CMOS Password

[ACFS]

I have a 1995 Torq-Cut 22. I don't use it much. I just tried to run it and when I powered it up it shows "CMOS memory mismatch". When I hit F1 to go to the CMOS to correct this it asks for a Password. It never asked for a password before. I would like to get a manual for the motherboard so that I know what jumper to insert to erase the Password that I don't know. Does anyone here know what the default password would be, have a link to the manual for the mother board, or finally know what the jumper number is?

[machintek]

There is no default password. Somehow one was set. You need to move the battery jumper from internal to external if you have the NI-Cad type CMOS battery. This will kill all the CMOS settings and the password.
If it is a newer MB such as the type with a "coin"style battery, remove the battery and wait a while and see if it is cleared.
But I wonder if the battery is low. Why else would you be getting a CMOS mis-match error?

George

[JonS]

"CMOS memory mismatch" means that on booting up the computer is not seeing the same memory as when the CMOS was last saved.

Causes for this would be the CMOS battery being dead, memory failing or being pilfered. If you are lucky then some memory may have come unseated.

[ACFS]

George and JonS. Thank you both for your replies. You are correct in that the battery is somewhat dead. It works for several days to a week if the power is off. It has been this way for several years but we never bothered replacing it because we just enter the correct info into the CMOS setup whenever we power it up after a long down time. The problem this time is that something got corrupted (I think) and now we need a password. From what I read, I thought that there was a jumper to erase the password. I like George's idea to change the jumper for the battery. (I do have the old style battery that is soldered in) I was hoping to get a manual so that I would know for sure what the battery or password jumper was. I do see a three pin jumper header just above the battery but it is not labeled. Would this be the External/Internal Battery Jumper? I thought of just switching it before but I don't want to screw this thing up worse than it is.

As far as the original "Memory Mismatch" error, I think this is just because the battery is dead and that is the error we always get. I have reset all of the memory chips and all of the I/O boards and disk drive connectors. I think if I can get back into the CMOS all will be well. I can boot the system off of the floppy and access the hard drive and run the Bridgeport program.

Again thank you both for the response. If no one knows how to get a motherboard manual, I will have to pull the board and get more information from it. Hopefully I can then find more documentation on line. If I do I will post were to get it for others.

[ACFS]

There are two jumpers directly above the battery. One has four pins the other has three. They are both only labeled by numbers so I was not sure if this was the battery jumper that George had spoke of. For the heck of it, I changed the position of the three pin jumper and powered the unit up. The monitor flashed but did not do anything else. I then moved the jumper back to the original position, re-powered the unit, and it erased the password. I am now back in business. Thank you both for your assistance. I would still like to get some documentation on the motherboard but at least I can run a couple of parts at this point.

[machintek]

Please change the battery as soon as possible. It is soldered in. If you wait too long it will leak out its electrolyte and kill the mother board by eating away the surface deposited wires.

George