I knew that some boards do not post at all without a battery but i never knew that a computer can be unstable/crash because of it!

Never experienced it but i will try to remember this as you never know what the next hurdle is with this hobby 😎

So thanx for sharing!

Are you sure about that ?
I ask you because 2.1v seems to be good enough to hold data and avoid instability.

You have to set the Clear CMOS jumper to position "Clear CMOS" before your computer goes to storage. This way you avoid this problem. Confirm ?

Obviously now you're always POSTing your PC and sastisfied 😎 😎
Helping people troubleshooting, I often mention the battery.

Thanks for sharing that, James. One more thing to file in my mental rolodex when troubleshooting! Reminds me of the time I was troubleshooting my 486 refusing to power on *sometimes* when assembled, but powering on every time on the bench. After chasing phantom grounding issues, it turns out my IDE cable was just a hair too short doing master and slave duty and was pulling out slightly whenever I'd reach into the case to mess with it.

Frasco wrote:

Are you sure about that ?
I ask you because 2.1v seems to be good enough to hold data and avoid instability.

2.1v at the battery may or may not be good enough to hold the data - but the circuit leading to the CMOS is potentially going to drop the voltage slightly as it goes through diodes, etc.

Some systems will let you set values, save and boot just fine. Others will let you set values, save, and then throw a battery low error (and clear some extraneous values/reset others upon detecting a low battery) followed by "Press F1 to continue or del to enter...<etc>..."

Others will have that voltage drop, lose/corrupt values, and then proceed as usual like everything is just fine.

James-F wrote:

The Socket 7 MB is old enough to not give any warning about the battery voltage.

Just for the record, there are boards/BIOSes older than socket 7 that will also give warnings about low battery voltages. Sorry to hear that your board didn't give a message, though. Glad you got it working.

I must say that the PC was turned off for almost a year.

Also, I have noticed that some problems with saving configuration into the EEPROM on the Aztech sound card are gone.
The low battery really crapper the whole CPU+BUS communication... to think that such a small thing can have this effect.

Frasco wrote:

Are you sure about that ?
I ask you because 2.1v seems to be good enough to hold data and avoid instability.

On this particular system the CMOS was not erased when the battery was out (strange right?), but as I mentioned the whole BUS was misbehaving.

CkRtech wrote:

2.1v at the battery may or may not be good enough to hold the data - but the circuit leading to the CMOS is potentially going to drop the voltage slightly as it goes through diodes, etc.
Some systems will let you set values, save and boot just fine. Others will let you set values, save, and then throw a battery low error (and clear some extraneous values/reset others upon detecting a low battery) followed by "Press F1 to continue or del to enter...<etc>..."

Others will have that voltage drop, lose/corrupt values, and then proceed as usual like everything is just fine.

You heard!

You know, I always look at the avatars and I ask myself - Where is this from ?
Yours just goes straight in my ears and heart. I swear to god I can listen to the theme from Star Trek and
Out of This World brings me back to 1994. The end of this game is on my top five list. And I may say there is symbolism there.
Thanks for that. The power of this particular game in my memory is impressive. I still see the blue graphics and the scenario.

James-F wrote:

On this particular system the CMOS was not erased when the battery was out (strange right?), but as I mentioned the whole BUS was misbehaving.

Very ! Had it been on an ATX, I would say it can happen.
Just keep an eye on this system 😢

Im wondering if this is my problem!!

For the last week or so my Win98se computer would not turn on when I pressed the button..... I wondered if it was the power supply or the cmos battery but then I figured that was insane that a battery would cause that...... But then I started reading about on the net how others had exactly this happen and it WAS the battery!!!

Looks like mine is soldered in,im not sure.... It says 94 on it........ (I dunno if it means 1994 series or what)

The last couple days I have been keeping the power strip ON and thankfully she has turned on each time I press it. (Usually I keep the power strip off when Im not using the computer so there is NO voltage in the power supply (Trying to maximise its welfare I guess))

It may be my battery I dunno but if its soldered in like it looks like it is,might not be easy for me to get it off!!

I'd guess that's a pre-ATX system that won't boot without a battery? I've always been able to run with no battery, and as long as the power never goes out you don't notice a difference.

I've never understood why they can't use a rechargeable backup battery, which would probably actually cost less than those huge coin cells. A tiny NiMH battery should be able last for decades as a backup.

I dunno if mine is PRE-ATX or not..... I had trouble getting it on again today.... Pressed button and nothing like it was UNPLUGGED so i then turned the power strip off for a couple hours and watched a movie............ Then I tried again and the first time it came on for a split second and went off........ Then I kept trying,turning the power switch on and off and suddenly she came on.........

This is the most bizarre thing ever........... How would one know if they have a pre-ATX unit or not?

It wouldnt turn on again tonight so I finally got down and looked @ how to pop it out.... It was a CR2032 and I replaced it with a 2025..

It was stamped 94 so I assume this battery was put into the field in 1994? (If so it lasted a long time -- I think these batts are only reliable up to 10 years??)

Anyway I put the new battery in and pressed the button and she came right on!!!!

Thank you to James for this thread..... I was wondering if it was the battery when it started but then i dismissed that as being insane... And then I read this and other threads!!!!!

Insane a battery would cause this!!!!!

Maybe this is why I so often had problems with my older desktops not recognizing IDE drives under odd circumstances.

Sadly I may have to take mine to a repair shop...... Even with the new battery it is still doing it......... (Took me 5 mins of turning the power on/off to get her to finally come ob (She would come on for a sec and go off again))

Would alot of dust in the tower cause this?? (I see some on the boards)

This whole thing is just very sad for me............. I love my computer!!!

Dust is only a problem (except for overheating which is clearly not the problem here) if it's obstructing electrical contacts, for example those on RAM or expansion cards plugged into the board. If you recently installed/reinstalled anything, try reseating it after cleaning dust off (worked for me once). That's all I can offer. All computers accumulate dust, after all.

As for being a 'pre-ATX' system, a sure way to tell is your power switch. The ATX standard requires a 'soft' power switch that can be trapped by Windows, while classic computers would have a power switch that physically cut power just as unplugging would. That may also cause CMOS corruption without a battery installed, which is why it came to mind.

I took my computer to be fixed....... 2 caps were not good........ (Both on the same circuit)

For about 5 years my A drive didnt work and I didnt realise why..... My poor computer had been running with bad caps for years and then they got so bad they couldnt turn on the computer anymore........

Its nice having my A drive working again even though I have hardily anything for it..

Im very thankful and grateful!!!

James-F wrote:

I urge everyone with similar POSTing problems to check the battery FIRST and spare yourself some pain.

Yeah, I have an Intel VS440FX motherboard, it would not even start POST (would turn on for half a second, and then turn off again). Replacing the battery fixed it up.

Im glad everyone here got thier computers running well again 😀