4000 battery leak. AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!

[Akiko]

My worst Nightmare come true!!
the battery in my 4000 has ruptured leaking over the mobo, this has resulted in loss of onboard audio. I have replaced the battery with a new one but now encountered another problem! It now wont keep the correct time when switched off, obviously a result of the damage caused earlier.
 Is there any other way of adding a battery backup to a 4000? and should adding a new soundcard to a zorro slot restore audio?

Any help appreciated, I've had my miggy since 11 and she's served me well over the years :-?

[Madgun68]

I feel your pain.. I really do. I purchased my Amiga 4000 off Ebay and to my horror, it also had damage for a leaky battery.

Firstly, adding a soundcard to a zorro slot will not restore the onboard audio. The only thing it will do is allow you alternative output for sound for programs that use ahi and such.

As for adding a battery backup, I don't know. There used to be products that worked off the serial (or parallel, don't remember which) but those haven't been sold in ages. There is a project on Aminet for I2C projects. A person could build one that worked in this fashion.

I wish there was an some alternative to the onboard clock.. It drives me freakin' nuts not having the computer keep time. Maybe I'll look back in to the I2C project and start looking for parts.

[KennyR]

Do you really need a battery these days? If you have a permanent internet connection you can just grab the time from an NTP server using FACTS every time you boot up.

[Madgun68]

Do you really need a battery these days? If you have a permanent internet connection you can just grab the time from an NTP server using FACTS every time you boot up.

Well, the A4000 does get its time from the net when I connect, but I don't use it to connect to the internet anymore now that the Pegasos is here. Even on a cable modem, it's not like connecting, getting the time and disconnecting only takes an instant.. I'd rather not have to bother at all.

I guess what bugs me most is that with the clock being broken, it's a constant reminder that there's a hardware problem with the machine. (May not seem like a big deal, but to me it is.)

Oh, and I do sometimes use file dates for troubleshooting. Well, on most machines I do. :-P

[KennyR]

Hmm...I have cable and it's online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But anyway...there is another way, if you are running a LAN. In the A4k's Miami prefs you have a "Get time from server", just put the IP of your Pegasos in there and the A4k grab the time from your Peg's clock using the daytime service. That's if you have a LAN though. I'm guessing you don't.

The only other thing I could suggest to anyone who hates leaky batteries are capacitors. There are some that are designed as drop in replacements for batteries. There was a thread about them last year or so.