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.

Reading through the news groups and internet it seems like I'm not the only
one whose laptop ended up in this state. But so far I have found no
solutions.

Right now I purposely took out the CMOS battery and let the main battery run
completely down and am going to let it set for a day or two.

Really hard to debate with their "off shore" call and help centre.
"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.

Reading through the news groups and internet it seems like I'm not the
only
one whose laptop ended up in this state. But so far I have found no
solutions.

Right now I purposely took out the CMOS battery and let the main battery
run
completely down and am going to let it set for a day or two.

"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.

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.

Some of those have a reset button as I recall. Usually a small hole somewhere on
the bottom with a tact switch inside. Might be worth a look.

Alan Harriman

Likely motherboard or PS failure. Most other faults (memory, HD/OS)would
at least allow it to partially boot.
JR
Lorene wrote:
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.

Reading through the news groups and internet it seems like I'm not the only
one whose laptop ended up in this state. But so far I have found no
solutions.

Right now I purposely took out the CMOS battery and let the main battery run
completely down and am going to let it set for a day or two.




--
--------------------------------------------------------------
Home Page: http://www.seanet.com/~jasonrnorth

On Thu, 27 Jan 2005 19:51:50 -0500 "Art" wrote in
Message id: :

Really hard to debate with their "off shore" call and help centre.

Hey Art, I see you're posting through Comcast's news server. I was
wondering how you're managing that? I can't access the servers any more,
and got an email from Comcast saying they were shut down on Jan. first.

This sounds like a mother board failure. During service of any kind, the
manufacture replaces the complete mother board.

If you want to troubleshoot a mother board, I would wish you a lot of luck.
These are very sophisticated, and having just a DVM and a scope would be a
waist of time to really get in to it. Even if you were able to locate a bad
parts, other than a simple cap or resistor, you would have to be able to
source the parts, and have the soldering tools to change it.

Many of the semiconductors on these boards are proprietary to the
manufacture. A number of them contain firmware in which, even if you have
the programming equipment for, you would have to have a source for the
coding that goes in to them.

On a laptop, there are only several things to try when troubleshooting it.
You have the RAM modules, screen assembly and its back-lamp inverter supply,
and maybe a daughter board for some options. The rest, such as the IR ports,
are generally built on to the mother board, and are not changeable.

The only thing you can do without spare cards on hand, is look for an all
reset button, and try that. You can also use a DVM and verify that the
mother board battery and the power supply are good.

One thing I have seen in the odd laptop, is that if the main battery, or the
mother board battery is defective, the computer may not start or run. Check
these first.

--

Jerry G.
=====

"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.

Reading through the news groups and internet it seems like I'm not the only
one whose laptop ended up in this state. But so far I have found no
solutions.

Right now I purposely took out the CMOS battery and let the main battery run
completely down and am going to let it set for a day or two.

DONT EVER buy anything with the name GATEWAY or E-MACHINE on it. their
products are total crap.

im convinced these 2 companies are the same and purposely sell cheap made
computer systems


"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.

Reading through the news groups and internet it seems like I'm not the
only
one whose laptop ended up in this state. But so far I have found no
solutions.

Right now I purposely took out the CMOS battery and let the main battery
run
completely down and am going to let it set for a day or two.

I have been told that if you call Dell's Help line, and are dissatisfied
with the help you get from the junior level guy who picks up, that you
can ask him to elevate the issue to second-level, or some such phrase.
In other words, you can ask to talk to his supervisor. As I recall,
this was Dell's response to the complaint that very few of their
Help-line folks actually speak English, and very few US customers speak
much Hindi. The second-level folks are in the US, speak English, are
well-trained, and (most important) are actually authorized to do stuff.

By the way, I own 8 Dells, and have been very pleased with all of them.
My only hassle occurred when the keyboard on one of the laptops quit
responding when I pressed certain keys. When I got past the first level
tech, who just couldn't figure out what I was talking about, the
second-level guy shipped me a new keyboard, no cost, next-day air.

Bill Jeffrey
=======================

Art wrote:

Really hard to debate with their "off shore" call and help centre.
"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.

Reading through the news groups and internet it seems like I'm not the
only
one whose laptop ended up in this state. But so far I have found no
solutions.

Right now I purposely took out the CMOS battery and let the main battery
run
completely down and am going to let it set for a day or two.