This is a detailed story, and I need your help…
I have a Compaq Deskpro 286e purchased in 1989. The box is in mint condition and has been dedicated to communication with a Honeywell W7505 Building Management System of same vintage using communication software written by Honeywell (ZM7505 v3.01). I have a Cardinal 2450 modem installed, and have been receiving status and history data from the control site. I noticed the time and date were incorrect – tried to reset using the SETUP program on the Compaq User Diagnostic disk, which resulted in the inability to save any setup configuration, rendering the box useless.... This is a critical application, and I thought I would now have to consider upgrading the entire Building Management system at significant cost…
I searched for a replacement CMOS battery, and purchased a Dallas DS12887+ chip. From what I have read, this is a direct replacement for the original Dallas DS1287 chip which was installed. I installed the chip, entered the SETUP application once again, made the appropriate date and time entries, and rebooted to find a message indicating “missing operating system”. Using the MS Startup disk, I confirmed the content on the 40GB HD appeared to still be in tact. I ran FDISK, and the HD looked fine. I updated the OS (DOS 3.31) and Master Boot Record (MBR), and still no fix. In an effort to avoid reformatting the HD, I finally tried an old version of Norton Desktop v 1.0 to attempt an “emergency fix”, and I was now able to boot from the HD. Thought all was well!
I launched the Honeywell ZM7505 application, attempted my connection and successfully connected with the Building Control, however, I lost communications to the Control after a short period. I tried repeatedly to connect, with the same result. In one instance I also received a quirky security code mismatch message (a security code is sent and matched against the code in the Control prior to exchange of data).
I reinstalled the communication software and retried with the same result. This is now about 10-hours later… I ran the “TEST” program from the User Diagnostic disk, which indicated “1 Modem(s) – 2400 baud COM2 at IRQ?”. This obviously raised a question – IRQ should be “3”. I continued to test system hardware with this same diagnostic tool. All was fine until the modem test. The loopback test failed indicating an “Interrupt circuit failure”. This is when I had to stop… Don’t know where to go so I came here…
Can anyone help? Could it be a Y2K issue? Could I have a bug in my OS and require a reformat and new install? Is the new DS12887+ chip incompatible (I noticed Interrupt capabilities on the datasheet that might be problematic)? Could the modem have failed? Did a circuit on the Motherboard fail? Would appreciate any assistance or recommendations anyone could provide.
I have a Compaq Deskpro 286e purchased in 1989. The box is in mint condition and has been dedicated to communication with a Honeywell W7505 Building Management System of same vintage using communication software written by Honeywell (ZM7505 v3.01). I have a Cardinal 2450 modem installed, and have been receiving status and history data from the control site. I noticed the time and date were incorrect – tried to reset using the SETUP program on the Compaq User Diagnostic disk, which resulted in the inability to save any setup configuration, rendering the box useless.... This is a critical application, and I thought I would now have to consider upgrading the entire Building Management system at significant cost…
I searched for a replacement CMOS battery, and purchased a Dallas DS12887+ chip. From what I have read, this is a direct replacement for the original Dallas DS1287 chip which was installed. I installed the chip, entered the SETUP application once again, made the appropriate date and time entries, and rebooted to find a message indicating “missing operating system”. Using the MS Startup disk, I confirmed the content on the 40GB HD appeared to still be in tact. I ran FDISK, and the HD looked fine. I updated the OS (DOS 3.31) and Master Boot Record (MBR), and still no fix. In an effort to avoid reformatting the HD, I finally tried an old version of Norton Desktop v 1.0 to attempt an “emergency fix”, and I was now able to boot from the HD. Thought all was well!
I launched the Honeywell ZM7505 application, attempted my connection and successfully connected with the Building Control, however, I lost communications to the Control after a short period. I tried repeatedly to connect, with the same result. In one instance I also received a quirky security code mismatch message (a security code is sent and matched against the code in the Control prior to exchange of data).
I reinstalled the communication software and retried with the same result. This is now about 10-hours later… I ran the “TEST” program from the User Diagnostic disk, which indicated “1 Modem(s) – 2400 baud COM2 at IRQ?”. This obviously raised a question – IRQ should be “3”. I continued to test system hardware with this same diagnostic tool. All was fine until the modem test. The loopback test failed indicating an “Interrupt circuit failure”. This is when I had to stop… Don’t know where to go so I came here…
Can anyone help? Could it be a Y2K issue? Could I have a bug in my OS and require a reformat and new install? Is the new DS12887+ chip incompatible (I noticed Interrupt capabilities on the datasheet that might be problematic)? Could the modem have failed? Did a circuit on the Motherboard fail? Would appreciate any assistance or recommendations anyone could provide.