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Question

ASUS netbook non booter

Oct 12, 2018 9:09AM PDT

Guys, I've been given a 10" netbook to fix for someone who can't afford to pay much, I said I would look at it for no charge.

Turning it on boots straight into BIOS and from the provisional attempts I've made, resetting to defaults has absolutely no effect at all.

Windows 8 was originally installed but W10 might have been loaded. Nothing is accessible anyway.

Any ideas please, as to how to attempt access to anything other than BIOS ?

Many thanks.

Discussion is locked

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Answer
I've seen this.
Oct 12, 2018 9:13AM PDT

The netbook had a failed HDD so it could only get to the BIOS. In short you have a dead netbook. May want to find a working PC for them.

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It's terminal then...
Oct 12, 2018 9:36AM PDT

Ok Rob, that helps to know. Many thanks.

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Why not try....
Oct 12, 2018 10:34AM PDT

Booting some OS from USB or SDcard. My old Asus One netbook could boot my TAILS OS from an USB stick. Very useful.

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It's the OS
Oct 12, 2018 4:01PM PDT

that presents the problem, I don't have easy access to any, unless I'm missing something. The owner said he wanted W10 on it but that is payable no?

I have several USB sticks that I could use and ...
I own two 13" laptops, 1 x W10 (upgraded from 7) an HP ProBook 6360b which I only keep as an emergency back up and don't really want anymore as have spent so much on it, it will never pay me back if I try to sell it. ( about £330 altogether )
Plus my main Lenovo Z380 13" W7 which I mainly use as a file manager for my 2 x Samsung Galaxy tablets which I use the most. And mobiles of course.

I know roughly what you mean by Tails etc but have never delved into that. Way too complicated for a simple, albeit quite experienced user like me.

Something to add about the Asus netbook which I was only given today. The power switch/button doesn't turn it off and the screen stays on permanently even when the lid is closed. Does that sound like extra problems over and above the HDD? And do you think it will have a Sata type drive that could possibly be replaced please?

I have stripped down a few laptops do could possibly do that myself. Taking them apart is the easy bit. Putting them back is something else entirely.

Thanks again.

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correction
Oct 12, 2018 4:06PM PDT

"so" could possibly try that myself ...

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These netbooks are
Oct 12, 2018 4:25PM PDT

Plentiful here. Only problem is most are dead. I've only seen a few working at this point.

Try removing the HDD, be sure it has RAM (many were cannibalized) and about other bootable OSes there are so many out there that can get folk on the Internet that it's a embarrassment of riches.

If they want W10 on a netbook then they would have the 100 bucks for the license? Or are they just wishing?

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I suspect he is
Oct 12, 2018 4:44PM PDT

just wishing, but it's all a balance of viable cost. If it was returned to him in 100% order with W10 for a $100 I expect he'd be happy. It might be more than that here in uk, not sure.

The power switch not working seems worrying, I've never encountered that before. It appears to be a 2014 model with T100TA - DK017H / G1BT1500 on a label on the base and from the only information accessible on the BIOS , it's an Intel Atom 1.33ghz / Z3740 / 2048mb memory.

Having the benefit of all your experience makes it an embarrassment of riches, from here it's an embarrassment of uncertainty Happy

I will suggest to him that a strip down might be a good idea and see what happens.

Thanks

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Could you please
Oct 16, 2018 6:19AM PDT

advise whether it will be worthwhile to strip down the screen portion to find/access/replace the SSD ?

It looks like the SSD is located in the screen section, as it was not in the separate lower keyboard section when I dismantled it. It appeared that there was only the keyboard, the touchpad and the USB device there. The screen works when removed from the keyboard, so it must be in there.

Whilst being slightly apprehensive of dismatling the screen, i have done taken some apart so there is that. The main question is, will I be able to replace the SSD or will it be (probably) nano-soldered to a tiny motherboard, making it impractical to attempt replacing part of it. Even if it was replaceable, would I be able to find one do you think?

The owner is sentimentally attached to the item, which seems to override the logical choice of binning it in favour of a new one that works. I'm trying to help but just need a little leg up please.

Thanks

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I have one of those.
Oct 16, 2018 9:34AM PDT

Albeit the Android version. The 32GB is NOT an SSD card or drive but chips soldered to the mainboard.

As such, not much use to most of us.

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Whatever kind of
Oct 16, 2018 11:54AM PDT

storage it has, I still apparently don't have a repair option. Thanks anyway.

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Me too.
Oct 16, 2018 12:00PM PDT

I also have a W10 version of the Transformer and it's dead. It's in the dead stuff shelf and ready to hand off to my friend to ebay off the parts.

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New reply
Oct 16, 2018 8:47AM PDT

Please advise whether it will be worthwhile to strip down the screen section to find/access/replace the SSD ?

It looks like the SSD is located in the screen section, as it was not in the separate lower keyboard section when I dismantled it. It appeared that there was only the keyboard, the touchpad and the USB device there. The screen works when removed from the keyboard, so it must be in there.

Whilst being slightly apprehensive of dismatling the screen, i have done taken some before.. The main question is, will I be able to replace the SSD or will it be (probably) nano-soldered to a tiny motherboard, making it impractical to attempt replacing part of it. Even if it was replaceable, would I be able to find one do you think?

The owner is sentimentally attached to the item, which seems to override the logical choice of binning it in favour of a new one that works. I'm trying to help him but just need a little leg up please.

Thanks