Need help with an ancient PC Vectra QS/20

[Em Enriquez]

This might sounds strange but there are people still using old PC such as Vectra QS. I am currenty having problem with Vectra QS every time i boot up, i am getting these errors:
"Invalid configuration information - run SETUP program"
"Invalid real time clock values - run SETUP program"

I cant seem to find this SETUP program..
where can i download a SETUP program?

thanks in advance

[Jamie Hughes]

Hello,

That's great that you are still using your QS/20. The QS, RS, and ES were great computers and I used to have an ES and an RS.

To run setup on these models, you need to do that from a floppy that shipped with the PC. I will include a copy of the file here and you can download, run the executable, and create the floppy disk. If you have problems downloading the attachment, please post another message with your email address and I will email it to you.

Best regards,
Jamie Hughes

[Jamie Hughes]

Sorry about that. I clicked the wrong button and didn't attach the file. Let me try this again. Click on the paper clip icon to download the file.

Best regards,
Jamie Hughes

[Roger Faucher]

I would assume that your battery has failed and therefore your computer has lost it's knowledge of things like the date and time, your peripherals (floppy disk, hard disk, etc.).
I assume this model is an old 386/20 and there seems to be no support on HP's website. There is an article, however, containing the following information:

"HP Vectra
www.hp.com

While your computer is starting, follow the directions on the screen: "Press F2 to Enter Setup," which are displayed at the bottom of the Hewlett-Packard System Hardware Test screen.
Follow the legend on how to scroll through the options."

When the message appears, press the F2 key and you should get into the Setup program. If the date shows as Jan. 1, 1980 that pretty much confirms my suspicions about the battery. You can manually edit the fields in the Setup program and get the machine working but it will probably fail again after power cycling. If it does, you will need to open the case, locate the battery and find a replacement. That should do it.

Good luck!

[Joseph T. Wyckoff]

You may be able to use a SAM disk from a later version, of a slightly different version - 386's and early 486 EISA machines ( up to about 33mhz.) Typically I recall that you needed disks 1 and 3 on the later boxes (i.e. S ) - the early boxes (i.e. Q) needed and shipped with just one disk for system configuration.

If the battery is dead, you may be able to just leave the thing powered on as a work around (once you fix the CMOS settings.)

I gotta tell you, your best bet is to just throw it away, and buy a cheap PC.

[Em Enriquez]

Thanks for the file Jamie but still it didnt do anything.. I did an initialization thing for HDD and everything seems working ok but after i reboot the computer, i still have the same error.

[Jamie Hughes]

Hello,

So you ran setup from the floppy and it didn't change anything? I'm not familiar with that error message and I haven't been able to find anything in our databases. From the description, it is entirely possible that the clock and/or motherboard is bad. Are there any diagnostics on the setup disk that you can run or are there any error logs, etc when you go into the setup program? Take a look around in there and see if you see any errors, etc.

Other than the error, is everything working OK? I'm worried that you may have a hardware component that is flaky.

Best regards,
Jamie Hughes

[Em Enriquez]

Actually there is no error except the invalid configuration information. also there is no diagnostic test in the setup and i was expecting that too when u sent me the file.
can u send me a diagnostic program?

thanks

[Jamie Hughes]

Hello,

Unfortunately, I don't have any software for the QS other than the setup disk I sent you. If everything is working properly and you have already run setup and don't see a problem, you might just have to ignore the error message.

Did this just suddenly start happening or did you make some hardware or software changes on the server? Did this happen to start on this past Saturday or Sunday?

Best regards,
Jamie Hughes

[Em Enriquez]

Again thanks for the help.. I dunno when this thing happened..It' friend's computer and I tried to fix it for him. i also tried to replace the memory but nuthin changed. also i tried to replace the video card and so on and so forth. but that darn error still poppin up after the memory count.
this is how it look like:

ROM BIOS (C)Copyright Hewlett-Packard 1985,1986,1987,1988
Compatibility Software (C)Copyright 1985,1986,1987,1988 Phoenix Technology, Ltd.
Version D.02.01 QS/20
Invalid configuration information - Run SETUP program
Strike F1 to continue.

I pressed F1 to continue booting using windows 95 bootable disk
it will boot ok and i can see my C: drive

i just want to rid that invalid error thingy

thanks

[Roger Faucher]

If you press F1 after the error message WITHOUT inserting a bootable floppy, does it boot successfully from the hard disk drive? If not go back into setup and make sure ALL of the settings seem proper. If you still cannot boot from the hard disk, try booting from the floppy again and issue FDISK /MBR from the A: prompt and retry booting from the hard disk.

[Jamie Hughes]

Hello,

I understand that type of message can be frustrating, especially when it doesn't appear that there is any other problem. Did you ask your friend if they remember when they first encountered this error? Have they gotten the error since they've had the PC or when did it start?

Since this machine is way past its support life, I'm having a hard time finding any documentation, etc. If everything is running fine and your friend thinks they've been getting the error for a while, I would just learn to ignore it. If they just started receiving the error, I would tend to think this might be a true hardware problem that just happens to be only showing an error at this point. It could be indicative of an intermittent problem or your motherboard/clock could be going bad. I would keep an eye on it and make sure you have a good backup if you have anything important on it.

Best regards,
Jamie Hughes

[Freddy Soer]

Hi, I've got an old HP Vectra QS 165 with the same BIOS-message. I tried Jamie's file: down-
loaded it, run the SETUP# -d a: (as to unpack the files on floppy disk, and then after inserting the floppy in the HP Vectra, I ran SYS A: from the C:-root, then did a cold reboot with the floppy in the drive, and voil? I could adjust everything! Jamie thanks a lot for providing this worthful stuff. Em, I hope yoyu will succeed too now! Good luck, Bye Freddy.