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Tandy 2500XL clock/drive problems

D

dja4055

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Joined
May 16, 2022
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Hi there, am trying to resuscitate some life into a Tandy 2500XL that's been sitting forever. It has 3.5" and 5.25" high density drives and a Samsung SHD-3062A 120mb hard drive. It also has a dialup modem and a 3Com Etherlink III LAN card. The Tandy constantly throws up "invalid system configuration" even after I input the correct parameters with the disk-based Setup-XL program. I set the date, time, floppy drive types and the CHS parameters of the hard drive. All settings except the CHS appear to survive the reboot as when I return to Setup-XL program the hard drive type is set back to None for some reason. The hard drive LED flickers momentarily before the error message. The problem I assume appears to be the CMOS battery which I assume is the Dallas DS1287A chip. How hard is it to replace these and where may one find the best place to purchase one that will specifically work with this Tandy?

Thanks,
DJ
 
dja4055 said:
Hi there, am trying to resuscitate some life into a Tandy 2500XL that's been sitting forever. It has 3.5" and 5.25" high density drives and a Samsung SHD-3062A 120mb hard drive. It also has a dialup modem and a 3Com Etherlink III LAN card. The Tandy constantly throws up "invalid system configuration" even after I input the correct parameters with the disk-based Setup-XL program. I set the date, time, floppy drive types and the CHS parameters of the hard drive. All settings except the CHS appear to survive the reboot as when I return to Setup-XL program the hard drive type is set back to None for some reason. The hard drive LED flickers momentarily before the error message. The problem I assume appears to be the CMOS battery which I assume is the Dallas DS1287A chip. How hard is it to replace these and where may one find the best place to purchase one that will specifically work with this Tandy?

Thanks,
DJ
Click to expand...

I'm in the same boat... I don't suppose you found any replacement for DS1287A?
 
There is a website somewhere detailing modifications to the existing Dalas device to disconnect the internal battery and connect an external one.

There are also replacement devices available with more internal memory.

I'll see if I can find the details for you tomorrow.

Dave
 
daver2 said:
That wasn't the website I was thinking of (https://www.classic-computers.org.nz/blog/2009-10-10-renovating-a-dallas-battery-chip.htm) but it actually links to the same one...

Have a look at the DS12887A+ at Digi-Key (part number DS12887A+-ND) at https://www.digikey.co.uk/en/products/detail/analog-devices-inc-maxim-integrated/DS12887A/956873.

This part has more internal RAM - but that normally doesn't matter. I am going to fit this into my VAXstation 4000/96.

Dave
Click to expand...

OK, ordered. I really hope this works, as I really like the 2500XL specs - 10MHz 286, 16-bit VGA, etc. Thanks!
 
daver2 said:
That wasn't the website I was thinking of (https://www.classic-computers.org.nz/blog/2009-10-10-renovating-a-dallas-battery-chip.htm) but it actually links to the same one...

Have a look at the DS12887A+ at Digi-Key (part number DS12887A+-ND) at https://www.digikey.co.uk/en/products/detail/analog-devices-inc-maxim-integrated/DS12887A/956873.

This part has more internal RAM - but that normally doesn't matter. I am going to fit this into my VAXstation 4000/96.

Dave
Click to expand...

UPDATE: I thought the DS12887A+ wasn't working at first, but I think it is. My 2500XL remembers the date/time, and all settings, BUT I keep getting invalid configuration - Please run SETUP message... I don't know how to get rid of it.

UPDATE 2: It is all good, had the memory configured incorrectly. Now onto a quieter fan and XT-IDE and CF card installation...
 
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