[Info-vax] PWS 600au lost its memory: CMOS reverts to AlphaBIOS

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In article <a14734b1-7a11-4f2a-84a8-7726c3ac697e at f18g2000prf.googlegroups.com>, Ken Fairfield <ken.fairfield at gmail.com> writes:
>So I powered on my digital Personal Workstation 600au today and found
>it
>going through the AlphaBIOS boot checks, and the "splash" screen
>showing
>a PWS, etc.
>
>This happened once before, so I remembered to go into the Setup,
>choose
>CMOS setup, and go into the Advanced CMOS setup were I could switch
>back to the OpenVMS SRM console.  That done, I saved the new settings
>(which was confirmed by a message), exited and powered cycled the box.
>
>No luck.  I booted into the AlphaBIOS again.  I tried several times.
>The one
>thing I think is key is that the AlphaBIOS complained first about an
>invalid
>time.  I expect the battery for the BBCC (is that what it's called?)
>is way dead.
>
>So two questions:
>
>1) Given the CMOS setup is non-volatile, does the system nevertheless
>boot
>into the (default) AlphaBIOS if the clock chip's battery is dead?
>That seems
>to be the symptom, but I'd like to know if there could be a different
>cause.
>
>2) Can someone point me to documentation one changing the battery, or
>if it's integrated, the battery-backed clock chip?  Part numbers and
>possible
>sources would be much appreciated.

Many of the Alpha systems would default to the wrong console when there
was a failure of the NVRAM backup battery.

Look on the board.  Most of these used the nickel sized CR2025 or CR2032 
"watch" cells.

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