gmetz wrote:
> Ok, but isn't the Control Panels and Preferences on the Hard Drive?
____________
Some information is carried from startup to startup inside the motherboard
regardless of the drive used so that your SM desktop and functions will appear
the same each time the computer is started.
This way the screen settings, the time zone on the menu bar, etc. are all the
same as you had last set them. If you start from an installation CD for example,
you may only have access to the Startup Disk module in the Control Panel.
Everything else as important information is carried inside the PRAM and is
available to the operating system that the CD or hard drive installs.
___________
> If there
> is no HD won't you see a question mark as it looks for a startup disk?
That should be the case, but I think sometimes a corrupted PRAM can interfere
with the normal startup sequence.
_______________
> My son
> doesn't get a question mark, only the cursor arrow on a white screen so there
> is video.
You're right, I would have expected a blinking ? too, but perhaps there's a
problem in some next part of the sequence.
_______________
> I took Chris up on his parts offer for a new battery and we'll put
> that in when he gets it but in the meantime I wonder if it's something else.
> Like maybe the joeCard went out? If it was something dumb like a loose
> connection to the drive wouldn't you get a flashing question mark?
Could be. For example, if the machine intended to interrogate the drive and there
was a problem of a poor connection, the SM would spend its time asking the drive
for information which it would never get. Because it's busy with that quest, the
screen wouldn't show a blinking ? because as far as it's concerned, there is a
drive.
_______________
> What if the
> processor was bad, would you not even see the question mark?
> George
If you get the chimes and video it means that the RAM check if done and the
system works up to the video point. It probably would be a good idea to reseat
the connections to the drive. An alternative is to put in an installation CD and
hold down the letter C while starting the machine again. This forces the machine
to look at the CD drive and if there is a CD there, to start from it. It the
machine then starts, this confirms a problem in reading the hard drive,
Bob
>
>
> With Anthony Quinn made in Greece right? lol
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