No clue about the bios, closer examination of the bios code could give more insight.

I see this board is also not listed on theretroweb.com .
You could help the community out by posting some clear photos of the front & back of only the motherboard .
Even better if you can read out the bios and post it as well.

I am attaching a detailed photo of the board - Leopard Motherboard REV B.

I have also attached the BIOS file that I found on the internet.

You can also try holding a button down during post, so that it complains about keyboard error and tell you what to press to enter the BIOS and "fix" it.
This looks like an early 386, I believe the HDD is not even IDE? So there is a chance that the BIOS is configurable through a utility and not a built-in UI. A generic utility might or might not to the job for basic configuration, depending on how much "compatible" this machine is.
Oh and get rid of that Varta!

Seems the bios isn't really compressed, and there's just mention of using a setup program.
I guess you'll be hunting for some original software to set it up, or some generic software to setup the cmos entries.

konc wrote on 2023-02-10, 11:31:

You can also try holding a button down during post, so that it complains about keyboard error and tell you what to press to enter the BIOS and "fix" it.
This looks like an early 386, I believe the HDD is not even IDE? So there is a chance that the BIOS is configurable through a utility and not a built-in UI. A generic utility might or might not to the job for basic configuration, depending on how much "compatible" this machine is.
Oh and get rid of that Varta!

Hi,
if I press e.g. F1 key during POST I have keyboard error, but i have not hint what to press to enter the BIOS.
HDD is MFM, not IDE, but doesn't work, it doesn't spin up.
Am I to understand that the BIOS configuration can be done by an external program? For example from a floppy disk?
Battery VARTA has been removed.

weedeewee wrote on 2023-02-10, 12:00:

Seems the bios isn't really compressed, and there's just mention of using a setup program.
I guess you'll be hunting for some original software to set it up, or some generic software to setup the cmos entries.

So as above? Should I have the software on a floppy disk? Should I have a CMOS programmer (I have one) ?

floppy likely

makary23 wrote on 2023-02-10, 12:48:

Am I to understand that the BIOS configuration can be done by an external program? For example from a floppy disk?

Correct, since you don't have the original software you can try some generic CMOS utilities that allow setting up the basic stuff.
Nobody here can be 100% certain that there isn't a built-in UI, but at this point the external utility looks very probable.

is there a possibility it needs a BIOS command to start HDD rotation? or are those hard wired to always rotate? Might need some oil dripped into bearings and gentle persuasion (tap tap), might also got head welded to the platter and will get ripped off if you force it to move (seen few of those on YT).

konc wrote on 2023-02-10, 13:23:

makary23 wrote on 2023-02-10, 12:48:

Am I to understand that the BIOS configuration can be done by an external program? For example from a floppy disk?

Correct, since you don't have the original software you can try some generic CMOS utilities that allow setting up the basic stuff.
Nobody here can be 100% certain that there isn't a built-in UI, but at this point the external utility looks very probable.

It will show what screen I have at startup. It says SETUP program. Maybe it needs a program or maybe not? Can anyone confirm this?

rasz_pl wrote on 2023-02-10, 13:30:

is there a possibility it needs a BIOS command to start HDD rotation? or are those hard wired to always rotate? Might need some oil dripped into bearings and gentle persuasion (tap tap), might also got head welded to the platter and will get ripped off if you force it to move (seen few of those on YT).

Are you suggesting that I disassemble it?

For posterity. I found something like this:

http://actapricot.org/disks/aprididx.htm

apr00001.dsk - MSDOS 3.10 BIOS 3.1.1 MSD.COM VER 2.7.0 29-1-86

BIOS ?
Perhaps it is actually a BIOS graphics program on a floppy disk....

It only shows me an error when booting from a floppy drive (I have a non-genuine one).
Should this hardware have a 720kb floppy drive?

makary23 wrote on 2023-02-10, 13:44:

rasz_pl wrote on 2023-02-10, 13:30:

is there a possibility it needs a BIOS command to start HDD rotation? or are those hard wired to always rotate? Might need some oil dripped into bearings and gentle persuasion (tap tap), might also got head welded to the platter and will get ripped off if you force it to move (seen few of those on YT).

Are you suggesting that I disassemble it?

definitely not! get bios in order as it might need a command to start, if still no start try gently tapping it. You can try rapidly rotating it as a last resort, but from what Iv seen welded head is game over.

rasz_pl wrote on 2023-02-10, 14:18:

makary23 wrote on 2023-02-10, 13:44:

rasz_pl wrote on 2023-02-10, 13:30:

is there a possibility it needs a BIOS command to start HDD rotation? or are those hard wired to always rotate? Might need some oil dripped into bearings and gentle persuasion (tap tap), might also got head welded to the platter and will get ripped off if you force it to move (seen few of those on YT).

Are you suggesting that I disassemble it?

definitely not! get bios in order as it might need a command to start, if still no start try gently tapping it. You can try rapidly rotating it as a last resort, but from what Iv seen welded head is game over.

I will do as you advise. the disk is spinning!

Thanks for all the advice. The computer is booting from the floppy disk. I can enter the BIOS through the setup program from floppy disk.

Piotr.

This video almost looks tailored for you https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koei2ROGtiQ "Testing five old MFM hard drives"