I dont know if this hread is dead, but anyways...
Finished today with my CDS524 update:

HARDWARE:
I have kept the 486dx 66mhz (will consider upgrade)
36MB RAM
850MB HD
SB AWE64 with MT-32
Compaq CD-ROM 40x

SOFTWARE:
Installed BIOS on partition - F10 works perfect
WIN 95 PLUS!
LOTS of LucasARTs games 😀

NORTHERN WALLY wrote:

I dont know if this thread is dead, but anyways...

What is dead may never die. Ahem. I mean it's not.

NORTHERN WALLY wrote:

LOTS of LucasARTs games 😀

MY MAN!

Formulator wrote:

I have disk images of the BIOS setup/diags disks should anyone need them.

I literally got this system yesterday, and would be very interested in them. If you could upload <3 <3

I also acquired a CDS 524 a few weeks ago! I actually had a CDS 510 with an upgraded CPU when I was a kid, and it was my main PC for almost 4 years which was an eternity back then.

Unfortunately that PC had a problem and was eventually sent to the recycling centre many years ago, so I have some nostalgic connection with the Presario CDS 500 line, and it's great to finally have one of these back 😁

So to make sure I understand this. The bios is on the hard drive? I didnt even think that was possible. What if my drive dies?

Also, Id really like to add a sound card I have to this setup, will that even work?

No, the BIOS is in a chip on the motherboard like every other computer, but the BIOS Setup is in the hard drive yes.

I can tell you from personal experience that if the HDD dies or something else happens to it you can't access the setup anymore. The PC will boot and all that but you can't do anything very useful with it. You can play games that are able to run from a floppy disk.

However, while you can still access the BIOS setup you have the option of creating a setup floppy precisely for when you are left without access to the HDD.

You can add a sound card to any of the two available ISA slots, although the built-in one is pretty good. It only lacks wavetable synthesis.

Thank you! So In the bios now, there is an option to create that disk? So create that floppy, and make like a buncha backups right? hehe 😀

NORTHERN WALLY wrote:

I dont know if this hread is dead, but anyways... Finished today with my CDS524 update: […]
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I dont know if this hread is dead, but anyways...
Finished today with my CDS524 update:

HARDWARE:
I have kept the 486dx 66mhz (will consider upgrade)
36MB RAM
850MB HD
SB AWE64 with MT-32
Compaq CD-ROM 40x

SOFTWARE:
Installed BIOS on partition - F10 works perfect
WIN 95 PLUS!
LOTS of LucasARTs games 😀

Hi!

I'm also a very lucky owner of a CDS 520 since 1994 😀
It came with a 486sx2 66mhz and I upgraded it to an overdrive 486 dx4 100mhz and there was just a little performance improvement, so If i were you i would try to get my hands on a 5x86 chip e.g Kingston Turbochip 5x86 133mhz.

I still use the onboard sound card but lately i'm also thinking on buying a AWE64, have you managed to get the speakers and buttons working with the AWE64?

My CDS 524 has 64megs of ram and a 2 gig hdd. The on board ram is toast so it wont let me run true 32-bit OSs Dos and windows 3.* run fine on it though. CMOS battery is dead but it auto detects the hdd just fine. Just select F1 on start up. I have a similar system that is pentium based. I've fitted a network card to mine.

90skidJohnny wrote:

So to make sure I understand this. The bios is on the hard drive? I didnt even think that was possible. What if my drive dies?

Also, Id really like to add a sound card I have to this setup, will that even work?

Just boot the the SoftROM. It's available from HPs ftp site and a few others. You can use the fdd to boot up disks as well and play from them.

Found this "The most current softpaqs for Presario 600, 800, 500, 700, 900 486 pc's are SP1363 and SP1986 (one for Diagnostics/Test and one for Setup)."

SP1986 has been superseded by SP2373 apparently.

ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/

You still need the SP1363 softpaq as well.

Another site with sofpaqs- https://www.mmnt.net/db/0/13/ftp.hp.com/pub/s … aq/sp0000-0500/ thereis a search option 0n this one.

Found a German site regarding the CDS524- http://www.pukepals.com/compaq-presario-cds-5 … covery-project/

Found my thread on vcfed.org I created 9 years ago- http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?211 … rio-al-lin-ones

One with a TFT display- https://phintage.phunsites.net/2018/09/22/com … esario-cds-524/

Someone elses pride and joy https://imgur.com/r/retrobattlestations/WWiGl

Caluser2000 wrote:

90skidJohnny wrote:

So to make sure I understand this. The bios is on the hard drive? I didnt even think that was possible. What if my drive dies?

Also, Id really like to add a sound card I have to this setup, will that even work?

Just boot the the SoftROM. It's available from HPs ftp site and a few others. You can use the fdd to boot up disks as well and play from them.

Should be able to get the on board sound working ok. Even Mandrake 6.1 detected it. You can add sound cards ok. The mobo just slides out the back.

Just found a pic of my setup. only had the on board ram when I got it. Maxed that out to 64megs and ran Mandrake 6.1 on a 2.4gig hdd. The limiting factor was the vidio card with only 512k of ram. Ran quite nicely untill the on board ram gave up the ghost.

Retromania wrote:

thanks ;) […]
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thanks 😉

btw does anyone know if its possible to adjust the monitor image size by some sort of software?
i know you can use the screws inside of it to adjust, but at least for me i think its a bit risky, if you know some kind of software that can do the trick, please share 😉

This model doesnt have image adjustments buttons like most monitors on the market and ive big black bars all around it, the image its not at his maximum length...

The only way to get a full screen is to adjust the pots inside. It's not a hard job. You just need a long insulated screw driver. Once the screen is adjusted on start up the screen will be a little bit to the left but that is easy to alter using the left-right adjustment knob on the outside.

Found some more info. A couple of pdf files. One a schematic and the other specifications, part nos. and ram update data etc.

elianda wrote:

After you removed the Compaq MS-DOS what applications do you use now to set the mainboards features such as Turbo / Cache now?

Hi @elianda

I have an Compaq presario cds 520 too, what exactly are those features, turbo and Cache? AFAIK the board doesn't have any l2 cache.

By the way, as anyone ever noticed the WB/WT missing jumpers (P3)? I just bought an evergreen 5x86 133mhz that as a configurable cache mode, WT / WB, but when I set to WB I cannot boot into the OS, totally expected since this motherboard only supports (officialy) the SX2/DX2 cpus. But this missing jumper opens the possibility that after all the motherboard may support WB L1 cache.

Can anyone confirm this?

devius wrote:

No, the BIOS is in a chip on the motherboard like every other computer, but the BIOS Setup is in the hard drive yes.

I can tell you from personal experience that if the HDD dies or something else happens to it you can't access the setup anymore. The PC will boot and all that but you can't do anything very useful with it. You can play games that are able to run from a floppy disk.

Not quite true if you prepare the hdd in another system to boot to Dos, and the hdd is within the bios's range of selection it will stop and give you an F key option to save settings then it will reboot to the Dos prompt just fine. It'll do the same when the battery is low and the bios settings are lost. Found this out purely by accident.

I haven't used a bios setup partition at all on the hdds I've fitted to my CDS524. If I feel I need to I'll just use the boot disk configuration tool.

Having look at the CDS524 and giving it a bit of a house clean. Mobo just slips out the back by undoing a couple of screws, after removing any connectors. Removed the modem(which will not be reinstalled and the D-Link 220 nic. Out with a soft artists brush and at quick dusting and give the edge connector a clean. All in all it's in good shape apart from the issues I mentioned previously.

These CDS500 series all-in-ones came in various configurations such as having TV/Radio tuners, in built modems and other features. They have ESS ES688F AudioDrive sound built in with Cirrus Logic GD5424-80QC-C video with 512k of vram. The system came out and was sold in early 1995. It is a good set up for those with the lack of room.

Mine has a cd rom reader, forget what speed but replaced the original SB one so I could read RW cds and the standard issue 3.5" drive behind the lower front facia. You can just fit a generic one in by either adapting it to fit behind the facia or making a cut out in the facia to suite the drive. No special connectors just standard ribbon cables and power connectors for the fdd, hdd and CD reader.

Pulling the front facia is straight forward. Undo the two screws at the bottom then slide the front of the system about an inch and a half (3-4cm)over the edge of a bunch/table the gently pull the facia forward. There are a few clips under the bottom monitor surround. Having the system forward overhanging a bit takes the tension off these and the front facia will come forward and off easier. The fdd, hdd and cdrom caddies are exposed. Just undo the screws holding the caddies in and gently slide them forward to get access to the ribbon and power cables.

The power cabling is fairy light gauge compared to your normal desktop system and can separate from the plugs if the caddies have been moved quite a bit. It's quite easy to regrimp by removing the plugs cover using small set of pliers as well as the speakers.
The later P1 series (eg 5544 and similar) in this form factor are exactly the same.