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Att 6300

cobracon

Experienced Member
Joined
Mar 15, 2012
Messages
176
Location
Michigan
Well I've had an AT&T 6300 main unit sitting around for a few years now. So I finally decided to test it out. I went on ebay and bought a monochrome monitor to test the output. Since I have no keyboard I figured it would at least let me see if it posted. So I got my monitor today and hooked it up. All I got was a cursor in the top left corner after the beep. No drive search or anything. So I did some reading and noticed the battery is an issue. To my horror the battery has leaked. I've only checked the bottom part of the board so far but it looks like the traces are intact. Here is a few pics: http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/album.php?albumid=148 sorry they are blurry but the lighting was poor and all I have is an old I-phone for pics.

What should I use to clean this mess up with? I am really bummed. Is there any hope for the unit?

Robert
 
Since that's a NiCd rechargeable, use some white vinegar and water to clean up the glarf. Fortunately, you'll note that the battery is inverted and any really serious leakage will drip down to the bottom.

How the heck did you get a monochrome monitor going with this thing? I assume that the monitor isn't the one made for the 6300. Are you using a separate video card rather than the integral adapter?

If you've got the keyboard attached, the LED in the "Caps Lock" key will blink rapidly while the system goes through its POST.

FWIW, the battery isn't important--it only powers the clock when the system is off--there's no CMOS NVRAM as there is in the PC AT.
 
I got the monitor off ebay for 39.99 shipped. Its a att monitor 1313h. The guy has more on there now. So will the computer give me any video without the keyboard? I don't have one yet and the ebay prices are scary.
 
You should get video without the keyboard.

You could have wired up a cable for a VGA display and used that instead--the 6300 outputs VGA-compatible scan frequencies. I've posted at least a couple of times here about how to do it.
 
Since I started digging out my old PC's I found everyone of them that have these types of batteries are in bad shape. I have two ATT 6300's that I have yet to inspect. Not happy to know now that they also used the NiCads.
 
Well after a good cleaning with white vinegar and water, she is up and running once again. Now I just need to find a keyboard at non ebay prices.

att6300.jpg
 
Since I started digging out my old PC's I found everyone of them that have these types of batteries are in bad shape. I have two ATT 6300's that I have yet to inspect. Not happy to know now that they also used the NiCads.

I replaced mine with a lithium coin cell in series with a schottky diode (1N5817, probably overkill, but they're cheap). Works fine--the clock IC is good to about 2.2V.
 
Well after a good cleaning with white vinegar and water, she is up and running once again. Now I just need to find a keyboard at non ebay prices.

I thought about doing a PS/2 to AT&T converter, but I don't think there's enough of a demand for such a thing.

If you want to use a VGA display for color, the cable diagram is is here. It provides 8 colors, but with a little modification, it should be possible to do all 16.

Has anyone ever seen the Z8001 card for the 6300?

Apparently, a few people in Europe have them
 
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