Static Electricity In A Compaq Presario Computer

[tman70]

This is general information purposes for those that have a Compaq Presario SR1012NX.

My son's new computer suddenly lost internet connection. Other computer was fine.

Tried the repair feature in Wxp, but it did not help.

Called Compaq and after speaking with several people in India, finally got someone who understood what we were saying and was able to give us technical help to solve the problem.

Apparently the unit builds up a static charge, for some reason, inside the unit and has to be discharged.

He had us unplug the unit from the power source and then hold down the power button for 30 seconds. and then plug the power back up. It then connected to the internet without any problems.

He said this was something that happens and you have to discharge the static electricity.

This is the first time we have ever had any problems with static electricity.

Has anybody else had this problem? If not, maybe this will help someone if they ever do.

[TheTerrorist_75]

Never heard of it. Maybe run a ground strap from the case?

[shanenin]

if it is under warranty, I would have them fix that. That is ridiculous.

[blim]

I have heard of having to unplug the idiot box and push the power button in for 30 seconds but had no idea what that process was doing...

Liz

[tman70]

Never heard of it. Maybe run a ground strap from the case?

if it is under warranty, I would have them fix that. That is ridiculous.

I have heard of having to unplug the idiot box and push the power button in for 30 seconds but had no idea what that process was doing...

Liz

I thought about a ground strap, but like shanenin said it should be under warranty. Son said he had to call in some information because the store had not. It should still have manufacturer's warranty.

Liz, glad someone else has at least heard of the procedure.

If I can find a fix I will post it.

Edited November 25, 2006 by tman70

[JDoors]

I'm skeptical -- The entire frame is already grounded. If a charge is NOT getting discharged you need to have your electrical outlets checked to ensure they are properly grounded. If they are not it's a potentially dangerous condition.

More likely, IMO, is that an internal chip had an error and turning the power off allowed the chip to reset.

Edited November 25, 2006 by JDoors

[lefty1953]

This is general information purposes for those that have a Compaq Presario SR1012NX.

My son's new computer suddenly lost internet connection. Other computer was fine.

Tried the repair feature in Wxp, but it did not help.

Called Compaq and after speaking with several people in India, finally got someone who understood what we were saying and was able to give us technical help to solve the problem.

Apparently the unit builds up a static charge, for some reason, inside the unit and has to be discharged.

He had us unplug the unit from the power source and then hold down the power button for 30 seconds. and then plug the power back up. It then connected to the internet without any problems.

He said this was something that happens and you have to discharge the static electricity.

This is the first time we have ever had any problems with static electricity.

Has anybody else had this problem? If not, maybe this will help someone if they ever do.

Does the machine sit on carpet? Is it dry in your area? Does you kid run around in the house in his socks? Static electricity. Ground it like mentioned above. A wire from the fan screw to the screw on the wall plug will do it.

[tman70]

I'm skeptical -- The entire frame is already grounded. If a charge is NOT getting discharged you need to have your electrical outlets checked to ensure they are properly grounded. If they are not it's a potentially dangerous condition.

More likely, IMO, is that an internal chip had an error and turning the power off allowed the chip to reset.

Does the machine sit on carpet? Is it dry in your area? Does you kid run around in the house in his socks? Static electricity. Ground it like mentioned above. A wire from the fan screw to the screw on the wall plug will do it.

House has carpet.

Computer sits on table.

All outlets are grounded according to code.

We live in the south.

My son is a man taking care of his disabled parents and yes we wear socks on the carpets.

Never have had any problem with any type of static electricity in the 20+ years we have lived here. Certainly none in the last several years that we have had several different computers.

I am tending to agree with JDoors and think it could be chip. But is it a one time deal or something that will happen again?

My reason for posting was/is twofold. First to help someone who may run into this problem and not know how to correct it and where better to find an answer if someone has had this problem and solved it?

If we call Compaq about this we get someone on the other side of the world, whose height of ambition is to get a job at a call center, who speaks english but doesn't understand american and can only use a drop down menu.

[JDoors]

I''m with you on "outsourced" help -- though I did have ONE that was perfectly helpful ONE time. So it's possible.

Aside: Had a recent "help" call where they said something like, "You have reached the so-and-so help desk in Arizona ... etc." Ah-ha! They KNOW!

Have you actually checked the grounds in your home? There's an inexpensive plug-like thingy with lights on it that you simply plug in and read the lights -- if everything's hooked up right it'll let you know.

Far as I can remember, any electronic device rarely or occasionally needs to be "rebooted," radios, TV's, automobiles, toys and yes, computers. Some have a "reset" button hidden away somewhere to reset everything.

I wouldn't be surprised if it were in fact due to static of a kind, but it's most likely an errant discharge inside a chip or circuitry. That tech might have been correct then, technically, but the entire system is designed to safely discharge the type of static charge we're familiar with through the ground plug. Nothing you can do about an internal fault but unplug, wait, and plug 'er back in.

[JDoors]

An appropriate reply in a newsletter I receive:

Windows Secrets & Langalist Newsletter 11/30/06 Subscribe @ https://windowssecrets.com/info/

[A] reader ... found that, in PC's, "off" doesn't always mean "off."

"One day last week I was unable to get online. No e-mail or Web access! My first thought was that my cable provider was having problems, but there was no improvement all that day. [After normal troubleshooting didn't help] I decided to just unplug the electrical outlets under my desk, after fully shutting down and turning everything off, of course. Turned everything back on, and was back online! So, when all else fails, unplug!"

Thanks, ... Here's why that worked: The "power switch" on the front of most PCs today is not really a power switch, but rather a switch that sends a signal to the PC's low-level ACPI (Advanced Configuration & Power Interface) subsystem. This is the same subsystem that Windows accesses to implement its power-management schemes. (For tech detail, please see my InformationWeek article on ACPI's various operating modes.)

Even when nominally "off," most PCs continue to draw a trickle of power to keep the ACPI system alive. This allows the PC to wake up in response to external events such as a mouse click, key press, network activity, and the like.

The system's real power switch — the one that actually stops power from flowing into the PC — is usually on the back of the power supply. Flipping that switch (or pulling the plug from the wall socket) is the only way to be sure that your PC (or similar device) is really, truly off. And, as [the reader] found, that kind of total power-off is sometimes the only way to get a device to "snap out" of an error state it's stuck in.

Edited December 1, 2006 by JDoors

[tman70]

An appropriate reply in a newsletter I receive:

Windows Secrets & Langalist Newsletter 11/30/06 Subscribe @ https://windowssecrets.com/info/

[A] reader ... found that, in PC's, "off" doesn't always mean "off."

"One day last week I was unable to get online. No e-mail or Web access! My first thought was that my cable provider was having problems, but there was no improvement all that day. [After normal troubleshooting didn't help] I decided to just unplug the electrical outlets under my desk, after fully shutting down and turning everything off, of course. Turned everything back on, and was back online! So, when all else fails, unplug!"

Thanks, ... Here's why that worked: The "power switch" on the front of most PCs today is not really a power switch, but rather a switch that sends a signal to the PC's low-level ACPI (Advanced Configuration & Power Interface) subsystem. This is the same subsystem that Windows accesses to implement its power-management schemes. (For tech detail, please see my InformationWeek article on ACPI's various operating modes.)

Even when nominally "off," most PCs continue to draw a trickle of power to keep the ACPI system alive. This allows the PC to wake up in response to external events such as a mouse click, key press, network activity, and the like.

The system's real power switch — the one that actually stops power from flowing into the PC — is usually on the back of the power supply. Flipping that switch (or pulling the plug from the wall socket) is the only way to be sure that your PC (or similar device) is really, truly off. And, as [the reader] found, that kind of total power-off is sometimes the only way to get a device to "snap out" of an error state it's stuck in.

That sounds like the answer. I now remember reading about that somewhere, someplace but can't remember where or when. Maybe the old techtv boards?

Thanks