CompuAdd 316SL documentation

[JoeG]

Well, I couldn't find any documentation to go with this computer. The first problem was that the DALLAS DS-1287 RTC/battery was dead. And the ones for sale on the internet are more than likely dead since these were discontinued long ago. And without it being able to hold CMOS settings, there was no hope of it booting DOS.

So I used a technique that I found on the internet to attach an external sealed coin sized battery to the RTC. I had to use a Dremel tool to grind away the two spots on the same side of the RTC to expose two specific pins (- and +). Then separate the top and bottom of the first pin (-) by cutting it using the grinding bit. This will keep the external battery alive a little longer (so I'm told). I soldered the leads from the sealed coin battery to the bottom part of the first pin, and the second pin.

I put the computer back together, powered it on, went into CMOS to set a different date, the floppy drive type, and the hard drive type. I had to guess which hard drive type it should be set to, but at least I knew the capacity. I could find any data on the actual specifications of the hard drive other than its capacity. The good news is that the CMOS was now holding whatever settings I used. I eventually hit upon drive type 42 that booted into DOS 6.22. This laptop originally came withe Windows 3.0, but it had been deleted.

I tried the floppy drive, and all I get is a seek error. Even on good floppy disks with data on them produce the same error message. So I opened the computer back up, removed the floppy drive, cleaned the heads and lubricated the rails and the motor spindle. I reinstalled the floppy, and there is no change. The floppy drive is a Epson SMD-1000. Not sure what the problem is, but the power and the interface cable are fine. So I ordered a working replacement off of ebay today. It's amazing how much people are getting for these old floppy drives. I'll probably try replacing the capacitors on the old drive some day in the future when I'm brave enough to further dismantle the drive to gain access to the capacitors. Lots of moving parts and springs. I'll video the dismantling to help possibly putting the drive back together.

Learning much as I go.

Joe