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Old Datago Portable Computer

Fieldysnutz

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Mar 31, 2010
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Hey all, just wondering if I could get some information on this thing. It was in one of the lots I won at an auction. I don't know too much about computers so I was wondering if I could get some information on this thing. It has a "Datago" name on it, but I couldn't find any information whatsoever on this thing online. It turns on but gives me an error message. I attached some pictures but sorry they aren't the best quality. Thanks.
 

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Welcome to these forums.

The computer has a battery that is either on the motherboard or attached to the motherboard. The battery's purpose is to preserve the CMOS configuration information (CMOS setup) when the computer is powered off.

CMOS BATTERY

The error messages indicates that either that battery is missing or it is past it's useful life (probably the latter).
Once the battery has been replaced, the "TESTING CMOS BATTERY ... FAIL" should change to "TESTING CMOS BATTERY ... PASS"

Examples of common batteries that attach to the motherboard via cable are:
1. http://members.dodo.com.au/~slappanel555/misc/BATT_1.JPG
2. http://members.dodo.com.au/~slappanel555/misc/BATT_2.JPG

If you can't find the battery, look on the motherboard for a device that looks like what is pictured at http://members.dodo.com.au/~slappanel555/misc/ds1287.jpg
If it turns out that you have one of those (or similar), let us know because there can be complications in it's replacement.

CMOS CONFIGURATION

After replacing the battery with new, the "TESTING CMOS CHECKSUM ... FAIL" will still be present. To fix that, you will need to run a setup program to reenter the lost configuration information. The computer appears to be dated about 1991, and so the computer may have a built-in setup program. Look for something like "Press DELETE to enter Setup" when the computer is powered on.

Being a 286 based computer, a generic setup program should work. Let us know if you need one (i.e. no built-in setup).

And let us know if you need help in determining what configuration to enter.
 
From what remember, DOS can handle up to four floppy drives. This is the first time however I have ever seen a computer that actually did this though.
It's also possible that one set of drives is for booting and the other set are for imaging and creating disks.
 
Yes, the 5150 and 5160 has a configuration for 4 drives. DOS up to some level took the 4 drives and lettered them A B C D. When the 5170 came along, the CMOS configuraion and the BIOS support only allowed for 2 native drives. C: wasn't always a hard drive...
 
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