EBME Forums Forums Maintenance Technical Assistance Esaote MyLab40 stuck in view-only mode

Hi all,

I've got an Esaote MyLab40, and I’ve run into a strange issue. The system boots up normally and displays the image. I can move the cursor, switch probes, and adjust some of the image parameters. However, the system seems to be stuck in some kind of view-only mode.

Most of the buttons don’t respond and only produce a beep sound. I can’t access the menu, access the database, or save images. The hard drive icon at the top of the screen shows a yellow blinking border.

I can't shut down the system properly. After pressing the power button, the shutdown activity indicator bar keeps running endlessly, and I’m forced to shut down the device using the power switch.

Has anyone encountered this before or have any idea how to fix it? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

You can try to replace a hard disk and reinstall the system and application software.

In addition, I remember that there was a PCB power conversion board inside the box, and because a PCB transformer was used, it was also prone to failure.

You need a careful inspection to find the fault

I've had this problem.
As a first step, you should check the system's BIOS:
During startup, press "Ctrl" + "Alt" + "Archive Rev" at the same time. It should display the status of the CMOS BAT and CMOS Checksum.
If they are incorrect, after replacing the BIOS battery, connect a USB keyboard and, during startup, press "F" and "Del." This will access the load date and time.
If this doesn't resolve the issue, you may have a corrupted Windows file.
I managed to resolve it (once in 2021) by booting from the CD drive with the Hiren's Boot cd utility, locating the corrupted Windows file, and rewriting it from a copy within the system.

I attached an image that I took during the search for the Windows problem, I hope it is useful.

Make an image of the HDD before modifying it, using HBCD. And when it works, make another image that will ensure that the next failure will be another one.

Hi,

thanks for your replies.

I removed the hard drive for further inspection. Its SMART status showed signs of aging (reallocated sectors) but it remained consistently readable. I was able to clone the image onto a new hard drive without any issues.

While inspecting the processor board, I found that the CMOS battery was nearly dead, so I replaced it. My current hypothesis is that the failing CMOS battery may have caused the machine to lose its system time, which seems to be a common problem with these models.

@vitapablo I tried pressing 'Ctrl' + 'Alt' + 'Archive Rev', but it didn't work.

According to the service manual, the procedure to enter the BIOS menu is:

• Connect an external USB keyboard and switch the unit on.
• Press 'Delete' on the external keyboard and Press 'Alt' + 'Ctrl' + 'Archive Rev' to enter the System BIOS setup

This didn't work either. Could you please clarify the steps you took to view the CMOS status?

• Which keys did you press?
• Did you use the internal or an external keyboard?
• At what point exactly in the boot process did you press the key combination?

Also, regarding the screenshot you provided: How did you get the error message to appear? Did it just pop up, or did you have to access a specific service mode?

Best regards

During the startup progress (green bar progress) pressing Ctrl' + 'Alt' + 'File Rev' should show the following photo

Pressing F +Del in usb keyboard access to bios

Pressing F8 in external KB and select safe boot, you can see windows load progress