Designjet 4500 HD Scanner

[D Hook]

Having trouble getting this scanner to boot up. Turned it on for the first time in about 8 months and it went into a loop of the screen coming up and listing the specs, like it always did, showing the HD name, and then going to the windows OS splash screen, then going dark, beeping once, and starting over.

So I took off the back cover to check cables and reseating what I could. After that, I got nothing on the screen and one long beep, about 3-4 seconds, then silent and then a long beep and repeating that cycle.

So after doing some reading in the Service Manual, it mentions that it could be a ram issue.

Question is, can I replace the ram with other ram that matches the same specs or do I have to buy HP ram? The label on the ram is 512m, dram, CL-3. Can I install two sticks with the same specs?

I'm still trying to diagnose the beeps and other behaviors, like shutting itself down after a few seconds, then restarting. (When the board starts up, the CPU fan comes on but the screen stays dark.) When it does this, the lights on the keyboard blink but won't accept input to the panel. One time, I got it to come up and it flashed "Press delete to enter Setup", indicating a way to get to the bios. I've never had any reason to access the bios in the past. Sometimes the keyboard doesn't light up at all. Before all this started, I could hook up an old IBM style keyboard with the round connector to the back of the monitor panel and use it to input so I know that method works.

Also, there are three LED's on the board, two of which light up red. One, "LED 2 HD LED" comes on when the light on the optical drive comes on, then shuts off when the drive light goes dark. The other is "Power LED 1", which comes on and stays on steady. The third is listed as the "Suspend LED" on the board and it never turns on, stays dark all the time. I've taken out the HD and connected it to my laptop via the ESATA port and it spins up fine and I can access the files no problem so I think the HD is okay. I had the power supply checked out and it appears to be okay, according to the Geek Squad tech.

Any input on how to trouble shoot or any info on what this could be would be appreciated. I haven't ruled out the main board as the problem but not sure how to do any testing on it. The last time I used this scanner, it worked perfectly. Not sure why sitting idle (off) for a few months would change anything but.....

[Kiran Otter]

Re: Designjet 4500 HD Scanner

You can replace it with any ram that matches the same speed. I would thoroughly reseat the RAM though, it may just not be making contact well. Take it out and put it back in several times. There's nothing really special about the PC. The LED behavior all sounds normal. It sounds to me like either bad RAM or you just need to reseat it. This is just like any PC and how the RAM gets flaky because of the socket.

Kiran

[D Hook]

Re: Designjet 4500 HD Scanner

Thanks Kiran. I'll give that a try next. I have some new ram coming so if reseating doesn't do it I'll try that next.

I also replaced the CMOS battery, just to be sure that wasn't a problem. The unit is about 10 years old (maybe?) and doubt it's ever been replaced.

[Kiran Otter]

Re: Designjet 4500 HD Scanner

If the RAM doesn't do it, the hard drive is probably bad; it's the most common failure item. If you reach that point I can send you the recovery disk ISOs if you need them.

Kiran

[Lance15]

Re: Designjet 4500 HD Scanner

Having issues with a T1100 MFP Panel PC here. No power.

Ordered from LPS. Got the wrong power supply TWICE. Can't recommend LPS for Panel PC issues.

Like Kiran said, though, the Panel PC is just a "standard" PC with "standard" parts.


I think I also have the Vista-based OS? I don't remember anymore. I ordered the CD's MANY years ago.

[D Hook]

Re: Designjet 4500 HD Scanner

As said in first post, I removed the HD and hooked it up to my laptop w/an ESATA cable and it spun up fine and was able to open the files so I don't think the HD is an issue. I have the original DVD recovery disk which I've tried booting with and without in the drive and doesn't seem to make a difference. But thanks for the offer.

Lance, I was researching power supplies also but not sure that's it. I replaced the power supply on this one about 10 years ago, along with the CMOS battery at the time.

Thanks!

[D Hook]

Re: Designjet 4500 HD Scanner

Opened up the power supply today and there are some bulging caps showing. Not sure if that's adding to the problem or not.

Replaced the Ram today with new and no change. Still get one long repeating beep and a dark screen.

Going to try a new power supply next.

[D Hook]

Re: Designjet 4500 HD Scanner

Put in the new power supply and that solved it. Booted right up to the HP Invent splash screen, then went on to the scanner program layout. I guess the Geek Squad wasn't correct on this one.

[Lance15]

Re: Designjet 4500 HD Scanner

What power supply did you install? I researched, took measurements of my power supply and found almost the same, but, never really found a NEW PSU that would fit. I ended up finding an "exact" model; FSP180-50PLA on eBay except it has one standard molex connector.

FSP Group FSP180-50PLA 180W Power Supply | eBay

[D Hook]

Re: Designjet 4500 HD Scanner

Was the 180W enough to handle the power needs? The original calls for a 250w.

Thanks for that link. The one I bought is too long but I got it to work and it told me what the problem was. But I'm going to start searching for the 6" size. Do you like the one you bought?

The original that I took out was a Kentek FATX250. Fit perfectly. But looking for a cheaper option now that is the 6" size.

[Lance15]

Re: Designjet 4500 HD Scanner

Should be. 180W is what I took out. I've been supporting this customers setup (T1100 plotter and T1100 MFP) since 2004. We lost this account YEARS ago, but, they still call me to repair their plotter and scanner. They don't even bother going through their helpdesk.

Here are some pictures of my power supply.

20240224_132736.jpgFSP180-50PLA-label.jpg

[Lance15]

Re: Designjet 4500 HD Scanner

Opened up the power supply today and there are some bulging caps showing.

I opened mine too. Nothing looked wrong, but, checked for shorts using the ATX connector. The 5-volt rail on mine is shorted.

I was thinking about stripping out the PSU, but, it is SO dense, it's pretty impossible to take apart.

[D Hook]

Re: Designjet 4500 HD Scanner

If that's the one you linked to earlier, I think I'll go ahead and buy one. The one I bought is too long but I made it work ok. I had to relocate the exhaust fan that's mounted on the back of the case a couple inches and had to splice on a longer 4 pin connector and everything works. But I'd rather have one that fits correctly. Thanks again.

[Lance15]

Re: Designjet 4500 HD Scanner

Here's the PSU I received. Exactly what I purchased. I moved over the cable stay and used a cable tie to keep the molex contained.