Compaq 2135US Won't read HDD or OD

gregofvt · Joined: Jun 23, 2003 Posts: 3696

Hi all,

I've been doing builds of desktops and repairs for a few years, but have little experience with notebooks. Against my better judgment a took in a laptop (Compaq 2135us) from an acquaintance that he said just needed a new hard drive.

I slapped in the HDD without checking anything out myself first (first mistake), but the laptop won't boot from a cd to format the drive. I can get into the bios (such as it is) and did set the boot order to cd first, but when attempting to boot I hear the optical drive spin, but then get "media test failure - check cables" followed by "no os found" . Is it possible that the ide cables were loosened from the mobo when I pulled out the old hdd? I haven't tried to completely open it up. How difficult will that be?

Any thoughts?

GREG

Werebo · Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 10:34 am Post subject:

Allo Greg

If you have a set of fine tools (both flat and cross-headed) screwdrivers, then it's unnerving for the 1st time, but not impossible Wink

The one thing you WILL need though, is the service/repair manual for that specific model. THAT'S the hardest bit!!! I found one here on eBay italia for $2.69

Usually, there's one screw that holds a panel in, then the rest follows from there. On my Sony VAIO, (now deceased

), the tiny screw was alongside the USB port on one side. That allowed the panel above the keyboard to slide and lift out, revealing the next set of screws to lift the keyboard and so on - laptop disassembly do vary from model to model as well as brand to brand though.

On my VAIO, the CD drive slot isn't connected by cables, the end of the plastic 'block' is soldered directly to the mobo. The Compaq might well have a failing/dead CD drive laser, as well as the dead HD.

If your pal doesn't want it back, then it's worth having a play with it, just for the learning experience, otherwise I'd hand it back with many apologies Wink

gregofvt · Joined: Jun 23, 2003 Posts: 3696

I'm actually thinking the hdd might not have been bad in the first place, and that having cd before hdd in the boot order (which it already had) was producing the errors I reported, leading him to think it was a bad hdd. I guess I can test that theory.

Thanks for the advice on truly opening up the laptop. It was actually given to my friend by someone else, so all he has in it is the cost of the hdd. If I had another laptop optical drive I'd try swapping that out, but I don't clearly see how to do that either. I guess a bit more research is in order.

Werebo · Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 6:39 pm Post subject:

If you fancy laying out approx $15-$20(ish), you can get a 2.5" - 3.5" adaptor that will let you use the laptop's HD on an ordinary PC. That way, you could test it for errors. Something like this: Link. Decent ones have a couple of metal brackets so you can physically mount the drive in the PC's case.

The CD drive should have a little slidey-catch, or equivalent, somewhere close on the case, allowing it to slide out of the laptop. The above adaptor will fit any IDE device, so you could also use it to test the CD drive in a PC.

I don't think 2.5" CD drives have master/slave jumpers (my ol' VAIO didn't), so you'd have to hook it onto the 2nd IDE channel, so as to use the PC's HD to boot from.

Good luck Wink

gregofvt · Joined: Jun 23, 2003 Posts: 3696

Thanks, Werebo. If it turns out that the original hdd is good, I was also thinking about getting a usb enclosure for it.

If I was going to do alot of laptop work it would be worth having a converter like the one you cited, but I'm not sure. This is really just a hobby for family and friends. I'll do some experimenting over the weekend and get back about my progress.

GREG

goretsky

Hello,

Have you checked the original 2.5" hard disk drive from the Compaq 2135US notebook computer to see if whether or not it had a master/slave/cable-select jumper set on it? Most of the time, notebook computer's hard disk drives are unjumpered, but I did see a notebook from Hewlett-Packard that had its hard disk drive jumpered as CS. It could be that the hard disk drive for this notebook requires a similar setting.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

gregofvt · Joined: Jun 23, 2003 Posts: 3696

there are no jumpers on either the old or new hdd's. Since it wouldn't boot from the optical drive either, I did put the old drive back in and set the order to hdd first, but still got the same result.

One thing I did notice was that taking out the original drive in the first place required significant force, but all subsequent insertions and removals have not. This may now be a mobo issue, whether or not it was initially. I am going to get a 2.5-3.5 converter, which will take a few days to order, to double check the original drive. I'm also going to talk to my friend about whether or not he wants me to risk opening up the case itself to check the mobo, as I'm not 100% confident in my abilities to get it back together properly, but it would be a great learning experience, and it isn't worth a plug nickel the way it is now.

goretsky

Hello,

One thing to keep in mind is that the pitch (spacing) on the 44-pin IDE connectors used for 2.5" hard disk drives in notebooks is finer than that used with 3.5" IDE drives. You may wish to verify the hard disk drive is lining up correctly with the connector inside the notebook computer.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

gregofvt · Joined: Jun 23, 2003 Posts: 3696

I was wondering about that myself, but it slides in with little if any tolerance, so would be hard to line up wrong, I think. I am afraid that the connector may have come loose from the mobo, which is one of the reasons I want to see the mobo.

micker377 · Joined: May 27, 2005 Posts: 869

On a 2.5 drive, if you look at the pin "structure, you will see (off to the left?), four pins that aren't used by the adapter. These can sometimes be jumpered for "master/slave".

gregofvt · Joined: Jun 23, 2003 Posts: 3696

Thanks for the tip, micker. The external adapter should be arriving tomorrow, and I'll see if I can read the hdd from my primary pc (with a usb connection). I still haven't heard back from the owner yet about moving forward. Rolling Eyes