Mambo Frog, Battery issue?

[Halo_djk]

Have searched the forums for info on this to no avail. We have a Mambo frog that was brought second hand. On first run it told us cmos battery fail. On boot, it refused to remeber the time and date setting.

 

On second boot it also came up with "Desk ID 2 Invalid", along with the battery fail message.

 

Third boot the battery message dissapeared, but from memory it said both desk ids 1 and 2 invalid. (I can't confirm seeing id 1, but surely remember seeing id 2).

 

On checking the battery it was dead flat, and rather warm strangly, and after replacing it, it still announced battery fail. I checked the voltage on the actual battery holders terms, and it showed 3v, so the board is connected to the battery. The second battery appeard rather warm too, but not sure if the battery was causing the heat, or the board.

As far as I'm aware the mainboard was replaced just before we got it, Ive tried reinstalling the latest software to no avail.

 

Does anyone know what thes "Desk ID's" stand for? Or has anyone had this issue before?

 

Thanks in advance

 

Kym

[Paul]

The Desk ID is the desk's serial number, which is seen in Super User -> Desk Information. It is stored in 3 places in the desk:

 

Desk ID 1 is stored in the FLASH chips (IC13-IC16,IC40-IC41 on the STMain2), along with the operating system and showfile.

Desk ID 2 is stored in the CMOS (part of the SuperIO chip IC29 on the STMain2), which is battery backed.

Desk ID 3 is stored in the NVR (IC10 on the STMain2), which is battery backed.

 

Any battery problems like this should be resolved before attempting to update the desk software, as it is possible to get the desk into a state where it has no Desk ID, so it would forget that it was a Mambo Frog. Not a good thing.

 

It's normal to get one battery fail warning message after replacing the battery, the warning is telling you that the battery backed CMOS has lost it's contents. However the warning should then disappear on subsequent boots.

 

If the battery is being drained very quickly, then it sounds like there is a fault somewhere on the board. Best thing to do here is give Keith a call in the office (+44-1633-833101) to arrange a repair.

[Halo_djk]

Hello again Paul, Thanks for the reply. The desk was rebooted a few times after the battery was changed, but seemed to still get the bad ID 2 error, and battery warning, along with a time of 1231:23:00 and some outhere date around year 6793. after boot the time would revert to 00:00:00.

 

If the battery goes dead, where would id 2 and 3 come from, id 1?

 

The battery was removed for about 30 min while I went to the shop to get a new one, and from memory, the show, and frog software were still on the desk! The battery read .1 of a volt so it was darn flat (and warm).

 

I did expect another warning after the new battery was installed, but the desk still complained after a few more reboots.

 

I'm starting to get the feeling that the board is trying to charge the battery. Yes its a ST2 board, and has the 2032 battery, so this shouldn't be happening. As I mentioned before as far as I'm aware, this is a brand new mainboard, as the previous one failed.

 

We are based in Aust, so I just want to check all bases, before sending it back to the distributer for repair. We have another Mambo frog, in fine working order, so I'm getting pretty fluent on them.

[Paul]

Any invalid Desk IDs are automatically rewritten with a copy from a good Desk ID. That's why if you lose all three, you're in trouble.