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Help with a Compaq Deskpro 4/25is

T

Tr3vor

Experienced Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2012
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Jerome, ID
So I found a couple of Deskpros at a thrift store for $5 and bought both of them. One is a deskpro 4/25is and the other is a 4/33i. Since They were labeled for parts only, I bought both so I could possibly have a working computer out of the two. Both of them worked right away, which was sweet. I mainly wanted the 4/25is since the slowest desktop I have is a dx2 66mhz. However, it seems the 25mhx sx computer had been upgraded to a 66mhz DX cpu. :| I plan on replacing the cpu with a 25mhz SX and try to make it more like how it was, anyway, enough rambling.


One problem I've had is that I can't access the bios. I've read online that the button to access the bios is F10, which doesn't work, so must be because there is a small partition missing on the hard drive or something that contains the bios data. There is a small 512k partition on the front of the disk that spinrite had issues with, labeling a part of it as unrecovered or something, so I'm not sure if that's usable or not. So I guess I need to find a copy of a disk containing the bios on the internet somewhere, but I'm not sure whether its machine specific and I'm not sure what sites I can trust.

For some reason I'm also getting a "1790 - Disk 0 Error" on startup, which makes me think its expecting an MFM hard drive or something. The drive is a full height 3.5" IDE drive, so it just boots right into windows 95 anyway. This is another reason why I want to look at the BIOS.

Anyone got any ideas? thanks in advance. :)

DSCN2161.jpg
 
I found SOFTPAQ SP16085 from the compaq FTP site, and it appears that its only a diagnostic. When I try running the setup it says that SETUP.EXE is missing. I checked the disk in another computer and there was no setup.exe on it. I couldn't find any options on the program that writes the disk to include the setup program.

On top of that, I goofed around with the diagnostic part of the disk for a bit, and after that, the computer lost its CMOS settings and won't boot to the hard disk anymore. yay.

any ideas on why this is happening?
 
I put you in the wrong direction. I believe sp1363.exe is the file you're after for bios setup

From the readme:

Softpaq Solution: SP1363
Part Number: 196328-409
Title: Compaq Personal Computer Diagnostics/SETUP
Version: 10.06 Rev E

NOTE: If you are using Compaq Diagnostics on a Compaq ISA Platform, SP1364 is also required for configuring a platform with Compaq Diagnostics/SETUP.


CATEGORY: Diagnostics/Setup

EFFECTIVE DATE: 12 October 1995

PRODUCTS AFFECTED:
Desktops Portables
================================
Deskpro/M Family Concerto
Deskpro/i Family Contura Family
Deskpro XE Family Contura Aero Family
Deskpro XE Family/NIC Contura 400 Family
Deskpro XL Family LTE Lite Family
Presario Family LTE Elite
ProLinea Family Portable 486/486c
ProLinea CDS Family LTE 5000 Family

OPERATING SYSTEM: not applicable

SYSTEM CONFIGURATION: not applicable

SUPERSEDES: SP1245, SP1201, SP1150, SP1094

DESCRIPTION:
Compaq Personal Computer Diagnostics resides on two 1.44 MB floppy diskettes. One is the Diagnostics/SETUP diskette (this SoftPaq). The other is the Diagnostics/TEST diskette (SP1364).

The Diagnostics supports ALL currently shipping personal computer (non-server) products. It is installed on the Diagnostics Partition for those systems which support it and have hard drives. It is shipped as diskette(s) on all other products.

A Compaq Personal Computer Diagnostics/TEST diskette contains programs that can:
- TEST both Compaq EISA and ISA machines from the Desktop and Portable Divisions.
- INSPECT (display machine config) both Compaq EISA and ISA machines from the Desktop and Portable Divisions.

A Compaq SETUP diskette contains programs that can:
- Configure Compaq ISA machines.

Program Updates:
- Removed video controller RAM test on LTE 5000.

HOW TO USE:

1. Download the SoftPaq to a directory on your hard drive and change to that directory. The file downloaded to your hard drive is SP1363.EXE.

2. Obtain one (1) formatted 1.44MB diskette and place it in one of your diskette drives.

3. Execute the SoftPaq file to create the diskette: SP1363[ENTER]

4. After the diskette is created, you may delete the downloaded file SP1363.EXE if you wish.

Even pointed this file out to another member back in Augest http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/archive/index.php/t-43965.html and use it on two of my Compaqs. Sorry for the inconvenience.
 
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Sweet! That one worked. For some reason, I couldn't boot into the setup program with the hard drive plugged in, but whatever.

I still haven't figured out what's causing the disk error though. Although, now when it gets the error it gives me two options, press f1 to continue or press f10 to go to setup. That really confuses me since it never gave me that option in the first place. I wonder if running the setup program reloaded the disk's setup partition thing.

Anyway, thanks. :)
 
Glad to see it worked out. I generally don't bother with that small partition when setting up my Compaqs from scratch.

Does the error occur on a soft reset ie ctrl-alt-del at the dos prompt or restarting the machine from within windows?
 
I just noticed that it didn't give the error after a soft reset. Its a big full height Quantum 510mb drive, and I didn't notice any jumpers on the front of it. It also doesn't spin up until something tries to access it as far as I can tell.

Maybe its because it doesn't have any jumpers that its doing that, and maybe the bios doesn't like it doing that. I'll play around with it more tomorrow.
 
Tr3vor said:
For some reason I'm also getting a "1790 - Disk 0 Error" on startup,
Click to expand...
Compaq appear to be using the same POST error codes as the IBM 5170. The codes for the IBM 5170 are listed at [here].

Your Compaq is booting. If my IBM 5170 had the symptoms of 'booting okay but there is a 1790 error', I would immediately suspect the hard drive type number in the SETUP.
Why? Because during the 1790 check, the 5170's POST seeks to what it believes is the last track on the drive.
The POST determines that track (a cylinder/head combination) information by inspecting the hard drive type number set into the 5170's SETUP.
If that seek (to the 'extreme' track) fails, the 5170 generates the 1790 error, and then proceeds to boot. The boot works (it uses info in the partition table).
This has happened to me. I forgot to change the HDD type number in SETUP after swapping in a different drive (which had fewer cylinders/heads).

Your Compaq may be in the same situation.
 
Please post the drive model number. A lot of older IDE drives had their jumpers on the circuit board underneath. One thing you could try is change the drive type in the setup, save and shut down. Make a note of current setting beforehand though. Any time I've changed drives on my two 486 Compaqs on a hard restart the system was clever enough to detect a new drive and ask for you to save the new settings.

Nice score btw. I've always liked this Compaq form factor.
 
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The drive model number is a CP3541. It is ide, as its labeled on top, and its a type 61 drive, which is also labeled on top. When the computer gets the error, the drive hasn't even spun up yet, so I'm thinking its a jumper issue. The jumpers for all the slave/master stuff are on the underside of the PCB, on the opposite side of the IDE/Molex connections, just like my other Conners. There aren't any jumpers there. with my other conner drives, that would mean that its set to a slave drive. The CD-ROM is set to slave, so that shouldn't be right, otherwise it wouldn't boot. I'm guessing the pins are different on this big drive than my other half height drives.

There also appears to be other pins for jumpers on the other side, like a 3 pin one labeled "SS" and "DSP". Its set to SS.
This also seems to be an upgraded drive from compaq, since its also labeled with compaq stickers.

I also like the form factor for these computers, and they're sturdy too. Although I wished they put the bios setup in rom instead of trying to be like a PS/2 or something.
 
I found this website with the jumper settings for similar hard drives.
http://www.4drives.com/DRIVESPECS/CONNER/609.txt

I found that the master/slave jumper was not in a similar spot as my other Conners, but on that larger bank of pins that I had no idea what they were. Along with that, there is a jumper to disable spinup on power on. I'm gonna hook it back up and see if it makes the computer stop complaining.
 
Yeah this drive sounds pretty good for being as old as it is.

It appears that removing the jumper that prevented the drive from spinning up stopped the error message. So I think its running pretty well now. Now its time to deal with the software nightmare that awaits on win95. So much stuff trying to run on startup, so sloooooow...

Also, while putting the computer back together I broke the CD audio cable. Those things are so friggin cheesy and breakable. I hate them. oh well, soldering iron away!

Thanks for the help guys :)
 
Fantastic, well done. There's so many posts on the interweb with Compaq machines mentioning that error with no apparent solution. I'm sure this thread will help others in future.
 
Makes me wonder why someone would have those pins jumped in the first place, also I wonder why no one noticed the computer throwing error codes on screen. Whatever I guess.
 
Tr3vor said:
Yeah this drive sounds pretty good for being as old as it is.

It appears that removing the jumper that prevented the drive from spinning up stopped the error message. So I think its running pretty well now. Now its time to deal with the software nightmare that awaits on win95. So much stuff trying to run on startup, so sloooooow...

Also, while putting the computer back together I broke the CD audio cable. Those things are so friggin cheesy and breakable. I hate them. oh well, soldering iron away!

Thanks for the help guys :)
Click to expand...

How much RAM does it have? Windows 95 needs at least 16 to be usable
 
12mb lol.

When I ctrl+alt+del and kill the background programs (like MSN Messenger, ugh) it runs pretty decently. It even has a few windows games it runs pretty well. I have a pile of FPM laying around somewhere, so I'll probably load it up for the time being, until I decide its going back to a 25mhz SX cpu.

Edit: oh yeah, just wanted to say, this drive is pretty beefy looking. it has a bracket thing that's for mounting it, and between that and the drive are rubber shock absorbers. Makes me wonder if it was used in an industrial environment at some point in time, which wouldn't surprise me considering the carpet of dust that was inside it when I opened it up for the first time.
 
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