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Compaq Deskpro 386/20

antiquekid3

antiquekid3

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 10, 2009
Messages
593
Location
Alabama
Hey guys,

I just found a Compaq Deskpro 386/20 today. It seems to be in REALLY good shape. Very little yellowing on the computer, and the monitor looks brand new. Anyways, it does power on, but after checking the 8MB of RAM, it prompts me with:

162-System Options Not Set-(Run Setup)
Insert DIAGNOSTIC diskette in Drive A:

(RESUME - "F1" KEY)

After pressing F1, it makes two beeps. After that, it tells me that there is either a non-system disk or a disk error. There aren't any disks in the machine except the HDD, which is a "Type 35."

Firstly, what is this diagnostic diskette, and do I need it? I don't have any boot disks with me, so I can't boot it up fully yet. Also, how can I tell the health of my hard drive? Lastly, since I don't see ANY 386/20s on eBay, can I assume that this is a more uncommon computer? After all, it was ~$9000 in 1986 dollars, which is about $17,000 in today's dollars. Pretty expensive!

The monitor is an orange monochrome Compaq. The computer has a Type 35 HDD, a combo 5.25"/3.5" floppy drive, and a tape drive. What kind of tapes would this use?

There was also a leaking Eternacell 7.2V lithium battery inside, velcroed to the metal right above the monitor power plug. It did corrode the metal quite a bit, but I think I can clean it up. It did drip onto the motherboard, but I don't think it did any major damage.

Thanks!

Kyle
 
I bought a replacement battery for my Deskpro here.

The tape drive reqires Irwin tapes (mine takes 40MB tapes, yours may be different), but you'd be much better off replacing the drive with a CD-ROM drive. The tape drive is only good for backing up files, whereas a CD-ROM drive will allow you to transfer massive amounts of files from your normal desktop to your Deskpro.

P.S.--The monitor color is called "amber".
 
So from what it sounds like, I will need to copy that .exe to a 720KB floppy disk? I couldn't use a 1.44MB 3.5" floppy, could I?

I'll definitely look into replacing that Irwin tape drive with a CD-ROM drive. With DOS 6.22, I will have plenty of compatibility with the CD drive, right? I'm sure I'll need a bit of help when the time comes.

And $20 for a battery? That's kind of expensive! Could I take (3) CR123As in series with a diode or two to prevent charging and drop the voltage to ~7V? The nominal voltage appears to be 7.2V, but what are the tolerances here?

Thanks!

Kyle
 
antiquekid3 said:
So from what it sounds like, I will need to copy that .exe to a 720KB floppy disk? I couldn't use a 1.44MB 3.5" floppy, could I?
Click to expand...

You can format 1.44MB floppies as 720KB, there's a commandline switch in DOS, or an option on the format window if you do it under Windows.
 
Okay, I'll wait until I get home this weekend to pick up some floppies.

What's the best way to get the rust off the metal? Steel wool? Chemicals?

Kyle
 
Yep, dead battery. Try the one that's relevant to the Portable III, because I believe Compaq used the same basic setup program for their computers of that time. Can't remember right now, but it is (or recently was) downloadable from that website. There are/were versions up there for both the 5 1/4 drive and the 3 1/2 drive, so just make sure you get the right one. The 3 1/2 was intended to work on a 720k disk, so yeah just format your HD disk as a DD disk and you should be fine. However, I believe the 386/20 came out in late 1987/early 1988, so if it's original even, the 3 1/2 drive should be an HD drive (same for the 5.25, but that's not uncommon).

As far as HD type, I can't find that table right off, but I believe the options on the 386/20 were a 40 MB IDE drive, a 100 MB IDE drive or a 110 MB ESDI hard drive. I have a portable 386 (same family) from 1990 with the 110 MB drive and it runs great to this day, without one single bad sector.

The monitor is amber monochrome. You should be able to emulate CGA graphics, but not sure about EGA. Compaq had an EGA card (it's a full length one) at the time of this system, so you might try that out and see what you get. I don't think Compaq could emulate Hercules, but again try it.

From outside appearances, if the system posts, tests the drives and gives you that error, that's actually a very good sign, because that error just means basically once you input the CMOS settings and get the drive type right, the darned thing should boot up, probably to DOS.

Last if you can, try to get Compaq DOS 3.31. It's the original OS the system would have shipped with and, well, it's sort of a legend unto itself.
 
Okat, I'll try one of those versions from the website. Hopefully I'll get this one working this weekend. It seems to have an ESDI drive since it's definitely not an IDE drive. However, it does appear to have an IDE port on one of the cards. I sure hope I can get an IDE drive installed. Either a CD-ROM drive or a hard disk would be fine with me.

I love the amber monochrome monitor. I have wanted one for a long time, and I finally got one! I do have an 8-bit VGA card, but I never have gotten it to work with color on my IBM 5160.

I can't wait to play around with this more! Thanks for the tips!

Kyle
 
The IDE port will be marked "Winchester." The Compaq VDU doesn't do EGA, but there was a VGA option available. You'll be hard-pressed to find the original VGA monitor, though.
 
antiquekid3 said:
What's the best way to get the rust off the metal? Steel wool? Chemicals?
Click to expand...

You have several options with rust. There's a product called Evaporust sold at some auto parts stores (I've seen it at Auto Zone) and at Harbor Freight. It does a nice job, and usually doesn't harm existing paint. If the surface isn't painted, plain old white vinegar can be effective at removing rust too.

I've used fine sandpaper too (steel wool would accomplish the same thing) but it tends to mark the surface up more than I like. Still, it's better than rust.
 
Yup, it's marked "Winch." I guess I still need my battery and a setup disk to get this thing to boot from IDE. And there wouldn't be any chance that this could even try to boot XP, would there?

Also, I opened up the battery pack and found two AA-sized batteries. If this thing puts out 7.2V nominally, with a diode that drops .7V, that would indicate those are 4V batteries. Do they even make such batteries? Could I make my own battery pack, and if so, what kind of batteries do I need? Could I stick a 9V battery in there with a diode or two and make it work?

Thanks!

Kyle
 
I assume the battery holds the contents of the BIOS in SRAM? Thus, would there be a voltage regulator, or simply a battery? I shorted a 9V for a bit to get it down to roughly 8V, which I think should be fine. It's just about within 10%.

To use the setup disk, should I have to boot into DOS first? And with the dual floppy drive (3.5" + 5.25"), does it matter which one has the boot disk in it?

I would love to locate a copy of Windows 3.1. I really would love to use an early version of Windows. However, I wouldn't know what to do for a mouse. I suppose a pointer device is required (though I can navigate XP pretty well without a mouse). Is eBay the best bet for an install package?

Thanks!

Kyle
 
antiquekid3 said:
I assume the battery holds the contents of the BIOS in SRAM? Thus, would there be a voltage regulator, or simply a battery?
Click to expand...
A battery.

antiquekid3 said:
To use the setup disk, should I have to boot into DOS first?
Click to expand...

SP0308.EXE suits many models. It creates a bootable disk. The below suggests the requirement for a 720K sized diskette. If you have only 1.44M available, you can create a crude 720K by taping over the density hole on a 1.44M.

SOFTPAQ NUMBER: SP0308.ZIP
PART NUMBER: N/A
FILE NAME: SP0308.EXE
TITLE: SETUP/DIAGNOSTICS Version 8.00 DP256 720K (3.5 Inch Diskette)
VERSION: 8.00

LANGUAGE: English

CATEGORY: Diagnostics-Setup

DIVISION: Portables, Desktops

PRODUCTS AFFECTED: COMPAQ Portable, COMPAQ DESKPRO, COMPAQ DESKPRO 286,
COMPAQ PORTABLE 286, COMPAQ PORTABLE II, COMPAQ PORTABLE III,
COMPAQ PORTABLE 386, COMPAQ DESKPRO 386, COMPAQ DESKPRO 386/20,
COMPAQ DESKPRO 386/25, COMPAQ SLT/286, COMPAQ LTE, COMPAQ LTE/286,
COMPAQ DESKPRO 286e, COMPAQ DESKPRO 286n

antiquekid3 said:
I would love to locate a copy of Windows 3.1. I really would love to use an early version of Windows. However, I wouldn't know what to do for a mouse. I suppose a pointer device is required (though I can navigate XP pretty well without a mouse). Is eBay the best bet for an install package?
Click to expand...
I suggest a two-button mouse (no scroll wheel) that is compatible with the Microsoft Mouse. When you then install Windows 3.1, and it gets to the stage where it asks you to select the mouse type, you would select "Microsoft or IBM PS/2 Mouse".

There's a suitable Microsoft mouse at eBay item 360284655085 (if your machine has a serial port).
 
Hey guys,

I still haven't had any luck. I made the diagnostic diskette using the SP0308.EXE program on my other PC, and after writing the files, it claimed that the diskette didn't match the master copy. Hrm. I stuck the diskette in the machine anyways and turned it on, without any luck. In fact, I have yet to see the green light for the 3.5" drive turn on. As I mentioned before, the floppy drive is a combo unit. The green light for the 5.25" drive turns on and I can tell it's working.

What should I do? The only spare 3.5" drive I have has the mini-Molex connector, so I can't easily hook it up.

Kyle
 
The computer defaults to a single floppy drive (5¼", I think). You're going to have to either download the 360k version of the setup program and switch the floppy drive between your current computer and the Deskpro to write a 5¼" DD floppy, or you'll have to power the 3½" floppy drive from your current computer while sending the data cable to your Deskpro and see if the Deskpro detects the drive properly.

Alternatively, you can buy an adapter on eBay. They're pretty cheap, but you'll have to wait for it to come from Hong Kong.
 
antiquekid3 said:
Hey guys,

I still haven't had any luck. I made the diagnostic diskette using the SP0308.EXE program on my other PC, and after writing the files, it claimed that the diskette didn't match the master copy. Hrm. I stuck the diskette in the machine anyways and turned it on, without any luck. In fact, I have yet to see the green light for the 3.5" drive turn on. As I mentioned before, the floppy drive is a combo unit. The green light for the 5.25" drive turns on and I can tell it's working.

What should I do? The only spare 3.5" drive I have has the mini-Molex connector, so I can't easily hook it up.

Kyle
Click to expand...
What's the make/model of the drive (Chinon, Canon, Epson, or???) Some of them had a jumper to swap the drive assignments, so that you might be able to boot from the 3.5 with a DD disk.

Chuck?
 
MikeS said:
What's the make/model of the drive (Chinon, Canon, Epson, or???) Some of them had a jumper to swap the drive assignments, so that you might be able to boot from the 3.5 with a DD disk.
Click to expand...
Also, if your cable has both twisted and non-twisted connectors you could move the drive to the other connector; that should swap the drives.
 
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