Tom's Guide | Tom's Hardware | Tom's Games
 |
 |
 |
I have a computer with a soldered-in coin CMOS battery that is now dead. The problem is the computer wont let me get past the POST screen without changing the battery. Error is "Cmos battery low, press F1 to enter setup"
Are there any programs available that run as a TSR and the BIOS can load my hardware values to it instead of CMOS? This type of program would most likely have to run before the computer gets to the POST screen.
I need to retrive the data off this computer but I dont have any idea how to desolder and resolder a new battery back on (also have no soldering gun)
Thanks!
Soldered in battery??? Are you sure? How old/what brand of computer do you have?
I have worked on computers going back to the old XPs, 286s, 386s and 486s and never had a soldered in battery. The battery is a small, silver flat about the size of a quarter. You just pop it out (it is clipped in) with a small screwdriver, and but a new one at any hardware store.
0 
Well i have to disagree with ranchhand, i once fixed a 486 machine which had a problem and had to clear the cmos and it was soldered in and had no battery what so ever. Just thought i'd mention that but sorry this does not solve the original problem.
0
He's running a dual ME/XP system, so it can't be that old.
If it really is a soldered in battery and you can see the connections and you are desperate, there is an alternative that you could try. Hook up 2 dry cell batteries in series and connect them to the leads.There is nothing that can run before the POST.
0
Some motherboards that had soldered on batteries had a connector for an external battery. Check you MoBo manual to see it that is the case.
0
Well, golly be, I learn something new every day. I honestly never saw a soldered in battery before, and it sounds like a pretty stupid idea on the part of the manufacturer!
0
I would recommend you seek professional help in changing the battery.
The reason for this, is you advise you have no experience in soldering. If you do something wrong, you could ruin your pc and we do not want that.
Good luck - keep us posted.
0
As a last resort, you could cut ONE of the leads to the battery with a wire cutter very close to the battery. You should then be able to boot the system into CMOS Setup and configure the system as normal and save the CMOS settings. Use the Set Default Settings option, then set time date and disk drive information/size and save. This should allow you to reboot and use the system as long as you don't power it off.
If this works, look at your system board documentation for jumpers to connect a battery to. Or use the cut off wires to jumper a battery to where the old battery was. These do not last too long. You can buy replacement rechargeable battery and have it replaced.
My recommendation, is buy a new system board and upgrade to a newer system, it might cost less in the long run. When these rechargeable battery go bad, they often leak and cause other damage on the system board. If you are only interested in getting your data off of the disk drive, you could remove it, change its jumper to the Slave position and plug it into another system and copy the files off of it.
0
This statement is incorrect
"The problem is the computer wont let me get past the POST screen without changing the battery. Error is "Cmos battery low, press F1 to enter setup"
If you hit f1, go into the bios and hit f10 [if ami] it will save the setting [since it is getting power from the powersupply not cmos battery] and you will be able operate as normal until you shutdown.
This means you don't have to fool with the battery until you have backedup/saved your data!!!
Gee Ranchhand you must not be very old :-)
8088's to early Pentiums mainboards had soldered in batteries. They all had pins to connect additional battery packs [4 AA battery packs] to if the internal battery dies. Trick is finding the mainboard documentation since they didn't silk screen the settings on the mainboard in those days.
0
just to reiterate; your cmos only needs the battery, when you have shutdown [no power], to preserve its settings. As long as you are up and running the cmos is supplied with power by the power supply.
So go into the bios, make sure the settings [like hd and cpu] are correct, save the settings and then you will operate as normal until you either shutdown or reboot. It is a break in power, with no cmos battery to maintain the cmos entries, that clears the cmos back to defaults.
0
I had an e-Machine and the battery went dead, and it said "Hit F1 to enter setup or F2 to load default settings." All I had to do to boot the machine was to hit F2. :)
0
Hey Wanderer.... Thanks! People don't often tell me I'm not so old anymore-sounds good! ;0)
0  |
 |
 |
This post is quite old and has been locked from receiving new replies. Please create a new posting instead.
| Ads by Google |
