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A problem with 486 motherboard

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First post, by jedikwon

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Hello.

So I got this old 486 computer from an office near my work. They just threw away all their old equipments and I thought this one would work great for old dos games.

However, I found out that the system doesn't boot up right. It checks the memory okay but then gives me 'wait...' message.

Well I waited long enough, about 30 minutes, but it just stops there. I tired to clear BIOS by removing its battery for a minute and didn't work.

Interestingly when the battery is removed, it gives me an error message that says 'CMOS battery status low' and lets me enter BIOS setting screen.

There I could tweak various settings without any problems but if I choose 'save and exit', it just stops at 'wait...' message again.

But then, if I choose 'do not save and exit' it passes the 'wait' part and goes to next screen and check drives for booting.

I was able to load Windows 98 booting disk and run SETUP from CD-ROM but since my hard disk drive info cannot be saved at BIOS menu, the system doesn't

recognize the hard disk drive. Obviously Win98 setup says there is no HDD to install.

So I am stuck here now. BIOS just doesn't want to keep HDD settings I make. I tired a fresh battery but didn't work either.

I googled all letters and numbers on the motherboard and found out its model name. It is Shuttle HOT-419. I don't think its BIOS is update-able.

If you guys have any clue how to save HDD setting and successfully boot up the system, that would be really helpful. Thanks!

Reply 1 of 5, by rgart

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What happens when you "restore defaults" in bios.

then go to "auto detect hard disk"

then save settings......?

=My Cyrix 5x86 systems : 120MHz vs 133MHz=. =My 486DX2-66MHz=

Reply 2 of 5, by jedikwon

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Thank you for your comment!

Yes there are those options and I can choose 'restore default' and 'auto detect'.

The problem is that in order to get into that BIOS option menu, I have to remove the battery.

So even if I set those options right and save&quit, it still says 'CMOS battery status low' and forget my settings because of the removed battery.

It just refuses to save my settings.

Reply 3 of 5, by rgart

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Is the lithium battery working ok? is it new?

I had the exact same problem but I think it was on a K7 PRO motherboard. It kept telling me "CMOS battery low" and I swapped out like 10 different batteries. I found the manual online and a jumper setting to allow it to save the bios.

Maybe If you cant find a manual pull the motherboard physically out of the case and attempt to read all the silk screened information on the motherboard.

alternatively a lot of 486 motherboards will support "EXT battery" and its usually silk screened on the motherboard. If I recall correctly it will be 4 male pins on the motherboard with one missing(the third pin). Im using an external battery on one of my 486's.

=My Cyrix 5x86 systems : 120MHz vs 133MHz=. =My 486DX2-66MHz=

Reply 5 of 5, by jedikwon

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Thank you for your comments!

Long story short, the system is gone.

Well I tried a brand new battery which didn't work. I also tried to set jumpers, didn't work either.

I removed all IDE devices as well as ISA cards but no go.

I don't know why. Maybe I was just so frustrated. I kicked the system when it displayed 'Wait...' again after all those tries.

Soon I saw a spark below the motherboard and I could smell burning lead. I pulled off the cord immediately but well, that was already too late.

Maybe the PSU is gone or whatever. Doesn't even turn on. PSU is completely stopped. Sigh...

I guess I have to wait another old computer to be thrown away. Hopefully soon.

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