how to test psu and reset to cmos to default

hi Trent©,
here is a Web site which has the "ibm surepath setup utility"

Appendix C: Sample BIOS Setup Screens
http://eetd.lbl.gov/EA/Reports/39466/39466-AC

sincerely,
Tanya

In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.misc Tanya wrote:
hi and thank you for replying!
[...below...]
[...]
Any rate, get those power supply numbers and report back.
Even if you don't know what those numbers are, still, those
numbers make it possible for the learned to do more than 'wild
speculation'. Previously, too many posters were doing just
that - wildly speculating. First get facts.

he
P1
(right-left)
yellow: 5.00
red: 5.01
orange: 11.71
blue-grey: -11.82
black (both) -0.00

All good.

P2
(left - right)
off-white / beige: 5.01
red (3) all are 5.01
black : 0.00
black -0.00

Also all good.

connectorsleft-right)
zip-drive (which is not working)
orange (left) 11.71
grnds (black): -0.00
red: 5.01

Also good. ZIPs have a way of breaking. They are not well made.

hd1 (2'ary / slave)
same as for the zip

i cannot test the master drive the probe doesn't fit

You don't need to. You have measured all the voltages that are there
and they are fine. Unless a cable broke (sod not really fit your
problem description), all voltages of the same value are actually
connected the same regulator output.

Now, this might be a dumb question (i.e. you have already answerd it):
Has maybe the battery/accumulator powering the CMOS broken down to
the degree that it corrupts the settings (maybe slowly, a bit at a
time)? Have you measured the voltages there?

Arno
--
For email address: lastname AT tik DOT ee DOT ethz DOT ch
GnuPG: ID:1E25338F FP:0C30 5782 9D93 F785 E79C 0296 797F 6B50 1E25 338F
"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws" - Tacitus

hi Arno,
thanks a lot for answering!

Arno Wagner wrote:
snip

he
P1
(right-left)
yellow: 5.00
red: 5.01
orange: 11.71
blue-grey: -11.82
black (both) -0.00

All good.

P2
(left - right)
off-white / beige: 5.01
red (3) all are 5.01
black : 0.00
black -0.00

Also all good.

connectorsleft-right)
zip-drive (which is not working)
orange (left) 11.71
grnds (black): -0.00
red: 5.01

Also good. ZIPs have a way of breaking. They are not well made.

hd1 (2'ary / slave)
same as for the zip

i cannot test the master drive the probe doesn't fit

You don't need to. You have measured all the voltages that are there
and they are fine. Unless a cable broke (sod not really fit your
problem description), all voltages of the same value are actually
connected the same regulator output.

(fwiw...the master hard-drive has the pass-through type of power connector which
ends on the zip drive -- the measurements were all ok)

Now, this might be a dumb question (i.e. you have already answerd it):
Has maybe the battery/accumulator powering the CMOS broken down to
the degree that it corrupts the settings (maybe slowly, a bit at a
time)? Have you measured the voltages there?

the 3 volt lithium battery?
if so, i did..
the old battery (that i removed) was 3.06 volts and the new battery (out of the
package) measured 3.26 volts
i don't know what an accumulator is?
(with both batteries it lost settings)
is there something to measure on the motherboard that links the battery to the
CMOS chip?

thanks very much again!
i appreciate the help
sincerely
Tanya

Arno
--
For email address: lastname AT tik DOT ee DOT ethz DOT ch
GnuPG: ID:1E25338F FP:0C30 5782 9D93 F785 E79C 0296 797F 6B50 1E25 338F
"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws" - Tacitus

On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 14:36:38 -0500, Tanya
wrote:

If the battery is working properly, you should not be loosing any time
when you have the computer turned off for a few hours or so. So check
that part.

it has not had the date and time error (since it successfully booted
yesterday (?2 days ago?) -- i've lost track :-) so i guess that the new
battery is functioning as it should

It sounds like yer all set there. Now all we have to do is solve your
other problems.

Before we start...

Any changes that you decide to make...after my, and other's
advice...make SURE you make a note of what the setting is before you
change it. Some changes can inadvertently make things
worse...especially on a long-distance maintenance call like this! lol
You may need to change that setting back to the original.

Recap for us. Exactly what problems are you still having?

1. NO post start up errors.

2. it is running EXTREMELY slowly (i am running my antiviral scan which i
started over 2 hours ago) it has NEVER taken this long!
(now it is still running THREE hours later -- it has to finish of course
but there are "no infections" listed yet???)

Go into the CMOS setup. Go thru each main category. Enable any
setting that is disabled that pertains to cacheing...BIOS, video, etc.

3. the bios settings have reset themselves (i see what you wrote below) i
am just trying to be accurate (it's a Pnp BIOS)

It does that...to default settings...which are not usually the OPTIMUM
settings.

for example i have a 30 gb maxtor hd (i have print outs of the CMOS
settings prior to several days ago) it was set to ENABLE read prefetch AND
disk BIOS translation WAS LBA
HOWEVER currently, read preFetch is DISabled AND disk BIOS translation is
CHS?????

I'm guessing yer talkin' about the opening screen. Change any IDE
settings so that they say 'auto' all the way across the screen.

ALSO numLock is USUALLY on by default (the keyBoard light is usually on
but now it is off.)

That's also a setting in one of the menu settings of the BIOS. Go
into the different categories...find it...enable it.

One bit of information for you...

The BIOS is an area of your computer where YOU tell the computer what
hardware you have...and how to configure it...along with some other
configurable settings. And then the computer uses that information in
its boot process. In general, the computer does NOT detect your
hardware (except in some cases, especially on a computer as old as
yours) and tell you what you have. YOU tell the computer what you
have. The exceptions started with the advent of IDE auto detect, etc.

i actually do not tell it what to do
(ex: adding memory years ago -- it auto detected it without me having to
set it)

Some settings are automatic...some are not. For instance, finding the
memory is automatic. Setting up its speed, telling your computer
whether or not its error-checking memory, etc. is manual. Its another
one of those things that YOU (plural) tell the computer.

I say this because you talked of 'phantom' errors...on the floppy
drive, for instance. This is probably NOT a phantom error.

i believe that i am confusing things -- perhaps just forget the "phantom
errors"
(this bios is NOT like others, it is called "ibm surepath setup utility"
-- it is different from award, amiBIOS(?), phoenix, etc.)

I think only the setup manager is different. Find the program called
AIDA32...and run it. It'll tell you about the hardware...and
software...on yer computer. It will tell you which BIOS you have. Use
the report wizard to run a complete report...and save it to html for
future reference.

i just want to be accurate: it was running well -- and without touching
it, downloading things, changing h/w/ s/w etc (i.e. with NO provocation --
sorry:-)
it began eliciting error messages (instead of the usual POST pass (1 beep)
it gave 2, and the aforementioned errors on the screen))

Here's what probably happened. Again...keep in mind that YOU tell the
computer what hardware you have...

The computer was initially set up...hardware was described and entered
into the BIOS. Battery keeps those settings. Battery went dead
(again, watch for a wrong date as a possible warning of a battery
going weak). When the battery went dead, it lost many of the BIOS
settings. So it defaulted to safe settings...which is not the optimum
settings. You just need to tweak it up again.


i really appreciate your help and patience!
sincerely
Tanya

Welcome!

First...

Change all the IDE drive settings to 'auto' in that opening screen.
Again, make a note of what they are now...in case things get worse.
Then reboot.

Only make one major change like this...see how it goes...then reboot
into the BIOS and make the next change...which is to enable all
caching.

Good luck...let us know.


Have a nice one...

Trent©

Budweiser: Helping ugly people have sex since 1876!

In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.misc Tanya wrote:
hi Arno,
thanks a lot for answering!

No problem.

[...]
Now, this might be a dumb question (i.e. you have already answerd it):
Has maybe the battery/accumulator powering the CMOS broken down to
the degree that it corrupts the settings (maybe slowly, a bit at a
time)? Have you measured the voltages there?

the 3 volt lithium battery?
if so, i did..
the old battery (that i removed) was 3.06 volts and the new battery (out of the
package) measured 3.26 volts

So that is not it either...

i don't know what an accumulator is?

Some older mainboards had a rechargeable battery (''accumulator'') instead
of a lithium battery.

(with both batteries it lost settings)
is there something to measure on the motherboard that links
the battery to the CMOS chip?

Not really. Must be something else then, the power readings look
all good. Maybe it is "capacitor rot". Electrolyte capacitors have a
2-5 year lifetime (may be less when unused). As your system seems
quite old, that may be the problem.

Arno
--
For email address: lastname AT tik DOT ee DOT ethz DOT ch
GnuPG: ID:1E25338F FP:0C30 5782 9D93 F785 E79C 0296 797F 6B50 1E25 338F
"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws" - Tacitus

thanks again for the reply!

"Trent©" wrote:

On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 14:36:38 -0500, Tanya
wrote:

If the battery is working properly, you should not be loosing any time
when you have the computer turned off for a few hours or so. So check
that part.

it has not had the date and time error (since it successfully booted
yesterday (?2 days ago?) -- i've lost track :-) so i guess that the new
battery is functioning as it should

It sounds like yer all set there. Now all we have to do is solve your
other problems.

fwiw i read that the psu in this particular system keeps "auxiliary power to
the board of +5 volts" even when the system is shut off

Before we start...

Any changes that you decide to make...after my, and other's
advice...make SURE you make a note of what the setting is before you
change it. Some changes can inadvertently make things
worse...especially on a long-distance maintenance call like this! lol
You may need to change that setting back to the original.

i have everything except the hex addresses for the legacy cards devices

Recap for us. Exactly what problems are you still having?

1. NO post start up errors.

2. it is running EXTREMELY slowly (i am running my antiviral scan which i
started over 2 hours ago) it has NEVER taken this long!
(now it is still running THREE hours later -- it has to finish of course
but there are "no infections" listed yet???)

Go into the CMOS setup. Go thru each main category. Enable any
setting that is disabled that pertains to cacheing...BIOS, video, etc.

3. the bios settings have reset themselves (i see what you wrote below) i
am just trying to be accurate (it's a Pnp BIOS)

It does that...to default settings...which are not usually the OPTIMUM
settings.

for example i have a 30 gb maxtor hd (i have print outs of the CMOS
settings prior to several days ago) it was set to ENABLE read prefetch AND
disk BIOS translation WAS LBA
HOWEVER currently, read preFetch is DISabled AND disk BIOS translation is
CHS?????

I'm guessing yer talkin' about the opening screen. Change any IDE
settings so that they say 'auto' all the way across the screen.

i had to manually change it from chs to lba (it has made NO difference)

ALSO numLock is USUALLY on by default (the keyBoard light is usually on
but now it is off.)

That's also a setting in one of the menu settings of the BIOS. Go
into the different categories...find it...enable it.

done

One bit of information for you...

The BIOS is an area of your computer where YOU tell the computer what
hardware you have...and how to configure it...along with some other
configurable settings. And then the computer uses that information in
its boot process. In general, the computer does NOT detect your
hardware (except in some cases, especially on a computer as old as
yours) and tell you what you have. YOU tell the computer what you
have. The exceptions started with the advent of IDE auto detect, etc.

Some settings are automatic...some are not. For instance, finding the
memory is automatic. Setting up its speed, telling your computer
whether or not its error-checking memory, etc. is manual. Its another
one of those things that YOU (plural) tell the computer.

I say this because you talked of 'phantom' errors...on the floppy
drive, for instance. This is probably NOT a phantom error.

snip

(this bios is NOT like others, it is called "ibm surepath setup utility"
-- it is different from award, amiBIOS(?), phoenix, etc.)

I think only the setup manager is different. Find the program called
AIDA32...and run it. It'll tell you about the hardware...and
software...on yer computer. It will tell you which BIOS you have. Use
the report wizard to run a complete report...and save it to html for
future reference.

Here's what probably happened. Again...keep in mind that YOU tell the
computer what hardware you have...

The computer was initially set up...hardware was described and entered
into the BIOS. Battery keeps those settings. Battery went dead
(again, watch for a wrong date as a possible warning of a battery
going weak). When the battery went dead, it lost many of the BIOS
settings. So it defaulted to safe settings...which is not the optimum
settings. You just need to tweak it up again.

i changed the parallel port settings -- it print screens very well in the bios
HOWEVER in windows it is EXTREMELY slow.......
one problem is that currently i can only get 3 possibilities (compatible, ecp,
or ps2 / bidirectional)
i KNOW it offered epp before........
in any case it has made NO difference

also i need to reseat the 4 simms (72 pin) but they seem to be stuck (i have
other boards here which pop out and also i have reseated them in the past and
they popped out but -- i want to avoid breaking the chips, the board or the
slots)




i really appreciate your help and patience!
sincerely
Tanya

Welcome!

First...

Change all the IDE drive settings to 'auto' in that opening screen.
Again, make a note of what they are now...in case things get worse.
Then reboot.

Only make one major change like this...see how it goes...then reboot
into the BIOS and make the next change...which is to enable all
caching.

Good luck...let us know.

Have a nice one...

Trent©

Budweiser: Helping ugly people have sex since 1876!

On Mon, 31 Jan 2005 15:34:00 -0500, Tanya
wrote:

i had to manually change it from chs to lba (it has made NO difference)

That isn't what I told you to do. Reread my instructions on this.

i changed the parallel port settings -- it print screens very well in the bios
HOWEVER in windows it is EXTREMELY slow.......
one problem is that currently i can only get 3 possibilities (compatible, ecp,
or ps2 / bidirectional)
i KNOW it offered epp before........
in any case it has made NO difference

I didn't know you had a printing problem.

You'd better recap what problems you still have.

also i need to reseat the 4 simms (72 pin)

WHY?...for cryin' out loud!!!


Have a nice one...

Trent©

Budweiser: Helping ugly people have sex since 1876!

hi and thanks AGAIN!

"Trent©" wrote:

On Mon, 31 Jan 2005 15:34:00 -0500, Tanya
wrote:

i had to manually change it from chs to lba (it has made NO difference)

That isn't what I told you to do. Reread my instructions on this.

there IS a cache option (cache state and cache system bios) -- i will enable those
sorry

i changed the parallel port settings -- it print screens very well in the bios
HOWEVER in windows it is EXTREMELY slow.......
one problem is that currently i can only get 3 possibilities (compatible, ecp,
or ps2 / bidirectional)
i KNOW it offered epp before........
in any case it has made NO difference

I didn't know you had a printing problem.

it is global being EXTREMELY slow (in all respects) -- printing included....

You'd better recap what problems you still have.

currently only 1 problem: everything is "running" REALLY slowly.. double click icon
-- WAIT -- open eventually.
printing the windows test page -- 3 minutes.
Of course when i enable the cache options i imagine the epp option will become
available in the cmos settings (that is one that now i recall I had to choose (as
you had written previously))


also i need to reseat the 4 simms (72 pin)

WHY?...for cryin' out loud!!!

b/c it is really like molasses really slow (*could* be a ram problem)
i think safe mode would be better right now since the problems are in windows (also
loading -- it passes the post (1 beep) quickly now but there's a LONG delay on the
windows splash screen))
thanks
sincerely
Tanya




Have a nice one...

Trent©

Budweiser: Helping ugly people have sex since 1876!

hi Trent©,
guess what!
i just enabled the cache state and it booted real quick into windows!
(i'm just running my av scan because i ran it 2 days ago and it took more than 3
hours (never has taken this long) and i'll check printing when it's done)

the 'help' for cache system bios states that it *might* need to be disabled for
certain things like avs (i'll enable it later)
i have to do a couple more things to it (like reconnect the 2nd hd etc...) but just
thought i'd tell you
thanks to your help!
i will post back later (good or bad)

THANKS again!
sincerely
Tanya


"Trent©" wrote:

On Mon, 31 Jan 2005 15:34:00 -0500, Tanya
wrote:

i had to manually change it from chs to lba (it has made NO difference)

That isn't what I told you to do. Reread my instructions on this.

i changed the parallel port settings -- it print screens very well in the bios
HOWEVER in windows it is EXTREMELY slow.......
one problem is that currently i can only get 3 possibilities (compatible, ecp,
or ps2 / bidirectional)
i KNOW it offered epp before........
in any case it has made NO difference

I didn't know you had a printing problem.

You'd better recap what problems you still have.

also i need to reseat the 4 simms (72 pin)

WHY?...for cryin' out loud!!!

Have a nice one...

Trent©

Budweiser: Helping ugly people have sex since 1876!

i wanted to thank you, Arno for the help!
[...below...]

Arno Wagner wrote:

i don't know what an accumulator is?

Some older mainboards had a rechargeable battery (''accumulator'') instead
of a lithium battery.

(with both batteries it lost settings)
is there something to measure on the motherboard that links
the battery to the CMOS chip?

Not really. Must be something else then, the power readings look
all good. Maybe it is "capacitor rot". Electrolyte capacitors have a
2-5 year lifetime (may be less when unused). As your system seems
quite old, that may be the problem.

it seems to have responded to changing a cmos setting ('system cache') from DISabled
to ENabled) it *is* old but it's been treated well... i hope there is something to do
for capacitor rot should the board BIOS chip outlast the capacitor(s).
THANKS!
sincerely
Tanya



Arno
--
For email address: lastname AT tik DOT ee DOT ethz DOT ch
GnuPG: ID:1E25338F FP:0C30 5782 9D93 F785 E79C 0296 797F 6B50 1E25 338F
"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws" - Tacitus