Compaq Presario 5000 keeps freezing for no reason

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Component name, type and location at UWAVE mobo

Hello everyone,
I referred to Q5 in the datasheet (PDF) that could be downloaded. Sorry for the confusion. I have a UWAVE (not UWAVE2) board, i think.
On this board the bad transistor is Q10 (not Q5), which is just beside CT21.
That 's right!
I have put three short wires to e, b and c and soldered a replacement transistor (Not surface mounted) to the three wires (I am not a professional solderer:grinthumb ). So just find any NPN transistor and try it.
I simply don't know what type i used, but pascous mentioned a BC546.

Please refer to my post of 06-10-2006, where you will find the links to the relevant datasheets.

Regards,
gsm
 
Compaq 5000 and Q10.

Hello, gsm.

Many a thanks for your come back to me. Yes, I had understood the confusion between Q5 and Q10 as on my board.

I have tried all morning to get this new transistor soldered in and to no avail. There is not enough room for my 15 W iron to slip in. Now you say that you soldered some extension wires to get this working. I might try this avenue. I got a 2N3904 in TO-92 format to replace the same in SOT-23 format.

You must have very nibble and steady hands to have succeeded in soldering this on the pads of the surface mounted old MMBT3904. I am very cautious to not overheat the replacement transistor and this might be why I could not get it in.

Anyway, I will be at it again tomorrow morn. In the mean time, I got a replacement 207074-101 board on eBay, just in case.

Thanks for stellar research on this. JP.
 
Difficult to solder at the mobo

The new transistor wires can be soldered to adjacent components that are directly connected to the legs of the old transistor.
These components are bigger and make soldering a little less complicated.
Personally i removed the UWAVE board from the cabinet, before i even tried to solder the three short wires and the new transistor to the board.
If the wires of the new transistor are long enough, you don't need the three extra wires and should be able to solder it directly at the board.
You will need a fine tip for the solder iron to make things a little more easy.

Regards,
GSM
 
Once more.

gsm, a good morning to you.

Thanks again for follow up on my posts here.

I will try aggain today to solder this tranny to the Compaq board. Obviously, the whole system is apart, the board is on my bench, all other components asunder on a table beside it.

I will get back to you on this, can you give me intructions on the big parts where the soldering could be done ?

A great day to you. JP.
 
Close !

gsm, hello again.

I got close this morning, I got a live screen saying Compaq but also a line saying: 162 system options not set and it stopped there.

Can you kindly show me where I could chase up the circuit on the board to have easier access to some solder spots ? On this one, the SOT-23 MMBT3904 came off the board during an attempt to solder the C to the trany. Now, the pad is empty but solder will not take to it, quite small it is.

I hate abusing your time, out of brotherhood in Compaq, but it would really be fun to get this system running again.

Have a great day, your effort are appreciated. JP.
 
Hi handcuff,

How to connect the new transistor (i used a 2n3708, just because i had it somewhere around), warning:
The Base is not always at the wire in the middle of the transistor.
So be sure to read the datasheet of the new transistor for the correct leads.

Connect the Emittor (e) to the nearest (lower) end of diode D11.
Connect the Base (b) to the left side (near Q10) of the cylindric zener-diode.
Connect the Collector (c) at the right of the very tiny resistor below the zener and above the two el-capacitors marked with CT21.

To everyone: Do not try to unsolder the transistor Q10, since causing damage to the motherboard is very easy.
It might be easier to cut Q10 away or leave it there.

good luck and regards,
GSM
 
That darn MObO again.

Good evening gsm.

Thanks again for your time.

Your last reply got dumped to my printer. I will look at it in the morning.

JP.
 
Compaq and trials !

GSM, hello. ( Notice the u/c letters now Sir )

I take my hat off to you. The Compaq is running now. It is getting a new copy of XP as I had interchanged the HDs with my old system that is doing duty in place of the Compaq.

The soldering was my much easier on these three pads that you lately mentioned. I also "secured" the 2N9304 with tape to the LPT1 header to be sure that no movement would disloge the contacts.

I hope that this does not prove out to be a momentary cure, I know that if it does it would be through mishaling on my part. I had some trouble at the start, I could not get to BIOS ( how ? ) then it wanted a floppy drive connected and an old Partition Magic bootable floppy got the show going. I followed with a CD device and the XP CD. I now have to go and monitor what is going on.

A large thank you to you. handcuff36@gmail.com
 
I fixed a Presario 5000 for a friend of mine a couple of weeks ago that caused BSOD's, What i did was i just cleaned it with a compressor tank and it started up just fine!
 
It started up fine ! Good on you. I tried this about five times in the last year and when it would not start anymore, there was other action to take.

The instructions from GSM were stellar. They enabled me, low on aptitude, to repair this one from a design fault. Keep the posts handy, I do not wish it on you but you might eventually need them.

Thanks again GSM. JP.
 
handcuff said:
I could not get to BIOS ( how ? )

Congratulations handcuff!

I hope many other people (owners of a Compaq with a UWAVE mobo) will also take advantage of this story!

Right after the Compaq has been (re)started, you could press F10 at the COMPAQ screen, when the cursor in the top-right corner is blinking. This will get you into the BIOS.

Kind regards,
gsm
 
GSM, good morning.

This 5000 has been ON now for 17+ hours, no freeze. Amazing the people we meet on the Web. There is always a person with the answer to one's need.

Give me hait at handcuff36@gmail.com.

Have a great day. JP.
 
Compaq 5000 not freezing !

Hello again, GSM.

The system has been ON now for 27 hours and I got XP reloaded and all apps that I normaly use. Not one glitch.

The trouble that I first experienced when trying to solder the salvation transistor was due to my using pigtails that were 14 AWG, they were too stiff and prevented a good installation. I found in my stuff, some 24 or 26 AWG fine wires and they are supple enough to not "break" the solder when trying to move another wire. Also, I mentioned that the transistor was fastened to the top of the LPT1 to prevent it being shaken loose.

This is great sruff, I will keep all this printed data, just in case.

Thanks a mega again. JP.
 
That Compaq.

Hello all Compaq users.

I see here that there are quite a few Compaq 500x that has this freezing problem. I was able to repair mine, thanks to GSM.

Has anybody thought of a class action recourse against Compaq in this case ? I am unable to initiate one as I am in Montreal. I would suggest that anybody who has some legal and friendly contact should investigate this aspect of recourse. I would join the group for sure. What do you think ?

I am typing this on my Compaq as it is now running steady for the last four days with no hiccup at all. Maybe this cure is for good.

A nice day to all. JP.
 
Q10

Hello JP and all other Compaq Presario 5000 users.

I have been using the PC without any problem since the day in october 2005 when i replaced transistor Q10. So i think that this is for sure a solid solution.

In the years before, my machine was a real nightmare. It would sometimes run fine for weeks and sometimes not even a for a few minutes. Anything i tried, seemed to cure the freezing problem more or less, but each time, sooner or later the same problem was there again.

I think it has been sufficiently proved now that there is a (little) design failure or production failure on the UWAVE motherboards. In fact a lot of Presario 5000 systems have a problem that may have caused many people a lot of trouble. On the other hand i know some people who own a similar machine type. They never experienced any problem with it.

Regards,
gsm
 
5000.

Hello GSM.

>> I have been using the PC without any problem since the day in october 2005 when i replaced transistor Q10. So i think that this is >> for sure a solid solution.

Yes, that solution seems to be good one. Mine has now been ON for 4 days and not a hiccup.


>>> In the years before, my machine was a real nightmare.


This was my daughter's system and she could not be without it as she is a working engineer. When it quit altogether, she got a new putor and gave me this one to do as I wished. A nightmare it was. she got so mad at it.

>>>I think it has been sufficiently proved now that there is a (little) design failure or production failure on the UWAVE motherboards. In >> fact a lot of Presario 5000 systems have a problem that may have caused many people a lot of trouble.

This is why I suggested the legal recourse. In the USA, I know that legal recourse is very valid and even if troublesome, is worth the while. A class action is always looked on kindly by the courts. Who can start one ? As per the rectification on Q10, it does seem that the group here has that faulty design. It seems like a good cause. I have seen worst causes getting rewarded.

Have fun, I do. JP.

NB: Still on the Compaq, runs as new or shall we say: Better than new.
 
Ram max ?

GSM, me again.

Do you know if the RAM slots can take a 512 m sticks ? I now have 2 x 256 but would like to add a 512 in the third slot.

This morning, I got a true twin MoBo for this Compaq from :

alan_computech_intl on eBay, look at item 220076917457. If anybody would like to go that route instead of getting the iron hot. It is exactly the same, complete with the Q10.

I should get a manual. Cheers. JP.
 
UWAVE official max 3x 256 MB

Hello handcuff,

The FIC AZ31 mobo is almost equal to the UWAVE and can take 512 MB sticks.
See: http://www.memoryx.net/ficaz31memory.html. This board has at least a different BIOS, not from Compaq.

For the UWAVE the official maximum is only 3x256 MB (or 768 MB).
I don't know if there are compatible PC100 512 MB modules available for the UWAVE version of the FIC AZ31.

I use 576 MB and have made a dual boot system with two hard disks.
One is Windows XP Prof and the other is Vista ultimate edition RC2 (for testing).
The video adapter is a NVidia geforce FX 5200 with 128 MB RAM (Asus V9520-X).
Vista runs fine and might even be a little faster than XP.
It can run also with the Aero Glass theme.

greetings,
gsm
 
Compaq 5004CA.

Hello GSM.

I now have two spare MoBo for the Compaq, both brand new. I got on eBay and bought them before your notes helped me fix this one here. It is still going, 6 days on and no hiccup at all. Your cure was the cat's meow. It is beside my main system and I use it full time to listen to www.live365.com music.

I might use one MoBo to rebuild an old AT, gut it and just use the case for this purpose and then hand it over to friend who is still running a P 233. I have enough stuff laying around to so do. I will use an Athlon 1.3 in it.

Have a great day. JP.
 
IBM HD master password.

Hello.

Is there here anybody who would know the master password to access a PW protected HD from IBM. I have 7 of them and I would like to use them, not to get to see what is on them at all. If you are reluctant to divulge the PW here, I will respect your option. You can get me at :

handcuff36@gmail.com

and I would not let it be known. I know that the Master PW will flush the HD, good ! I only want to be able to use the HD.

Be good. JP.
 
Tee ! hee ! That Compaq.

Hello GSM and all.

Well, the Compaq wirth the new transistor is still going. I am on it at the moment. This was quite a feat, thanks to GSM. 5 weeks now, I think that we can say that it is aproper fix. GSM, is yours still running ?

If anybody chances on that Master Password for an IBM ( Hitachi ) HD, please let all know. It has been a Master Pain, why behave this way, it is not helping the hardware hackers.

Have a great day. Handcuff.
 
handcuff said:
Hello.

Is there here anybody who would know the master password to access a PW protected HD from IBM. I have 7 of them and I would like to use them, not to get to see what is on them at all. If you are reluctant to divulge the PW here, I will respect your option. You can get me at :

handcuff36@gmail.com

and I would not let it be known. I know that the Master PW will flush the HD, good ! I only want to be able to use the HD.

Be good. JP.
please start questions as a new thread. It is also foolish to post your email address in a public forum unless you like spam generated by spambot programs that harvest email addresses by trolling through forums.
 
Drivers ???

GSM, hello. I hope that you are still here.

I got another system going with the same MoBo as the Compaq, that I got as a spare. Now, I am stuck for the drivers, audio and video.

Can you kindly show me where they would be D/Lable, please.

As sbefore, I would be thankfull. JP.
 
Mobo and other Compaq drivers

handcuff said:
GSM, hello. I hope that you are still here.

I got another system going with the same MoBo as the Compaq, that I got as a spare. Now, I am stuck for the drivers, audio and video.

Can you kindly show me where they would be D/Lable, please.

As sbefore, I would be thankfull. JP.

Hi handcuff

You could find a suitable audio driver here (or at via arena):

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...5&product=93936&rule=58148&dest_page=product&

Regards,
GSM
 
Video.

Hello GSM.

How are you ? Still busy helping others ? Good.

I would like to have video driver for this MoBo. I was able to get the audio going but I am stuck on 640 x 480 resolution ( or close to this ).

I you can help again, many thanks. JP aka handcuff.
 
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