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Old 11th Jan 2016, 11:23 am   #1
brenellic2000
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Default 162 set-up error, Compaq Deskpro 66M 486PC

162 set-up error, Compaq Deskpro 66M 486PC

My main PC is a circa 1990 Compaq (DOS 6.2/W.3.1 - nearly all my programs are DOS and my CAD system needs full DOS 486/586PC - it won't work through Windows and is copy protected on this hard-disk - I can't now remember the transfer code!). She has always been as good a gold but the half-height A: 3-1/2" floppy is increasingly unreliable (I rarely use it, and for that matter the CD is dead - though these may simply be through accumulated dust and dead spiders).

Over the last year on booting I have very ocassionally, but now increasingly, been getting "162 - system options set up" error on start-up, cured by pressing F1 as instructed. Most days it boots up perfectly... but one day it will refuse!

In theory this is a CMOS issue, but time and date are spot on and the on-board "WinCheck-It Pro Diagnostics" software says the Checksum is good as is the CMOS battery (though I don't recall ever seeing a battery - might it a rechargeable... hidden away somewhere?). I haven't knowingly changed anything to affect the CMOS but while WinCheck-It stores CMOS data on the hard disc I can't save it as a 3-1/2" rescue disc as WinCheck-It doesn't, for whatever reason, allow me to make a bootable rescue disc although through DOS I can make a /S formatted (Command) reboot disc...

Years ago I did a full MS Diagnostics system print-out (can't now recall how!) but even that only records the most basic hard disc cylinder/heads/sectors but not the memory hex/organisation needed for full CMOS reset. WinCheckit however records:
Compac AT Compatible (standard Compac BIOS)
ID bytes: FC01
Bus: EISA PCI SCSI
Intel 80486DX
CPU: V8086 Mode A20 DM
CMOS system size 64:
(The hard disc cylinder settings differ between Microsoft Diagnostics and WinCheck-It!)

1: what is causing this '162' error?
2: when is it going to fail completely?
3: how do I record the full CMOS hex memory settings - or do I need to?
3: is there someone on the Kent/Sussex borders fully competent in old DOS machines? I've forgotten most of my knowledge so am reluctant to poke around inside and tamper with commands. My old computer engineer saviour long ago retired!

Barry
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Old 11th Jan 2016, 12:43 pm   #2
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Default Re: 162 set-up error, Compaq Deskpro 66M 486PC

Change the battery. If you're lucky this will be a CR2032 in a holder, but with a PC as ancient as this it might be a 3.6V NiCd soldered to the motherboard. The simplest way to replace the latter is to snip the wires or tags at each end and solder a pair of flying leads to them. Connect the other end to any 3.6V rechargeable, such as 3 AAA cells in a holder.

486s used early PATA drives so there shouldn't be any need to re-enter the HD parameters. There is mention of a SCSI bus in the diagnostics so it's possible the HD is SCSI, but again there will be no need to enter parameters.

It will probably soldier on like this indefinitely if you don't change the battery, though you may find you need to keep resetting the system clock.
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Old 11th Jan 2016, 2:27 pm   #3
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Default Re: 162 set-up error, Compaq Deskpro 66M 486PC

Thanks Paul,

It has a SCSI drive for the external Zip disc. What puzzles me from memory is there doesn't appear to be an obvious battery like a penny CR disc or an AA - would they hide it somewhere? Compaq were 'different'!

Barry
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Old 11th Jan 2016, 3:07 pm   #4
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Default Re: 162 set-up error, Compaq Deskpro 66M 486PC

It's also possible that the CMOS battery is contained within the RTC IC something like a Dallas DS1287. It looks like thicker 28pin IC. If the battery voltage is low the IC should be replaced or by carefully exposing the two battery supply pins an external battery can be connected.

Keith
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Old 11th Jan 2016, 3:15 pm   #5
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Default Re: 162 set-up error, Compaq Deskpro 66M 486PC

If the battery is a NiCd it will be a small component soldered to the mobo, looking a bit like an axial electrolytic. It contains 3 individual cells stacked together and enclosed in plastic, and will be about half an inch / 1cm long.
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Old 11th Jan 2016, 3:42 pm   #6
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Default Re: 162 set-up error, Compaq Deskpro 66M 486PC

I had a Compaq 66 in the last century and I'm sure I remember changing the battery which was next to the usual "Clear CMOS" link.

It only differed from other PC's of the era in having a "riser board",
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Old 11th Jan 2016, 4:17 pm   #7
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Default Re: 162 set-up error, Compaq Deskpro 66M 486PC

Hi Barry, is this yours:-

http://www.manualguru.com/hp/compaq-...roubleshooting

If you do not already have, suggest downloading.

Page 2-11 mentions your problem
Also B1 - advises battery life is approximately 3 years - you have done well!

With pc problems I check the simplest items first and would start by locating the cmos jumper, then remove and replace it 2 or times, just to clean its contact surface.

Good Luck - Mike
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Old 11th Jan 2016, 4:52 pm   #8
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Default Re: 162 set-up error, Compaq Deskpro 66M 486PC

Thanks Mike, I'll read it later.

I now have a major problem - the A drive is now dead and the screen boots up to only 256KB instead of 8192KB and then goes back to zero to try again.... and again:

1 - vacuum/blew out the dust taking usual precautions
2 - slid out A: 3-1/2" floppy dusted, reinserted, powered up.... the CD (D:?) whirrs and lights but nothing from the A: drive! Scrolls up to 256KB on the screen and starts again....

Help!

As you can see from the photo, no battery... unless its the black lower right corner hidden with the mains transformer?

Also A:drive has micro-pin connectors 2x13, 1-1/2" wide... I have no spare floppy drives.

Double help!
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Old 11th Jan 2016, 4:55 pm   #9
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Default Re: 162 set-up error, Compaq Deskpro 66M 486PC

Forgot to add:

Where and what is the CMOS Jumper/setting?
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Old 11th Jan 2016, 5:10 pm   #10
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Default Re: 162 set-up error, Compaq Deskpro 66M 486PC

It's a link on the motherboard which you pull out to disconnect the battery.
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Old 12th Jan 2016, 6:40 am   #11
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Default Re: 162 set-up error, Compaq Deskpro 66M 486PC

Quote:
Originally Posted by brenellic2000 View Post
162 set-up error, Compaq Deskpro 66M 486PC My main PC is a circa 1990 Compaq (DOS 6.2/W.3.1 - nearly all my programs are DOS and my CAD system needs full DOS 486/586PC - it won't work through Windows and is copy protected on this hard-disk - I can't now remember the transfer code!). She has always been as good a gold but the half-height A: 3-1/2" floppy is increasingly unreliable (I rarely use it, and for that matter the CD is dead - though these may simply be through accumulated dust and dead spiders).
It's been a while since I've worked with Compaq 486's - the last were Prolineas, which were a step down from the Deskpro. The CD must have been a later addition, as the guts of that system does look the era, very similar to the Deskpro 386/33L and 386/25s machines we had at E&Y.

Quote:
Originally Posted by brenellic2000 View Post
Bus: EISA PCI SCSI
No PCI I can see there, but the tools are probably confused by EISA!

Quote:
Originally Posted by mike_newcomb View Post
Hi Barry, is this yours
Unfortunately that manual is way too new - with the reference to the Armada those will be some the Pentium-based Deskpros which were quite different (and too more standard hardware).

Quote:
Originally Posted by brenellic2000 View Post
now have a major problem - the A drive is now dead and the screen boots up to only 256KB instead of 8192KB and then goes back to zero to try again.... and again:
Ok on to the problems.

CMOS - I suspect you have a Dallas module in there somewhere or, if you're lucky, a soldered NICD. This is way too early for jumpers to clear CMOS. Looking from the front of the machine, I think the CPU is on the second card from the left. It's not clear if the CMOS/RTC is on there as well - I can't see anything that looks like one. It could always be a black plastic "thing" with a plug heading to the board, but really hard to tell much more from the photo.

Memory - your memory is probably on the board at the extreme left. I'd take the card out and then reseat it - make sure you take good precautions for static - if you haven't got a mat on your workbench and a strap, this is the kind of PC I'd get them for

Floppy - non-standard, but it looks like there are options for interfacing to a normal floppy. See here for an example.
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Old 12th Jan 2016, 10:46 am   #12
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Default Re: 162 set-up error, Compaq Deskpro 66M 486PC

Thanks lads, especially Arjoll!

1: The manual is indeed far too modern but the troubleshooting logic remains sound

2: Managed to recover full boot - a half-wiggle of the ribbon cured that! My fault.

3: Definitely no battery - that 'black box' behind the PSU appears to drive the fan - and no sign of CMOS anywhere!

4: Managed to dig out a spare 3-1/2" Compaq floppy drive and all now works well with no 162 messages coming up (so far!) ... Could it be that a mechanically faulty 3-1/2" floppy drive can cause a CMOS error?

5: Thanks for the reference to 26-34 pin connectors. Does anyone know if these exist... or is able to make me one? But what specification do I look for to replace this old FDD - is it a standard EISA or some other standard?

Good old Compaq! Built to last!
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Old 12th Jan 2016, 12:59 pm   #13
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Default Re: 162 set-up error, Compaq Deskpro 66M 486PC

There must be a battery somewhere or the PC would never be able to remember the time, date and other settings.
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Old 12th Jan 2016, 1:03 pm   #14
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Default Re: 162 set-up error, Compaq Deskpro 66M 486PC

Something like this possibly?
http://www.vintagecomputer.net/compa...OS-battery.jpg
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Old 12th Jan 2016, 2:11 pm   #15
brenellic2000
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Default Re: 162 set-up error, Compaq Deskpro 66M 486PC

Nope! My old 286 had one of those AA battery jobs and my 586 Compaq and later jobs have the penny CR batteries, but there is no obvious battery or a whopping great Dallas battery chip!
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Old 12th Jan 2016, 3:24 pm   #16
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Default Re: 162 set-up error, Compaq Deskpro 66M 486PC

They were well built, I had a 486 Deskpro, scrapped from work but long since gone to PC Heaven. They did, however, have a tendency to use non standard hardware, so getting any replacements will be extremely difficult now. I struggled to get a standard PCI video card for another, not quite so ancient PC last year. The pace of change is accelerating exponentially now.
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Old 12th Jan 2016, 4:10 pm   #17
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Default Re: 162 set-up error, Compaq Deskpro 66M 486PC

These were professional machines, so expensive when new.

One solution to restoring floppy operation would be to find an old I/O card with a standard floppy interface. This would allow you to fit a standard drive and cable. There might be some jumpers to set which would be tricky without documentation, but a bigger problem will be actually finding one in somebody's junk box - I recycled most of my ISA card hoard several years ago.
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Old 12th Jan 2016, 9:08 pm   #18
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Default Re: 162 set-up error, Compaq Deskpro 66M 486PC

Quote:
Originally Posted by brenellic2000 View Post
3: Definitely no battery - that 'black box' behind the PSU appears to drive the fan - and no sign of CMOS anywhere!
There's got to be one there somewhere. Some more photos of the CPU(?) and memory cards would help.

Quote:
Originally Posted by brenellic2000 View Post
4: Managed to dig out a spare 3-1/2" Compaq floppy drive and all now works well with no 162 messages coming up (so far!) ... Could it be that a mechanically faulty 3-1/2" floppy drive can cause a CMOS error?
Really unlikely, I think it's more possible that it's still got "just enough" capacity to hold things for the length of time you've had it off while testing these things. Leave it for a day or so, and the issue may well come back.

Quote:
Originally Posted by brenellic2000 View Post
5: Thanks for the reference to 26-34 pin connectors. Does anyone know if these exist... or is able to make me one? But what specification do I look for to replace this old FDD - is it a standard EISA or some other standard?
Floppy drives aren't EISA, that's the bus If the info on the NZ classic computer forums is correct, the 26 pin connector is a standard Shugart interface but on a different connector. You'd need to make up a cable yourself to test - maybe a male 26 pin connector (element14 should have something) and modify a standard floppy cable.

Paul's suggestion of an ISA I/O card would work too, as long as you can disable the onboard floppy controller - may be easier said than done. In terms of getting the card, I know there's an e-waste guy selling lots of stuff of that era here on Trademe, so there are bound to be ones available more locally to you. Maybe keep an eye out for "box lots" of cards - if you see an ISA card with a ton of pin headers, it's probably a "Super" I/O card.
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Old 12th Jan 2016, 9:35 pm   #19
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Default Re: 162 set-up error, Compaq Deskpro 66M 486PC

These PC's had a big black battery external to the motherboard about 2.5x1x1 inches IIRC
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Old 12th Jan 2016, 11:23 pm   #20
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Arrow Re: 162 set-up error, Compaq Deskpro 66M 486PC

Many years ago when I was a Field Service Engineer, I used to see a lot of Compaq PCs of this vintage. From memory, I think the battery / clock module is located on the I/O board: that module is a rectangular plastic case. It might have been a Dallas RTC unit.
All a very long time ago now, of course, so my memory recall may be in error.

Al.
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