A3000 battery
Zane H. Healy
battery is most likely dead. Are there any good webpages out on replacing
the battery (it looks like I'll have to break out my soldering iron, which
isn't something that scares me, much). However, I'm wondering a couple
things.
What does the battery back up?
What type of replacement battery do I need.
If the battery only backs up the date/time, I'm going to be very tempted to
just cut the battery out, and run without one, and since so far the only
problem I've seen is the system not keeping the time I'm guessing this might
be the case.
I still can't believe how long it's apparently been since I last had the
system setup. It looks like it's been four years (and I've been wanting to
get it set back up for a lot of those 4 years). I ordered OS 3.9 for it
this morning, and will be giving it either a 2GB or 4GB HD to replace the
420MB drive it currently has. I can't wait to take OS 3.9 for a spin :^)
Zane
Angelo
"Zane H. Healy" <hea...@shell1.aracnet.com> wrote in message
news:am67s...@enews3.newsguy.com...
> I'm in the process of getting my A3000 set back up, and it looks like the
> battery is most likely dead. Are there any good webpages out on replacing
> the battery (it looks like I'll have to break out my soldering iron, which
> isn't something that scares me, much). However, I'm wondering a couple
> things.
>
> What does the battery back up?
> What type of replacement battery do I need.
It does a few things.
Maintains the hardware clock (read at startup) then a system
clock keeps time. It also maintains power to the battmem
circuit which contains your SCSI settings for
items like LUNS, Qued commands, timeout etc.
Check Aminet for a program called SETBATT
to find out the settings and what they do.
Replace the battery with either a large capacity capacitor
1000uf or the same voltage Nicad or NiMh battery
of equivalent or slighter higher mAh rating.
If you go with a larger mAh rating like a typical
cordless phone battery (3.6V) charge it in a
phone cradle before installing it since the trickle
charge circuit on the Amiga is not enough
beyond the rated mAh of the original battery.
There are complete details and instructions on
Aminet for this.
>
> If the battery only backs up the date/time, I'm going to be very tempted
to
> just cut the battery out, and run without one, and since so far the only
> problem I've seen is the system not keeping the time I'm guessing this
might
> be the case.
Unless you have need to change SCSI settings like timeout/LUNS
etc. which appears to be your case, no you don't really need it.
It just makes problems later if you need to know proper file creation
dates and they were written before you update the system clock
while the Amiga is running. The system clock and the battery backed
clock are two different clocks.
>
> I still can't believe how long it's apparently been since I last had the
> system setup. It looks like it's been four years (and I've been wanting
to
> get it set back up for a lot of those 4 years). I ordered OS 3.9 for it
> this morning, and will be giving it either a 2GB or 4GB HD to replace the
> 420MB drive it currently has. I can't wait to take OS 3.9 for a spin :^)
>
> Zane
For OS3.9 I would STRONGLY suggest replacing the battery
first since OS3.9's install in some sections of the script only
does a file date check instead of a proper version check.
Also some files don't have a version number embedded
in them and the file creation date aside from byte size is the
only method of determining newer/older versions for update.
Which is probably the reason for just a file date check in some
sections of the install scripts.
Jim
Mike Leavitt
> I'm in the process of getting my A3000 set back up, and it looks like the
> battery is most likely dead. Are there any good webpages out on replacing
> the battery (it looks like I'll have to break out my soldering iron, which
> isn't something that scares me, much). However, I'm wondering a couple
> things.
>
> What does the battery back up?
> What type of replacement battery do I need.
>
> just cut the battery out, and run without one, and since so far the only
> problem I've seen is the system not keeping the time I'm guessing this might
> be the case.
>
> system setup. It looks like it's been four years (and I've been wanting to
> get it set back up for a lot of those 4 years). I ordered OS 3.9 for it
> this morning, and will be giving it either a 2GB or 4GB HD to replace the
> 420MB drive it currently has. I can't wait to take OS 3.9 for a spin :^)
>
> Zane
Well I run one of my A3000s without a battery. It had extensive
motherboard damage from a leaking battery under the prior owner, which
did two things, it killed the flicker-fixer (though the scandoubler
still works) and it caused it to kill the battery I put in in just a
month or so. I go online and use Atomic.Rexx to reset the clock. The
only problem I have is that the wife sometimes forgets to do this, and
gets funny dates on her email. It functions fine otherwise without
the battery and Atomic.Rexx takes less than a minute to run, unless it
hits a bad connection. There is supposed to be some stuff the battery
backs up, but I have never noticed a problem from this without one.
--
Mike Leavitt ac...@lafn.org
Zane H. Healy
> "Zane H. Healy" <hea...@shell1.aracnet.com> wrote in message
> news:am67s...@enews3.newsguy.com...
>> I'm in the process of getting my A3000 set back up, and it looks like the
>> battery is most likely dead. Are there any good webpages out on replacing
Erm.... <Blush> It looks like the problem might have been that I forgot to
save the changes I made to the clock, so it only kept them until the system
was rebooted.
> For OS3.9 I would STRONGLY suggest replacing the battery
> first since OS3.9's install in some sections of the script only
> does a file date check instead of a proper version check.
> Also some files don't have a version number embedded
> in them and the file creation date aside from byte size is the
> only method of determining newer/older versions for update.
> Which is probably the reason for just a file date check in some
> sections of the install scripts.
This seems a bit, how should I put it, sloppy (I guess there just isn't a
polite way to put it). Personally using the file date to tell what version
you're running seems dangerous to me.
In any case, I'll hopefully have OS3.9 delivered tomorrow, and I hope to
have it installed by late tomorrow night :^)
Thanks for all the good info!
Zane
Angelo
I don't think it's anything critical in the update process but it's
worth a mention should problems arise later that don't seem
to have an answer as to why it's fouled up.
Not so much sloppy on the part of OS3.9 but lazy
coders omitting embedded version numbers in the first
few bytes. Can't really blame some coding though since
version numbering being embedded was exactly the
expected practice all along. Now it is though and omitting
a version number is just laziness.
Jim
Dave Haynie
I'm in the final stages of the preparation of a DVD edition of
"The Deathbed Vigil and other tales of digital angst". For those
who've been living, well, in the normal mainstream of modern life and
don't know this, this is the film I made about the end of Commodore.
As usual with DVDs, I've been trying to think of some useful,
interesting, or fun "extra stuff" to put on the disc. I have too much
stuff, basically, but in my continual search for meaning, tasty brew,
and all that crap, I came up with he idea of "IMPACT". Basically, with
the Amiga as we know it pretty much moved from the single most
revolutionary personal computer in history to more of a footnote in
history, just what WAS its impact.
I can play with words, but the question is too large, and too
personal, for just one input. What this all meant to me is different
than what it meant/means to you. So I've decided to solicit answer to
this basic question: what was/is the Amiga's impact. On you, on the
industry, on life on earth. I know a piece of it. Some of you may have
more to add.
So, here's the game. Think of it as a contest, or whatever.
Simply put, you write up a paragraph; something succinct, or you'll
get edited, even if I like what you said. It needs to fit on one 4:3
TV frame at NTSC resolution, in quasi-readable type. Send whatever you
like to me at dha...@jersey.net. Put "[DBV]" in the subject, and your
preferred name at the end. I'll put the best ones on the DVD.
Feel free to pass this on. Thanks.
Dave Haynie | Chief Toady, Frog Pond Media Consulting
dha...@jersey.net| "The weather is here, I wish you were beautiful" - J.Buffett