Portege 7010CT Problem

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

> Unit does not post or boot.
>
> Have tried docked/undocked, plugged in and battery power.
>
> LEDs indicate power (laptop and docking unit), Battery LED is orange
> (charging), ON light comes on, HD goes on for a while then goes off. No
> activity on the LCD - looks intact though.
>
> No BIOS screen.
>
> Is there a hard reset that I can try?
>
> Am I missing something?
>
I have tried swapping out ram and HD.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

"Alex Quant" <alexqspam@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:2pd9c3Fipm5pU1@uni-berlin.de...
> "lewdvig" <plongin@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:u_9Yc.254264$gE.156207@pd7tw3no...
>>
>> "lewdvig" <plongin@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:Zo9Yc.250547$J06.109025@pd7tw2no...
>> >> Unit does not post or boot.
>> >>
>> >> Have tried docked/undocked, plugged in and battery power.
>> >>
>> >> LEDs indicate power (laptop and docking unit), Battery LED is orange
>> >> (charging), ON light comes on, HD goes on for a while then goes off.
>> >> No
>> >> activity on the LCD - looks intact though.
>> >>
>> >> No BIOS screen.
>> >>
>> >> Is there a hard reset that I can try?
>> >>
>> >> Am I missing something?
>> >>
>> > I have tried swapping out ram and HD.
>>
>> If I press F12 during boot - the bios recovery prompts appears on my
> screen.
>> It says press a key, but is not recognizing my key press. I am using the
>> laptop's keyboard. I know the keyboard works because the system is
>> picking
>> up the f12 key press. Pressing f12 after the prompt has no effect.
>
> Right - sounds like the laptop works but the BIOS is faulty (a bad flash
> upgrade?). If you have a floppy drive then you might be able to rescue
> this
> Portege. You'll need to download the latest 7010 BIOS file (see link
> below) - I think its a Windows package which will create a boot floppy
> disc
> when launched. Once this disc is created, restart the laptop with the disc
> in the drive and the drive hooked up to the laptop then press F12. With
> fingers and toes crossed, the laptop will recover the BIOS from the disc.
>
> You'll find the BIOS package here :
>
> http://209.167.114.38/support/Down [...] /b7010.exe
>
> .. BIOS upgrade instructions with F12 recovery details :
>
> http://209.167.114.38/support/Down [...] lation.htm
>
> .. and other files for the 7010CT here :
>
> http://209.167.114.38/support/Down [...] 7010en.htm
>
> Good luck!
>
> AlexQ
>

Thanks Alex!

Basically I get to the F12 part (BIOS recovery) and the machine beeps and
tells me to press any button. I pressed a button and nothing happened - its
as if it is not recognizing the key strokes - but it works because I pressed
F12 to get to this screen.

Very strange.