Newsgroup: it.comp.retrocomputing
Titolo: Olivetti m300-10 Hangs at Fixed Disks

Hi, I have an old (currently well used by a relative) Olivetti m300-10
(bumped up to a 486, I think) which has suddenly started hanging at
Fixed Disk startup.  When you turn the pc on, it beeps 4 times, then
hangs at Fixed Disk,then quickly flashes Disk Controller Failure 1782.
Then it goes into built in setup mode, starting with 1 USA, etc. I
choose 1, then get the HDU/F3 menu, I hit F3 and it asks for 2 HDU
settings (why 2?), neither of which I know, since the original owner
of the machine never printed out the specs sheet. I've tried entering
random numbers by hitting the space bar, ex. 34-040 mb, and putting
the same number in the second setting. I then hit enter twice, and the
system reboots to:
Fixed Disk 1782       disk controller failure 
Floppy Disk           1 present
Sys. Config. error    run setup
Primary Boot Strap
Non system disk or disk error
Replace disk and strike key    (the drive light goes on when you do
this, so the floppy is ok)
I'm wondering if it's the battery that's causing the HD to hang/losing
the settings, and what I can do about it. And/or, if it's just the
wrong settings that I'm entering, how would I ever get the right ones
in there? (There are probably 250 permutations/combos of numbers to
enter at the F3 prompt). I have the 2 disks that came with the
machine, but they only bring me to the same place that I get to when I
start the machine up anyway. The manual I have is for the M300-05 (I
don't know why it's not the M300-10, but then again, this was a 2nd
hand machine ~5 years ago, and it's of no help so far). I'm running
dos 6 and win 3.1 on this pc, but it's mainly used in dos. (Dosshell
text editor, and dos based modem program).
In the end, I only want to get this pc up and running long enough to
get a pile of text files off the HD, and then my relative will likely
not use the machine anymore if it's becoming this unreliable (though
he's quite attached to it). But the 1st need is to get at the HD. Any
help would be most welcome.
Thanks



 he's quite attached to it). But the 1st need is to get at the HD
The HD must be (if it had not been replaced) an IDE-type, so you can connect
it to almost any modern PC (as a second unit), and you may get it working
easily.
Marco


http://www.peteweb.com/ftp/webhq/manuals/olivetti/systems1/cap19.pdf
If the main board battery has failed, then the system will lose the
disk specifications and you won't be able to boot from the hard drive.
This is typical with older systems before drive auto-detect was
common.
As Lurker suggested, open the case and identify the drive. Then input
the correct parameters as provided in the manual or listed on the hard
drive case. This will allow you to boot up (assuming that nothing else
has failed), but the settings will be lost after the power is turned
off. Replacing battery will repair the problem permanently.
- -
Gary L.
Reply to the Newsgroup for the benefit of all

I can't tell you what's wrong with your Olivetti, because I'm not
experienced with old PCs, but if you aren't going to use that machine
anymore, maybe putting its hard drive into another modern pc and then
retrieve the data you need is the easiest solution.

hangs at Fixed Disk,then quickly flashes Disk Controller Failure 1782.
Sounds like the CMOS battery has gone.  CMOS batteries usually only
last for about 5 years, after that they no longer keep power to the
CMOS and it forgets all the settings.
Most computer stores should have replacement batteries, it's just a
question of which type of battery you need.  Open up the case and look
for either a small, flat silver battery (sort of like a watch battery
only bigger), or alternatively a set of 3 pins for an external battery
(hopefully it will have something like "Ext bat" silk-screened on the
motherboard).
FWIW you should be able to find the hard disk settings written right
on the hard disk itself.  Otherwise the disk manufacturer may have
them listed on their website, or a google search might turn up the
settings.

...

Thanks for all the feedback from everybody. I did open the machine,
and on the HD metal brace is printed: 36 40mb- but this is scratched
out with pen, and in place is written: 40 116.  It's a Maxtor HD
7120AT/HDA 22A/PCBA 66A/Unique 30A/Z,D,B. I hooked the pc up with the
cover still off & powered it up, and tried reentering the HDU settings
using the info on the HD metal brace. It made no difference. Though,
there's no option in the 2nd HDU requester to put in a blank or "none
installed"; the only option is to put in the 2 numbers. And as far as
I can see there clearly is NO 2nd HD in the pc. The pc still makes the
initial 4 beeps with the cover off AND WITH the battery disconnected,
and it definitely sounds like the beeps are still coming from the HD.
Re: the battery I disconnected, all I could see (no watch type
batteries) on the pc (and that's the areas not covered by the power
supply, and the drives, which I assume isn't MB area) was the battery
I disconnected: a ~3" x 2" square battery that says: Computer clock
battery 844/Rayovac 4.5 volts." It was attached to the MB just behind
the HD with a small 4 pin black connector. The battery has the usual
red & white wires coming out (+ extra wire spliced by the techie, I
assume, to make up the distance), and I tested it and it's reading 3.3
v.  Well below the 4.5 v, but is that enough to be considered dead/the
possible cause of the problems, if it is even the battery?
Thanks again for any more help offered. I'm not a techie, so I'm
proceeding kind of slowly here (new territory for me) and appreciate
your patience. I'm really just trying to fix this pc for a relative so
he can gather his text files (a ton of them) and possibly get him
hooked up to it again, as he's attached to this particular pc.

 possible cause of the problems, if it is even the battery?
More questions.
Was the computer used after the upgrade?If not, replace the 386,and the
battery.
Did the computer originally have a Windows OS?
I think some Olivetti computers were dedicated as word processors only and
used
the CP/M Operating system.???May not have used the Intel CPU.
Some AT&T diag. diskettes would boot some Olivettis but they may have been
unix
machines.
This old machine had a disk controller card(I think).Did you check it for
for a battery?
Some controller cards had switches or jumpers that let you set boot
options,such as
"Boot from server" etc.
The IBM&Compatible failure code 1782 indicated "No IPL from hardfile".Is
this ROM
on the motherboard or the disk controller card?
     Good Luck,
           D J
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not use the machine anymore
Your best bet then would be to connect it to the secondary IDE
controller of a newer machine, set the drive type to Auto to allow the
BIOS to derive the settings from the partition table, boot, and copy the
files your relative wants to keep elsewhere.
Hope that helps.

 the battery ... I tested it and it's reading 3.3 v.
  It should work fine.
Greetings,
Marco.

possible cause of the problems, if it is even the battery?
Yup, that's probably the reason for all your troubles.  Bring the
battery into a computer store and see if they can get you a
replacement, it'll probably only cost about $5.