30 Dec
2005
30 Dec
'05
12:31 a.m.
On Thu, 29 Dec 2005 15:18:32 -0800
"Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com> wrote:
On 12/29/2005 at 5:58 PM Scott Stevens wrote:
Some of us are just more stubborn and cheap (and whatnot else)
than others. I like solutions that I know I will be able to use
for the next 25 years. I don't know how long Dallas will
continue to make the DS1285. And I have encountered motherboards
where the CMOS module is SOLDERED ON THE MOTHERBOARD (*yikes*).
The method for installing a battery on a Sun NVRAM
module is well
established and can be searched. I've done that one on numerous
occasions. I think the Dallas chips are laid out entirely
differently. Probably someone should dissect one with a dremel
tool and write a howto somewhere. It is a worthwhile project.
The upper module is almost certainly sealed seperate from the
chip itself, if it's like the Sun-type modules, there are
contacts somewhere you can dremel in to and solder on an external
battery lead.
I can see where digging into the clock chip for a Sun might be worthwhile
as replacements are hard to come by, but the DS1287 used in the Compaq (and
a lot of PCs) is relatively inexpensive and readily available. It's robably
not worth the trouble digging into the EDIP to find where to hook the
battery up.
If an external battery is desired, you could just take
a DS1285, which is
essentially the 1287 without the battery and hook a coin cell between pin
20 and ground.
That makes sense. Ideally the original module belongs 'tied with
string in a cloth bag within the housing' as was discussed here
awhile back, to preserve the authenticity of the original system.