V
VanguardLH
Juan said:
Then look at whether or not the first screen is showing the BIOS is
testing memory. That can take awhile. More memory, more time. This is
not a very good test (it's just a probe) so configure the BIOS to *not*
test memory on startup. It's useful for when you first build the
computer and during the burn-in period but after that get rid of it.
Already mentioned in prior post (snipped from this reply). How long
between when the RTC chip loses power to when it resets its time value
depends on a capacitor that is used to retain a charge. I've had
disconnected PCs (no power to the mobo with an unplugged in PSU) where
it was under 3 minutes to change the coin cell battery before the RTC
chip got reset. Another was 18 minutes. Another was way over 2 hours.
Typically it should take you a lot less than a minute to remove a coin
cell battery and then pop in a new one. In the Youtube video at:
a dead battery resulted in the RTC chip resetting and its base time
value was January 26, 2003 (which means this unit was manufactured
sometime after that) although, at the time the video was made, the
actual date was 10 years later (the video was uploaded on August 27,
2013).
Although images can be found at Bing and Google for the Gateway DX4860
motherboard, that doesn't mean the ones shown there is the one that you
got. Dell, Acer, Gateway, and other OEMs that produce pre-built PCs
build on spec, not on a particular parts list. If their purchasing
agents find another mobo with the same specs but cheaper that week then
that's what will show in in some units a bit later in their manufacture.
They will spec the mobo with whomever they contract for delivery or
manufacture but the manufacture can change the design as long as it meet
specs. They sell by spec, not by a fixed parts list. We have tried,
for example, in our alpha lab to order Dells with exactly the same
description and specifications to ensure each test host had the same
hardware. Didn't happen so we build our own test platforms. With that
in mind, the image at:
http://i01.i.aliimg.com/wsphoto/v0/...ont-b-Gateway-b-font-font-b-DX4860-b-font.jpg
might be the same as yours. If so, the coin cell battery is over by the
PCI-e 1x card slots. From what I can see, you push out the metal spring
tab (shown on the bottom in the photo's orientation) and lift the coin
cell out from that side. The plastic shell might have a ridge to act as
an indent to hold down the battery. Here's another photo:
http://www.skyline-eng.com/images/products/8806.jpg
Looks like there are 2 fingers on the left side of the plastic shell to
hold down the battery and the other side snaps under a metal spring
clip. There are many varieties of these coin cell holders. Yours might
be different. It'll be whatever the manufacturer had at the time when
they fabricated the one you happened to get.
Although the safety recommendation is that you use a non-metal tool to
help pull or pry out the battery, I've had no problems using a small
jeweler's flat-blade metal screwdriver. With the metal tab on the side
you push out of the way, you don't pry on the battery but just push
aside the spring tab. That battery should pop out but if not then lift
it out of the holder. Just don't drop it inside, touch electrical
stuff, or pull the power cord from the PSU and wait 10 minutes so the
PSU isn't supplying any standby power to the motherboard (or yank the
20/24 pin PSU connector from the mobo). Often I don't any tool other
than a fingernail (so don't trim them to the quick). Unlike the video,
I wouldn't let the battery pop out of the holder but put a finger atop
of it so it doesn't fly out to short something. When putting in the new
battery, wash your hands and wipe the battery with a tissue to remove
any oils from your hand that got onto the battery and only hold by its
sides. After positioning the battery in place, push it in with a
fingernail (or just use the tip of your finger but wipe again provided
the holder doesn't have a spring that runs across the top of the
battery). This is to eliminate any later corrosion. This is more for
the holder's contacts than for the stainless steel battery case.
Be sure to get the polarity correct. With the holders that I've seen
for these, the plastic shell is narrower at the bottom to allow the
smaller "button" part of the coin cell to sit within that well and keep
you from reversing the battery to push in first the larger diameter
outer casing; however, I've seen users force stuff together. Reverse
polarity will damage the RTC chip unless there is protective circuity on
the mobo.
Don't bother buying spare coin cells. By the time the one in the mobo
goes bad then the spares you bought with it will also be too old. Just
set a reminder to pop up in 3 years to do battery maintenance. By the
time you open the case to get at the battery, don't bother testing its
voltage. You're already there, you've already gotten a new battery in
prep to replace the old one, so just pop in a new one. I would
recommend buying a pair of batteries when you want to replace just one.
I have seen where one was bad on delivery/sale so the other one had to
be used. While the author is testing voltage, that's not the entire
story. A battery that tests good out of circuit (no load) may drop
voltage too much when in circuit (under load). However, there is little
load on these coin cell batteries in a mobo circuit so the voltage test,
in this case, is sufficient to indicate good/bad state of the battery.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/power-supply-protection-calculate-consumption,3066-10.html
If you have a CR-2032 coin cell battery that is rated for a 220 mAH load
but the motherboard is drawing only 5 uA, the battery (which should be
lithium, not alkaline) will last 44,400 hours or about 5 years; however,
the battery will not provide correct voltage all the way to it being
completely drained (voltage isn't flat as capacity wanes until some
catastrophic capacity threshold). So I figure 3 years is about a good
span of when to schedule a replacement. Remember that you aren't
getting the battery straight off the assembly line but instead off a
store shelf. Since it is rare for users to track when they installed a
new battery, and other for yourself, typically the battery gets replaced
when it's been dead for quite awhile (until the user notices the time is
being reset after a cold boot while the computer has been disconnected
from power) or abnormalities in behavior are noticed and the user
decides to get around to looking at the problem.