[ILUG] Advice on laptop BIOS failure

[Timothy Murphy]

I'm wondering if any of the ILUG geeks can suggest a solution
to a problem I'm having with my ancient Sony Picturebook (C1VFK).
The hard disk on this recently went wrong,
but after replacing it I no longer get the SONY logo -
the screen lights up when the powert-button is pressed,
but nothing else happens.

I tested the internal battery, and that appears to be fine
(2.64v against the stated 2.4v).

It's quite possible I damaged the machine in some way
when taking out the hard disk,
although I would have thought the connection between internal battery and BIOS
was pretty direct.

I was sort of wondering if this is the kind of problem
a clever Computer Science or Engineering student could crack,
for say 100 euro?

I've actually got all the info on my old hard disk on other machines,
so nothing (or hardly anything) was lost.
But I am very attached to this machine,
and would be sad to dispatch it to the wastebin.

As always, any advice or suggestions gratefully received.


-- 
Timothy Murphy  
e-mail (<80k only): tim /at/ birdsnest.maths.tcd.ie
tel: +353-86-2336090, +353-1-2842366
s-mail: School of Mathematics, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland