I have a :lc: (Performa 475).
It had a dead PRAM battery, so I had wired it up to a voltage regulator that I had built, powered from a transformer. I then changed that to a similar regulator, but mounted internally powered from a PP3 battery so I could use it with the case cover on
.
This is what happened:
Day 1-Mains powered regulator installed, boots fine three or four times that day
Day 2-Battery powered regulator installed, boots fine two or three times
Day 3-Trouble (see explanation below) booting
Day 4+Same trouble experianced
A week or so later-Will not boot, regulator voltage checked and found to be too low
The perpetual problem is, when booting, the hard disk does strange things. Every second time I boot it, it spins up, then, about ten seconds later when it should start booting, it spins down again and shows me a flashy floppy picture. There is no grating or scraping from the hard disk, and it boots from a floppy OK. When it does boot from the hard disk, it works fine.
I then discovered the "double-flick" thing. I tried that, and now, every time, it does "problem". I haven't since tried it with a regulator/battery, so I don't know if that works, but again it does boot from a floppy.
My question is, would getting a new PRAM battery fix the problem. I say this particularly because the problem only showed up after a while (battery voltage dropping over time).
P.S. Don't say my hard disk's bad, because I haven't got another!
It had a dead PRAM battery, so I had wired it up to a voltage regulator that I had built, powered from a transformer. I then changed that to a similar regulator, but mounted internally powered from a PP3 battery so I could use it with the case cover on
.This is what happened:
Day 1-Mains powered regulator installed, boots fine three or four times that day
Day 2-Battery powered regulator installed, boots fine two or three times
Day 3-Trouble (see explanation below) booting
Day 4+Same trouble experianced
A week or so later-Will not boot, regulator voltage checked and found to be too low
The perpetual problem is, when booting, the hard disk does strange things. Every second time I boot it, it spins up, then, about ten seconds later when it should start booting, it spins down again and shows me a flashy floppy picture. There is no grating or scraping from the hard disk, and it boots from a floppy OK. When it does boot from the hard disk, it works fine.
I then discovered the "double-flick" thing. I tried that, and now, every time, it does "problem". I haven't since tried it with a regulator/battery, so I don't know if that works, but again it does boot from a floppy.
My question is, would getting a new PRAM battery fix the problem. I say this particularly because the problem only showed up after a while (battery voltage dropping over time).
P.S. Don't say my hard disk's bad, because I haven't got another!