Supposedly hitting F10 after turning on the computer gets you into BIOS.
Edit: Also some websites say you'll need a setup disk.

Doornkaat wrote on 2021-03-01, 16:05:

Supposedly hitting F10 after turning on the computer gets you into BIOS.
Edit: Also some websites say you'll need a setup disk.

Thanks. F10 doesnt work 🙁

Anybody has a "SETUP DISK" for a BIOS ?

f10 works if you have a special compaq bios partition. without that, you'll need a boot bios disk/setup program

even without the bios disk, you should be able to boot into the computer.

Here is your laptop:
https://web.archive.org/web/19990828111155/ht … s/us/2_123.html

Look for the softpaq numbers and search for them on Google to download.

vetz wrote on 2021-03-02, 09:45:

Here is your laptop:
https://web.archive.org/web/19990828111155/ht … s/us/2_123.html

Look for the softpaq numbers and search for them on Google to download.

Hi, thanks a lot for your help!
Dave

vetz wrote on 2021-03-02, 09:45:

Here is your laptop:
https://web.archive.org/web/19990828111155/ht … s/us/2_123.html

Look for the softpaq numbers and search for them on Google to download.

Hi,

I upgraded the BIOS, but F10 still not working.
Btw. After I upgraded the BIOS, laptop starts well. But after 2 minutes LCD backlight stop working. May be this issue related to a BIOS upgrade?

The BIOS (RomPAQ) upgrade itself won't help. Did you install this SOFTPAQ (PC Diagnostics) ? https://web.archive.org/web/19991010062543/ht … tware/1237.html

vetz wrote on 2021-03-06, 16:26:

The BIOS (RomPAQ) upgrade itself won't help. Did you install this SOFTPAQ (PC Diagnostics) ? https://web.archive.org/web/19991010062543/ht … tware/1237.html

Not yet, I will try it.
Btw. I downgraded the BIOS on the previous version. But problem with LCD backlight is not solved.

Yes, I know, this thread is a bit old, but the answer fits the question.

The problem is, you have to create a separate primary (!) partition on your hard drive (OK, not by YOURSELF, but the setup diskette will create it).
I suggest to use partition magic (not parted magic) to move the actual partition a little bit to the "right" and leave at least 32mb of free space (unpartitioned).
The partition created by the setup diskette is about 6-8mb, it has some kind of FAT12, but with a different partition ID (Partition type 12).
You will need two Softpaqs (added as attachments in my post):
SP12906 (The Diagnostics Diskette),
SP9962 (The Setup Diskette).
Be aware, that you will need a running Windows 3.1-98 System (no NT series) to create the needed floppies (it uses QRST5 to write the floppies).
Then you first boot from the Compaq Armada Setup Diskette, to create the partition needed to contain the Diagnostics tools (and the BIOS-Setup).
While creating the partition you will be asked to insert the Compaq Armada Diagnostics Diskette.
At last you insert the Setup Diskette again to finish the setup.
As a final step you could use partition magic again to move the Windows partition back to fit near the new created partition (mark the Windows partition as active).
Now you can use F10 to enter BIOS Setup.
If you press F10, the Armada will reboot and you can see booting an operating system similar to DOS and after that it will load the BIOS Setup.
It's some kind of Windows 3.1 look with mouse support.