🚀 go-pugleaf

Tony Hill <hilla@uoguelph.ca> wrote in message news:<1734iv4ab0s29uma1bpl5mr01mlnp7a97k@4ax.com>...
> On 24 Jul 2003 23:28:40 -0700, weft2@rogers.com (flan) wrote:
> >Hi, I have an old (currently well used by a relative) Olivetti m300-10
> >(bumped up to a 486, I think) which has suddenly started hanging at
> >Fixed Disk startup.  When you turn the pc on, it beeps 4 times, then
> >hangs at Fixed Disk,then quickly flashes Disk Controller Failure 1782.
> 
> Sounds like the CMOS battery has gone.  CMOS batteries usually only
> last for about 5 years, after that they no longer keep power to the
> CMOS and it forgets all the settings.
> 
> Most computer stores should have replacement batteries, it's just a
> question of which type of battery you need.  Open up the case and look
> for either a small, flat silver battery (sort of like a watch battery
> only bigger), or alternatively a set of 3 pins for an external battery
> (hopefully it will have something like "Ext bat" silk-screened on the
> motherboard).
> 
> FWIW you should be able to find the hard disk settings written right
> on the hard disk itself.  Otherwise the disk manufacturer may have
> them listed on their website, or a google search might turn up the
> settings.

Thanks for all the feedback from everybody. I did open the machine,
and on the HD metal brace is printed: 36 40mb- but this is scratched
out with pen, and in place is written: 40 116.  It's a Maxtor HD
7120AT/HDA 22A/PCBA 66A/Unique 30A/Z,D,B. I hooked the pc up with the
cover still off & powered it up, and tried reentering the HDU settings
using the info on the HD metal brace. It made no difference. Though,
there's no option in the 2nd HDU requester to put in a blank or "none
installed"; the only option is to put in the 2 numbers. And as far as
I can see there clearly is NO 2nd HD in the pc. The pc still makes the
initial 4 beeps with the cover off AND WITH the battery disconnected,
and it definitely sounds like the beeps are still coming from the HD.

Re: the battery I disconnected, all I could see (no watch type
batteries) on the pc (and that's the areas not covered by the power
supply, and the drives, which I assume isn't MB area) was the battery
I disconnected: a ~3" x 2" square battery that says: Computer clock
battery 844/Rayovac 4.5 volts." It was attached to the MB just behind
the HD with a small 4 pin black connector. The battery has the usual
red & white wires coming out (+ extra wire spliced by the techie, I
assume, to make up the distance), and I tested it and it's reading 3.3
v.  Well below the 4.5 v, but is that enough to be considered dead/the
possible cause of the problems, if it is even the battery?

Thanks again for any more help offered. I'm not a techie, so I'm
proceeding kind of slowly here (new territory for me) and appreciate
your patience. I'm really just trying to fix this pc for a relative so
he can gather his text files (a ton of them) and possibly get him
hooked up to it again, as he's attached to this particular pc.