HPze4610us can't access CMOS, startup, change boot order

[jeffmaggie]

I have 2 identical HP ze4610us notebooks. One of them works fine and the other one
underwent a clean install last week. The clean install computer is the one with
the problems. I loaded MS Office, Norton, SP2, all the updates. Everything was
working perfectly and smoothly and fast until I unplugged it and went into another
room.

Now the notebook won't boot from hard drive or CD-ROM. The CD-ROM will spin for
about 1 second then stop. The computer just sits there without any audible or visible
activity. I can turn it off by either removing the battery or holding the Power
button for 4 seconds.

I can't get past the first screen that says:

(hp invent logo)
Press ESC to change boot order
Press <F2> to enter Setup, <F12> to boot from LAN
******
Pressing ESC shows:
PhoenixBIOS 4.0 Release 6.0
Copyright 1985-2001 Phoenix Technologies Ltd.
All Rights Reservied
Build Time: 10/16/03 14:56:09

HP Notebook PC BIOS Version KAM1.50
Copyright 1997-2002 Hewlett-Packard Co.

BIOS Version KT3B81 T3A
CPU = mobile AMD Athlon(tm) XP processor 2500+
639K System RAM Passed
190M Extended RAM Passed
512K Cache SRAM Passed
System BIOS shadowed
Video BIOS shadowed
Fixed Disk 0: TOSHIBA MK4025GAS
ATAPI CD-ROM: Hl-DT-STCD-RW/DVD DRIVE GCC-4241N
Mouse initialized
*****
Pressing <F2> shows:
Entering Setup...
(Does not do anything after that)

Pressing <F12> shows:
Booting From LAN ...
(Does not do anything after that either)

I have looked all over and tried resetting the computer via the reset hole on the
underside of the computer, holding the <FN> key while booting, holding the <FN> key
and F8, all without success.

I am at a loss as to how to resolve this issue. Hp tech support charges $99 for
1 year of phone support, $119 for one year of phone support with hardware repair.
I'd like not to use HP except as a last resort.

Anyone have some ideas?

Thank you,
Jeff

 

[zephead]

are you certain the 'top wasn't overheating or subjected to an electical disturbance from the AC adapter (surge/spike)? this could also be caused by a random failure, loose part, or excessive dust. you should explore these possiblilities first.

and yes, the HP tech support is a rip off (not unlike other OEMs i might add)

 

[Liquidlen]

When you did a clean install I suspect you deleted all partitions and formatted.If you did , did you re-install the Hp Setup program on it's own small partition first. before you installed an O/S?
If no you will have to start again and use the instructions and files from Hp in order to get it going.

 

[1337+@rd]

Sounds like you got a CMOS problem. You pop er open, pull the CMOS battery and jumper, and viola. Resets the CMOS.