From: S.Lewis on

<marm(a)pobox.com> wrote in message
news:1a2a78ef-96e1-4065-88f5-be9d8803522f(a)j32g2000yqn.googlegroups.com...
On Nov 24, 9:39 am, "S.Lewis" <Gossa...(a)interesting.com> wrote:
> "Michael Arm" <m...(a)pobox.com> wrote in message
>
> news:2f8li45bv2n0a02qa1r62c1muekvfopv50(a)4ax.com...
>
>
>
> > On Mon, 24 Nov 2008 05:18:21 -0600, "S.Lewis"
> > <Gossa...(a)interesting.com> wrote:
>
> >>"Michael Arm" <m...(a)pobox.com> wrote in message
> >>news:m9bki4duv8re7snh2lab8qia4piu8rqjp0(a)4ax.com...
> >>> Anyone know what this is. My daughter is getting it on her dell
> >>> Lattitude 610, Google provides nothing useful.
>
> >>> Thanks,
> >>> mike
>
> >>Have her F2 into BIOS/system setup (at the Dell splash screen) and
> >>default
> >>the BIOS settings. ALT+F might do it, if not, arrow down to the bottom
> >>of
> >>the BIOS index and select "defaults" (under system maintenance,
> >>perhaps).
>
> > I have tried that...that is what I found googling. When the machine
> > pwers up, it goes directly to the message. No splash screen, no bios.
> > It does this almost immediately.
>
> > Thanks
> > MIke
>
> Mike-
>
> Older Dell desktops could be forced into 'manufacturing mode' by manually
> moving/removing system board jumpers if I recall correctly.
>
> You've likely got a system board problem.
>
> Short of replacement, the system probably needs to be disassembled powered
> down with the main battery removed. You're going to want to locate the
> CMOS
> battery and either temporarily remove it or possibly replace it. You don't
> mention if this unit is a C610 or a D610 (I'd guess the former would be
> more
> at risk of a dead/dying CMOS battery), so here's the main system index to
> find the instructions for
> disassembly:http://support.dell.com/support/systemsinfo/documentation.aspx?c=us&c...
>
> Further, if it is indeed a C610, I wouldn't put a ton of money or time
> into
> it. IMO, it's not worth it. Might be time for a system upgrade.
>
> HTH
>
> Stew
Its a D610 (3.5 years old) I thought about looking for and pulling
the CMOS Battery. I will look at the jumpers as well, hadn't thought
about those. From what little is available, I suspect the system board
as well. I won't put any money into it. I will pass my E1505 to my
daughter and have an excuse to get another laptop, possibly an XPS
M1530.

I just need to pull the disk and pull of some data.

Thanks,
Mike


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


Mike,

I don't think there will be any jumper(s) involved in this laptop. It turns
out that the coin cell/CMOS battery is quite easy to access on your model:

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/latd610/en/sm_en/coincell.htm#wp1123951

I'm very interested to know why the system would've 'placed itself' into
'maintenance mode'. Other than some sort of board failure or inadvertent
BIOS setting I have no idea.

Perhaps even pulling the CMOS battery for a short period of time might
resolve the issue.

-Stew


From: BillW50 on
S.Lewis wrote on Mon, 24 Nov 2008 11:20:37 -0600:
> Mike,
>
> I don't think there will be any jumper(s) involved in this laptop.
> It turns out that the coin cell/CMOS battery is quite easy to access
> on your model:
>
>http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/latd610/en/sm_en/coincell.htm#wp1123951
>
> I'm very interested to know why the system would've 'placed itself'
> into 'maintenance mode'. Other than some sort of board failure or
> inadvertent BIOS setting I have no idea.
>
> Perhaps even pulling the CMOS battery for a short period of time
> might resolve the issue.

It is called job security. As some makes and models when the battery
dies, the computer refuses to boot and then it gets the computer in for
service. Much like some automobiles are programmed to kick on the check
engine light at around 70,000 miles. Nothing is wrong of course. It's
just to get you into the shop so they can charge you money for things
you didn't really need. The trick of course is like dealing with
computers. As you disconnect the battery for awhile and that resets the
70,000 mile counter back to zero again. ;)

--
Bill
Asus EEE PC 8GB 1GB SoDIMM Adata 16GB
Windows XP SP2 and Xandros Linux
From: Michael Arm on
On Mon, 24 Nov 2008 12:26:12 -0600, BillW50 <BillW50(a)aol.kom> wrote:

>S.Lewis wrote on Mon, 24 Nov 2008 11:20:37 -0600:
> > Mike,
> >
> > I don't think there will be any jumper(s) involved in this laptop.
> > It turns out that the coin cell/CMOS battery is quite easy to access
> > on your model:
> >
> >http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/latd610/en/sm_en/coincell.htm#wp1123951
> >
> > I'm very interested to know why the system would've 'placed itself'
> > into 'maintenance mode'. Other than some sort of board failure or
> > inadvertent BIOS setting I have no idea.
> >
> > Perhaps even pulling the CMOS battery for a short period of time
> > might resolve the issue.
>
>It is called job security. As some makes and models when the battery
>dies, the computer refuses to boot and then it gets the computer in for
>service. Much like some automobiles are programmed to kick on the check
>engine light at around 70,000 miles. Nothing is wrong of course. It's
>just to get you into the shop so they can charge you money for things
>you didn't really need. The trick of course is like dealing with
>computers. As you disconnect the battery for awhile and that resets the
>70,000 mile counter back to zero again. ;)

I followed all the steps people outlined here including disconnecting
the cmos battery. The battery tested at the full 3v. The bios was
reset/cleared I guess.

Still could not get past the maintenance mode. It did recognize that I
needed to run setup, but gave me no way to get into it. It also
thought the hard disk was corrupt. So, I gave up. Pulled up an old
laptop and put the hard drive in it and booted to an acronis recovery
disk. I had not used the recovery boot cd i made and was supprised to
that it included a full acronis install. I backed up the entire hard
drive to a WD 320gb external laptop drive. I restored the backup to
the same drive sucessfully.

So I figure that the D610 has a dead bios/MB. The E1505 goes to my
daughter and I bought a M1530 from the outlet store.

I did not want to pull the drive from the E1505, so I used an old
laptop, as mentioned. Keeping old equipment like that around is handy.
Although I have a lattitude cpxj around, I actually took a c820 from
work hoping it would be faster. The killer was usb1.1 ports, so speed
did not help.

Thnaks for the help.

Mike
From: S.Lewis on

"Michael Arm" <marm(a)pobox.com> wrote in message
news:iccri4pib30sl3p177g93hfarggpgbmf2e(a)4ax.com...
> On Mon, 24 Nov 2008 12:26:12 -0600, BillW50 <BillW50(a)aol.kom> wrote:
>
>>S.Lewis wrote on Mon, 24 Nov 2008 11:20:37 -0600:
>> > Mike,
>> >
>> > I don't think there will be any jumper(s) involved in this laptop.
>> > It turns out that the coin cell/CMOS battery is quite easy to access
>> > on your model:
>> >
>> >http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/latd610/en/sm_en/coincell.htm#wp1123951
>> >
>> > I'm very interested to know why the system would've 'placed itself'
>> > into 'maintenance mode'. Other than some sort of board failure or
>> > inadvertent BIOS setting I have no idea.
>> >
>> > Perhaps even pulling the CMOS battery for a short period of time
>> > might resolve the issue.
>>
>>It is called job security. As some makes and models when the battery
>>dies, the computer refuses to boot and then it gets the computer in for
>>service. Much like some automobiles are programmed to kick on the check
>>engine light at around 70,000 miles. Nothing is wrong of course. It's
>>just to get you into the shop so they can charge you money for things
>>you didn't really need. The trick of course is like dealing with
>>computers. As you disconnect the battery for awhile and that resets the
>>70,000 mile counter back to zero again. ;)
>
> I followed all the steps people outlined here including disconnecting
> the cmos battery. The battery tested at the full 3v. The bios was
> reset/cleared I guess.
>
> Still could not get past the maintenance mode. It did recognize that I
> needed to run setup, but gave me no way to get into it. It also
> thought the hard disk was corrupt. So, I gave up. Pulled up an old
> laptop and put the hard drive in it and booted to an acronis recovery
> disk. I had not used the recovery boot cd i made and was supprised to
> that it included a full acronis install. I backed up the entire hard
> drive to a WD 320gb external laptop drive. I restored the backup to
> the same drive sucessfully.
>
> So I figure that the D610 has a dead bios/MB. The E1505 goes to my
> daughter and I bought a M1530 from the outlet store.
>
> I did not want to pull the drive from the E1505, so I used an old
> laptop, as mentioned. Keeping old equipment like that around is handy.
> Although I have a lattitude cpxj around, I actually took a c820 from
> work hoping it would be faster. The killer was usb1.1 ports, so speed
> did not help.
>
> Thnaks for the help.
>
> Mike


Mike -

Thanks for posting a final result. Sorry it wasn't a better outcome.

-Stew