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    nw8440 wont POST-HD light amber

    Discussion in 'HP Business Class Notebooks' started by iampaulh, Mar 7, 2012.

  1. iampaulh

    iampaulh Newbie

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    Hi there,

    I've been given an old HP Compaq nw8440 to look at. It's not POSTing at all. If I turn it on, everything seems ok, the DVD drive makes a clicking noise, the fan spins up, but the HDD light remains a solid amber/orange.

    I had a look at the service manual and it mentions this is because the HD is parked due to the HP Drivesecure stuff.

    However if I take the drive out of the laptop and plug it into a USB caddy, the disk is fine and works no problem. I did a surface test and all sectors are good.

    I reseated the HD, but still no change. I also tried removing the CMOS battery for 10min, but still no change.

    Any one and ideas?!
     
    iampaulh, Mar 7, 2012
    #1
  2. MattJ016

    MattJ016 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Does the laptop boot at all without the hard drive? Obviously it won't go to Windows, but it should still display on the monitor.
     
    MattJ016, Mar 7, 2012
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  3. iampaulh

    iampaulh Newbie

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    The same thing happens when the hard drive is removed. The light remains amber and no POST.

    I thought it should continue to POST regardless of the presence of a hard disk...
     
    iampaulh, Mar 7, 2012
    #3
  4. KLF

    KLF NBR Super Modernator Super Moderator

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    Quite a few times both nc8430 and nw8440 have recovered after reseating SODIMMs... So it's worth a try at least.
     
    KLF, Mar 7, 2012
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  5. iampaulh

    iampaulh Newbie

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    Gave that a try, reseated both SODIMMs, even tried a new one from a working laptop, but still no POST :(
     
    iampaulh, Mar 8, 2012
    #5