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Olivetti laptop boot problem

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by steve.parkhouse

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I'm looking at an old Olivetti 860 and it won't get past POST. The HDD runs then stops and it won't see the floppy. I think it's the BIOS battery. What voltage should it be? Any ideas?

3 replies

by mheinze_uk

Whilst I have not come across an Olivetti 860 before I have had a lot of experience in Compaq and IBM laptops and I doubt that the problem lies with the CMOS battery. Generally it should POST without a CMOS battery but will just return a time and date error etc... I would remove any user replaceable parts (eg PCMCIA cards, battery, hard drive and memory) and see if it POSTS then. If it does then obviously it's one of the components removed. Otherwise there is probably a fault with either the BIOS or the system board. If the CMOS battery is anything like the batteries in Compaq's and IBM's then it should be close to 3v.

by steve.parkhouse

I now agree that it's not the battery (removed and eliminated). I stripped it down to the essentials before asking for help. Now I think it is the system board, so its gonna get junked. Thanks very much for your help - very much appreciated.

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