-=> Mike Ross said to Roy J. Tellason
 -=> about "SILICON CHIP ON LINE" on 05-11-04  23:31.....

 MR> You could always avoid the problem and use a 4 AA battery pack adaptor
 MR> plugged into the external battery connector. There is sometimes a
 MR> jumper to set or remove to select the external battery but it is often
 MR> marked on the silkscreen.

That's right. But don't use 4 cells -- that would give 6 volts.
Use only 3 cells = 4.5 volts. Even two cells might be enough for
the job.

They use special circuits to power the CMOS memory and the clock
from whatever has the higher voltage. When the computer power is
on, they run from the +5v rail. When it is off, they run from the
battery.

So using a 6 volt battery pack, the CMOS and the clock would take
their power _permanently_ from the battery pack, until the
battery pack dropped to less than 5 volts.

And at that point, the battery _might_ not be capable of holding
up the clock and CMOS when the computer was powered down.

And _DO_ remember to remove the link that supplies charging
current to the battery when the computer is powered up.

   ,-./\
  /     \ From Greg Mayman, in beautiful Adelaide, South Australia
  \_,-*_/    "Queen City of The South"    34:55 S  138:36 E
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