RTC Accuracy test failed

Happy New Year! I am helping a friend with his HP Pavillion DV6-3000. He thought he needed a new hard drive, so put one in and attempted to reinstall the OS. The HP recovery set copies to the hard drive, but when it gets to the installation part, when it gets to 19% a BSOD pops up, the laptop restarts and get bootmgr is missing msg. I did a diagnostic and got a failure on the RTC accuracy test. That is the only error I get. I put in a hard drive I had with a fresh install of windows 7 (from another laptop) just to test it. It would work for about 15 minutes, then either freeze or get a bsod. Thought it might be heat so I removed old thermal compound and applied new. Also use a cooling pad. Same problem. It does not seem like an RTC failure would cause these problems. Any thoughts before I replace the motherboard?
Oh, one more thing. If I boot to a cd (UBCD or PC-diag), the laptop will not freeze or shut down.
Thanks

 

Check the boot order.

Booting from the HD can result in the bootmgr missing msg.



You may need to use the boot disk from HP too. Consider booting to the disk and then starting recovery.

 

Thanks, I am using the HP recovery disk. I have used both the HP recovery disk and a Windows 7 disk with about the same result. Either freeze during install or bsod.

 

Did you go to BIOS and change the boot order to cd/dvd rom?


And the recovery sets are not the boot disk. These are different sets. You need to use the boot disk then run the recovery disks, but only after you fix the BIOS boot order.

 

Yes, dvd drive is first in the boot order. There is no problem booting to the hp disks. The problem begins after the hp disks have copied files to the hard drive and ejected the last disk. Gets 19% thru the last part of the process and bsod.

 

Is the partition the same size? Has the drive been formatted? Are you attempting to format using the HP disks? Is the hard drive larger or smaller than the first? Recovery works only on the same type of drive, i.e. 120gb drive to 120gb drive.

I am going to guess for a bit.......

If drive is same size. Try formatting to NTFS using a Ubuntu or Linux-type bootable cd.
If not the same size, you will need to order HP restore disks from HP and not recovery disks.

 

Sorry, I should have said Restore Disks from HP. That is what they are. Just tried Linux and got an error when trying to load. When I use a Microsoft Windows 7 DVD instead of the HP Restore disks, the same thing happens. Now I have a new hard drive, have tried HP recovery disks, Windows 7 Home Premium and Linux. All with about the same results. Even did a diag on the new hard drive just to make sure.
This hard drive is 320GB. The old one was 500GB. The Microsoft disk should work, even if the HP doesn't.
Thanks for the ideas. Any others would be appreciated.

 

Let's consider a few odd things that could be responsible for your failure without having you diagnose a whole lot ...

1. Do a reset of the BIOS to default settings.
2. Replace the onboard battery - mostly because you had RTC failure.
3. Check the power supply - you will need a meter! If you are fluctuating power when the hd runs .... it would cause an error on read and write. Although this is less likely a problem ... as I finish working on the server I will post back if I think of anything else that I run into on my clients. :confused

 

Set the bios to default yesterday. I am replacing the cmos battery now. I have a power adapter from another hp that I will try. Wish me luck

 

No luck. Replaced the battery and used another power adapter. Using the Windows 7 dvd, I got a bsod shortly after it started expanding files. Looks like the only thing left is the motherboard (or CPU but that's not very likely).:cry

 

I hate to say it but another cause for RTC failure is the motherboard.

How old is the machine?

Remember the old drive? Can you read it on another machine? If so, chances are that motherboard might be shot.

Confirm your installation steps, reformat the drive to NTFS first (maximum partition size 120 GB), insert and boot to disk, place restore disks in and follow directions. If you fail still yet, I would say confirm with a specialist near you. Bad MB.

You only have one hard disk at a time connected in that machine ... right? Check pin placement, check that you are in the primary drive slot on MB...... hmmmm

 

Yes, just one hard drive. Have reformatted a 120gb partition and will try one last time.

 

While I am unsure of your level ... a thought did pop into my dingy brain .... you could test the system with Linux to find out if it is your method/procedures of restore or if it is an mb failure by actually using a Linux disk and telling it to install to the drive in question.

Funny thing though, as I was reading on failure causes, if it is a Sata or DMI issue ... also known to HP and remains unfixed .... there is no fix

 

I did try a Linux disk. When it was loading, it just stopped and gave me an error message. I don't remember the exact message, but I think it was some sort of a video problem.
I guess the problem is on the board. My concern is, if I replace the MB, this may happen again. The laptop is only about a year and a half old. I know HP has had problems with these. I just hate to spend hundreds of dollars on a board just to have the same problem in a month or two.
Thanks for taking the time help.

 

This has nothing to do with the above, but i can't find how to post a new thread and post it. I Need to download skype on my New ARNOVA10g But it doesn't download anything form the net. How can I do this?

 

Sorry for the loss, but I have two in my cabinet that are "done" with life. I keep saying that they will make great parts, but I am not sure that beyond the screen and keyboard that they have much left!

I have an HP desktop that has caused me no problems, well not ones that I did not instigate anyway. :-D I have been inside it and made changes too.

I think it is hit and miss sometimes. Most parts are made in China, including Apples too.

 

taoistlover,
Start here http://forums.majorgeeks.com/forumdisplay.php?f=22
click the new thread button near the top left.