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Problems after replacing CMOS battery DS12887 in Compaq Deskpro 286e

Unknown_K:

Could you please advise best DOS command to provide this data to you (i.e. HD Space and Number of Drive Letters).

Also - I don't seem to have any specific disk for the Modem - It came with an application called "Bitcom" which does allow you to change COM ports if using that application. The communications software for the Bldg Mgt System only allows designnation for COM1 or COM2. It has been set for COM2 and worked fine.

Booch
 
Unknown_K and MikeS:

I did a simple "DIR" and Bytes Free are 12576768.

I ran SETUP, changed drive Type to "43 - 528MB", and sved changes.

I rebooted and received the message
"Non-System Disk or Disk Error
Replace and strike any key when ready"

When I boot from a floppy, I can change directories to C: and see the contents of the drive. Once again, after running SETUP, the HD is not recognized... What do I need to do?

Please advise...

Booch
 
I was asking how many drives c: d: e: etc are there. 528MB is quite a bit. No idea if that HD was original to the system or if somebody installed it later on and used some special software to set it up. Seems to me you need to backup the files and do a new OS install.
 
Unknown_K:

The original HD was a 40MB drive. It failed and I replaced it in 1996 with the current drive - a used drive given to me. My recollection was that it was also a 40MB drive, however, I was incorrect after looking at the label today. I expect when I installed it I selected the Type 42, however, I can't remember...

Is there any way I can get the system to recognize the drive without rplacing the OS?
 
Also - how do I confirm drive letters in DOS - I can;t seem to remember how to list them...
 
Let's figure out what geometry your hard disk thinks it is. Unzip and run the attached program from a bootable floppy (capture its output by redirecting to a file on the floppy; e.g. partit >x) and then post the output here.
 

Attachments

  • PARTIT.ZIP
    5.2 KB · Views: 1
Hi ChuckG:

Thank you for your response.

Unfortunately I have no means of getting this file to a 5.25 floppy...

Is there any other DOS command that can provide similar disk structure?
 
Unfortunately, no standard DOS program provides that level of information. However, try displaying the partition information for the drive using FDISK--we might be able to deduce something there.

One thing that I wonder is if you might have used some sort of dynamic drive overlay when you installed the disk. Since it won't hurt anything, try setting the CMOS drive type to "1" and see if it boots. Probably not, but without diagnostic software on your system, getting the information we need is going to be difficult--but not impossible.
 
D A L A - 3 5 4 0 5 4 1 / 5 2 8 M B IBM
Native| Translation
------+-----+-----+-----
Form 3.5"/SLIMLINE Cylinders | 1049| 1024|
Capacity form/unform 541/ MB Heads | 16| 16|
Seek time / track 12.5/ 4.0 ms Sector/track | 63| 63|
Controller IDE / ATA2 FAST/ENHA Precompensation
Cache/Buffer 96 KB SEGMENTED Landing Zone
Data transfer rate 4.000 MB/S int Bytes/Sector 512
11.100 MB/S ext PIO3
Recording method RLL operating | non-operating
-------------+--------------
Supply voltage 5/12 V Temperature *C 5 55 | -40
Power: sleep 0.8 W Humidity % 65 90 | 5 95
standby 0.8 W Altitude km -0.300 3.000| -0.300 12.000
idle 2.6 W Shock g 10 | 75
seek 5.2 W Rotation RPM 4500
read/write 4.5 W Acoustic dBA
spin-up W ECC Bit ON THE FLY
MTBF h 350000
Warranty Month
Lift/Lock/Park YES Certificates CSA,EEC,FCC,IEC380,IEC435,...
 
ChuckG: I will run FDISK and report results.

Unknown_K: I'm confused by your last post - Could you explain?
 
I just tried to run FDISK by booting from MS-DOS disc-1 and received a "Non-System Disk Disk Error"... I can start the system with the MS_Start-Up Disk, but not the OS disk...

Help...
 
OK...

Just ran Faststart Compaq Utility

View of HD is as follows:
Unit Size: 503.0 MB
Primary DOS PArtition: 40.6MB
Extended DOS PArtition" 0.0 MB
Drive: C
Unit: 1
MB: 40.6
Percent: 8.1%
Active

System Configuration:
Diskette Drive: 1.2M 5.25 inch
Fixed Disk: 503.0 MB Type 42
 
I think the first thing to do is to get DOS booted from a floppy. Is it possible (i.e. do you have the cable and drive) to attach a 1.44MB floppy? This will at leat allow you to run some programs to diagnose what's wrong.

Absent that, you need to figure out some way to write 5.25" media.
 
ChuckG:

I don't currently have the ability to connect an external floppy drive. I just ran the OS from floppies yesterday... WHy do you believe I can't today? Is it related at all to teh SETUPO change made? Is it coincidental that the disk was damaged?
 
Booch,

I think that the system clobbering your OS disks because of a changed battery is remote. Disks do go bad, however.

Teo, I think that the drive may have been replaced without changing any BIOS parameters. In other words, it's quite possible that it was left at whatever the original drive was. Thanks for the info, however.

Without the ability to boot an OS, we're kind of stuck with the diagnostics floppy. About all I can suggest at this point is to work your way through the hard drive types one by one and see if anything boots up and salutes. There are what, 47 of them? Not that bad.
 
Thanks to you both.

If I can reformat the HD, What are the partition size limits for a drive this size in DOS 3.31?
 
Depends on which CMOS setting works for the drive. I think you can use the whole drive with the compaq version of dos 3.31.
 
Yes, the 12887 is intended to be a direct replacement for the 1287.

It would sure be nice if you could back up that hard disk, but I suppose you don't have the means to do that? Would you be able to recreate it from original disks if you had to replace it?

You've got the modem in front of you and I hate to doubt you, but are you sure there are no jumpers or switches? On an MB2400 I'd kind of expect three jumpers down near the edge connector, or, less likely, a small switch block that doesn't really look like a switch at a fast glance.

Worst case I'd think that you could replace the whole computer with something like a 16MHz 386 which would allow use of a more modern HD and shouldn't be too hard to find; unfortunately I think your motherboard is not a standard configuration so you'd have to replace the case as well which of course adds substantial shipping costs. Also, isn't your monitor nonstandard as well (12V DIN plug instead of 110VAC)? And of course you'd still have the issue of transferring/backing up the S/W.

If you can't get anywhere with the modem I could probably send you another one to try.

It'd certainly be a shame if you had to replace the Honeywell end as well just because of a simple problem with that Deskpro.
 
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