new guy with old laptop

**john HD** · February 5th, 2005, 07:50 AM

hi

i'm new to this forum and would like to know if anyone can help me out with a project.

i was given a AST ascentia P series laptop of unknown origin.

i would like to use it as a second computer, and to use in my garage for clearing and trouble shooting service engine soon lights on chevy trucks.

all i have is the computer and the power supply.

here is my problem, it will not start. the battery shows 5 leds indicating a full charge. it also lights the battery light when plugged in. nothing else! there is a small lcd screen below the main screen that is blank also.

any ideas? mother board? father board?

lemme know what you all think before i use the thing for a wheel chock in my garage!

thanks in advance!

john

**confus-ed** · February 5th, 2005, 08:11 AM

Originally Posted by john HD

..i was given a AST ascentia P series laptop of unknown origin...any ideas? mother board? father board?..

Welcome to WD forums John.

AST went bust a good old while ago & This is probably as near as you can get to any support whatsoever...

I don't mean to be rude but your later comments say to me if you are asking this, you'll be better giving it to someone who might be able to salvage some life/bits from it (things like carcasses & screens, drives etc can be salvaged by someone with skillz for other projects) but if you are asking about 'father boards' imho you ain't quite ready for that particular experience just yet !

My advice is stick it on e-bay & see what some nutcase techie like me might bid for any potential spares

**john HD** · February 5th, 2005, 08:36 AM

confsu-ed,

thanks for the quick reply and the link!

the comment was just ment as a joke! i will certainly hand this project off to someone with more skills than myself if is more than an easy fix.

now, if it were an old harley or a pickup truck i could fix it myself!

thanks again!

john

any chance it could be the "other" battery?

**Platypus** · February 5th, 2005, 08:50 AM

Originally Posted by john HD

the comment was just ment as a joke!

I think -ed might have known that, since there are motherboards and daughterboards, and the system is not a "clone", there must be a fatherboard somewhere...

Originally Posted by john HD

any chance it could be the "other" battery?

The CMOS backup battery? Possible, but I don't think total non-starting is a frequent symptom of this. Not having had too much to do with laptops though I could be wrong.

**confus-ed** · February 5th, 2005, 08:57 AM

Originally Posted by john HD

..the comment was just ment as a joke!

... I find it hard to spot when 'yankee doodlies' are 'taking the mickey/piss' - generally 'cheekiness' is a bit of a foreign concept to 'you' ..

Err what 'other' battery ? & I never fathomed what this unit actually has in it to debate its 'worth' in reviving it (if possible) - for all I know its a p1 or whatever that mightn't be worth the grief - try this & plug your part number in & then decide (or tell us if you aren't so sure)

**john HD** · February 5th, 2005, 10:22 AM

Originally Posted by confus-ed

... I find it hard to spot when 'yankee doodlies' are 'taking the mickey/piss' - generally 'cheekiness' is a bit of a foreign concept to 'you' ..

Err what 'other' battery ? & I never fathomed what this unit actually has in it to debate its 'worth' in reviving it (if possible) - for all I know its a p1 or whatever that mightn't be worth the grief - try this & plug your part number in & then decide (or tell us if you aren't so sure)

ed,

this is what i discovered when i put in the serial number.

http://www.ari-service.com/blender/cache/501997-b02.htm

so what do ya think? wheel chock anyone?

john

**confus-ed** · February 5th, 2005, 10:44 AM

Originally Posted by john HD

.. wheel chock anyone?..

I'd say so

Intel Pentium 100MHZ ..Intel Pentium 133MHZ

(I couldn't fathom which one - but 133 'best' )

With as far as I can fathom a maximum memory configuration of 40mb

It shipped with 95 on it, & my guess is even with max memory & that on it (any later o/s will cripple it) running 'sweet', that'd be pretty tedious

& since platypus today seems to be far more on the ball than I am {he just picked up on something else I overlooked on another thread} the 'other battery' meant, will no doubt be the cmos battery, & generally if you get any signs of life on the unit whatsoever (here the battery connected light illuminates ?) then it ain't that ..

I'd almost certainly ebay this, just mark it up as 'untested' & anyone 'in the know', knows that means 'bust' & them that don't will bid too much money !

- but that ain't your problem !

(ooo ! I'm soooo bad !

)

**geoscomp** · February 5th, 2005, 12:29 PM

Even if you can get it fixed, what interface and software are required to access the trouble codes on chevys? This type of computer may or may not work..although it probably does have a serial port, sometimes specialized OS installations are necessary???

**john HD** · February 5th, 2005, 04:56 PM

Originally Posted by geoscomp

Even if you can get it fixed, what interface and software are required to access the trouble codes on chevys? This type of computer may or may not work..although it probably does have a serial port, sometimes specialized OS installations are necessary???

geoscomp,

this is what i have in mind

http://www.ttspowersystems.com/diagnostic.htm

just from what a quick glance gives me it looks like the laptop would work. this is just one of dozens of programs available. most of them free ware.

the cable kit to interface the diagnostic port on all cars and trucks sold in the u.s. after '98 is around 50 to 70 bucks.

so this was my idea from the start, inexpensive win 95/98 laptop with a 70 dollar cable and some free ware is less expensive than one trip to the dealer.

in particular, when they get you hooked up to the scan tool at the dealer just to tell you your gas cap you forgot to tighten set your check engine light! all for 200 bucks, thank you!

john

**john HD** · February 5th, 2005, 06:46 PM

update:

after undoing about a gazillion screws and a couple of beers later i found the "other" battery.

the battery is imprinted with 7.6 volts. after throwing it on my voltmeter i found about 2.1 volts and it was falling rapidly.

i figure i'll go get a replacement at battery world and see if it will fire up! worst case scenario, i'll solder up a bunch of 1.5 volt watch batteries and reuse the original harness.

what do i have to lose at this point?

john

**Platypus** · February 5th, 2005, 07:34 PM

Originally Posted by john HD

what do i have to lose at this point?

Not a lot!

Originally Posted by john HD

worst case scenario, i'll solder up a bunch of 1.5 volt watch batteries and reuse the original harness.

If you try this, just be sure the battery pack is not supposed to be a rechargeable type, eg NiCad, watch batteries won't take kindly to being charged.

If the non-starting is due to the CMOS memory containing corrupted data creating an unbootable state, the time between removing the old battery and fitting up a replacement may be sufficient to discharge the memory & cause the unit to load default settings. If not, there is probably a jumper to clear the CMOS, which would usually be a good idea to do anyway.

**john HD** · February 5th, 2005, 09:02 PM

hey platypus thanks for the tips on the battery!

john

**Outcoded** · February 6th, 2005, 01:56 PM

First think I do with "dead" laptops is take out anything that just pulls out; battery, removable CD-drives, hard discs etc, leave it for an hour, and put em back in. If that doesn't work, try running it off ac without the battery in.

**john HD** · February 6th, 2005, 03:17 PM

update 2

the guy at the battery mart said 2 weeks for the battery.

he indicated the battery was rechargable, so i figured i'd give that a try.

i piggy backed a 9v battery onto the original one, i'll let it sit for a while and see if it takes a charge....

so far i'm into this project for 2 bucks and a couple of beers! we will see what happens!

john

**john HD** · February 6th, 2005, 06:56 PM

frankenputer lives!

after giving the cmos battery a little recharge off a 9v battery i got about 7.5 volt reading off it.

anyway, i put it kinda back together on the workbench and got it to fire up!

i can get the bios setup page to work by pressing F2.

however, it sez "operating system not found" every time i hit any key.

now what should i do??

it has a cd drive, can i make a disk for it?

john