"jaugustine" wrote:

The worst part of this problem since the CMOS battery ran down, the CMOS
memory is corrupt. Now I can't use this laptop anymore because I have
to enter a password (after pressing "F1" or "F2" following the time/date error
message), which I have no clue. Note: I never had to enter a password before,
which includes entering "Setup" (F2).

Does "enter a password" mean blank does not work? The default password
state listed in the manual is "Clear" which presumably means a blank
password.

I didn't find mention of a CMOS reset jumper somewhere on the mobo.
That would load the defaults from EEPROM into the CMOS table. There was
a reset on the Exit screen when you leave the BIOS config but obviously
you first have to be able to boot the computer and get into the BIOS
screens.

If you do manage to reset the BIOS (jumper or BIOS), it looks like
you're stuck leaving this computer always powered on and hooked to a UPS
so power to it never drops. The battery is only needed to provide power
to maintain the CMOS copy of the BIOS settings. I've seen a couple
mobos that wouldn't power up with a dead or missing CMOS battery but
it's rare. In your case, you won't be booting anyway since you're
keeping the computer always powered up to make sure to retain the BIOS
settings copied into the CMOS table. While this scenario is not
possible if the laptop is truly employed as a portable platform, I know
a lot of folks that use a laptop as their desktop which means it could
be left always powered up.