Dead CMOS battery? Network Time Protocol to the rescue
Since this blog has a category called "The $15 Laptop," you know the following:
a) I love keeping old hardware running
and b) I'm cheap.
The $15 Laptop itself -- a Compaq Armada 7770dmt with 233 MHz processor, 64 MB of RAM, an Orinoco WaveLAN Silver wireless card and a 3 GB hard drive running Debian Etch -- has been a trouper. I did the standard install of Debian and used apt to add X and Fluxbox. It's been great for Web browsing with IceWeasel (nee Firefox), Dillo, Lynx and Elinks. I handle mail with Sylpheed. I use AbiWord, Leafpad and Nano for writing.
Every time I boot the $15 Laptop, I want to party like it's 1999, because that's the year it reverts to each and every time. I could set the system clock at the command line every session, but who wants to do that? I'd replace the battery, if I only knew how. I'd be $10 poorer, too. But there's really no need: Enter the Network Time Protocol.
The Debian Admin site had all the info:
apt-get install ntpdate
That's it. Now my Debian-equipped laptop grabs the time over the Internet every time I boot, and I can stop thinking about where in the hell the CMOS battery even is, let alone how many screws I'd have to remove to get to it.
P.S. I bet ntpdate is a great thing to have even if you're CMOS battery is just fine.
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Steven Rosenberg aims to learn what he does not know. He writes about it here.
Steven Rosenberg aims to learn what he does not know. He writes about it here.
great! BUT dont forget that any battery, over time,has the risk of leakage ... and there would go your entire investment!
perhaps a $2 screwdriver and some time searching for that battery would be worth it!
Huh?
Mr. Rosenberg seems to have forgotten that there's more going on in the CMOS memory chip than just the clock. The CMOS memory also contains information regarding how the peripherals might be used, clocking speeds for the processor and DRAM, and dozens of other parameters. If one doesn't care about these, that's fine, but don't complain that the computer is "running slowly" - it's likely defaulting to the slowest clock speed and/or multiplier. Spend the $4 and the 10 minutes to put in a new battery. You won't have to replace it for years, and the time you spend on replacement will be MORE than offset by the time you save in computing.
NTP timeservers, however, are also a worthwhile investment of one's time, and I highly recommend them. But don't skip buying a battery just for that one function.
Steven,
Man, this is an old laptop! I found some links that may help. I'm not sure if this laptop takes a CMOS Battery at all, but it does take something called a RAM Battery.
How Tos for Compaq Notebooks
http://repair4laptop.org/disassembly_compaq.html
Amazon Link for your RAM Battery
http://tinyurl.com/38y9hg
Compaq's Manuals for Armada 7700 Series
http://tinyurl.com/2usodl
Guy
Hi
I have just installed Linux on my old trustful Compaq Armada 7770DMT, but I can not find a network driver that support it :(
What driver do you use?
I use an Orinoco WaveLAN Silver 802.11b wireless card, and it autoconfigures in Debian, Puppy and Damn Small Linux. I've never had a problem. Are you using a PCMCIA Ethernet adapter? You might try Googling for info on your adapter and Linux.