HD Controller issue?

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

I was kindly "given" an HP laptop from HP themselves to replace my old
failing laptop as it was under warrenty.

Then this laptop started having a few problems, hp gave me another new
laptop. I'm happy with this laptop and thinking I could fix the old
one myself just by installing gentoo (I thought this was basic windows
issues)

Unfortunately, I think the problem is a little more complex than I
first thought. I've tried both Knoppix and Gentoo & both crash
occasionally. I re-installed windows & ran a scan disk which routinely
crashed at 75%. Thinking "I can just replace the HD" I stuck it in a
USB caddy to backup. As an afterthought, I scanned the disk and found
no problems (on my new laptop)

Hmph! So why is it crashing? Could this be a IDE controller issue & is
there any way round it? It's a perfectly good laptop (no scratches &
I've got all the accessories) and I really don't want to just bin it.

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

On 7 Jul 2004, dontposthere@hotmail.com <dontposthere@hotmail.com> wrote:
> I was kindly "given" an HP laptop from HP themselves to replace my old
> failing laptop as it was under warrenty.
>
> Then this laptop started having a few problems, hp gave me another new
> laptop. I'm happy with this laptop and thinking I could fix the old
> one myself just by installing gentoo (I thought this was basic windows
> issues)
>
> Unfortunately, I think the problem is a little more complex than I
> first thought. I've tried both Knoppix and Gentoo & both crash
> occasionally. I re-installed windows & ran a scan disk which routinely
> crashed at 75%. Thinking "I can just replace the HD" I stuck it in a
> USB caddy to backup. As an afterthought, I scanned the disk and found
> no problems (on my new laptop)
>
> Hmph! So why is it crashing? Could this be a IDE controller issue & is
> there any way round it? It's a perfectly good laptop (no scratches &
> I've got all the accessories) and I really don't want to just bin it.

Maybe it is a memory issue. Try reseating the RAM and/or running
memtest86 overnight. Although, it could be any number of things with the
motherboard if the same model keeps failing (corroded connector or solder
joint fatiguing).

I have a Sony model that commonly has screen scrambling problems due to a
ribbon cable, but fortunately I have been able to fix it when it happens
by pressing the "i" in Vaio on the back of the screen.

--
David Efflandt - All spam ignored http://www.de-srv.com/