antiquekid3
Veteran Member
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 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