motherboard icl a9930190c

help !!!
I have obtained old fujitsu/icl ergo pro x
computer, motherboard is based on opti viper, but badged as icl,all i can get from first screen is
Mach64ct-ct2 pci bios rel e
icl system bios #53 v1.01
my problem is....picked up the base unit at car boot sale.. its password protected bios and system .. there are no jumpers near the battery to discharge the bios...
how can i clear the bios so i can get into the system ????? if i short out the battery will that do it ????
i cant even boot from floppy as it must be set to go straight to hard drive...i dont know if its loaded with windows 98/nt or what.
Any info on the motherboard of this machine would be welcome,
many thanks

1. RE: motherboard icl a9930190c
lbyard May-30-01 01:08 PM
In response to message 0

The best thing to do is to try and track-down the motherboard manufacturer (see http://duxcw.com/digest/Fromshop/mb/det.htm) and download the motherboard book, if available (from your post I see that you may have tried that). Fujitsu may have some info on their web site. If the battery is removable, pull it and let the CMOS discharge for 10 or more minutes. Be careful when removing coin-shaped batteries (e.g., CR2032). Most of the battery holders I have seen for these batteries are quite fragile and easily broken. I ease these batteries out of the holder with the aid of a “tweaker” (small screw driver). If the battery isn’t removable, there may be a header on the motherboard for an external battery. Usually there are three (four-pin header with one pin missing) or four pins (you may have to break-off one pin or bend it over to install an external battery). If the battery is near the keyboard jack, that header is often at the back of the motherboard and to the left of the keyboard jack when facing the front of the computer. It may be labeled with a + or pin 1. Many of them will have a jumper on them for jumpering the motherboard to use the battery on the motherboard or an external one. Usually, shorting the furthest forward pair of pins with a jumper (or moving the jumper to the pins that are not jumpered) discharge the CMOS. Removing the jumper may also work. I usually try to follow the traces from that header to determine which pins are which (or follow the traces, if they don’t disappear in a multi-layer board, from the battery to find the header). Shorting the battery may damage it and/or the CMOS, but it might work, and I have done it quite a few times successfully. “Shorting” it with a resistor (guess = 10 KOhms) might be a better idea. I have not done that. Some older computers have the battery and real-time clock built into a single unit. They are usually black and rectangular in shape. Dallas Semiconductor made many of them. They are supposed to last about ten years. If that unit is soldered to the motherboard and it dies, it usually spells the end of the motherboard (you may be able to pry off the top of the unit and “splice” a battery into it). I have not done that either. If the battery is cylindrical (usually blue), soldered to motherboard, and is leaking, it must be removed. The ooze will eat the traces on the motherboard and ruin it. Never attempt to unsolder one of these batteries (or any battery). They can explode. I carefully twist them off with piers and clean-up the remains with a small pair of diagonal cutters. Plugging a battery in backwards can damage the CMOS on some motherboards. Larry