Classic Acorn

Basically as an update to the last news on my A4, yes the mainboard including the IDE connector had suffered some slight corrosion due to the CMOS battery leaking, but this did not, as I thought, trigger the error's I was getting on my Hard Drive

So, the search was on for a replacement, not an easy task when you require a drive thats less than 512Mb. I eventually tracked one down and APDL got it to me as good as next day. So all credit to APDL.

The CMOS battery which is Obsolete as far as a direct replacement, was replaced by an equivalent cell sourced from Farnell. I think it was 1.49 UKP.

So if you decide to replace your's, go straight to Farnell. Best to go through someone who has an account as they dont seem to be interested in 1 off buys for under 2 quid without an account. Most other big electrical suppliers are the same, to much admin.

A good bet would be to go through a local electronics firm.

A few final cosmetic changes to the main menu on the site tops off this update.

Ok, its been a while but I have been busywith other issues for some time.
But now I am back the site will recieve some well needed updates.

My A4 has been giving me serious grief of late. I have been suffering from intermittant Hard Disc problems, ie sometimes the disc will read another time the machine wont recognise it. Initially I thought that the disc itself was probably giving it's last. I dismantled the A4 (A soon to be uploaded section) in the hope of finding something loose inside, say an IDE ribbon. Unfortunatly it got worse. I found that the CMOS battery was leaking, this in turn has started to corrode a couple of pins on the motherboards IDE connector which I am hoping is the cause of the intermittant Disc problems.

Strangely tho, the Floppy drive was giving me the same problems and the same has happend to that connector. The leaking battery acid has traveled along and corroded these pins.

All is not lost, the corrosion is not that bad. I have removed the battery from the motherboard to prevent any more damage. the problem now is locating a replacement.

VARTA UK tell me the battery is obsolete, I have emailed twenty odd battery companies with little sucess. I also emailed CJE Micros and Castle Technology, but still no Joy.

I am now sourcing an alternative cell, of the same voltage but of a higher mah which will hopefully do the trick. It will have to be located off of the mainboard as button-cells of this type seem rather non-existant. So a slightly larger cell will have to go into the area of the Econet Upgrade.

If anyone has any suggestions or sources or even recomendations as to what the limit of mah the replacement cell can be then please drop me an email.

Only other update on this occasion is a couple of entries to the Feedback page.

Right, for this update we have the 2005 RISC OS South West Show Report, which was held, as last year, at the Webbington Hotel in Loxton, Somerset. A good day out, got to meet some of the main players in the Risc OS market.

Views, opinion and pics available in the Show Section.

My RISC PC is now sporting 128Mb of EDO RAM, a CDRW and a real nifty optical mouse. I wish I'd discovered these earlier, there great, also glows red, bright red when you move it, weird.
My A4 battery pack has now been returned from CJE Micro's where they have been re-packing it.
I figured whats the use of a laptop if you can't use it on the move.

The next update will "not" be so long away, so keep checking in.