HP Compaq dc7100 CMT: Impossible to enter BIOS

[Lucky User]

I have an HP Compaq dc7100 CMT (P4 ?GHz, 512 MB RAM, DVD RW, DVD ROM, no HDD due to its falure) that won't let me into BIOS.

If I am not quick enough to press F10, it tries to boot

(http://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=exitinghppxeromimg2272lik4.jpg)

and stops when it realizes that there is no OS

(http://img132.imageshack.us/my.php?image=diskerrorimg2276lowrw1.jpg).

If I do press F10 fast enough, it declares the situation (RAM, drives, errors), asks me to save the changes by pressing F1,

(http://img12.imageshack.us/my.php?image=f1savechangesimg2270lowbq0.jpg)

displays BIOS language choice,

(http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bioslanguagesimg2265cz5.jpg)

and freezes there.

When I try to boot from CD (Knoppix 6.0), which was possible no more than a week ago, it doesn't go any further than the splash screen

(http://img410.imageshack.us/my.php?image=knoppix6splashimg2266lozo3.jpg)

and freezes again.

I have tried several things:
1) Attaching a floppy drive with a bootable floppy - no reaction.
2) Removing all RAM to see if the system remarks it - it does. Five beeps and the screen stays off
3) Disconnecting optical drives, PCI cards, network connection - nothing
4) Replacing the power supply with a verified one - no change
5) Clearing CMOS - nothing
6) Putting a new battery even though it shouldn't make any difference, and it didn't.

What I have not done was replacing the processor and the motherboard. I only have those of that class (Intel socket 775) and I would like to avoid buying one or the other unless I know which one, if either, is bad.

If anyone knows or has an idea what to do, I would be extremely thankful for your input.

Thanks in advance

[DUSTIN MOLIERI]

Not an HP affiliate, but the links have expired, and it sounds to me like your Bios may not have installed properly or has the incorrect firmware version.

Check for things like bios version and date and compare that to existing firmware for that model, repost the links if you could.

[tim noonan]

I agree sounds like a bad bios flash.
Did you try to update it?

[Lucky User]

No, I have not even tried to flash the BIOS. Got the computer from a friend of mine after a hard drive failure, tested it with a self-contained OS on a CD (Knoppix 6.0) - it worked fine. A couple of days later - nothing. If I put the same Knoppix CD in the drive, it does not go beyond the splash screen. When I attach a floppy drive (the PC does not have it in its original configuration) with a bootable floppy, it does not recognize it. I cannot enter BIOS to check that a floppy drive is recognized, that it is in the boot list and before the hard drive. If I press F10 fast enough, I only get the choice of languages on the screen and the computer freezes.

[tim noonan]

Is it definately F10 for the bios and not F1?

[Lucky User]

It is F10:

http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/11948_na/11948_na.HTML

ROM Features:
...
ROM Based F10 Setup
Review and customize BIOS settings
...

[tim noonan]

This may sound daft but you don't have an F lock button on your keyboard do you? If so the F keys will not work until this is pressed.

[Lucky User]

No, I do not have an F-lock key on my key board. Thanks anyway.