Instal 98 on compaq from scratch

[philv]

I purchased a compaq amada e500 laptop with no operating system.I would like to know what to do to load W98 on it.Currently when i turn it on i get \"partition signature !=55AA \"
on top of screen.Can someone help?

[Dark Nova]

-do you know what OS it had on it before?
-where does it stop?
-can you get pass the bios?

you could load a boot disk and re-format from scratch

[philv]

Im not sure what os was on it before.
I cant get the bios.
Can i get the bios and reformat from the boot disc?And do i need a compaq boot disc?

[Dark Nova]

when you start your pc, hold Delete to acess the bios, make your floppy drive as primary boot device. you will need a boot disk, to re-format and to install the OS.

[glc]

Compaq does not use Delete to access the bios.

You should be able to boot it with a Windows 98 CD without changing any settings. However, you MAY need a Compaq restore CD to do it right, the diagnostic partition may be gone.

[edfair]

Some Compaq use the [F10] key while the cursor is in the upper right. You have to be quick, it stays there for 3 flashes.
98 may go on the box without the diagnostic partition but you will be somewhat restricted in some basic diagnostic stuff. Better to download the ROMPAQ and create the partition and load the diagnostics.

This was an earlier box. It may not have enough resources to get 98 on it. It has been a while since I've seen one so I'm not sure.

[glc]

The E500 is a Pentium 3, so 98 will be no problem.

Here's the driver page for 98:

http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/fi...te/4_1006.html

HP has drivers for everything from Windows 3.1 all the way to XP on that model.

[philv]

I have been able to access the bios by using the f10 key.
Also i have been able to delete and create new partition and formatted.I am trying to install 98 with boot up floppy and w98 cd then it stops with the error SU-0013.It says "If you have HPFS or Windows NT file system you must create an ms dos boot partition.If you have Lantastic server or Superstor compression,disable it before running setup".
Any solutions?

[glc]

You might have to zero fill the hard drive. Sounds like the proprietary Compaq diagnostic partition is still partially there or something.

http://dban.sourceforge.net

[skipper]

since thread is still open and I have similar issues...
I also am trying to re-install OS on old Compaq. It had W98 and had problems...
So far, I have used the Western Digital utilities to zero fill the hard drive (a Western Digital 10GB). It said the drive had 9539MB on it.
I tried to install W2000 Pro. Won't format past a few percent.
Tried the DBAN in case there was something hidden - as mentioned above.
It says it worked, but.... OS still will not go past, say, 12% formatting. Tried and tried.
Any ideas?
(Apologies if I should have started another new thread, but this was so similar but unfinished.)

[glc]

Hard drive is probably shot, Skipper. Run the extended test with the WD diags.

[skipper]

Thanks for the reply.
I ran the extended diag and it came out good.
Since then I have zero filled again and tried W98SE. It loaded most... of the way. I had put in a new NIC since the MB has none. It said it needed to find the drivers but locked up. I removed the card. Then it booted and said it needed to locate updated drivers for VGA (?). Locked up on that. Tried to disable anything along those lines in BIOS. No help.
I flashed the BIOS. No help.
Zeroed again.
Tried W2000. Same format problem.
Zeroed.
Tried W98SE. Same driver issue.

Ideas on this one??

[glc]

Test the ram with memtest86+.

If it has onboard video and a video card, pull the video card. Pull all other cards (nic, sound, modem, etc.). Disconnect all drives except the CD drive and the hard drive.

[skipper]

Thanks for another reply.
I tried with no other cards connected. I have also tried with disabled sound and modem (on board) in BIOS.

I just tried another video card and re-installed W98.... almost. It referred to the card as default monitor and proceeded with "updating system settings" only to freeze again.

Lastly, I tried memtest (drive was zeroed again) using floppy. Upon boot, it says Loading....... and then reboots, over and over....

Oh, and it has two sticks of RAM - one is 128MB the other is 64MB. (Memory test at POST counts up to all of that.)

[glc]

Try it with one stick at a time. If you can't get it to run and pass memtest86+, no point in going any farther.

[skipper]

Tried one stick at a time. Same results.
However, I tried the floppy in another computer. It began "loading" and then several short lines of characters scrolled, then it reboots. So, I am assuming the floppy has a problem and will try to do it over again. Will post back.

Thanks.

[skipper]

oops

[skipper]

(Let's see if I can post a reply to the right thread this time....)

I created a CD with Memtest86+ and it worked. Ran for about 45 minutes with no errors.

I zeroed the drive, took it out to another comp as a slave, and tried to see what I could do with it.

The device manager recognized it. However, it does not show up with a drive letter. Based on my previous post to the wrong thread...... seems it would not get a drive letter because it is zeroed and not partitioned. Makes sense.

So, I tried to get into BIOS to change boot sequence so I could do something about that. But this "surrogate" computer seems to have a secret way to get into the BIOS.......... I tried all keys I could think of during boot. It is a Compaq Presario 5600i. What??

Help? (I do appreciate the response glc. Keeps me trying.)

[glc]

You don't need to change the boot order to partition and format it, you do that with Disk Management in Windows (2K or XP) or with FDISK at a DOS prompt in Windows (9x/ME).

[skipper]

Thanks. I didn't know that could be done there. It is now partitioned and healthy according to the box. (I used W2K.)

My thinking was to try and load W2K on this drive just to see if it would load completely and then see if the machine would boot up off of it and run.

Does that make sense? Can I do that? How?

And if you know, what do I do to get into BIOS on this thing? I have tried del, shift, F1, F3,F8, and F10. F10 resulted in a setup screen of some kind but nothing like a BIOS I could tell.

[edfair]

[F10] while the cursor is flashing in upper right corner is one way that some Compaqs get access.

The hidden partition that you wiped out contains some additional access material but I don't know what is there as my Compaq experience is limited.

You can download a floppy set (called ROMPAQ) for your machine that allows you to create and manage the partition. But that also means that you get to do the partitioning, formatting, and OS load again.

[GaryRouth]

Skipper -

You mention that you've formatted successfully, and that the drive shows as "healthy" - this means that you still have the drive in the Compaq 5000i, yes? If so, I wouldn't recommend trying to install Win2000 on it while still in the 5000i. Instead, you should return it to the original box & try it there, if at all.

Try putting the drive back in it's original case, double-checking your jumpers and cabling, along with the Bios setup for the IDE controllers [set them to "Auto" or Automatic Detection, if that's available]. If you can't get into the Bios Setup of the original box, post it's make/model here & we'll take a look. If it's an older Compaq, it's usually F10, just like edfair mentions, or F1. If you want to preview the likely Bios screens, here's their blurb http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...cname=bph07110

Then run the Western Digital diagnostics again - both the quick test and the extended. If it passes, try installing Win2000 from the CD again. [Can I assume you used the NTFS file system when you formatted?] If you get stuck at a percentage again, shutdown, power off, & unplug the computer = and try the drive on a different IDE controller. And try the Win2000 setup again.

I'd keep the ethernet adapter card out of the box during all of this (like glc recommended).

. . . Gary

[skipper]

Thanks for the reply. (Sorry for the dry spell.)

I am out of the other machine and back into the original with the drive. (I did figure out the access to BIOS in the other machine. Thanks.)

Most things in BIOS are AUTO. Couldn't find anything along the lines you mention about IDE controllers.
I have tried using the BIOS options for "default" and "fail safe" and "optimum" - all with no success.

I even tried a brand new hard drive (intended for another box). Acted just as the old drive did. (No surprise.)

Currently, I get W2K to format (NTFS), load, auto restart. During the starting mode, the progress bar gets about 50% across and then stops. Happens like that most tries. Once it got 75% across. So, I cannot get far enough to see desktop.

[GaryRouth]

Hi again Skipper -

So far, you've ran diagnostics on the hard drive(s) and memory, and they seem to have tested OK. While in the system's Bios Setup screens, did you happen to check the temperatures & voltages (usually available in a menu "PC Health", or "Hardware Monitor", or something like that)? Trouble with overheating or a failing power supply can cause mysterious lockups.

If you can't find temperature readings in the Bios, try running the system with the case open, and look to see if all the fans seem to be spinning OK - and that heat doesn't seem to be building up. [To get the system to stay on for an extended period, you could just enter the Bios Setup screens & let it stay there for a while]

If you can round up any info on the Bios settings for your system, that'd be mighty handy, too. Somewhere on the hp/Compaq site those settings should be available (if the system still has an ID tag or sticker on it anywhere, that makes it much easier to find info for it on the support site). Some systems are sensitive to lockups and restarts if Spread Spectrum is Enabled, and some have trouble when things like Wake On LAN is Enabled. Power Settings can be a real source of trouble: see if the manual for your model has a recommendation one way or another on whether ACPI is Enabled = if there's no mention one way or another, and it's not Enabled at present, try enabling it.

Another tactic for figuring whether the system has a hardware or software issue is to boot the system from a Knoppix Linux CD (which can run completely from the CD) . . . If the system can't run for any length of time on Knoppix, then you've got a hardware problem. [You can find a ton of info, plus download sites, for Knoppix with a quick Google search. They might have it on download.com - but I haven't looked in a while].

Re: the Win2000 CD itself = is it an original MS CD? or a backup copy? If it's a backup copy, try rounding up an original and see if that makes a difference - just use your original product key and you're OK.

Seems like you'll get a good idea soon of where the trouble is.
Good luck!
. . . Gary

[P.S. ... if hardware seems implicated, see if you can round up a known-good power supply (of sufficient wattage) to try. If things run OK with the borrowed supply, all you'll need is a new power supply, and they aren't very expensive]

[glc]

That assumes the power supply isn't proprietary. You also aren't going to have any kind of advanced settings in a Compaq bios.

[GaryRouth]

True enough: the Compaq Bios options are a bit limited. I hope that this model at least has the temperature and voltage readings. I know older Dells can have proprietary connectors for the power supplies (the shape of the connector looks the same, but the wiring pattern ["pin out"] is different), and they also can have the proprietary connectors on the motherboard for the case connectors as well. But I hadn't heard of Compaq doing this = is it common throughout their model lines?

skipper - to make sure about the power supply/connectors, the answer might be on the hp/Compaq support site for your model, or you could drop them and email.

Proprietary, non-standard parts do complicate things!
. . . Gary

[glc]

I use affordablesurplus.com for a power supply reference. I've yet to see a name brand computer bios have temperature and voltage readouts.

[skipper]

Thanks for all the replies.
Regarding the power supply and temps. All fans, etc. work as they should. I am doing all of this with both sides off the case.

ACPI is listed with an IRQ (it's own) within the PCI device listing.
No Wake on Lan option in BIOS (I assume because is not built in?)
Spread spectrum is disabled.

I have also tried an original W98SE to no avail also. (locks up as with the W2K.)
I may try the Knoppix trick, but sure feels like a hardware problem requiring replacement board.

[GaryRouth]

Thanks for power supply & Bios info, glc.

skipper - did you try moving the hard drive's cable to a different IDE controller on the motherboard yet? [If the other controller is currently occupied with another cable, you can try switching them (though whatever devices are on that controller might end up acting up = in that case, if you've just one hard drive & one optical drive, you could put them both on one cable on the one good controller, with the hard drive in the Master setting and the optical drive in the Slave setting - with Cable Select, the hard drive would be on the far end of the cable, and the optical drive in the middle).

While you were in the Bios, did it display the correct cpu information?

. . . Gary

[I think your suspicion that the motherboard is faulty is certainly a strong possibility]

[skipper]

Thanks for the help.
I did try both devices on one IDE and then the other. No good. Same problems.
CPU does register correctly.
I have a new board on the way. But, a little learning was left behind. Thanks again.