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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : Help with repair
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palcal Guru  Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1993 |
A friend asked me if I could look at his jukebox. It is a home made job with a Dell motherboard and the Jukebox program pinned to the start menu. It would not boot, it came up with a screen saying the BIOS settings were not right and to hit F1 to continue which would start the program or F2 to enter Setup. On entering setup the Time/Date was not set, I fitted a new CMOS battery and reset the time and date, but if I turn off the power and switch back on it is still the same and the Time/Date has reverted to its default. Any suggestions. Paul. edit. I have checked the battery 3.3v and couldn't see any jumper to do a reset and there is no provision in Setup to do a reset. "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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bigmik Guru Joined: 20/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2950 |
Paul, Some suggestions, Remove the battery and any external power for a couple of minutes to totally reset the CMOS.. If that doesn’t work, is there an external battery pack supplying power? I would assume you would see it but it may be `off board’ hidden in the guts of the Juke box. What model is the M/B ? Maybe a cheap replacement can be found,... For that matter surely the `magic’ is in the application so any cheap m/b (ITX factor comes to mind) would suffice.. It is possible the CMOS chip is faulty... At work we have aging equipment that is starting to be finally replaced.. (25years old plus. Still runs the Melbourne cup) 386 based... Many of the devices had the DS chips with built in batteries... these are dying at a rapid rate of knots (Probably came across about 10 in the last year with only maybe 5 or 6 in the 24 preceding years) and have now become land fill.. My suggestion is toss the m/b and replace with a cheap equivalent.. Regards, Mick Mick's uMite Stuff can be found >>> HERE (Kindly hosted by Dontronics) <<< |
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| palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1993 |
It is a Dell E210882, so 10-15 years old, running Win XP. I left the battery out overnight and no other power sources. Paul. "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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| isochronic Guru Joined: 21/01/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 689 |
Worth a squiz for Dell mobos- reset cmos + nvram etc |
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TassyJim Guru Joined: 07/08/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 6283 |
If all else fails, do a eBay search for "Dell desktop pc" and choose one of the refurbished ones. There are plenty of ex gov and big company ones at a good price. Jim VK7JH MMedit |
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| palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1993 |
@ Chronic Found that site and tried all those but leaving the CMOS battery out overnight should have done a reset anyway. @TassyJim Looked on EBay for a motherboard and found one in one of my favouite places in Oz, Tasmania. Been there 5 times. It is in Newtown, Hobart. So if I all else fails I will buy it. Paul. "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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Azure Guru Joined: 09/11/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 446 |
If it is not booting up after you exit the bios settings then the Hard Disk may be corrupted (in one of several ways) or faulty. It would be worth checking the disk on another machine if possible (to see if it works for a start even if you can't boot from it) before you put to much effort into replacing the MB. The option to reset settings to defaults is quite often in the exit menu options. |
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Gizmo Admin Group  Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5119 |
Was there any sign of green corrosion when you swapped the battery? Also, check for a hairline crack on the battery solder pads, maybe with a multimeter. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1993 |
The HDD is OK, it does boot after exiting setup, but if I turn it off it won't even start unless I remove the CMOS battery, wait, then replace it. It then starts but brings up the BIOS settings configuration problem again so I can either hit F1 to start the program or F2 to enter setup. The HDD is also obviously OK because I was able to access the Music File and download it onto a portable HDD, all 22,000 songs. Paul. "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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MicroBlocks Guru Joined: 12/05/2012 Location: ThailandPosts: 2209 |
The problem is that the BIOS resets all the time as it does not remember its previous settings. No reason to find how to reset it. One solution until a replacement is found is to never switch of the computer and teach the user how to set the BIOS values. It is just a minute work and maybe they don't mind. You might want to check the traces from the battery, some batteries leak after many years and can dissolve copper traces. Maybe desolder the holder to check it. There should be an RTC chip on the board that could be replaced. A service manual would be a great help. You can request Dell for a copy or look for it on their website. Microblocks. Build with logic. |
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| palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1993 |
Thanks Micrblocks and Gizmo, The battery holder was clean, no sign of corrosion and I did give the contacts a clean. Will check with a meter to see if the 3v is getting to the board. Not worth doing too much work on it as I have found a replacement on EBay for $20. It will also be an old board, I will just have to hope it lasts a while. Paul. "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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| palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1993 |
The board arrived, minus the CPU and RAM so I swapped them from the old board. Fired it up and it is exactly the same as the old one. There must be something I am doing wrong when I enter the BIOS time and date because if I switch off and on again the time and date are not set. There is no provision to save changes, just ESC to exit and it goes into boot mode, it boots and works but if I power down, the next time I start up it wont go and I have to remove and replace the CMOS battery to get it started then go to BIOS setup and reset the time and date again. I'm ready to give up. Paul. "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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| Azure Guru Joined: 09/11/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 446 |
What is the model of the computer and motherboard? |
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| MicroBlocks Guru Joined: 12/05/2012 Location: ThailandPosts: 2209 |
Probably the same defect. Older boards of the same type often get the same defects. Microblocks. Build with logic. |
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| palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1993 |
There is no computer as such, it is the motherboard E210882 from a Dell computer. "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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| Azure Guru Joined: 09/11/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 446 |
I think that is the UL number not the Dell motherboard number. Are there any other part numbers (starting with AA- or an FCC ID number)? Or maybe a motherboard description when the BIOS starts up? |
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| palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1993 |
@ Azure There is an AA number it is AA C92755-303. I still find it odd that after changing settings in the BIOS there is no SAVE and EXIT all I can do after setting the time and date is hit ESC to exit. Paul. "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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| Azure Guru Joined: 09/11/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 446 |
I think this is the manual for the machine this MB goes in. On page 73 are the BIOS settings. I would reset the BIOS settings to default (in maintenance) in case there is something strange in there which you cannot change. This can happen when the battery has gone flat and the CMOS gets random info on power up (before you replaced the battery with a good one). Then set the time/date and any other system settings you need to change and see how that goes. |
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| palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1993 |
@ Azure, Thanks for the manual but it was really no help. I now get the box saying SAVE and EXIT but nothing gets saved. I have checked the battery 3.27v. Now when I go into the drives the Primary Drive is there showing it's capacity but if I exit the BIOS the machine wont start saying there is no bootable drive. I then go back into BIOS and the drive is not showing. I remove and replace the battery and the drive is back but then the same thing happens. This happens with the original MB and the one I got from EBAY. Paul. edit...I don't have the computer all I have is the MB in this Jukebox with the Hard drive and monitor connected, a lead to the sound card and a connection in a USB connector to the front panel to select songs. It is very old and hardware wise very badly put together. "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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GoodToGo! Senior Member  Joined: 23/04/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 188 |
Silly question, is the battery installed the right way around? I’ve seen coin batteries installed upside down in old computers.... ...... Don't worry mate, it'll be GoodToGo! |
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