as a good idea for a HDD??

Good luck.

Muahahahahahaha! Bigfoot. Big slow junk. We would drop them a few times just to make sure they never came back.

As for the setup program, it's handy to have the diagnostic tools on servers. Not worth the effort on a desktop though... Prolly why they stopped doing it.

[NetScum]

Originally posted by ilovetheusers
Nope. Didn't help.

I just wacked the partition but I still have not way to the bios. Is there any way to get to the actual bios of this darn thing to make any setting changes??

I did the same on my Compaq Presario 1275 notebook and lost the BIOS options. I could only get the BIOS opitions back by letting Compaq partition the HDD!

The 1275 was my first and last Compaq.

[Ya_know]

Originally posted by NetScum
I did the same on my Compaq Presario 1275 notebook and lost the BIOS options. I could only get the BIOS opitions back by letting Compaq partition the HDD!

The 1275 was my first and last Compaq.

They haven’t done that for several years now, I a Deskpro with a 350 that has a standard bios (I think it was a despro). I know there are allot of people out there that bad mouth Compaq products, and I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to own one, but they do make a fine PC. Some of their laptops are top notch as well. Don't let the ROMPaq scare you off...as stated, it hasn’t been around for years…

[NetScum]

Originally posted by Ya_know
They haven’t done that for several years now, I a Deskpro with a 350 that has a standard bios (I think it was a despro). I know there are allot of people out there that bad mouth Compaq products, and I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to own one, but they do make a fine PC. Some of their laptops are top notch as well. Don't let the ROMPaq scare you off...as stated, it hasn’t been around for years…

Well the BIOS/ROMPaq's were only part of my decision to stay away from Compaq on any future notebooks.

I installed W2k (the 1275 was designed for WIN98) and didn't care for how the junky winmodem could not be upgraded (driver or firmware) to work with W2k, which was one reason why I had a notebook so I could travel.

Sure a PCMCIA modem solved that problem but I had to tear into the case to disable the built in modem... and the battery never really lasted all that long.

Plus the fact that it was slow (I knew I wasn't buying a rocket) but even for the AMD chip and extra 128MB of SDRAM the computer was/is slow.

The computer has served me well since 1998 so it is all not that bad. However when I do get around to upgrading I think I'll go with Sony or Micron.