Broke off the CMOS battery connector in one of my T30s

[cadillacmike68]

Well I really d!cked this one up... Murphy's law is alive and well

I got some new CR2032s to slide in to the tabs on my T series that have dead CMOS batteries (3 or 4 machines).

First, those tabs are welded on with the strength of hercules! I didn't break the wires off, but i did manage to pull the whole contraption out of the tiny socket on the machine.

After i finally got the tabs off and taped back to the new battery, i attempted to re-attach the tiny white tab to the nearly hidden connector. I think i got it lined up and pushed the back of the connector against the receptacle with a flat blade screwdriver. What was Murphy's law on this ? -

"If it jams, force it, if it breaks it needed replacing anyway"

Well, I broke of the little white receptacle and it's rattling around inside the machine.

It still boots, but if I power it off it will reset to dafaults in the BIOS and will need date / time updated. That's not too bad, but I'm also concerned that if I put a POPW or Supervisor PW, it might Fubar the BIOS.

Is this fixable if i can get the machine apart? [censored] engineers

[RealBlackStuff]

Yes, the connectors from e.g. T20/T21/T22/T23 are identical.
You can solder the replacement connector back onto the mobo (needs full dismantling).

[cadillacmike68]

Thanks,

Do you have any hints for getting the battery's little white connector back on to the mobo connector without breaking off the next one???

[RealBlackStuff]

Bend the battery cable in a 90 degree angle immediately before the plug.
Then use thin pointed tweezers to hold the cables with the plug in the correct position over the socket and gently push it down.
Use a small flat screwdriver to put it down all the way.
Worked for me when I had my T30 machines.

[cadillacmike68]

Well it looks like i'll be taking this one apart soon, because every time i remove the power cord, the BIOS loses it's settings and it goes to setup defaults.

And that blows off the no-1802 BIOS update, which blows off my Intel 2200BG WiFi card, so i effectively can't use those cards until i get the CMOS connector re-soldered.

Can i use the same connector that i broke off (it's rattling around in the laptop!) or do i need to buy or use a different one (from say a T21)??

I guess i'll have to use less force next time i try to connect one of these.

[RealBlackStuff]

If all the bits are still there, you should be able to resolder the old one back.
I soldered a T23 CMOS connector onto a 701c mobo, on which the old connector had corroded away, worked perfectly.

[cadillacmike68]

I'm going to see if i can persuade someone in my G6 to do it. They have the tiny solder guns, and better eyes & steadier hands!