OK, When I power on my 486, I get t

[metamorphy]

OK, When I power on my 486, I get the following bios error messages:

EISA CMOS checksum failure

WAIT......

CMOS memory size mismatch

when I run the setup utility and set the hard drive values to match the values printed on the drive, the total drive size comes out different (smaller) than the size printed on the hard drive. Does this have anything to do with the problem?

Invariably, I get the following message after exiting the setup utility:

HDD controller failure

Can anyone give me a clue as to how to get the bios to recognize the hard drive? I dont care about the data on the hard drive, I would just like to be able to boot up dos and reformat the drive if this is possible?

Thanks in advance for helping the hardware impaired....

 

[CitrixEngineer]

I'd guess that the battery is dying, from this information.

How mauch smaller does the drive appear than the size rated on the drive? If it's within a smallish range, then that's acceptable.

Many 486 motherboard BIOSes have an autodetect feature - I have even seen them in 386s. This would be the preferable way of setting the hard disk.

It's possible that the IDE controller has failed (this is about the most common failure I've seen on boards of this vintage). In this case, you may need to obtain an add-on IDE controller. An ISA card, if you can track one down, shouldn't be more than £5, second-hand.

Hope this helps CitrixEngineer@yahoo.co.uk