Hey folks.

Is it possible to short out your CMOS chip?  I think mine is fried.
These are the symptoms...

I have to do the following to get my computer (a Gateway 486DX33)
to boot...

    Turn the power off

    Disconnect the battery to the CMOS chip

    Turn the power on

    Get into setup upon getting the CMOS configuration error

    Set up the CMOS

    Exit the setup with [F10]  (phoenix bios)

    Ignore the diskette 0 seek error and press [F1]

The computer then boots normally.  Both hard drives are accessible
but the floppy drives are not.

I can back up over the network and such, but if I need to reboot,
I have to turn off the computer and repeat the steps above.  If I
simply <Ctl>-<Alt>-<Del>, the computer hangs after the memory test.

Does this sound like the CMOS chip is fried?  Can I buy another one?
Where?

Thank you for your kind attention.

john