Gateway 6860 problem (possible battery?)

I was one of the many people who bought the reconditioned Gateway 6860's and I think there is a problem with my battery. I immediately formatted the HD and installed a fresh copy of vista ultimate. Once the installation had to restart, the notebook would make 3 beeps - a 1 second beep followed by 2 1/2 second beeps. The screen would stay black but I could hear the HD on. If I pop out the battery and put it back in, it would work again. It seems like it does it every time the computer is restarted, though. Has anyone had this problem, and if so -- what can I do?

 

if you boot it without a battery attached, it gives no beeps every time ?

 

i have no idea, but maybe the install went bad and when windows goes to boot there is some error/misread of the battery.

does it show the screen that comes right at boot before the os boots?

have you tried another reinstall?

 

When it beeps, the screen is black the entire time. I booted it up just now without messing with the battery and it didn't give a beep. Not sure what is going on, but it all started when I tried installing a new OS.

 

i really cant help, the only thing i can suggest is try reflashing the bios, if you want.

 

there is no connection between new os beeping and battery, if you want to fix this you will have to isolate possible causes, not cling to what you think caused it. if you want i'll try to help.

 

ok well i obviously would like help. what do you suggest?

 

you need to isolate the problem.
so the easiest part to remove is the battery, remove and try enough times to be sure if it has anything to do with it.

report.

next thing will be to test the ram, search for memtest and run a full cycle.
better still download ubcd burn it to a cd boot from it and run memtest from there.

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/


have a good time

 

Ok, well now the laptop won't even turn on. It beeps every time I try to boot it (with the power cord plugged in, with it unplugged, i took battery out for a couple mins)... still same thing. Don't know what is going on.....

 

get gateway to replace it.

 

the BIOS is shadowed, we cant flash it or anything.

 

i'm speaking with gateway tech support online and they told me to reseat the memory and hdd... did both. still beeps. i'm really dreading sending it back to have it replaced because they are going to take so long.

 

oh ok, i just thought i read someone saying they updated their bios before.

 

so as of right now, i'm typing on the gateway. i reseated my hdd and memory again and its booting up fine (for now) with no beeps.. i'll track the progress but gateway suggested it is the memory and they will replace it within 2-3 days.

 

It could be the girder valve going bad as well. Did the tech say anything about it?

 

how did they suggest you reset them mem and hdd ?

 

nothing about girder valve - i don't even know what that is. they told me to re-seat the hard drive / memory, so i just popped out the 2 memory sticks & hdd and put them back in.

 

any change ?
i would disconnect hdd and remove both ram sticks give it a boot
conect one stick give it a boot change other stick try again,
if one stick is fine try add the other one
lastly try adding the hdd

that should allow you finding if one of the three is defected.

edit ######
make sure disconnect and remove battery each time you add remove part

 

I'll give all that a try again -- the laptop is working good after I reseated the hdd and memory yesterday.

 

if its working dont touch it

 

Ok, so last night I had the beeping problem again. So I removed the battery, hard drive and both memory modules. Turned it on and no beep (but nothing came up on screen such as the BIOS screen). I put in a memory module in the lower slot and turned it on -- beeps. I removed that and put the other memory module in the same slow -- beeps. I put both memory modules and hdd back in, plugged it back in 3 or 4 hours later and it booted up fine. Gateway is very difficult when it comes to their warranty services so I was running around faxing proof of purchases and all that to them today. Does it sound like there is something wrong with the motherboard? Memory? Who knows..?

 

you should have tried the other slot before you installed both of them.

btw did you ran memtest86 ?

 

no i didnt memtest it. i'll do that right now, though.

 

ok, so when i tried restarting, i got the beeps again. this time, however, it booted into windows because i heard all the startup sounds. the screen was completely blank. i took out the hdd and memory modules and tried the memory in the other modules - beeps. i put both ram modules in, moved the hdd into the other slot, and turned on -- worked. but i dont think anything is wrong with the hdd (since it booted up into windows) or the memory... so could it be a defective video card?

 

Could be; supposedly the video card in this laptop is also subject to manufacturer problems. It's almost certainly a mobo hardware problem given that the BIOS is giving you fits. Could also be a loose cable somewhere -- even in the screen section.

Any way to find out what was refurb'ed on it?

 

I doubt I'd be able to find out what was wrong with it. I actually encountered the beeps for the first time while I was installing vista ultimate. When the installer had to reboot, it beeped at startup.

They are telling me it's probably the ram (because beeps happen prior to BIOS), then they are telling me it's probably the hdd too (because vista loaded with blank screen). It did beep 3 times and then load vista with black screen.

So confused

 

Well it's obviously a hardware problem, and it shouldn't be your problem. Get an RMA and send it back, I'm sure someone kept a repair record on it.