BIOS settings??

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

I have a Dell Dim 2400.

Eventually it will need a battery replacement and I suspect I'll have to
know the BIOS settings.

How do I find these settings?

MB

 

[ted]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"MB_" <mel@prodigy.invalid.net> wrote in message
news:HUaoe.25896$eR.16755@fe05.lga...
>I have a Dell Dim 2400.
>
> Eventually it will need a battery replacement and I suspect I'll have to
> know the BIOS settings.
>
> How do I find these settings?
>
> MB
>

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/41

 

[louise]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

In article <HUaoe.25896$eR.16755@fe05.lga>, mel@prodigy.invalid.net
says...
> I have a Dell Dim 2400.
>
> Eventually it will need a battery replacement and I suspect I'll have to
> know the BIOS settings.
>
> How do I find these settings?
>
> MB
>
>
>
I took a digital camera and went through every page of the bios and took
a picture of the settings while they were correct. Of course the photos
aren't works of art but I printed them out and they're perfectly
readable.

I've used this once when I disconnected an external hard drive at the
wrong moment and the bios then thought I had a raid system, etc. etc.

Louise

 

[dennis]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

> I have a Dell Dim 2400.
>
> Eventually it will need a battery replacement and I suspect I'll have to
> know the BIOS settings.
>
> How do I find these settings?

The battery is for the clock. The BIOS is set in firmware (CMOS) and does
not need a battery to retain it's settings.

However if it does get messed up after the replacement, just reset the BIOS
to "default" and it should function properly after that.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Nope. The battery is also responsible for keeping the CMOS settings from
becoming corrupted.

Yep. Resetting the BIOS CMOS settings to the default will not cause major
issues and the system should boot. Some of the settings can be fine-tuned to
ones own preferences and usage, e.g. Num Lock On and parallel printer type
(Bidirectional, ECP or EPP)... Ben Myers

On Thu, 16 Jun 2005 21:30:22 GMT, "Dennis" <nobody@verizon.net> wrote:

>
>> I have a Dell Dim 2400.
>>
>> Eventually it will need a battery replacement and I suspect I'll have to
>> know the BIOS settings.
>>
>> How do I find these settings?
>
>The battery is for the clock. The BIOS is set in firmware (CMOS) and does
>not need a battery to retain it's settings.
>
>However if it does get messed up after the replacement, just reset the BIOS
>to "default" and it should function properly after that.
>
>

 

[dennis]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

<ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers)> wrote in message
news:42b20049.2348710@nntp.charter.net...
> Nope. The battery is also responsible for keeping the CMOS settings from
> becoming corrupted.

I agree that the older systems needed a battery to maintain their settings.
[We still have a 486 in the lobby that needs to have the BIOS settings
entered every time it's booted (I soldered a new battery in it twice and it
olny lasts a week so ......)]; but I was talking about EEPROM, not PROM or
EPROM systems.

"While Random Access Memory (RAM) loses its data every time you power down
your computer, EEPROM does not require a power source to maintain its data.
For this reason EEPROM is commonly used by many BIOS chips to save system
settings."
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-eeprom.htm

....Here's a reference to the Dell support site on what they use:

"Dell systems use a NVRAM chip to hold the BIOS and System Setup
information."
"NVRAM is an acronym for Non-Volatile Random Access Memory, a type of memory
that retains its contents when power is turned off."
"In a Dell computer, NVRAM contains the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System), a
CMOS layer (complimentary metal-oxide semiconductor), and several other
layers."
and
"...EEPROMs were then developed. These are Electrically Erasable
Programmable Read Only Memory. EEPROMs can be erased with an electrical
signal. These are the physical chips used for most flash BIOS chips."
http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kb/en/document?dn=1012191&c=us&l=en&cs=&s=gen