First post, by JustARetroGamer
Hi everyone. This is my first post here, but I've been hiding in the shadows for some time, not having anything to add really. Until today!
Right, so I've bought two laptops, a Dell Latitude CPi-A and (a few weeks later) a Toshiba Satellite 4030CDT, whose hinges I stupidly broke while disassembling it to, you guessed it, remove the two death stars inside it. It now serves as a (not very good) CD player. The Dell is thankfully still intact, although its hinges are starting to go wobbly after 20 years as well... I'll see if I could design new ones for both laptops.
ANYWAY, I'm now left with two laptops that don't hold their BIOS settings after unplugging them, which is rather annoying. My question is: could I use CR2032s, but somehow not let them charge? I figure there's probably a way, but my experience with electronics (other than the occasional recap job) is non-existent. Ideally I'd get rechargeable coin cells, but I'm not sure they're even made anymore. Also the difference in chemistry would present be a problem.
Hey, here's another problem: how would I couple multiple cells to get an appropriate voltage? The Dell had a 7.2v batt in it, but I figure I could go a bit higher than that. Still, using 3 CR2032s is a no-go, at least I think the RTC chip couldn't handle 9 volts. Correct me if I'm wrong, please. The Toshiba has the same problem, but only with the suspend battery (the same one from the Dell), but the actual RTC chip battery is rated @ 2.4 volts which could probably-maybe-hopefully just work with a CR2032? That is, if it isn't being charged.
Here's some pictures of the batteries:
(will edit after maintenance is done)