I am using an external battery worth a cr2032 holder. The battery is wired to a 4 pin connector that goes to the motherboard. I have 128k of l2 cache installed that is recognized by the BIOS just fine. I would try flashing the old biod but I am not sure if I even still have a copy of the original as mine was bone stock never upgraded.

I have the original one on my Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1P0uAcU2msT9 … yc_vI5QUEmjyb94

Rename it to PB450M.BIN for the phlash program.

Thank you so much. I will definitely try this at some point. I am sorry to bother yall.

That's alright. I also suggest a battery holder for a CR1220/1225 battery to save the additional 10-20 seconds for the system to POST and it's recommended to prevent the system from doing the 1-4-2-1 beep code with the BIOS being a revision or two higher than the old one.

bjwil1991 wrote:

That's alright. I also suggest a battery holder for a CR1220/1225 battery to save the additional 10-20 seconds for the system to POST and it's recommended to prevent the system from doing the 1-4-2-1 beep code with the BIOS being a revision or two higher than the old one.

Thank you for that tip sir! I haven't had time to play around with it but I went ahead and ordered the 1225 Battery and holder 😀 Why does the 2032 seem to cause issues with these things? I forgot how picky this old tech can be 🤣. Last time I built Pentium and below systems was a 386sx when I was 10 years old and a Pentium 120 when I was 15 haha.

The 2032 shouldn't have issues, and it's an OEM thing. My system did the infamous 1-4-2-1 beep code with a 2x AA battery compartment connected to the battery header (4x1) on the board with the version 4.05.07 BIOS. With the battery holder and a 1225 battery in place, I don't get those codes any longer.

I changed to the 1225 battery and holder and still getting the beeping that requires one or more resets to get passed. I don't know what's up

Are you using the original BIOS?

Using the last official Packard Bell BIOS. I guess I will have to flash back to the original and try the update again. I don't even know ow if it's related to the BIOS update or just coincidence? I don't know ow what could be causing this particular beep code and then go back to functionio100% perfect randomly.

I think the last official Packard Bell BIOS 4.05.07 was meant for systems with the PCI riser card. That BIOS never worked for me, only the 4.03 BIOS and the Micro Firmware BIOS. I suggest flashing the 4.03 BIOS and then, the Micro Firmware 4.05.10 BIOS.

I downloaded the recovery for Packard Bell BIOS and the readme one the file I downloaded gave two different versions of the 4.05.07, one for iSA only systems and one for PCI systems. I'll try and do some tinkering Monday and report back where I end up.

Well, I reflashed it using the 4.03 recovery and then the 4.05 recovery and, knock on wood, no beeping. Only time will tell 🤣.

It's doing the beep yet again after sitting several days. I'm at a dead end it seems.

Reviving this old thread… I got a Packard Bell A940 last week with a 450 motherboard. Obviously battery was dead and hard disk too. I added a CF adapter to replace the Hard drive, flashed the latest micro firmware and added 2xAA batteries to replace the dead 1225. I’m now hitting the same issue as 9646gt, when the battery holder is on place, the machine does a 1-4-2-1 beep sequence.
I will try removing the original battery as it may cause some issues, but apart from that I have no clue on what might cause the issue.

This may be of interest:
https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/packard-bell-pb450
A good website too if looking for information on older motherboards.