Compaq Armada 7730MT

[General9913]

Hi, how do you do?

My Compaq Armada 7730MT doesn't turn on. What happens is I get 3 green lights on Caps Lock, Scroll Lock and Num Lock whenever I plug it in, and it won't turn on. Battery is dead so I can't use it either. Funny thing is that I can open the cd drive and put a cd in there and it spins like the system is actually on. And I can feel the processor and other components getting warm in the meantime, so there's power going through the motherboard, but I don't know if it's enough to actually turn it on and boot the system.

I think the internal power supply might be the problem because there is plastic or something melted inside of it. Trouble is I can't find the exact model for it which is a 45W 18.75V 3.2A power supply. I'm wondering if I can use a Compaq Armada E700 internal power supply 50W 18.5V 2.7A.

What do you think?

Thanks!

[RealBlackStuff]

The other power supply should be fine (but probably only for light work).
Have you tried an external monitor?

[General9913]

Yes, assuming it's the power supply fault! I guess I'd need to test it with a volt meter.

Yes, I tried an external monitor. No luck unfortunately...

These old white Armada models have the bios installed to the HDD instead of a ROM on the motherboard. I don't know if it's an issue but what seems to be a cmos battery, 7.4V rechargeable green battery is dead.

Thanks!

[Screamer]

If your Armada's battery is still left connected to the motherboard, disconnect it. Then hold down the F10 key and the power button (not the slider), see if that makes your Armada boot up.

A 7.4V green CMOS battery? Is that CMOS battery a lithium battery, or a NiCd, or a NiMH? I'm curious.

[General9913]

I've disconnected the battery and the bios battery and tried to boot while holding down F10 and the power button but nope, it still refuses to turn on.

Yes, a 7.4V green CMOS battery, it's a NiCd one. I wonder if it has anything to do with this cmos battery either, it's dead and I don't know if it's required to turn on this old laptop. I gotta tell ya, why oh why Compaq decided to place the bios on the HDD?

[Screamer]

Well, darn. I suppose that you could try replacing that dead CMOS battery, though I don't see a reason why it would not boot up without a CMOS battery installed.

NiCd? God, that CMOS battery might start leaking sooner or later. I had one NiMH CMOS battery that leaked inside my Satellite 2595XDVD, and that was not very safe at all.