"Lorene" wrote in message
news:uvfKd.2848$Eh5.585@trnddc04...
I have a Gateway M305CRV two weeks out of warrenty that simply stopped
dead
in its tracks.
I wasn't doing any thing out of the ordinary and all of a sudden nothing
worked. The mouse froze up. The CTRL-ALT DEL would not bring the Task
Monitor up or allow me to reset. So I turned it off and back on again.
Now it only lights up the LEDs above and to the right of the on/off
button.
In fact it circulates through the LEDs. The fan also comes on. That is
all
it does. Nothing on the screen.
It seems as if the BIOS is in a loop waiting for something.

I have tried the following not necessarily in this order without success.
Plugged the monitor from the desktop into the back -- didn't help.
Took the battery out and let it set for an hour. Plugged the AC line in --
didn't help.
Reseated the RAM -- didn't help.
Reseated the HD -- didn't help.
I took what I assummed to be the CMOS battery out and turned it on without
the CMOS battery -- din't help.
Put the Diver CD in the drive and turned it on -- didn't help.

My questions are"
1. Does anyone know what order the BIOS does its work?. I would assume
it
checked the RAM first. It knows when the battery is running low because I
let it set there circulating through the LEDs until the battery lite
turned
a blinking red and finally shut down.
2. Does the BIOS normally, or can it, write to the display without RAM
being
present. Nothing gets displayed at the moment.
3. Does anyone have a source for the Service Manual for the M305 laptop.
Do
I really have to pay for it. IT would seem to me if Gateway won't help
fix
it they should at least provide a source that tells you how to take the
thing apart correctly.

Please don't suggest talking to Gateway. I tried that and all my
arguments
fell on deaf ears. I believe I have a case for the machine still being
under
warranty since I had a months worth of trouble when I first got it. But I
get the distinct feeling from my conversations with their support people
that they really don't give a grunt.


Unfortunatly that's probably your only option, you've tried just about
everything else, though it wouldn't hurt to leave the cmos battery out for a
bit like you did. You could check for bulging or leaking electrolytic
capacitors on the motherboard but other than that it's probably not
economical to repair unless you can find a working one with a broken screen.