601 - Diskette Controller Error
162 - System Options Not Set

I have not worked with a Compaq Deskpro 386 in probably 20 years, but during boot, you should find that the cursor briefly jumps to the right, and you should be able to hit F10 at that point to get into Setup assuming it's in ROM. If not, there were bootable disks called a Softpaq that has the setup program on them (of course, you have a diskette controller error though...)

Hey there. Thank you for responding. I will try that. Unfortunately I read that the setup utility is housed on a hard drive partition. Of course I don’t have that hard drive. But we will see!

olliethebassett wrote on 2025-07-22, 12:12:

Hey there. Thank you for responding. I will try that. Unfortunately I read that the setup utility is housed on a hard drive partition. Of course I don’t have that hard drive. But we will see!

First thing now is to get the softpaq (still floats somewhere on the net, not sure where and which softpaq) and create a boot disk. You can create the setup disks by running the softpaq in DOS with literally any pc that supports booting to DOS and has a disk drive.

Chances are, the softpaq disk you created wel still boot, despite the error.

It you manage to boot from the disk, you can recreate the boot partition. Unfortunately you'll lose the existing partitions or even have to remove any partition manually beforehand. So backup your data in advance.

The Deskpro 386 and Deskpro 386/20 are too old to support a system partition. They should be able to boot the setup floppy, though, even if the CMOS options are not set. Like IBM, Compaq had no Setup in the ROM, but required a floppy boot to configure the setup.

mkarcher wrote on 2025-07-23, 15:30:

The Deskpro 386 and Deskpro 386/20 are too old to support a system partition. They should be able to boot the setup floppy, though, even if the CMOS options are not set. Like IBM, Compaq had no Setup in the ROM, but required a floppy boot to configure the setup.

I recall F10 working on either a 386/20e or 286/25, but it's been so long ago I can't remember for sure.
The Softpaq disk did work as well, but I remember that being the only software I ever ran into that needed Loadfix.

I do know that my dad's portable 386 does not have setup in ROM and the softpaq is required. Same for my deskpro/m (EISA 386 desktop)

Okay so it sounds like the consensus is that if I can find the softpaq, I can create a setup disk and boot from that, correct? Even though I cam getting those disk drive errors? I have a grease weasel. This would be sufficient, correct?

Also f10 didn’t work probably because it needs a disk and/or I don’t have the necessary boot partition with the setup software on my cr card.

So the problem remains that the computer (Compaq 386/20e) boots up, the floppy drive lights up briefly, the keyboard blinks but somewhere in the POST things are interrupted and I never make it to the XTIDE bios menu at the top. The floppy drives never make their annoying noise.

I got the softpaq. That didn’t work in the floppy drive.
Reseated cards. That didn’t work.
Removed all cards. That didn’t work.
Removed network card with only. That didn’t work.
Removed RAM. That didn’t work.
Replaced the CMOS battery. That didn’t work.
Checked voltages on red and yellow (molex) under load. 12.49 and 5.05. So that wasn’t it.

Running out of ideas here. Any suggestions?

OK, so two things are surprising: Even with a 162 and 601 error, I expect the system to initialize ROM BIOS extensions and attempt a boot using INT 19. This should pop up the XTIDE screen. Furthermore, even without a setup, the system is supposed to attempt a floppy boot.

I wondered whether the ISA bus is messed up, and communication between the BIOS and the floppy controller fails to work, but if the ISA bus doesn't work correctly, the VGA card also would fail to initialize. So we can likely drop the idea of a failed system bus. This might mean you have an issue with the floppy drive or the floppy controller. Looking at https://ardent-tool.com/media/PS2_MOST/ACRORE … PAQ/2005024.PDF , there seems to be a variant of the 386/20e mainboard, in which the floppy and hard drive controller can be moved to the secondary address using the first DIP switch. Make sure the DIP switch is configured correctly - or if you have an ISA I/O card at hand, set the floppy controller to the secondary address and try to boot using the ISA I/O card instead.

Well I am not getting a picture either. Nothing. So maybe the vga card is toast too?

olliethebassett wrote on 2025-08-05, 23:27:

Well I am not getting a picture either. Nothing. So maybe the vga card is toast too?

I'm currently unable to follow. If you don't get a picture, how do you know you get errors 601 and 162? Did you use some on-board video instead of the VGA card?

No it’s more complicated. I apologize I should have been clearer. So when I started the computer was throwing those errors. I was given the suggestion of checking the CMOS battery etc on the motherboard and possibly replacing it. I read online that it could take different forms so I disassembled the machine to get the MB out. Eventually I discovered that the battery was not on the board but that’s a different story. When I put it back together, this behavior that I am describing began. In other words, it would no longer boot. I am pretty confident I reassembled properly but perhaps I fried something in the process.

I think I’m going to give up. I think something got fried here. Maybe the network card? Maybe the XTIDE? Something on the MB? Something’s bad.

olliethebassett wrote on 2025-08-07, 08:37:

I think I’m going to give up. I think something got fried here. Maybe the network card? Maybe the XTIDE? Something on the MB? Something’s bad.

In a no-boot situation, the advanced hobbyist or repair shop will plug their POST card into the system. I don't expect you to have one, so the next best way of tackling that situation would be to unplug all cards including memory (if I got it correctly, the 20e has all memory on the Compaq proprietary memory card), and make sure a working speaker is connected. I don't know any post-XT system that is not going to beep at you if the low 64K of RAM don't work. If the board does not beep in that case, the issue is clearly located on the board, the processor or the power supply. Keep a hard drive connected to the power supply (but disconnect the IDE cable from the board) to provide more load to the power supply. Supplies of that generation may be picky about minimum load. Issues may be bad connections (e.g. processor in the socket, power supply connector on the board) as well.

If the system does beep without memory, the next step is to insert memory (but no video card or anything else yet). You should get some beeps from the POST as well, but in a clearly distinct pattern than the one you get without memory. If you get a beep with memory, the next step is to add a video card.

In case of your board, on the other hand, it is possible that the board has some cracked traces or solder joints that already caused the 601 issue before you worked on the system, and working on the board might have made this issue more grave.