12 Dec
2004
12 Dec
'04
3:39 a.m.
Thanks Dave! I figured it out with your help. The PS won't work when
in the battery slot, but it will when it's a brick hooked up with the
second power cord, the one with the barrel connectors on each end.
However there is a bad connection inside the PS and this only works
with pressure on one side, even then it is sporadic so I have to test
continuity in the cord or take the ps apart and look for something
there.
Anyway, it boots, thank goodness, not to a prompt but until it finds a
hard drive error which means I have to configure it. F1 doesn't seem
to work so maybe the cmos is blank and it can't see the keyboard,
which isn't set out like a normal board.
It has the basic 640K plus about 1400K ram . The 100 meg drive is
unusual and I'm dying to see what's on it. The thing that astounds me
is that this laptop is probably nearly 16 years old and it is far
cleaner inside than anything I use day to day. It must have been in a
lab or never taken out of its case. The keyboard is shiny new and the
drive area is spotless, still with the colored stickers in place.
Pristine, really.
Thanks again and I will post an update once I get the PS problem worked out.
Writing to the roms seemed very interesting, I am curious as to how
much info they would be able to hold. Did they have the capacity of a
floppy? There is a modem inside which would be able to take care of
data tranfer as well as the ports on the back. Tandy used roms in some
of their models, didn't they? I mean to store applications. Acorn too,
I think.
All the best,
BM
On Sat, 11 Dec 2004 23:21:20 -0500, Dave Mabry <dmabry(a)mich.com> wrote:
That series of computers had a battery that fit into
the same space as
your power supply. Your power supply was made to substitute for the
battery, same contacts inside as the battery pack, but more convenient
for those who preferred to use AC power. You could, if you wanted, use
the power supply you have externally using a cable from it to the power
connector on the back. As I recall, it was a typical barel-type
connector and a straight through cable. In that configuration it would
charge the battery if you had that plugged in.
100 MB hard drive does sound large for that vintage, but it was probably
a standard 3.5" IDE drive inside and could be swapped with a larger one
than the factory supplied.
Not sure what you mean by "transformer outlet". Look on the side where
the hard drive is, right, near the back. Is there a 25 pin D-connector,
female? If so, that is for a floppy drive to connect up externally.
I doubt that the PS could fry by being plugged into AC without being in
the computer. But I can't say that I've ever tested that. You should
be able to power it up with a simple DC power supply connected to that
barel connector on the back. Isn't it labelled with voltage and current
requirements?
Brian Mahoney wrote:
Maybe that's what's up with mine, since I
am pretty sure it's lost the
CMOS settings. I took the cover off today, astonishingly clean and new
inside, but couldn't find the battery. The HD is 100 megs, which is
pretty unusual from what I've seen.
Couple more questions: There is the PS which takes a regular power
cable and pops out with the push of a button. There is another outlet,
much like a transformer outlet, which came with a cord. Was this for
the external floppy?
As far as the PS is concerned, I'm wondering if it got fried somehow
with being plugged into the outlet but not in the laptop. Strange
setup, really. You could hold the PS in your hand, plug it into the
wall and then into the laptop. Can't believe that in the field it
would be that easy to fry it, though.
All in all it's a damn fine laptop, and this one looks as if it has
never been used. It is spotless! Thanks for the info, crew. If anyone
can add anything, feel free.