HP Pavilion 524W No Go

**mhubbard** · July 20th, 2004, 10:11 AM

I am working on an HP Pavilion 524w for a friend and it will not boot. Here are the symptoms:

No video at all so I cant see any error codes or get to BIOS

It does beep...1 long followed by 2 short, then it makes a groaning beep..weird

Power seems to be ok, meaning there is power to the unit, cd door opens, lights on, etc.

The user complained the pc was making a very loud noise over the past few days but still worked, when it stopped working and no noise he broght it to me....lol

Not sure where to begin troubleshooting this, as I have never seen symptoms like this.

Thanks for any advice......

**NooNoo** · July 20th, 2004, 10:55 AM

phoenix bios beep codes

**mhubbard** · July 20th, 2004, 02:24 PM

Originally Posted by NooNoo

phoenix bios beep codes

Thanks....the error code specified a video failure so I stuck a new card in it....but come to find out that seems to be the least of the problems. When booting I get the following error message:

Award Bootlock BIOS v1.0 Copyright (c)2000,Award Software, Inc.

BIOS ROM checksum error

Detecting floppy drive A media...

INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER

And I cannot get past this for nothing. I cleared CMOS, tried to reflash BIOS but it refuses to recogize any of my bootdisks. From what I have found out it looks like maybe a corrupted BIOS. Also, it will not let me in to BIOS either.

Also replaced the CMOS battery, still no go.

Any clues???

**GrandDad** · July 20th, 2004, 03:04 PM

Originally Posted by mhubbard

I am working on an HP Pavilion 524w for a friend and it will not boot.

The user complained the pc was making a very loud noise over the past few days but still worked, when it stopped working and no noise he broght it to me....lol

Thanks for any advice......

What kind of sound or sounds ?

because it could of been Hdd die'ing ,
case fan , processor fan (which could kill processor)

**NooNoo** · July 20th, 2004, 03:09 PM

disconnect all drives and devices except video and one stick of ram, can you get into bios then?

**mhubbard** · July 20th, 2004, 03:38 PM

Originally Posted by NooNoo

disconnect all drives and devices except video and one stick of ram, can you get into bios then?

No, I get this message now, with nothing but RAM and video:

Award Bootlock BIOS v1.0 Copyright (c)2000,Award Software, Inc.

BIOS ROM checksum error

Detecting floppy drive A media... System Halt

I am stuck...but on a good note I was able to get the data off of the hd by sticking it in another pc and copying it. He was worried about that so at least not all is lost.

I noticed there were a few viruses on this drive, perhaps a virus damaged the BIOS????? Just a wild guess...

**NooNoo** · July 20th, 2004, 03:46 PM

Either he bad flashed, or you still have the floppy drive connected or haven't reset cmos by the jumper.

**mhubbard** · July 20th, 2004, 03:51 PM

Originally Posted by NooNoo

Either he bad flashed, or you still have the floppy drive connected or haven't reset cmos by the jumper.

Oh forgot to mention, with the floppy unattached it beeps like mad...constant beeping and never stops til you power it down.

As far as resetting cmos I took the battery out for a minute, then put it back in.

Thanks for your help so far noonoo.

**NooNoo** · July 20th, 2004, 03:54 PM

that may not be enough - find the jumper. The onboard floppy controller seems to the culprit then

**mhubbard** · July 20th, 2004, 03:58 PM

Originally Posted by NooNoo

that may not be enough - find the jumper. The onboard floppy controller seems to the culprit then

I was doing that as you typed probably. I cleared cmos using the jumper, but same thing.

New mobo??? Pc is only a year old (or so he says).

**NooNoo** · July 20th, 2004, 04:16 PM

check for bulging capacitors, scorching, discoloration etc. A year and enough days to be out of warranty I guess.

**mhubbard** · July 21st, 2004, 07:06 AM

Originally Posted by NooNoo

check for bulging capacitors, scorching, discoloration etc. A year and enough days to be out of warranty I guess.

Nothing that I can see as far as discoloration, bulging, scorching, etc.....

I talked to the owner and he said it is definitely out of warranty, purchased it last March (2003). Now he wants to know what he should do next. I told him we could replace the mobo or buy a new pc. The PC is not that outdated, just fine for most home pc types of tasks and is worth something I would think. So it looks like we may go the mobo route. I have replaced several mobo's in generic pc's, but never in an HP. I assume it should be no difference. The mobo in it currently is a FIC AM37 Socket A with an AMD 2100 cpu. I just need some info from those of you out there who have replaced mobo's in an HP.

Thanks a ton......

**NooNoo** · July 21st, 2004, 07:12 AM

Your biggest worry will be power supply and case connectors. HP I don't think use proprietary power supplies - ie the atx plug is wired differently... but I have seen a few with specialised case connectors.

**mhubbard** · July 21st, 2004, 07:49 AM

Originally Posted by NooNoo

Your biggest worry will be power supply and case connectors. HP I don't think use proprietary power supplies - ie the atx plug is wired differently... but I have seen a few with specialised case connectors.

It is definitely a standard ATX plug.......but could be wired differently. But since that mobo isn't proprietary to HP then I lean towards thinking it will be ok with any Socket A mobo. The mobo is not a weird size or shape like some I have seen in Compaq's so maybe it will be ok.

I guess another option is to do a new case and mobo, and scavenge the parts from the old but as cheap as these home pc's are, may not be worth doing that.

**Gcap** · July 14th, 2007, 05:40 PM

My computer had a similar problem. It too is a 524w. There should be a red switch just above the power cable. Switch it to the different places and see what works. That's what I did and now it works fine. My computer has also done that when something was poking into where the fans were and stopping the blades from moving. It automatically shuts down. If that's the case then obviously open it up and remove the obstruction.

Originally Posted by mhubbard

I am working on an HP Pavilion 524w for a friend and it will not boot. Here are the symptoms:

No video at all so I cant see any error codes or get to BIOS

It does beep...1 long followed by 2 short, then it makes a groaning beep..weird

Power seems to be ok, meaning there is power to the unit, cd door opens, lights on, etc.

The user complained the pc was making a very loud noise over the past few days but still worked, when it stopped working and no noise he broght it to me....lol

Not sure where to begin troubleshooting this, as I have never seen symptoms like this.

Thanks for any advice......