CMOS battery/checksum error - Page 2

zy · 4th Jun 2005, 05:05 AM

actually the batteries can last quite long .. couple of years

unless there is some "malfunction" or unexpected short life of the battery

like my calculator battery which i had to change after couple of weeks when i first bought it ..
now its change .. so far no problem ..

Aion-X · 4th Jun 2005, 10:13 AM

My old rig (PII 266) stay with its old cmos battery for more than 6 years and still function. Not sure when its life ends.

ESP · 4th Jun 2005, 11:09 AM

I think the motherboard just uses a very little amount of power from the battery.

Or maybe the battery gets charged with power from the PSU?

zy · 4th Jun 2005, 03:53 PM

i dont think it is charged by the PSU

my guess is ..when it has power form the PSU .. it does not need power from the battery

so if you plug in your pc all the time .. most like ly it will last longer

kayFX · 4th Jun 2005, 04:26 PM

the battery is not nickel cadmium or lithium ion or whatever rechargeable battery use as their built.. if the battery is being recharge by the psu, it may explode.. (hmm i think this is what CS5 does when he started the 'PC on fire b4?' thread

')

AAY · 4th Jun 2005, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slyta

Even if I change the battery I have to restore the BIOS settings. My plan was to first figure out how to make the computer boot again. Even if it won't be able to save the settings due to low battery level. If I manage that, I will then try to find/change the battery.

So is this the battery (see attached picture)?

Whoa...that is a pretty old motherboard! Looking at the discrete components and the 30-pin SIMMs (at least they use SIMMs!) I would guess that your system was built in the early '90s. Many computers of that era used Nickel-Cadmium batteries in a shrink-wrapped 3-cell arrangement soldered onto the board. These batteries often leak after many years and the substances they leak can be highly corrosive to the motherboard. If one section of your motherboard appears damaged and it's right under a cylindrical object (often wrapped in blue heatshrink) you can probably forget about reviving that system.

Another oddball arrangement was the use of Dallas Semiconductor's DS1287 combination real-time clock, crystal and lithium battery ICs. These can be noted on the motherboards which have them as being tall black cubic components with the Dallas Semiconductor logo and DS1287 on top. If these fail there is no real recourse but to desolder them and get a replacement chip, which is rarely economically viable for an older computer.

Rubix · 30th Sep 2005, 09:15 PM

I have got the same problem with a Philips P3204 (1988 ) and I do have the file 'SETUP.EXE' with which you can configure the BIOS. But I can't boot from a 3,5" disk.

Had anyone found a solution or does anyone know how to use the PROM?

Thanks!

The_YongGrand · 30th Sep 2005, 09:51 PM

Oh, I remembered that I have a 486 computer with a little barrel of Ni-Cad battery glued and soldered onto the motherboard.

So how to change when it was out of juice?

No idea at all. Soldering came into my mind but I don't want to risk burning my fingers all over it. Furthermore, these barrel Ni-Cad batteries are too rare to be even sold.

I hope your old Philips computer doesn't have a barrel-shaped battery. Newer Pentium generation m/bs have coin-shaped batteries...

Trinity · 30th Sep 2005, 10:12 PM

Well if you can't find the exact same battery you could get a same voltage battery and get crafty with a soldering gun and some fine wire and a make shift battery holder.

Rubix · 1st Oct 2005, 02:18 AM

The battery is not the real problem, but the BIOS setup.

I only have two Dos PC's with a 5,25" fdd: a '87 Hyundai PCterminal and the '88 Philips. The Philips though also has a 3,5" fdd. The Hyundai's battery of course is also empty. Hyundai however managed to make a sort of Plug & Play bios, and it just detects '1 Hard disk drive'. I have done the 'sys a:' command and now I've got Dos 3.3 on a 5,25" floppy.
But not the BIOS Setup program! And when I type 'B:' in Dos, the PC says that it cannot read the 713k floppy (while it's in mint condition). Moreover, it doesn't have a 'C' drive.
In the PROM when I type 'hd' it gives HD information but it's all set to 1 and 0. So I am afraid that the PC thinks the B-drive is a HD or something??

I think I'll have to run the Bios setup, but therefore I need to acces the 3,5" disk... Damn

Anyway, when I know how to change the disk type in the PROM, I can run the PC just fine. That it doesn't save my settings is not a big problem.

4th Jun 2005, 05:05 AM	#11 (permalink)
zy Dead Join Date: 16 Dec 2002 Location: Penang,Malaysia - Buffalo,New York Posts: 12,884 Reputation: 2064 Rep Power: 39	actually the batteries can last quite long .. couple of years unless there is some "malfunction" or unexpected short life of the battery like my calculator battery which i had to change after couple of weeks when i first bought it .. now its change .. so far no problem .. __________________ current: P4-3.2\|P4P800-Deluxe\|512x4-DDR\|NV6600 WD2500KS\|WD5000AAKS\|AD-7191A\|1860NX\|Z2300\|MP470 home (malaysia): P4C-2.6@3.1-StockHSF\|AI7\|256x2-BT-D43\|512x2-DT-D43\|A9600XT-VIVO WD1200JB\|2xWD2500KS\|DRU-800A\|DVD-E616P\|LTR-52327S\|152x\|V.S.4121\|iP1500 laptop: M1210\|T7200\|2GBDDR667\|160GB5K160\|GO7400

4th Jun 2005, 11:09 AM	#13 (permalink)
ESP Super Active Join Date: 8 Jan 2005 Posts: 2,121 Reputation: 715 Rep Power: 13	I think the motherboard just uses a very little amount of power from the battery. Or maybe the battery gets charged with power from the PSU? __________________ -eSp-

4th Jun 2005, 03:53 PM	#14 (permalink)
zy Dead Join Date: 16 Dec 2002 Location: Penang,Malaysia - Buffalo,New York Posts: 12,884 Reputation: 2064 Rep Power: 39	i dont think it is charged by the PSU my guess is ..when it has power form the PSU .. it does not need power from the battery so if you plug in your pc all the time .. most like ly it will last longer __________________ current: P4-3.2\|P4P800-Deluxe\|512x4-DDR\|NV6600 WD2500KS\|WD5000AAKS\|AD-7191A\|1860NX\|Z2300\|MP470 home (malaysia): P4C-2.6@3.1-StockHSF\|AI7\|256x2-BT-D43\|512x2-DT-D43\|A9600XT-VIVO WD1200JB\|2xWD2500KS\|DRU-800A\|DVD-E616P\|LTR-52327S\|152x\|V.S.4121\|iP1500 laptop: M1210\|T7200\|2GBDDR667\|160GB5K160\|GO7400

4th Jun 2005, 04:26 PM	#15 (permalink)
kayFX Active Join Date: 4 Sep 2004 Location: in my room Posts: 633 Reputation: 253 Rep Power: 7	the battery is not nickel cadmium or lithium ion or whatever rechargeable battery use as their built.. if the battery is being recharge by the psu, it may explode.. (hmm i think this is what CS5 does when he started the 'PC on fire b4?' thread ') __________________ my gaming gear: steelseries Siberia \| Logitech MX518 \| Everglide Titan DKT edition \| Microsoft SideWinder X6 \| steelseries Ikari Optical

30th Sep 2005, 09:15 PM	#17 (permalink)
Rubix Newbie Join Date: 30 Sep 2005 Posts: 5 Reputation: 0 Rep Power: 0	Still no solution I have got the same problem with a Philips P3204 (1988 ) and I do have the file 'SETUP.EXE' with which you can configure the BIOS. But I can't boot from a 3,5" disk. Had anyone found a solution or does anyone know how to use the PROM? Thanks!

4th Jun 2005, 10:13 AM	#12 (permalink)
Aion-X Getting there Join Date: 2 Jun 2005 Location: DOTA Battleground Posts: 182 Reputation: 41 Rep Power: 4	My old rig (PII 266) stay with its old cmos battery for more than 6 years and still function. Not sure when its life ends.

30th Sep 2005, 09:51 PM	#18 (permalink)
The_YongGrand Super Active Join Date: 12 Feb 2005 Location: Somewhere in 甲洞... Posts: 2,364 Reputation: 852 Rep Power: 14	Oh, I remembered that I have a 486 computer with a little barrel of Ni-Cad battery glued and soldered onto the motherboard. So how to change when it was out of juice? No idea at all. Soldering came into my mind but I don't want to risk burning my fingers all over it. Furthermore, these barrel Ni-Cad batteries are too rare to be even sold. I hope your old Philips computer doesn't have a barrel-shaped battery. Newer Pentium generation m/bs have coin-shaped batteries...

30th Sep 2005, 10:12 PM	#19 (permalink)
Trinity Little Kiki Join Date: 5 Jan 2003 Location: Ohio,usa Posts: 6,850 Reputation: 5489 Rep Power: 67	Well if you can't find the exact same battery you could get a same voltage battery and get crafty with a soldering gun and some fine wire and a make shift battery holder.

1st Oct 2005, 02:18 AM	#20 (permalink)
Rubix Newbie Join Date: 30 Sep 2005 Posts: 5 Reputation: 0 Rep Power: 0	The battery is not the real problem, but the BIOS setup. I only have two Dos PC's with a 5,25" fdd: a '87 Hyundai PCterminal and the '88 Philips. The Philips though also has a 3,5" fdd. The Hyundai's battery of course is also empty. Hyundai however managed to make a sort of Plug & Play bios, and it just detects '1 Hard disk drive'. I have done the 'sys a:' command and now I've got Dos 3.3 on a 5,25" floppy. But not the BIOS Setup program! And when I type 'B:' in Dos, the PC says that it cannot read the 713k floppy (while it's in mint condition). Moreover, it doesn't have a 'C' drive. In the PROM when I type 'hd' it gives HD information but it's all set to 1 and 0. So I am afraid that the PC thinks the B-drive is a HD or something?? I think I'll have to run the Bios setup, but therefore I need to acces the 3,5" disk... Damn Anyway, when I know how to change the disk type in the PROM, I can run the PC just fine. That it doesn't save my settings is not a big problem.