NEC Powermate 286 refuses to boot from floppy

[lcdrugo]

Hello Friends,

I'm at my wits end here and I could really use some guidance. I just recently bought a NEC Powermate 286 from Ebay and I can't seem to get it to boot from any kind of media. Here is the background:

• BIOS chips say V 3.10.02
• The machine came with a 1.44 Mb 3.5" drive. I tested it in another machine and it works fine. I also plugged in a 1.2 Mb 5.25" drive that I had lying around and it also works fine in other machines. But neither drive can boot or read a disk in the Powermate. When I attempt to do so, the drive lights and spins for 5-6 seconds before stopping or it stays lit and spins forever.
• The disks I am using were made from images found on VOGONS, archive.org, and WinWorld.com. I use either WinImage or M. Brutman's DskImage to write the media (depending on whether I'm writing to 3.5 or 5.25 media). All of the disks are bootable and readable on my 386, (even though it complains that there are system hardware differences and that I should run SETUP). None of them boot up my Powermate. I have been exclusively using disk images that are labeled either NEC OEM or "For Powermate".
• I've also tried booting from a CF card in a XT-CF adapter. I am using a 128 Mb card using BIOS HD number 45 for the drive geometry. I get the card ready in my 386 by booting the machine with the NEC HW Setup disk and using it to create a "Large NEC Partition" and then copying the system files to it. Once finished, the CF card boots my 386 just fine. However, when I put it in my Powermate it gets as far as "Booting C >> C" and then halts with a "Missing Operating System" error.
• If it matters, I should point out that the battery is dead. I've tried doing this process with the dead battery both plugged into the motherboard and unplugged. The battery isn't manufactured any more, of course, but I may have found a suitable replacement and I'm waiting for it to arrive in the mail.

By now I'm pretty much beaten and I wonder if I've just made a colossal waste of time, effort, and money. It's a real shame too since I was looking forward to using a 286. The machine was released in August, 1989 which was the exact month I left for college. So this is my fantasy nostalgia machine from my college years. Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
LCDRUgo

 

[modem7]

Hello Friends,

Welcome to these forums.

If it matters, I should point out that the battery is dead.

It does matter. A lot of people think, "The CMOS battery is there to retain CMOS settings when the computer is powered off, and so lack of a battery only means that the settings won't be retained when I power off the computer." But on these forums, we have encountered a dead/missing CMOS battery causing additional issues, some strange. The symptom depends on the make-model of computer (and possibly BIOS revision).

In regards to the PowerMate 286 not booting from diskette/floppy, I think you should wait for the replacement battery to arrive, then retest the ability to boot from diskette/floppy.

I've also tried booting from a CF card in a XT-CF adapter. I am using a 128 Mb card using BIOS HD number 45 for the drive geometry. I get the card ready in my 386 by booting the machine with the NEC HW Setup disk and using it to create a "Large NEC Partition" and then copying the system files to it. Once finished, the CF card boots my 386 just fine. However, when I put it in my Powermate it gets as far as "Booting C >> C" and then halts with a "Missing Operating System" error.

Which one of the many XT-CF cards shown at [here]? That information may be relevant later.

The XTIDE Universal BIOS (a.k.a. XUB) in the ROM of XT-CF/XT-IDE cards does not use the hard drive information in 'CMOS SETUP'. The hard drive information in 'CMOS SETUP' is used by the motherboard BIOS when you have the motherboard BIOS controlling an MFM/IDE controller. Your motherboard BIOS does not even know how to communicate with an XT-CF/XT-IDE card, because the XT-CF/XT-IDE card is 'non-standard'. In regard to AT-class machines, the diagram at [here] gives you an idea of what is going on.

Once finished, the CF card boots my 386 just fine. However, when I put it in my Powermate it gets as far as "Booting C >> C" and then halts with a "Missing Operating System" error.

Please confirm: You have a particular {XT-CF card + 128MB CF} combination booting in your 386. You move that same combination to the PowerMate 286, and that boots to "Missing Operating System".

 

[lcdrugo]

Modem7, thanks very much for your responses.

Regarding the battery, I suspect you're right and I do plan to re-test once it arrives.

The XT-CF card adapter I'm using is the Blue Lava Systems XT-CF rev 1.2. I've tested it in my 386 and it works fine. However, I'm currently using a no-name CF IDE adapter in my 386. So to answer your question, the CF card boots in a CF IDE adapter in the 386 and then refuses to boot in the XT-CF in the Powermate. You're probably right about the motherboard not knowing how to communicate with the XT-CF. However, I do have another option. The Powermate came with a Seagate IDE controller card diagram here that I removed. I'll just have to purchase another XT-IDE adapter and I should be good to go.

Oh by the way. That Powermate link you posted is not the same model I have. My motherboard looks like this and the case front looks like this

Thanks again.

 

[modem7]

Oh by the way. That Powermate link you posted is not the same model I have.

Okay. I removed the link.

The XT-CF card adapter I'm using is the Blue Lava Systems XT-CF rev 1.2. I've tested it in my 386 and it works fine. However, I'm currently using a no-name CF IDE adapter in my 386. So to answer your question, the CF card boots in a CF IDE adapter in the 386 and then refuses to boot in the XT-CF in the Powermate.

At one point donkey's years ago, one could not always move an IDE drive from one AT-class computer to another and expect that to work. It was because the motherboard BIOS' were using different CHS-to-LBA translation algorithms. CF (an IDE device) is 'in the same boat'.

People sometimes see "Missing operating system" as a result of simply upgrading an early XUB version to a later one - the CHS-to-LBA translation changed - described at [here].

You are best to do partitioning and high-level formatting of the CF when the CF is in the XT-CF card and that XT-CF card is in the PowerMate 286.

 

[modem7]

Although, try:
1. In the 386, get the {XT-CF card + 128MB CF} combination booting, by partitioning and high-level formating the CF when the CF is in the XT-CF card
2. Move the {XT-CF card + 128MB CF} combination to the PowerMate 286.

 

[jafir]

There is an archive of the necam ftp on archive dot org that has various powermate setup disks.

https://archive.org/details/ftp.necam.com_one_zip

I’ve archived some of my own a while back, but they are for the original powermate.

 

[lcdrugo]

There is an archive of the necam ftp on archive dot org that has various powermate setup disks.

Thank you. Yes, I've looked through that archive. It contains the correct setup program for my model but I still need to boot into DOS somehow in order to run it. I'm going to try modem7's suggestion today and see if it works.

 

[lcdrugo]

Welp, I think I'm done. The Powermate setup disk refuses to recognize the XT-CF when they're both in the 386. And along the way my 5.25" drive ate a disk. I think that's a sign that I should put this aside for a while.

 

[seaken]

Hi @lcdrugo , I saw your message on the other thread and followed @modem7's link to here.

I don't know if I will be any help or not. On my NEC Powermate 286 Plus I was able to boot from the floppy and that eventually allowed me to run the setup program and set up a CF XTIDE "hard drive".

Here is a link to my notes I keep on my blog as I play with these old machines. Maybe there is something in there that triggers an idea.

NEC Powermate 286 Plus

NEC Powermate 286 Plus 03/15/22 I think I got this computer from the landfill but I’m not sure. I may have got it with the surplus pieces ...

seansoldcomputers.blogspot.com

It's long winded and it's not meant to be a tutorial. It's mostly a memory aid for me to keep track of what I did and when.

Here's a short review of what I did:

Used a diskette cleaner and some IPA to clean the heads on the 1.44Mb floppy that came with the system. This drive failed to read a DOS 3.3 720k diskette but it did read a DR-DOS 1.44Mb diskette. It also read a DOS 5.0 diskette.

I used this 1.44Mb 3.5" drive to format a 1.44 diskette in DOS 5.0 and then I walked this diskette over to my Windows 10 computer and copied the NEC Setup and Gsetup files using my USB floppy drive. Then I took that diskette back to the NEC 286 and ran the NEC Setup program. I was also able to use the Gsetup program.

Prior to using the setup program to disable the hard drive there was a very long wait at boot up until the floppy disk finally booted. Once I disabled the hard drive (not installed) the delay went away and the computer immediately booted from floppy.

I connected a second 3.5" 1.44Mb drive as drive B: and I was able to read and write and format diskettes. This gave me a dual floppy system, with no hard drive.

Eventually I found success with an XT-IDE CF as the hard drive solution. I was never able to get a real spinning hard drive to work.

I hope this helps. Sometimes these old systems are just weird. You need to be persistent and keep trying different things. I would start by using various 3.5" 1.44Mb drives. And make sure they are set to the correct drive number. Then try different cables, etc. Clean the heads. Try different diskettes etc.

Welcome to the VCF forums.

Seaken

 

[lcdrugo]

Helpful advice.

Thanks for getting back to me. My replacement battery arrived today so I took the opportunity to give it another try using some of the techniques you suggested, (changing drives, changing cables, etc.) Nothing worked. Then I had an idea - what if the on-board floppy controller is at fault? That would explain why nothing is working. I happened to have a Goldstar IDE controller card handy that included a floppy connector. So I plugged that into one of the ISA slots and used the jumpers on the motherboard to enable it and disable the on-board floppy controller. To my surprise - it worked! Sort of. I got a "Diskette Read Failure". But at least the drive attempted to read the disk. That's farther than I've ever gotten before. I feel like I'm close . . . .

 

[lcdrugo]

Bad News!

I've done some research here which seems to indicate the problem might be due to a defective chipset. If that's true then I think I'm just going to shelve this project and call it a loss. That's more work troubleshooting and fixing than I'm prepared to do.