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#11
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Hi,
When I tried to boot from floppy, the PC reads the floppy, twice briefly, before giving me the error: Non-system disk or disk error. This happens regardless how many times I push the F10 button. I even tried using a Windows boot floppy. Regarding the CMOS reset: My understanding is that I have to remove the battery from the motherboard in order to reset the CMOS. The battery seems to be fixed quite securely to the motherboard and certainly not removable by hand. I have not tried using a screwdriver, but I will certainly try it sometime if the boot floppy will not work. Thanks for any advice, Paul |
#12
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Regarding the CMOS reset: My understanding is that I have to remove the battery from the motherboard in order to reset the CMOS. The battery seems to be fixed quite securely to the motherboard and certainly not removable by hand. I have not tried using a screwdriver, but I will certainly try it sometime if the boot floppy will not work. Some CMOS batteries are soldered onto the systemboard (only God and Compaq know why). Should be jumper pins somewhere on the board, with a jumper in place, that controls the flow of current to the CMOS from the battery, and is also the connection point for an aux battery to attach to and power the CMOS when the onboard battery goes dead. Dale |
#13
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Batteries were once soldered on boards because at the time the only
batteries that could do the job were of a type that required it and computer designers were not concerned with this issue much. With the boom in personal computers and improvements in battery technology created the simple to install ones we use today. That is why they came up with the auxiliary batteries to allow you to supplement a computer with a dead soldered on battery. Computer techs used to have to unsolder the old batteries and then solder on a new one. Not to hard on a single layer board of that era, the devil to do on the new boards of today. Now you, God, Compaq (and all of the other mother board manufacturers of that era), and all the readers of this forum know why. KC "DEJ57" wrote in message ... Regarding the CMOS reset: My understanding is that I have to remove the battery from the motherboard in order to reset the CMOS. The battery seems to be fixed quite securely to the motherboard and certainly not removable by hand. I have not tried using a screwdriver, but I will certainly try it sometime if the boot floppy will not work. Some CMOS batteries are soldered onto the systemboard (only God and Compaq know why). Should be jumper pins somewhere on the board, with a jumper in place, that controls the flow of current to the CMOS from the battery, and is also the connection point for an aux battery to attach to and power the CMOS when the onboard battery goes dead. Dale |
#14
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Batteries were once soldered on boards because at the time the only batteries that could do the job were of a type that required it and computer designers were not concerned with this issue much. With the boom in personal computers and improvements in battery technology created the simple to install ones we use today. That is why they came up with the auxiliary batteries to allow you to supplement a computer with a dead soldered on battery. Computer techs used to have to unsolder the old batteries and then solder on a new one. Not to hard on a single layer board of that era, the devil to do on the new boards of today. Now you, God, Compaq (and all of the other mother board manufacturers of that era), and all the readers of this forum know why. KC Well, that sounds good--but doesn't seem to mesh with my limited experience. Maybe that theory holds for other clones but not Compaqs? Older pre-1996 Comapaq PCs I've worked on didn't have soldered on batteries, but had attached by wire CMOS batteries. Of two Compaqs I owned from 1996, the slightly newer one was soldered on, and the older did not (disk battery in holder/socket). But both used practically the same 3 volt battery, except the soldered on one's model number was like one digit different than the other, and had extensions on it for the solder points. But it was the basically the same battery. Older 386 and 486 Compaq laptops I worked on had the same disk batteries in holders, not soldered on. Sorry, I don't see the thyme and reason that you do in the way this issue has been handled by Compaq over the years. Guess I'm just missing the method in the madness.... Well, if a tech has to solder the batteries off and on, or you have to buy a $25 aux battery rather than the user to be able to replace a $3 3 volt disk battery--maybe thats the wisdom from Compaqs part. Maybe a soldered on is cheaper than a battery in a holder? Dale |
#15
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"DEJ57" wrote in message ... Batteries were once soldered on boards because at the time the only batteries that could do the job were of a type that required it and computer designers were not concerned with this issue much. With the boom in personal computers and improvements in battery technology created the simple to install ones we use today. That is why they came up with the auxiliary batteries to allow you to supplement a computer with a dead soldered on battery. Computer techs used to have to unsolder the old batteries and then solder on a new one. Not to hard on a single layer board of that era, the devil to do on the new boards of today. Now you, God, Compaq (and all of the other mother board manufacturers of that era), and all the readers of this forum know why. KC Well, that sounds good--but doesn't seem to mesh with my limited experience. Maybe that theory holds for other clones but not Compaqs? Older pre-1996 Comapaq PCs I've worked on didn't have soldered on batteries, but had attached by wire CMOS batteries. Of two Compaqs I owned from 1996, the slightly newer one was soldered on, and the older did not (disk battery in holder/socket). But both used practically the same 3 volt battery, except the soldered on one's model number was like one digit different than the other, and had extensions on it for the solder points. But it was the basically the same battery. Older 386 and 486 Compaq laptops I worked on had the same disk batteries in holders, not soldered on. Sorry, I don't see the thyme and reason that you do in the way this issue has been handled by Compaq over the years. Guess I'm just missing the method in the madness.... The wired on batteries were an alternetive not seen much outside of Compaqs that I know of. I should have mentioned that the majority of my experience has been with non-Compaq machines. The lates and greatest battery solution is the socketed NiCAD or lithium battery. Actually when the change came to the socket, you could occasionally find a board that had the socket, but all documentation would still show the old soldered battery. Cost wise I have no idea. Also with the newer machines, the battery will last longer because the newer motherboards place less demand on them. Another plus of modern electronics that still has not extended to other devices in the PC. Well, if a tech has to solder the batteries off and on, or you have to buy a $25 aux battery rather than the user to be able to replace a $3 3 volt disk battery--maybe thats the wisdom from Compaqs part. Maybe a soldered on is cheaper than a battery in a holder? Dale |
#16
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Many Compaq systemboards had a 3-pin connector close to the preinstalled
battery. You could attach a 4.5 volt alkaline battery to take the place of the dead systemboard battery. Compaq sold these batteries, which included the battery, a 3-wire connector and velcro strip to attach the battery to the systemboard. HH "Kevin Childers" wrote in message ... Batteries were once soldered on boards because at the time the only batteries that could do the job were of a type that required it and computer designers were not concerned with this issue much. With the boom in personal computers and improvements in battery technology created the simple to install ones we use today. That is why they came up with the auxiliary batteries to allow you to supplement a computer with a dead soldered on battery. Computer techs used to have to unsolder the old batteries and then solder on a new one. Not to hard on a single layer board of that era, the devil to do on the new boards of today. Now you, God, Compaq (and all of the other mother board manufacturers of that era), and all the readers of this forum know why. KC "DEJ57" wrote in message ... Regarding the CMOS reset: My understanding is that I have to remove the battery from the motherboard in order to reset the CMOS. The battery seems to be fixed quite securely to the motherboard and certainly not removable by hand. I have not tried using a screwdriver, but I will certainly try it sometime if the boot floppy will not work. Some CMOS batteries are soldered onto the systemboard (only God and Compaq know why). Should be jumper pins somewhere on the board, with a jumper in place, that controls the flow of current to the CMOS from the battery, and is also the connection point for an aux battery to attach to and power the CMOS when the onboard battery goes dead. Dale |
#17
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You could attach a 4.5 volt alkaline battery to take the place of
the dead systemboard battery. Compaq sold these batteries, which included the battery, a 3-wire connector and velcro strip to attach the battery to the systemboard. HH I purchased a few of these over the years and they ran me $25 total each.... Dale |
#18
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The wired on batteries were an alternetive not seen much outside of
Compaqs that I know of. I should have mentioned that the majority of my experience has been with non-Compaq machines. The lates and greatest battery solution is the socketed NiCAD or lithium battery. Actually when the change came to the socket, you could occasionally find a board that had the socket, but all documentation would still show the old soldered battery. Cost wise I have no idea. Also with the newer machines, the battery will last longer because the newer motherboards place less demand on them. What you have described may in fact explain battery history in many clones, but, unless I missed it, you haven't explained why Compaq did what they did over the past. It still remains a mystery that only God and Compaq understand. Dale |
#19
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"DEJ57" wrote in message ... You could attach a 4.5 volt alkaline battery to take the place of the dead systemboard battery. Compaq sold these batteries, which included the battery, a 3-wire connector and velcro strip to attach the battery to the systemboard. HH I purchased a few of these over the years and they ran me $25 total each.... Dale There was also a 4 AA battery pack (with the 3-wire connector), available in most electronics stores, for $3.95 (less AA cells). Then when the batteries died, you just replaced the AA cells. |
#20
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the old deskpros are cable select meaning you can leave the drives jumpered as
masters instead of specifying a slave drive, to be honest you should be able to throw on win98 and all the drivers except possibly the video driver will be there |
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