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| Author |
Message |
omni
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The Short Question Item
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Sep 18 15:56 UTC 1998 |
I have a problem. I have a PS/2 386 and last nite I thought I was going
to go do some more writing. However, when I flipped it on, it went through
the memory check then it displayed "162" and "163" then sat there without
doing anything further. It also emitted 2 long beeps. What could be the
problem? A battery? Did both hard drives fail, or is there a bigger problem?
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| 100 responses total. |
mwg
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response 1 of 100:
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Sep 18 17:08 UTC 1998 |
Those two errors together generally mean that the battery is failing. If
it is a model 55, you may be out of luck getting a replacement, most of
the rest can be replaced, but the cost of the batteries was around $18
when these things were much more common.
If you don't want to deal with batteries, you can use the reference disk
to start the unit up (it will boot in that condition, but ONLY to the
reference disk) run the setup, and warm-boot. Make several copies of the
disk if you plan to do this. You will stil need the reference disk if you
replace the battery, to re-configure the CMOS.
If you don't have a reference disk, I can probably create a few if given
the model number of the unit in question.
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n8nxf
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response 2 of 100:
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Sep 18 18:50 UTC 1998 |
(Don't spend the $18 on batteries! Make up your own pack with however many
1.5v AA cells it takes and solder it in.)
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omni
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response 3 of 100:
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Sep 19 06:33 UTC 1998 |
Ok, I can do that.
Mike, I can use a reference disk, and I'll e-mail you with the model number.
In fact, I think it is a Model 55.
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wlevak
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response 4 of 100:
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Sep 20 07:16 UTC 1998 |
162 is a configuration error.
163 is a date & time error.
Two beeps and ablank screen is a display adapter error(possibly misconfigured)
Most of the reference disk are available on-line at service5.boulder.ibm.com
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mwg
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response 5 of 100:
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Sep 21 03:52 UTC 1998 |
I'm not sure that PS/2 units use a multiple of 1.5 volts, and if it is a
model 55, the battery is a special motherboard component that needs to be
replaced, and even I don't know how to do that. I do have some contacts
that might be able to help, but I'll need to know for certain. When you
get the model number, I'll be able to make much more specific comments.
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n8nxf
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response 6 of 100:
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Sep 21 09:54 UTC 1998 |
Diodes drop .7 volts. Use diodes to get close to the desired voltage.
Also, 3v is usually close enough if there was a 3.6v battery, etc. I
just solder wires to the mother board if there is one of those on-board
battery holders. It may, however, be a better bet for you just to get
the right battery and still have a working computer.
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merlin17
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response 7 of 100:
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Sep 22 01:30 UTC 1998 |
Ok, you can pick up a 4 AA battery pack for a computer from Radio Shack for
3 buck that will replace the battery in your model 55. I've done this before
so i know it should work. .
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omni
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response 8 of 100:
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Sep 22 05:38 UTC 1998 |
Ok, cool. I can do this. The question now is when.
Any clue as to where the terminal is located?
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n8nxf
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response 9 of 100:
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Sep 22 10:47 UTC 1998 |
Perhaps you'd better get an OEM battery.
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merlin17
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response 10 of 100:
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Sep 22 15:03 UTC 1998 |
OK, the battery should be velcrowed to the side of the power supply. Follow
the wires to the motherboard. Where the join the motherboard is the terminal.
Just give it a light tug and the plastic clip will come off the terminal pins.
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mwg
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response 11 of 100:
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Sep 22 21:08 UTC 1998 |
PS/2 units don't use the same battery logic as many AT-compatible systems.
For models other than the 55, the battery fits into a clip. On desktop
units this is often at the left front of the case. On tower units the
clip is integrated to the speaker mount.
I strongly advise not messing about with a PS/2 battery system unless you
can afford to lose the system.
A model number would help a lot. On desktop units, the model and serial
numbers can generally be found on the front, under the power switch, under
a recessed ledge. Also on the back or bottom, on a bar-coded label. On
towers, there is a little window under the power switch ledge, or the
bar-coded label on the back again. Model numbers look like 8555-021 or
8560-031.
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omni
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response 12 of 100:
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Sep 26 08:49 UTC 1998 |
The computer is a Model 80.
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mwg
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response 13 of 100:
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Sep 28 17:13 UTC 1998 |
Your battery is at the front of the case at the bottom after you remove
the side. You can remove the battery and see if any specialty stores
(computer or battery) have it. In the past I've been able to get theese
from Radio Shack, but as they are turning from technical supply to
consumer electronics they become less useful for this sort of thing. If
you cannot find one at all, drop me a line, I can try a few people I know
in the business.
Once you have the battery replaced, you will need a reference disk to
start the unit. Let me know if you need one, I can copy one of my archive
set and drop it in the mail.
The big screws on the side can be loosened with a quarter, if the lock is
on for some reason and you don't have the key, pull out at the back middle
of the panel, this will bow the door and the lock will pop, you can then
remove the tab if you have to.
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omni
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response 14 of 100:
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Sep 29 07:00 UTC 1998 |
I need a reference disk. Look for my address in e-mail.
Is it possible to replace the batter with AA's? I have a AA holder with
a pc battery terminal on it. I'll look at it in a few days.
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omni
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response 15 of 100:
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Sep 29 07:08 UTC 1998 |
New problem.
I'm about to take the CD-Rom plunge, meaning I have found a CD drive
within my price range. Could someone here outline how difficult it is to
install it, and configure it for Windows? It will be 32X, and it is made by
Atlas Peripherals. Anybody heard of them?
This will be for my 486, and it will be internal.
Thanks for any advice.
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wolfg676
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response 16 of 100:
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Sep 29 09:03 UTC 1998 |
I assume you've installed a 5-1/4" drive before? It's just as easy. If you've
got a dual IDE controller, the easiest thing to do is to put your CD-ROM as
your secondary master device. Otherwise, you'll need to slave it to your HDD.
Check the manual for the CD-ROM as to how to set the jumpers (or look at the
back of the drive, it's *usually* marked there.)
What version of windows are you running? If your're running 3.1, you'll need
to edit your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files to load the drivers for the
CD-ROM. Hopefully the CD-ROM you bought comes with a driver disk that has some
kind of install program that will do this for you. If not you'll need to add
theses lines yourself:
CONFIG.SYS:
Device=CDROMDRV.SYS /D:CD-ROM01
AUTOEXEC.BAT:
MSCDEX.EXE /D:CD-ROM01
You'll need to substitue the name of the driver that came with your drive for
"CDROMDRV.SYS". MSCDEX.EXE might also need a "path" e.g.: C:\DOS\MSCDEX.EXE,
or C:\WINDOWS\MSCDEX.EXE.
Under '95, you just need to add the "Device=" line to your CONFIG.SYS file.
'95 handles CD-ROMs without MSCDEX.EXE. If you want to run the CD-ROM in DOS
mode, however, add the "MSCDEX.EXE" to your DOSSTART.BAT file in the
C:\WINDOWS directory.
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scott
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response 17 of 100:
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Sep 29 10:58 UTC 1998 |
Would there be an issue with BIOS support? This is an older PC omni is
talking about.
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omni
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response 18 of 100:
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Sep 29 14:03 UTC 1998 |
I am talking about my 486. It is fairly new. I would think the BIOS would
be a non-issue.
re 16- OK, Cool. I can do this. I will make sure the drive comes with
the appropriate drivers and all that.
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mwg
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response 19 of 100:
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Sep 29 15:38 UTC 1998 |
If its' an IDE and the computer has Windows 95, it will be recognized when
the system reboots. Drivers are only needed for the DOS mode. The
computer BIOS does not need to be aware of the drive in any case, it can
be, but W95 or the DOS drivers will handle it either way. Other operating
systems (Linux and the like) would need to be told the drive was there.
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omni
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response 20 of 100:
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Sep 30 05:04 UTC 1998 |
I'm using Windows 3.1. I would like to find a cheap (free) Win 95 CD,
if possible, but since I have heard so many bad things about Win95, I'm just
not sure that I want to use it.
I only have 8 Megs of memory. Will Win95 even run in this kind of
environment?
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wolfg676
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response 21 of 100:
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Sep 30 05:54 UTC 1998 |
Well, kinda. It'd be reeeeeealy slow. Windows '95/98 needs 128+MB of RAM to
run really well (and even then it still uses HDD space for swap memory).
J/k :) Seriously, you'll want at least 16MB to run '95 without too much
trouble.
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mwg
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response 22 of 100:
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Sep 30 17:17 UTC 1998 |
You can run one application, if not graphic intensive, in 8MB with
tolerable performance. If your funds are limited and the computer can
handle it, you'll get a bigger boost out of more memory than a faster
CPU. The speed of the disk and the interface to it limit the value of
swapping on fast CPUs, so avoiding swapping as much as possible gets more
effective performance out of slower units.
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omni
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response 23 of 100:
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Sep 30 18:20 UTC 1998 |
Thanks. Exactly what I wanted to know. I will stay with Windows 3.1
which is doing what I want it to.
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scg
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response 24 of 100:
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Oct 1 03:35 UTC 1998 |
I run Win95 on my notebook, which is a low end 486 with 8M of memory. It
works fine as a terminal, which is mostly what I use it for. It gets really
slow if I try to run big programs on it. I would stick Linux on it instead,
except that it's the only Win95 box I have at the moment, and that's useful
occasionally.
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