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Getting old Compaq 5100 to work. Please help



 
 
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  #11  
Old October 29th 03, 10:52 AM
Paul
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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  
Old October 29th 03, 02:42 PM
DEJ57
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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  
Old October 29th 03, 05:02 PM
Kevin Childers
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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  
Old October 29th 03, 05:32 PM
DEJ57
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Default


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  
Old October 29th 03, 06:52 PM
Kevin Childers
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Default


"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  
Old October 29th 03, 09:57 PM
HH
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

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  
Old October 29th 03, 11:04 PM
DEJ57
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

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  
Old October 29th 03, 11:13 PM
DEJ57
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

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  
Old October 30th 03, 09:40 PM
Mike Calkins
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Posts: n/a
Default


"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  
Old October 31st 03, 10:13 PM
Wipout4ski
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Default

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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