Hi,

Laptop is "Working"!

I have system information regarding all my old computers so I decided to
look for one that has a Phoenix BIOS made around the same time as this 1230.
I found one in my Fujitsu laptop. I have the OM for the Fujitsu, so I looked
for information regarding BIOS setup. On that page I saw, if I press Esc key
during boot up (Fujitsu), I will be presented with an option to boot from a
different drive.

I decided to try that on the 1230, but I was not presented with this
option (pick a drive). Instead, I saw a message that stated "configuration
was restored" (not exact words). Not only that, my floppy drive is
"working"!

I don't know if pressing Esc key restored parameters, but I made a note
of that should this event happen again. That's not all. Now I can press
F10 during power up and get into BIOS settings without a pass word!
Note: I searched the SM (.PDF) for "Esc" (whole word), but no information
was found.

Of course I changed the boot sequence to CD drive first.

Again, Thanks to everyone, John


On Thu, 31 Mar 2011 08:43:39 -0500, in sci.electronics.repair you wrote:

Hi,

I service TVs, etc. Once in a while, I service my own computers, one of
which is a Compaq Presario 1230 laptop with Windows 98se I bought second hand
a few years ago. You may consider this obsolete, but to me, it is very
useful.

Recently, during power up, I saw "Error, O2BO: Diskette drive A error".
I removed the floppy drive, but I got the same error, which could be
it's controller?

I inserted a bootable CD rom hoping that the boot sequence might start at
the CD rom, but it didn't. It must be A: drive first. Note: The HDD is fine
because I removed it and checked it on anther PC.

If I can change the boot sequence, I can do without the floppy drive,
but to get into the settings by pressing F10, I have to enter a password.
I don't have the phone number of the person I bought it from who lives
out of town.

I removed the RTC/CMOS battery (soldered in) and waited 24 hours
hoping that it may "clear" the password requirement, but it did not.
Maybe I should wait longer?

Pressing F10 presents a screen that says, "Phoenix BIOS Setup Utility"
followed by a prompt for a password. I tried some by guessing, but it
didn't work. I hope the password isn't stored in the BIOS.

Do you know a technique to bypass the password requirement so
I can change the boot sequence?

Thank You in Advance, John

PS, Remove "ine" from my email address