Hi,

I have an old 486 laptop, I'd like to update it's BIOS.

I'm looking for both a BIOS update file, and the
'flasher' program with which to install it, if both
are available.

Also, if this machine requires a specific keyboard
driver file, a download location for that would be
useful.

I've had a few problems getting the machine
to recognise the keyboard under MS-DOS 6.22 - a fresh
install gives me an autoexec.bat containing the line:

KEYB UK,,C:\DOS\KEYBOARD.SYS

I can only get the keyboard working once I've
changed this to:

REM KEYB UK,,C:\DOS\KEYBOARD.SYS

and even then, after boot, I need to press 'ctrl' & 'alt'
once before any keyboard input is accepted.

I've done a cursory search using
Google and Profusion, so far to no avail.

I'll be continuing to run MS-DOS 6.22 on the machine if I can
get it going. I'm not sure I'll have much success with
Windows 95 with only 8Mb RAM & a processor running at 25 MHz?

Current details of the machine:
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Manufacturer:
Possibly Veridata - not marked on machine, but this came
up on a cursory search for the model number.

'Made In Taiwan'

Model:
Xtra Pro 486S/25C

Name:
'Notebook Personal Computer'

FCC ID:
HLOXP691CC

Marking, 'UL' in a circle:
InfoTech Equip E138410

Marking, 'SA' within a large 'C':
LR88074

Serial No:
9128999

1 x PS2 Keyboard connector
1 x VGA Connector
1 x 9 - pin 'D' com port
1 x 25 pin 'D' printer port

Floppy drive

No CD ROM

Existing BIOS:
""""""""""""""
Award Modular BIOS v 4.20
(Cx486SLC/387SX)
Copyright 1984-92, Award Software Inc.

486SLC Color BIOS Version M69B29V1001
Dec 29th 1992

Reported by CTbios program:

Computer ID:
FC, Subtyp: 01 Bios-level: 0

BIOS date:
04-30-90

Award BIOS ID-string:
12/29/92-HT22/HT18C-3223390C

Machine chipset:
HT22/HT18C

Int 13h extension - No

PnP - APM v1.5

Bus: ISA

Thanks for your help.

---

Request for Question Clarification by feilong-ga on 18 Nov 2002 12:14 PST

Hello Gan! I checked your laptop model and found out that it was
manufactured by COMPUADD Computer Corporation. The model “XtraPro
486S/25C” is the name of your laptop’s battery. The actual model of
your laptop is COMPUADD 486SLC.

Now, with regards to your desire to upgrade your laptop’s BIOS, I went
to what I think is the BIOS one-stop-shop in the Internet, Wim’s BIOS
(http://www.wimsbios.com/) but your BIOS is not listed there. I did a
thorough search but, alas, your BIOS is nowhere to be found among the
pages detected by Google. The manufacturer and chipset maker of your
laptop are both extinct.

However, all is not lost yet. You can still run your laptop under
Windows 95 but there may be problems regarding software compatibility.
What we have is only the information you’ve provided. What we do not
know is if your laptop will be totally compatible with Win95. I can’t
find any manual for your laptop so that we can check.

Win95 will run in 486-based computers like your laptop but in your
case, I cannot assure you that everything will work perfectly. You can
install Win95 so that you will not have the problem regarding your
keyboard. The only advice I can give you is to upgrade or add more
memory for your laptop – make it 16MB.

To find out more about Win95, go to:

Microsoft Website
http://search.microsoft.com/default.asp?boolean=ALL&nq=NEW&so=RECCNT&ig=01&ig=02&ig=03&ig=04&ig=05&ig=06&ig=07&ig=08&ig=09&ig=10&i=00&i=01&i=02&i=03&i=04&i=05&i=06&i=07&i=08&i=09&qu=windows%2095&siteid=us

You can also find other peripherals for your laptop by typing these
into the Google search box:
"compuadd notebook "
"compuadd notebook memory"
"compuadd laptop"
"compuadd laptop memory"

These are all I can give you that may help you to better utilize your
laptop. I’m sorry, but I wish I have more. If you’re satisfied with
the info, please clarify so that I can post this as an official
answer. Thank you.

Feilong

---

Clarification of Question by gan-ga on 18 Nov 2002 12:22 PST

Hello Feilong,

Thanks for having a look at this for me :)

Appreciate your work, will you go ahead and
post as an answer.

Best regards,

gan.

---

Request for Question Clarification by feilong-ga on 18 Nov 2002 12:51 PST

Hi Gan,

Thank you very much for trusting me on this one. However, I cannot add
anymore significant info that may be of help to you if I post it as an
answer. As I said, I made a thorough search and that's it - no more
info.

Perhaps the least I can do when I make this an official answer for you
is to simply elaborate on the "you can also find other
peripherals...." part of my comment and have the links ready for you
to click on and maybe find other things I can find that may be
beneficial to you.

Final confirmation, answerable by yes or no:
Should I post my previous comments as your chosen solution to your
problem?

---

Clarification of Question by gan-ga on 18 Nov 2002 14:54 PST

Hello Feilong,

Yes, very happy to accept what you found as your
final answer. If you can find anything else that
you think might be useful that's great, but I 
consider my original question answered more than
adequately. 

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you,
I've had the machine in bits all over the kitchen table
the last few hours..

Looks like it will accept the old 72 pin simms, &
I have a good second-hand computer parts shop nearby
so I should be able to try an 8 or 16Mb simm tomorrow.

I'm transferring Win95 over to it by rs232 at the mo,
fingers crossed :)

Best regards,

gan.

Your laptop model was manufactured by COMPUADD Computer Corporation.
The model “XtraPro 486S/25C” is the name of your laptop’s battery. The
actual model of your laptop is COMPUADD 486SLC and you can probably
find it under your laptop if you remove the battery.

Wim’s BIOS I think is the one-stop-BIOS shop in the Internet
(http://www.wimsbios.com/) but your BIOS is not listed there. I did a
thorough search but, alas, your BIOS is nowhere to be found among the
pages detected by Google. The manufacturer and chipset maker of your
laptop are both extinct.
 
Ais not lost yet. You can still run your laptop under Windows 95 but
there may be problems regarding software compatibility. What we have
is only the information you’ve provided. What we do not know is if
your laptop will be totally compatible with Win95. I can’t find any
manual for your laptop so that we can check.
 
Win95 will run in 486-based computers like your laptop but in your
case, I cannot assure you that everything will work perfectly. You can
install Win95 so that you will not have the problem regarding your
keyboard. The only advice I can give you is to upgrade or add more
memory for your laptop – make it 16MB.
 
To find out more about Win95, go to: 
 
Microsoft Website 
http://search.microsoft.com/default.asp?boolean=ALL&nq=NEW&so=RECCNT&ig=01&ig=02&ig=03&ig=04&ig=05&ig=06&ig=07&ig=08&ig=09&ig=10&i=00&i=01&i=02&i=03&i=04&i=05&i=06&i=07&i=08&i=09&qu=windows%2095&siteid=us
 
You can also find other peripherals for your laptop by typing these
into the Google search box:

As I already mentioned, I found the info you need. I can’t find
anything of importance to you anymore. Your computer’s product support
is virtually extinct. Since you also have a second hand repair shop
near your area, I reckon you won’t have a problem when you need extra
peripherals for your laptop. But just in case, here are some important
links:

Delta Lü Electronics, Inc.
http://www.deltalustore.com/notebook/battery/compuadd.asp

McGlen Micro, Inc.
http://www.mcglen.com/McGlenWeb/listItemsByModel2.asp?SSID=1149776343E8003X647&u=www%2Eclcr%2Ecom&pc=none&MAJ=13&MIN=04&COMID=26&MODELID=8236

S.A. Technologies, Inc.
http://www.satech.com/compuadd1.html
72 pin and 30 pin SIMMs
http://www.satech.com/pcsimms.html

BatteryWeb.com
http://www.batteryweb.com/notebookmodellist.cfm?Manufacturer=COMPUADD

Take note:
The maximum efficient drive size you can put in your laptop is 1Gig
only. You might experience difficulties and slow performance with
drives higher than this. Streamline your system and don’t add any
unnecessary programs. Only use programs that are compatible with
Win95.


Search Strategy:
"compuadd"
"compuad bios"
"compuadd notebook "
"compuadd notebook memory"
"compuadd laptop"
"compuadd laptop memory"

I guess that’s just it. Thanks for asking.

Feilong

Thanks for having a good look at this for me - having done a cursory
search, I suspected there might not be too much info out there. The
name of the manufacturer in particular that you found is the real gem,
apart from the fact that I probably wouldn't have attempted to load
Win95 had you not suggested it. (Installed & runs ok). Cheers.

Please consider checking your keyboard in Control Panel and changing
it to US to see if it works better.

regards