Chaintech 416SX/420SX/425SX/433SC/450SC
https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/chaint … 5sx-433sc-450sc

Cool 92 board. Looks like I was wrong thinking 72pin simms were introduced in 1993, this board already has provision for sockets while being pre VLB. I think VLB happened in middle of 92, and this board is from March/April.

I have two boards with this battery. They aren’t leaking too badly.

I store them upside down, just because I haven’t gotten to them yet.

Anyway, one day I would like to solve this issue in a very nice way.

I think there are add on boards that allow you to use a coin cell. These seem like the way to go. 🤔

Perhaps someone has a better idea?

Long story short, following.

There was a nice thread about this a few months back, anyone have that link? I don’t remember the correct search terms to find it.

Desolder/cut the battery ASAP. If you fail to do this corrosion will slowly eat the traces out.
Soak the affected area in vinegar, when it stops bubbling rinse with water and let it dry.
Check if any traced were damaged and try to run the system.

That can be a good start - see attachement.

(but sorry I don't remind where I've donwloaded this doc)

Thanks for the replies! Well I removed the old barrel battery and cleaned the little corrosion spots.
Started the system and got into the bios but no drives are detected. It has 4 drives.
I hope that‘s because the battery is missing. I ordered a new one, external. Oh and there was also some memory error.

Without knowing how much background you already have with these machines...

4 drives seems like a lot unless you're counting floppy drives. Perhaps this was a server. Are they IDE or SCSI? And of course you know they won't be autodetected on its own, unless this AMI BIOS is new enough to have an "auto detect hard disk" menu and you've tried it?

There can be a memory error if the amount of memory stored in the CMOS RAM doesn't match the amount of memory detected, which would be harmless.

There‘s a 3,5“, 5,25“, HDD and CD drive. I only tried the system to see if the board is working. Waiting for the battery now

On this board you actually have to set up HDDs and FDDs manually in the bios. For HDD it is best to I put CHS data manually even if autodetecton is available. A: and B: FDDs should be set to its correct type as connected to the ribbon cable. There is no setup for CD in bios, it should be configured in autoexec.bat and config.sys using proper drivers like udvd2 and mscdex. Memory will not be detected correctly as there is no battery installed.

Ok, the external cmos battery arrived today and works well. I entered the correct numbers for the quantum fireball HDD but it says HDD controller failure. Both floppy drives are configured but it won‘t boot from a dos 6.22 bootdisk.

That’s the error message

Please post photos of hdd's label and values you entered in bios. What about jumper settings? Does bios support hdd autodetecton? Did you try another hdd controller?

There are no values on the label other than the model: Quantum Fireball 1080AT.
I found the correct values on some website though, and tested the HDD in another PC. It boots nicely into Win95.
Seems I need another controller card.

Well, seems you did not answer my questions. How are the drive jumpers set? Is hdd autodetecton available in bios? Which end of ribbon cable is it connected to? I instst on posting photos.

No autodetection in the bios, jumpersettings are ok.
I can‘t send photos since I‘m at work right now, only have a photo of what the screen shows when I try to boot from a dos floppy.
Maybe I should try another slot for the i/o card. I had to use a lot of pressure to get it back in, same for the sound- and videocard.
The slots are not corroded only very tight.

This just keeps scrolling

Cleaning contasts on both card and slot will not hurt. You may also like to clean pin headers on hdd and fdd controllers.

think a resource problem might cause that error?

board looks pretty clean doesn't seem like any battery damage.

I usually just stick the card in a bunch of times and wipe it off to clean it. Be careful about poking stuff in the slot. You can do it. just don't strain, over extend, or bend anything. and look in there to make sure you didn't leave anything.

Tried different slots, carefully cleaned them but they were clean already.
The system posts normally. I disconnected drives a, b and d. IDE cable is ok and connected the right way 🙂.
When powering on you can hear the hdd making the usual noises.
After the HDD controller failue message, when you hit F1 the screen inverts and starts blinking.

What if the BIOS is too old and the HDD too large? After all, it‘s a 1080MB drive. But then again, the system came with this drive.

Can you source a xt-ide?

Do you have the ability to flash roms?

Any spare roms? A isa network card?