Thinkpads Forum

I run Win98 on a 600 (type 2645-51U). When I boot I get three diagnostic codes: 00173, 00192 & 00163. In this case at least, all appear related to a weak/dead internal battery.

The diagnostic program then shows a menu for setting the date. After setting the date I must still manually power-off and on once or twice before Windows loads and I can use the machine.

Is there a way to suppress the automatic hardware boot diagnostic tests until I replace the internal battery?

Thanks!

John

No and you're tempting fate by continuing to use the system in that condition. You could scramble the HD's MBR and wind up with a dead system.

The configuration data lost error (173) can lead to HD problems.

Change the CMOS battery ASAP.

Regards,

James

Thanks for the reply. Okay, I certainly don't want to tempt fate. But I'm in Spain and not sure how fast I can get a replacement CMOS battery.

In the meantime, are there any precautions I can take? The machine resides permanently on my desk, so leaving the power on is an option.
With that, though, I'm worried about the fan being on all the time.

Do you have suggestions?

John

The part with leads, ready to install, can be quite expensive (US$20). I bought a bare cell at a local shop (US$3.59) and they spot-welded the leads from my old cell onto the new one and wrapped it in heat-shrink tubing for one dollar.

Do NOT solder onto a cell if you buy one. It will dramatically reduce the life of the cell and possibly kill it there on the spot. Spot welding is hotter but much faster, so it delivers less overall heat to the battery.

It is very safe to leave the machine on all the time. Of course, you can also put it into standby mode when you're not using it. Windows 98 can be god about that, depending on what devices you have installed.

Yes, you're right. The battery itself is a coin battery (CR2025) and can potentially be bought at a camera or watch store.

Spot-welding is beyond my skills. I wonder if I I just wrapped electrical tape tightly around the leads and battery if that would give a good enough contact.

As for standby mode, when I do that I get a mesage like "Error trying to write to hard drive C:\". Possibly this is related to the problem discussed in another thread about standby--I'll check that.

John

Tape is a great solution. It's what I would have done if the technician hadn't offered to spot-weld it for me.

Replace your battery right away. It can cause all kinds of problems and errors. Your hard drive issue might clear up.

whizkid wrote:Tape is a great solution.

Good advice from Chris (as usual!) but shrink wrap is a better long term solution.

Regards,

James