[Reino]

From a friend I received the donation of a broken

Sony notebook computer PCG-9B3L (Athlon processor)

that I would like to use, or pass on to some other friends who need one.

When starting up, it does not go beyond the BIOS level (i. e. offering F2 & F12 setups only), and on the screen appears "Operating system not found". The CD-ROM does not operate on demand either, which makes me think that the HD may not be broken, but rather that there might be some internal power supply failure (5.7 Volts or so).

I thought that the CD-ROM would eject even if the HD is not working. Is that not true?

I would be grateful to know, what other people think, and how I can get it fixed cheaply in London, UK

Are you a freegan? I am one. Unfortunately I know only a little about laptops, but I am also interested in making the world a better place for EVERYONE, by living a radical lifestyle.

Bye for now, Reino

[alex]

Sounds like their simply isn't an o.s installed. Have you changed the boot sequence to boot from the optical? that could be it as the firmware for the drive will be contained on the o.s. Do you have an o.s disk? is the drive spinning up at all? making any dubious sounds?

Also, yes, optical drives can (and do) fail in such a way that the drawer doesn't open.

[Reino]

Sounds like their simply isn't an o.s installed. Have you changed the boot sequence to boot from the optical? that could be it as the firmware for the drive will be contained on the o.s. Do you have an o.s disk? is the drive spinning up at all? making any dubious sounds?
Also, yes, optical drives can (and do) fail in such a way that the drawer doesn't open.

The laptop came from a private, non-technical user. The HD had windowsXP on it.
I did change the boot sequence, and it didn't make any difference. And, on top of that, I was not able to open the CD-ROM (is that an "optical?), except for using a needle. What is "firmware"?
Neither the HD, nor the CD-ROM spin at all. It remains completely quiet.
Do you still think it has nothing to do with an internal power failure? Do you rather assume that everything depends on the (broken?) HD?
Obviously, things would then be a lot easier!
Love from Reino

[Reino]

I haven't made any progress yet.
Would anyone actually be INTERESTED in that machine?
Reino