Machines that old don't do auto detection of the hard drive. you have to set it manually in the bios.

https://stason.org/TULARC/pc/hard-drives-hdd/ … -SL-IDE-AT.html

If you changed the CMOS battery, you still need to configure your computer first.

By the look of it it's a really old award bios I think. Check if you can access the CMOS setup. If there's no CMOS setup built-in, then you need a setup program on a floppy disk. Maybe GSetup would work ?

I am in the cmos or bios, don't really know what its called on these old computers but I get these errors, When I clicked on the physical disk format option it gave me this. And when I clicked on sys config setup it gave me this screen and completely bricked the machine till I reset it, any pressing of keys would just make a beeping noise.

Did you set the disk geometry before trying the format?

CMOS setup is just part of the bios.

You need to configure everything first. Date, floppy drives, hard disk geometry (this is important), memory size, primary display (EGA/VGA is probably what you need)

Have you changed the battery ?
from one of the first photos you posted,
I would guess you haven't changed the battery yet.
Which you definitely should do,
Change the battery.
Only then you might have some luck with the bios cmos setup
after you change the battery.
which might be as easy as fitting another cr2032,
though in your machine it might be a little bit more annoying,
changing the battery might imply modding a ds1287
or it might mean desoldering a 3v6 alkaline or NiMh stacked button cell battery
or it could be as easy as changing a jumper and adding a 6v battery pack to a pin header.

good luck.

PS, and you shouldn't need to do a format in the bios. there's no real use.

"Format in the BIOS" on a 386 is very likely a low level format intended for MFM/RLL drives

I know this is going to sound stupid but which one is the cmos battery? I never seen a cmos battery that isn't just cr2032. I already replaced the real time clock chip but that did nothing.

drewking12 wrote on 2021-04-15, 14:08:

I know this is going to sound stupid but which one is the cmos battery? I never seen a cmos battery that isn't just cr2032. I already replaced the real time clock chip but that did nothing.

battery is integrated in the real time clock chip. you'll have to mod it . (google ds12887 mod)
or replace with something like this https://www.tindie.com/products/glitchwrks/gw … acement-module/

I already replaced the real time clock chip though, shouldn't that fix the bios issue?

drewking12 wrote on 2021-04-15, 14:17:

I already replaced the real time clock chip though, shouldn't that fix the bios issue?

Did you replace it with a known good part from a reliable source like digikey or a tested one from your personal collection? Or did you get one from a dubious source like ebay or aliexpress?

Often ebay sellers will sell "new" dallas chips that are already dead

The CHS values for the drive can be found here:

https://www.computerhope.com/hdseagat.htm

ST3120A 106 MB 1024 12 17 0 0 IDE

1024 Cyl, 12 Head, 17 Sector

Put those into the setup program, the PC might boot.

Your chip seems to be from 1999. It may or may not be dead as well (I've got one from 1997 that still works, but that's not very common so it may be different for you). However if you simply swapped the chip and didn't do anything else, it's normal for the BIOS to display errors because you haven't configured anything.

Like I said, you have to configure the date, time, floppy drives, hdd (with the CHS parameters from the post above), memory size, display type ...

Once you're done, save everything. If the computer still complains, then your "new" chip is dead as well. Else, you should be able to install DOS properly.

Jed118 wrote on 2021-04-15, 14:22:

The CHS values for the drive can be found here: […]
Show full quote

The CHS values for the drive can be found here:

https://www.computerhope.com/hdseagat.htm

ST3120A 106 MB 1024 12 17 0 0 IDE

1024 Cyl, 12 Head, 17 Sector

Put those into the setup program, the PC might boot.

+1

Depending on the BIOS model, 1023 Cyl, 11 Heads must be entered (if it counts from 0 onwards on those)..

drewking12 wrote on 2021-04-15, 14:08:

I know this is going to sound stupid but which one is the cmos battery? I never seen a cmos battery that isn't just cr2032. I already replaced the real time clock chip but that did nothing.

The battery is inside the Dallas chip. The replacement chip might not be compatible and/or its internal battery is likely empty as well. I hope you still have the original one, if you do you should modify it to use a coin cell battery or 2x AA batteries. It's not difficult if you can solder. How you can do that was linked in one of the posts above.

If there are jumpers on your motherboard, they are probably set wrong.

Ok so I read all your comments, How would I set the date and time before I try to access the bios, and as for the jumpers I am not sure where they will be located and I would not know which ones to set them too. Luckily for me this came with an original unopened box and I got the handbook, Brand new from September 1991 🤣 and it tells me all about the jumpers, The problem is I have no idea what to set the jumpers too, If anyone could tell me what they need to be set too that would be great

If it truly was an unopened box, and never been used, the jumpers wouldn't be messed with. though there is a change that corrosion/oxidation messed with the connection.
The most likely failure point would be a dead RTC battery, which has been known to cause issues like not booting or fubaring the cmos setup.
You say you swapped it out with a "new" one... if it's the "new" one in the photo, it looks pretty second hand and as someone already mentioned, looking at the date code, also pretty dated... over 21 years old. battery is likely dead in that one as well. Which brings us back to mod the RTC with a new battery or get a replacement for it like the one that was linked in the comments.

What's the borked part beside the hard drive in this picture? Looks like part of a PCB's been torn out of something: