Toshiba laptop aggravation
in [Design]
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From: D Yuniskis on 11 Mar 2010 12:32 Hi Joerg, Joerg wrote: > D Yuniskis wrote: >> I had a decent older laptop with *built-in* AC power supply >> (eliminates the problem of having to buy replacement batteries >> for something that is rarely used :< ). But, I opted to discard >> it in one of my periodic "purges". >> >> I've held onto a Compaq "Portable 386" (lunchbox, not the >> luggable). Big, yes. And had to hack the BIOS to get >> support for even a 300 *MB* disk. But, keeps two ISA slots >> available for me (something I don't have in any of the >> other machines, here). > > You can still buy PCs with ISA slots. And you will be able to for a > loooong time. ISA is here to stay because of many industrial uses. Yes. The advantage of the Portable is that it is much smaller than a "regular" PC -- including the keyboard and plasma display -- portable and still has the old serial and parallel ports (even an *EGA* video out :> ) >> Unfortunately, I don't have another machine with a 5" floppy >> so I can't create the "SETUP floppy" to reinitialize the CMOS >> now that the battery died. (<frown> I was smart enough to save >> images of all the floppies -- but forgot to save a drive that >> could write them... other than the one in the Compaq!) >> >> I am hoping, someday, to have time to see if I can hack a >> USB 3" floppy drive to accept a 5" drive, instead (no idea >> how closely the controllers in those floppies are wed to >> the actual 3" drive! I don't expect much joy...) > > In a desktop the controller can do it, at least in my Dell here (Foxconn > mobo). But the BIOS does not support 5-1/4" :-( Yeah, so doesn't buy you much. :< I am hoping that the controller in the 3.5 usb floppies is smart enough to see the difference in a 5" -- much like you can repurpose an external USB CD-R/W to be an external (hard) disk. I suspect the 5" went disappeared too soon for the makers of these controllers to support it. :-/
From: John Larkin on 11 Mar 2010 12:26 On Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:09:23 -0800, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote: >D Yuniskis wrote: >> Hi John, >> >> John Larkin wrote: >>> On Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:38:49 -0700, D Yuniskis >>> <not.going.to.be(a)seen.com> wrote: >>> >>>> John Larkin wrote: >>>> >>>> [win98 laptops] >>>> >>>>> I use them with real PS/2 mice. Those mousepads are awful. >>>> Most mousepads are sited in the wrong place. But, then >>>> again, with a laptop you haven't much choice... >>>> >>>>> It's weird to buy a computer for less than a scope probe. >>>> <frown> We discard laptops with anything less than a Piii. >>> >>> Right. Big companies unload, sometimes, thousands of working laptops. >>> Brokers buy them by the pallet, refurb, and resell them with a >>> warranty. They can be handy to have around sometimes. It doesn't take >>> a Core Duo to wiggle bits on a parallel port. >> >> I had a decent older laptop with *built-in* AC power supply >> (eliminates the problem of having to buy replacement batteries >> for something that is rarely used :< ). But, I opted to discard >> it in one of my periodic "purges". >> >> I've held onto a Compaq "Portable 386" (lunchbox, not the >> luggable). Big, yes. And had to hack the BIOS to get >> support for even a 300 *MB* disk. But, keeps two ISA slots >> available for me (something I don't have in any of the >> other machines, here). >> > >You can still buy PCs with ISA slots. And you will be able to for a >loooong time. ISA is here to stay because of many industrial uses. Got any links? We've had a hard time getting mobos with ISA slots, as spares for older systems. We just refurbed a 10-year-old magnetic field mapper system and had a hard time getting parts. Our customer was breathing down our neck, as the mapper is in the critical path of a billion-dollar annual revenue stream. John
From: Michael A. Terrell on 11 Mar 2010 12:36 John Larkin wrote: > > On Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:09:23 -0800, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> > wrote: > > >D Yuniskis wrote: > >> Hi John, > >> > >> John Larkin wrote: > >>> On Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:38:49 -0700, D Yuniskis > >>> <not.going.to.be(a)seen.com> wrote: > >>> > >>>> John Larkin wrote: > >>>> > >>>> [win98 laptops] > >>>> > >>>>> I use them with real PS/2 mice. Those mousepads are awful. > >>>> Most mousepads are sited in the wrong place. But, then > >>>> again, with a laptop you haven't much choice... > >>>> > >>>>> It's weird to buy a computer for less than a scope probe. > >>>> <frown> We discard laptops with anything less than a Piii. > >>> > >>> Right. Big companies unload, sometimes, thousands of working laptops. > >>> Brokers buy them by the pallet, refurb, and resell them with a > >>> warranty. They can be handy to have around sometimes. It doesn't take > >>> a Core Duo to wiggle bits on a parallel port. > >> > >> I had a decent older laptop with *built-in* AC power supply > >> (eliminates the problem of having to buy replacement batteries > >> for something that is rarely used :< ). But, I opted to discard > >> it in one of my periodic "purges". > >> > >> I've held onto a Compaq "Portable 386" (lunchbox, not the > >> luggable). Big, yes. And had to hack the BIOS to get > >> support for even a 300 *MB* disk. But, keeps two ISA slots > >> available for me (something I don't have in any of the > >> other machines, here). > >> > > > >You can still buy PCs with ISA slots. And you will be able to for a > >loooong time. ISA is here to stay because of many industrial uses. > > Got any links? We've had a hard time getting mobos with ISA slots, as > spares for older systems. We just refurbed a 10-year-old magnetic > field mapper system and had a hard time getting parts. Our customer > was breathing down our neck, as the mapper is in the critical path of > a billion-dollar annual revenue stream. Can you use good used motherboards? 386, 486, Early pentium? -- Lead free solder is Belgium's version of 'Hold my beer and watch this!'
From: Martin Brown on 11 Mar 2010 12:37 D Yuniskis wrote: > Hi John, > > John Larkin wrote: >> On Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:38:49 -0700, D Yuniskis >> <not.going.to.be(a)seen.com> wrote: >> >>> John Larkin wrote: >>> >>> [win98 laptops] >>> >>>> I use them with real PS/2 mice. Those mousepads are awful. >>> Most mousepads are sited in the wrong place. But, then >>> again, with a laptop you haven't much choice... >>> >>>> It's weird to buy a computer for less than a scope probe. >>> <frown> We discard laptops with anything less than a Piii. >> >> Right. Big companies unload, sometimes, thousands of working laptops. >> Brokers buy them by the pallet, refurb, and resell them with a >> warranty. They can be handy to have around sometimes. It doesn't take >> a Core Duo to wiggle bits on a parallel port. > > I had a decent older laptop with *built-in* AC power supply > (eliminates the problem of having to buy replacement batteries > for something that is rarely used :< ). But, I opted to discard > it in one of my periodic "purges". > > I've held onto a Compaq "Portable 386" (lunchbox, not the > luggable). Big, yes. And had to hack the BIOS to get > support for even a 300 *MB* disk. But, keeps two ISA slots > available for me (something I don't have in any of the > other machines, here). Wow. That goes back a long way. I used to have one of those it was like carrying a car battery around with you. Powerful in its day. > > Unfortunately, I don't have another machine with a 5" floppy > so I can't create the "SETUP floppy" to reinitialize the CMOS > now that the battery died. (<frown> I was smart enough to save > images of all the floppies -- but forgot to save a drive that > could write them... other than the one in the Compaq!) You might be able to trick it into booting despite the CMOS being empty by powering it up leaving for a few minutes and then switch off and restart. With any luck enough power to put the CMOS into a default safe state will stay around just long enough on capacitors. Try a few variants of power on, reset reboot. You only have to get lucky once! If it will boot once then use RS232 or parallel port networking to move the files across. Regards, Martin Brown
From: Michael A. Terrell on 11 Mar 2010 12:37
D Yuniskis wrote: > > Yeah, so doesn't buy you much. :< I am hoping that the > controller in the 3.5 usb floppies is smart enough to > see the difference in a 5" -- much like you can repurpose > an external USB CD-R/W to be an external (hard) disk. > > I suspect the 5" went disappeared too soon for the makers > of these controllers to support it. :-/ They were 5.25" Do you need 360 KB or 1.2 MB -- Lead free solder is Belgium's version of 'Hold my beer and watch this!' |