Old, old, old computer - circa 1991

[boomerang]

A friend has this hooked up to his dyno. He rarely uses it. Went to fire it up recently and there is no video. This is long before I got involved with computers and I'm at a loss where to start.

The motherboard battery is soldered on. It is marked 3.6V but meters out at 2.7V. It looks, not like it has been leaking per se, but it doesn't look healthy. Could this be the cause?

Pic of the ancient beast.

 

[mpilchfamily]

could be any number of thigns wrong with it. Does it have a video card or is it onboard video? How are the voltage readings on the PSU? Other issues could include bad memory or CPU.

Have fun troubleshooting it. Its not going to be good for anything really. Even if you do get it to run.

 

[boomerang]

It's got a video card. It's got a dip switch that's accessible from the back of the computer. I've never seen anything like that as I was a late comer to computers.

Voltages are OK.

Oh, it's good for something. He uses it to interface with an engine dyno. These connectors are needed to connect to the dyno.

Connectors

I'm wondering if older systems would behave this way with a low battery. Modern systems will tell you. The battery is cheap but will require removing the motherboard to solder it in.

 

[mpilchfamily]

The battery is there to maintain the BIOS information stored in the CMOS as well as keep the internal system clock ticking when the system is off. So a good indication of a dead battery is when the BIOS settings have reset and the date and time are all wrong. But it shouldn't affect the video.

I would suggest doing some research on the Dyno and see if there is any way you can put together a converter to allow it to connect to a standard Serial or Parellel port. Then you can use a more up to date and reliable computer on it. You could at least find a more recent fuctioning PC that still have an ISO port on the system so you can use the interface card for the Dyno in it. I'm sure you can still find some working Pentium 3 systems on ebay.

 

[boomerang]

Originally posted by: mpilchfamily
The battery is there to maintain the BIOS information stored in the CMOS as well as keep the internal system clock ticking when the system is off. So a good indication of a dead battery is when the BIOS settings have reset and the date and time are all wrong. But it shouldn't affect the video.

I would suggest doing some research on the Dyno and see if there is any way you can put together a converter to allow it to connect to a standard Serial or Parellel port. Then you can use a more up to date and reliable computer on it. You could at least find a more recent fuctioning PC that still have an ISO port on the system so you can use the interface card for the Dyno in it. I'm sure you can still find some working Pentium 3 systems on ebay.

Yeah, but then trying to get the software to run on a newer system may end up being the biggest hurdle. The system is running DOS. He's been able to contact the people that built the system originally and they've told him to bring it down so they can look at it. I'm going to suggest he take them up on their offer. I'm unsure if they did the computer itself or if they are associated with the Dyno, but I'll leave it to him to determine that.

My thoughts too were that the battery would function no differently on this system than current systems, but it's so old that I really didn't know.

Thanks for your input. The Dyno research is a good suggestion too, and one I will do some checking on.

 

[mpilchfamily]

Doesn't really matter what system you use the card on. Yes its a DOS based card. So you just install DOS on the system and it will be fine. The challenging part is just configuring DOS to use the hardware is all.

But yeah if the original builders are willing to look at it then they should be able to fix the problem or get a working system and configure it to run the card.

 

[earthman]

If it's a DOS system using a VGA card, then any similar VGA card should work. These systems don't use hardware specific video drivers for VGA. Get the chipset off the card and buy a similar card off eBay, is my suggestion.

 

[Googer]

Some older PC's used a rechargeable NiCD battery. The battery may no longer be good, but you can try leaving it on to charge things up. Figure out .what voltage and battery type it is. Go to Radio shack, pick up a button cell socket or battery pack. Desolder the old battery and install the battery or battery pack using jumper wires. If the voltage is in increments of 1.5v then you can and should use lithium AA cells. If It uses NiCD, then you may need to find an exact replacement, Radio Shack or Batteries Plus should have them in stock or available for order.

 

[Googer]

Floating out there are some P4 Socket 478 mohterboards from Supermicro and a few other vendors that featured ISA slots. You could search ebay for one and transplant the needed I/O cards and HDD to the new machine. While you are at it, it would also be smart to back up the data on that OLD HDD to a Verbatim archival grade CD and second copy to verbatim R-W disc with AZO recording matrial.

 

[VeryCharBroiled]

might be a digital EGA or mono card video card? VGA (which is analog) monitor wont work with a digital signal.

if the video card has dip switches it may be able to do both digital and analog and its currently set to the wrong mode.

if not and its a pure digital (EGA/Mono), you could drop an ISA VGA card in. or find an old digital EGA/mono monitor.

can you see what the video card is? make or model #s?

as for the battery, it would still boot, just may not recognise the drive attached to it as IIRC at that time they didnt have autodetection. however you would still see the BIOS sign on screen complaining about it.

 

[bruceb]

Just about any new computer can be loaded with DOS as either an alternate or primary boot option.
Only thing you would need is an Add In Serial or Parallel port PCI card (bidirectional types are best)
And if you think that pc is old, I have a Northstar Horizon I now longer use. Circa 1980 or so with a Z-80
at 4Mhz & 65KB of RAM .. no hard drive, used the then standard S-100 bus (now obsolete) .. 2 5 1/4" floppies.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: bruceb
Just about any new computer can be loaded with DOS as either an alternate or primary boot option.
Only thing you would need is an Add In Serial or Parallel port PCI card (bidirectional types are best)
And if you think that pc is old, I have a Northstar Horizon I now longer use. Circa 1980 or so with a Z-80
at 4Mhz & 65KB of RAM .. no hard drive, used the then standard S-100 bus (now obsolete) .. 2 5 1/4" floppies.

Vmware for the win.

 

[Denithor]

Sounds like a good application for a netbook? Don't need any real CPU power, built-in screen, portable...

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: Denithor
Sounds like a good application for a netbook? Don't need any real CPU power, built-in screen, portable...

Negative. Netbooks lack the connectivity his older PC has. USB adapters do exist but induce high levels of latency that can affect or disrupt instrument readings. His best bet is to fix the existing motherboard or find one of those Supermicro or Tyan P4 motherboards with ISA.

If the owner wishes, I have a few legacy parts (I/O, motherboards, RAM, etc) lying around and will sell them for $1 plus shipping.