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Help With My IBM 5160 XT

johnnydicamillo

Experienced Member
Joined
May 15, 2011
Messages
88
Location
California
For some reason I was not raptured however I think I CMOS Battery in my IBM 5160 XT was. When I turn it on, it counts all 640k of ram and the it checks the floppy drive and then it makes 2 long beeps then says "ERROR" "Resume = F1", I am not familiar with these old vintage machines since I am a 14 yr old of the new generation where everything is a no brainer with computers. So I was thinking that it might a have a dead CMOS battery considering the computers is like 20 plus years old and the life span of the CMOS battery is usually 5 - 10 years. If this is the case then would I have to find or buy a new CMOS battery? Also how would I go about installing it on the motherboard because I believe it was soldered on the main system board. Would I just have to unsolder the old one and solder the new one? Or could I make something like a external CMOS battery that would work? Or is the CMOS battery on this computer not even on the main system board?, because I remember hearing that some computers had it installed somewhere else not necessarily on the main system board. Any Help would be great.

Thank You.



*P.S. I do not have my keyboard yet so I can not continue any further than this right now.
 
I don't know the IBM XT error beeps from memory but they are published on the web in various places (Google will find them).

The IBM XT does not contain CMOS information. This feature came in with the IBM AT, which came a little later. The machine could optionally contain a calendar/clock on a plug-in card but even if it did (and the battery was flat) I don't think you'll get an error message with it.

From what you've written I think the most likely reason from the error is that your keyboard is incorrect, faulty or maybe even missing if your P.S. says what I think it does.

Tez
 
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I think Tez is on the right track.

On a 5160, if you don't have a keyboard connected, you will see:
1. A "301" error at the top of the screen, then
2. The RAM count happen, then
3. Two short beeps followed by 'ERROR. (RESUME = F1 KEY)' being displayed.

If you're seeing that "301", then a lack of keyboard (a PC/XT type keyboard) is probably the only problem.
 
I forget, does the 5160 have a fuse for the keyboard like the AT machines?

If so, it may be a fuse issue (especially since it appears that everything was working, but now is not).

Also, if you are using a keyboard with an XT/AT switch make sure that it is still set to XT mode.
 
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No, the OP didn't say that. From reading the OP's post, I get the impression that the 5160 is a recently acquired machine and that a suitable keyboard has yet to be acquired.

Ahh, right. I see that now not sure how I missed the PS part ;D . Yeah they needs an XT keyboard to get it to boot.
 
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