[Corsair]

So the last few days, my laptop's been acting awfully funny. About every 30 seconds, it'll freeze for between 2 to 60 seconds, then return to normal, then freeze again. And again and again and again. I ran Ad-aware and Spybot and found nothing. I ran a virus scan and found nothing. Finally, I just restarted my computer and hoped maybe that would help.

Instead, following the initial startup screen, I got this.

ERROR
0211: Keyboard Error
ERROR
0260: System Timer Error

Press F1 for Setup

The screen stays like that for about two minutes and then the system shuts down. This happened last night. This morning when I started up my computer, it acted fine at first but then began freezing again and when I restarted, I got the same error message. So, anybody know what's going on and how I can fix this?

[n00by]

Well....the simplest answer I counld give would be "format c:"....but I guess that's not an option. I'd try it nevertheless...

It COULD be the BIOS, but I'm not an expert, actually....

[Fury]

Is this laptop of yours new? In any case, download latest BIOS update from your laptop manufacturer's website and update the BIOS, then reset BIOS defaults.

If BIOS update solves the BIOS error message, but no freezing and your laptop is not new. Then I suggest complete format of your hard drive as problems like these are typically very difficult to track down. Obviously backup your files you don't want to lose.

If you're still getting the BIOS error message even after BIOS update, then I suggest you contact service if your laptop is still under warranty.

[Corsair]

Occasionally I can get past the BIOS message but then I can't really do anything because of the freezing. It's gotten worse and now I can't really do anything even if it does start up.

As for a reformat, I'd hate to have to resort to that. Sometimes it freezes on me at the BIOS message so I can't even get to the part where it says "restore factory settings" or whatnot. I'm going to take it to the school techies (ugh, kill me now) tomorrow and see what they have to say. I'm not sure if it's still under warranty, but I don't think it is as I've had it about a year and a half now.

[Fury]

If the laptop is freezing even before loading of operating system starts, I reckon it's a hardware issue.

[vyper]

Heat young man, I suspect heat.

[kasperl]

Ok, I'd just like to point out to all computer manufacturers that
" Keyboard error, press any key to continue"  messages are not funny!

As for the problem, heat or a loose cable somewhere.

[Fury]

Originally posted by kasperl
As for the problem, heat or a loose cable somewhere.

Both actually translate to a hardware problem when laptops are concerned. Open the laptop and you'll void warranty should this particular laptop still have it. You can still try and try to vacuum-clean what you can without opening it.

[Liberator]

Go find a professional to look at it...unfortunately, if it doesn't have a warranty, it ain;'t gonna be cheap.

[Hippo]

Depends on the manufaturer too though... I had to talk to Gateway Tech Support last week when i got an error with windows installation, and even though it wasn't under warrenty, they walked me through it since it was still a gateway poduct...

That was software related though, not hardware...


Good luck though...

[Swamp_Thing]

Originally posted by Mr. Fury

Both actually translate to a hardware problem when laptops are concerned. Open the laptop and you'll void warranty should this particular laptop still have it. You can still try and try to vacuum-clean what you can without opening it.

Wait a minute, why shouldn´t a laptop retain the warranty if open? How would we upgrade it without opening it?
I better check the warranty on my Compaq, and see if they mention anything like that.

[Hippo]

thats the key, you don't upgrade much on a laptop, since they're usually pretty integrated...

[Fury]

Originally posted by Swamp_Thing


Wait a minute, why shouldn´t a laptop retain the warranty if open? How would we upgrade it without opening it?
I better check the warranty on my Compaq, and see if they mention anything like that.

You can only open the few hatches on the bottom, which mostly only lets you change memory modules and battery. Dig deeper and you'll void the warranty. That's how it goes on most manufacturers, you can check with their tech support for more information about their policy about the matter.

[Corsair]

Well I took it to the techies and they told me that my system board is cracked. So they've ordered me a new one and hopefully it'll get replaced ASAP.

On the other hand, the quick fix worked too. One of the techies just punched my laptop and it's in a pretty good state right now. I'm going to get the part replaced anyway but it just goes to show that physical violence does solve problems when it comes to technology.

[Flipside]

Hmmmm... was your board 'cracked' before or after he punched it?

As far as I'm aware, unless you are very lucky, I would have thought a crack through the etching on a circuit board would leave you with a brick, not a laptop?

[Corsair]

Before. The actually body was cracked a little before also. It's working better since he hit it, though. Who knows, maybe something was just loose and it got put back into place.

[Flipside]

hehehehe Excellent, well, glad to hear it's being dealt with. I used to have a hard drive (20 Mb, that's how long ago) that used to need a thump once in a while to get it to read

I still find it amazing that a cracked system board is still working, that's pretty lucky really

[WMCoolmon]

I suppose it depends on the size of the crack. It may have only severed a couple connections leading to the keyboard port/clock.