compaq armada v300 trouble

[deji]

hi am having problems trying to instal os on a compaq armada v300 notebook.i formated the hard disk and tried to instal win98 and i was getting along fine until the harware detection stage that is where i got stuck, funny enough i removed the hard drive and did the instalaton on another laptop and it was succesful but when i returned the harddrive back to the compaq laptop it wouldn;t boot though it recognized the harddisk.

[bailey]

this can be tricky
did you delete any partitions from the hard drive when you formated it ?

some compaq's have a hidden partition where the bios data is stored, if that is missing, it won't work.
laptops usally have a system restore cd that will put the laptop bact to the way it was when it was new, do you have that cd ?

you will need all the drivers and other stuff to install back on the hard drive.
do you have any of this.?

[deji]

yes i did delete the partitions and reformated the whole 4.3g of the harddisk and i dont have the system restore disk

[mrmister1]

You may have deleted one of the partitions that are needed for it to boot. If you still have the Compaq CD that came with it, try booting from that.

[deji]

unfortunately for me i dont have that cd or any other sofware that came wit the laptop i actually got the laptop from a friend, is there any other thing i can do

[rjfvillarosa]

I am not sure if this will help you, but this is a link to the download page for you notebook including bios and bios updates.
http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/files/armada/us/locate/4_1059.html#0

[mrmister1]

Download the BIOS update from the link and put it on a bootable floppy and boot from it.

[deji]

thanks 4 d link i;ll try it out and give u d feedback

[rjfvillarosa]

thanks 4 d link i;ll try it out and give u d feedback
uuumm I won't be a moment I am just going to get my dictionary :confused: sorry deji but my IM speak is not that fast.

[deji]

thanks but i didn;t get help on that page, any other suggestions pls i would really apreciate it :confused:

[GaryRouth]

Short answer - reformat and try again. Trying a setup from another laptop and then swapping in the drive is pretty dicey business: you don't usually want to do that unless you haven't any other options.

If you can reach the Bios Setup by pressing the F10 key at startup, then you needn't worry about the missing partition [on some models, it's for diagnostics - you can re-create that partition if you'd like, by using another computer to create a Compaq boot diskette that contains the "Personal Computer Diagnostics" - http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/files/armada/us/download/7106.html ]

But perhaps you might want that space for data, since it's a smallish hard drive nowadays. You can always run the diagnostics from floppies [if you look through the entire document in that first link, that info is in there towards the end].

For a quick overview of a clean install of a freshly formatted hard disk in an Armada v300 series notebook, look through this document ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/supportinformation/papers/14dj-0201a-wwen.pdf

On your first try, did you use a Windows 98 CD to install from? -- Or did you copy the .cabs to a folder on the hard drive (while the drive was slaved in another computer)? If you were able to boot from, and start Setup from, your Armada CD-drive, then try the install again. Use a zero-write utility to completely clear the drive [if that's an IBM Travelstar 4.3gb drive in there, use the utility downloadable from the IBM site]. If a zero-write seems too time-consuming, just reformat again, and re-create your Primary DOS partition and mark it active. Before you start installing --> this time be sure no PC Cards are in the slots, and that the Bios Antivirus protection is set to Disabled. You should be able to enter Bios Setup by pressing F10 immediately after power on [start tapping that F10 key just after turning on the power]. It may simply have been your Bios Antivirus tripping up your 1st try.

If you can't boot from the CD, go ahead and copy the .cabs to the hard drive first, and start setup from there.

All the drivers you'll need later on are on that page that rjfvillarosa linked you to earlier.

Win98se will probably install best on that notebook, it has amazing hardware compatibility - is it 2nd Edition that you're installing, or Original?

Best of luck
. . . Gary

[P.S. ... I suppose I should add that if you run into trouble in the same spot during your 2nd try, it might be time to start testing the hardware - especially the memory and hard drive. The CD-drive might not be 100% wonderful anymore either, so if two unsuccesful tries involved CD-based installs, try copying to the hard drive first, and see if things go better.]

[deji]

Thanks for the help i;ll try it out gee thanks a lot u;r saving me from tears.

[deji]

i downloaded the pc diagnostics and followed the instruction to make the bootable diagnostics diskette and i booted the system from that but to set uyp the diagnostics partition on the hardisk i was prompted to insert a setup diskette, i dont have any idea of what that is.pls what do i do

[GaryRouth]

Sorry for taking so long to reply, I've been away with the family on vacation [and the online time was pretty much corralled by the youngsters :) ]

You could try life without the diagnostic partition, since it's a small drive... I think you'll get more usability from the laptop that way (4 gig fills up quickly nowadays!).

You can clear the hard drive like I mentioned in my earlier reply, take the precautions (disable the Bios Antivirus, remove PC Cards in the slots, etc.), and try a clean install.

If you'd like, visit the webpage rjfvillarosa mentioned for the drivers & burn a driver disk ahead of time - this can help speed up things.

. . . Gary

[P.S. ... also, if you'd like, you can use 3rd-party diagnostics to test the memory and hard drive. You can try MemTest86 for the memory ( http://www.memtest.org ) and go to the manufacturer of the hard drive for the disk diagnostics - these will run in DOS from a bootable floppy --- it's likely you have the IBM TravelStar 4.3gb drive in there, so you can use the IBM disk diagnostics]

[GaryRouth]

. . . it's too late to edit, so I'll add this as an extra reply:

I didn't really answer your first question in my last reply. You'd asked about the first diagnostic cassette that you created & it's prompt for a Setup disk. Depending on which version diskette you tried, you should be able to disregard the step that asks to re-create the diagnostics partition on the hard drive, and run the diagnostics from the floppy only. If this option isn't available on the version you currently have, try the other.

I think you have a good chance, if your hardware is in good enough shape, of doing nicely without a diagnostics partition.
. . . Gary

[deji]

compliments. i wasn;t able to create the diagnostics partiton afterall but the laptop is now ok it was the ram all along there is 1 64meg chip and one 128meg chip the 128 meg wass d culprit the pc is now working fine using the 64meg chip interestingly when i changed the color settings to 2color display the pc booted up wit d 128meg chip.

[GaryRouth]

Just out of curiousity, I wonder how the memory tests out with either the Compaq diagnostics (run from a floppy) or MemTest86 (boots/runs from a floppy - http://www.memtest.org ) . . .

It might be a memory setting in the Bios setup rather than the module itself = the diagnostics might help figure that out for you. Compaqs generally prefer CAS2 single-sided modules [premium modules]. --- If the 128mb module was a recent addition, it might not be a great match for the notebook, and if it's under warranty, you could return it (or exchange it for a better matching module) if it doesn't pass diagnostics, or doesn't match the Compaq's requirements. Notebook memory is fairly pricey, especially the older PC100/PC133 modules - which are now in short supply. eBay auctions sometimes have used modules for less if you want to take the risk, and if the shipping doesn't eat up the price differential.

. . . Gary

[deji]

the memory tests ok using the diagnostics and there isn;t any memory setting options in the bios