The Laptop

[DJ Iron Mike]

Well, I did my NYE gig and it went very well. I use my laptop to run most of my systems and this morning when I took it out of it's carry bag, it wouldn't boot. It wouldn't post, It would only blink the green light at me. I really don't know much about laptop computers, but having built a couple of behemoth desktop computers, I figured well, I'm going to have to figure out why the laptop won't work. My particular laptop is a Compaq 700 series, which is known to have design flaws in it and occasionally an operating system flaw. This machine for me has been one of my most reliable pieces of equipment since I bought it in 2001 and I wasn't about to give up on it. The laptop's specs are windows XP sp2 AMD Duron 1.3 ghz chip. standard memory, standard HD and it has been a wonderful machine. It's out of warranty now though due to it's age. I figured I was going to have to crack it open and take a look around inside it. I found that the AMD chip had no compound on it. I was always told to put compound right smack in the middle of my AMD chips. I had to go to Radio Shack to by a tube of this compund called "heat sink compound" which is used for heat dispersal. I had it on all my desktop chips but this computer had never seen any.
I put a little dab on the middle of the chip, closed it back up and re-booted it. The computer sprang to life and I just saved myself over $1,000 in buying new laptop.
I love AMD chips, I've always known they run hot and now with this litte dab of heat sink compund placed on the center of this chip, I'm back in business.

[mp3jrick]

Mike,
I have to assume the blinking green light was the AC/charging light, meaning there was a power source to the machine.

This kind of thing would scare me to death.
I'd rather have a flat out "no boot" than one that is ittermittant.

The last one of these I experienced was after 2 other techs had been inside.
The only way it would boot was to slap the bottomside of the unit, it was very ittermittant. It would run it's bios check and the splash and never get to windows XP boot screen, it would just cycle and beep. Once it booted it was fine though, and I mean for days until I shut down.
Shaking it I could hear something was loose inside the chassis, I found a screw that had no home I could find anywhere.
I stripped it to the mother board and made sure every component and cable connection was clean and tight.
It has been fine ever since, I was ready to toss it.

I think the cold boot problem kind of eliminates the heat/heat sink as the source of the trouble. That is the kind of thing that causes shutdowns after 1-2 hours.
If you fried the processor it might cause ittermittant troubles.
You might try replacing the bios battery, it might be on the edge based on the age.
I would be pounding that machine 24/7 to replicate the failure before I'd use it live again.

good luck

[Professor Jam]

I suspect it was not the compound that made the difference. Your opening and research may have triggered something that was loose or otherwise. I would not rest is peace that you cured the issue.

Use the unit at home for a few days and see if you can re-create the issue to be safe.

Good Luck!

Happy New Year!

[djdonny]

Which begs the next question. Do you guys all go out with a spare laptop "clone" as a backup? Seems costly but necessary.

[mp3jrick]

IPOD all the way.
Replicates your file structure.
Comes in on tape monitor.
Runs for the duration of the gig.
One push of a button and it's live.

[Professor Jam]

My back-up is a Denon dual CD player that plays MP3 CDs....

A laptop is on hand but I use the laptop for other reasons during the event.

[Jim Casey]

My goal is to be as small as possible as functionable as possible...period.

I always loved the DJ Power suitcase...thats what I want without the $5000 cost.

[mp3jrick]

http://www.bsicomputer.com/portable/portables.htm

If I had to do it over again, this is where I'd start.

[djdonny]

Great tip, Rick. I think the N9 looks like the best value there.

[HeadlineDJ]

I use a backup CD/mp3 unit, rack mount from Numark.