Rare monoblock Compaq Presario 3020
Quite by chance a rather interesting 1996 Compaq Presario 3020 monoblock fell into my hands. Although the previous owner used it quite often, he treated him carefully, for which he was thankful - besides the hard drive dying from time, all other components, up to the CD-ROM drive, turned out to be in working condition, and its appearance did not overshadow no serious scratch.
Lovers of antiquity, kindly file a habrakat
')
(Caution - traffic)
Appearance.
Compaq Presario 3020 from a distance can be confused with a very ugly CRT monitor.
On the monoblock stand there are buttons for adjusting the brightness and volume level, as well as a functional Q-button that provides additional features for the user, provided that the necessary software from Compaq is installed. The computer is turned on and off with a button on the power supply on the back of the case. On the sides are built-in speakers. The tilt of the stand is not adjustable, but you can change the angle of the 12 "LCD display.
On the right side of the monoblock is a 6-speed CD-ROM drive from NEC with a changer for four CDs. Yes, you were not mistaken, you can really insert 4 CDs into the drive, it will not even choke. Four CD-ROM readers will be available in the operating system at the same time, but, unfortunately, I did not try to copy information from several disks at once. Most likely, this is impossible (and if possible, it is very slow and noisy - the laser, for sure, there is only one).
On the left side there is a drive for 3.5 inch floppy disks, COM and LPT ports, two RJ11 connectors of the internal ISA modem, two USB ports, keyboard interfaces and a PS / 2 mouse, as well as audio connectors for the built-in ESS 1888 sound card. There are only three expansions (two PCI slots and one ISA), but the first PCI slot already has an S3 Aurora64V + video card installed, to the video output of which you can connect an additional VGA monitor. The video card supports 800x600 resolution (1024x768 when displaying an image on an additional monitor) and 32-bit color reproduction.
On the back of the case is the power connector and the power button on the computer.
Zamorochki
As it turned out, to find detailed technical information about the subject is quite difficult. On the official website of Hewlett-Packard (which was swallowed up by Compaq in 2001), although you can download drivers and utilities for the Compaq Presario 3020 Desktop PC, you will not find a detailed manual to download a guide for the three thousandth series (and my experimental obviously, the laptop is not). Sadly, the previous owner did not preserve the original paper instructions and discs from the Compaq Presario 3020, but left his own cardboard box.
It was necessary to be limited only to the brief information obtained from QRG for the Presario 3000 Series PC .
Despite the lack of specifics, it can be assumed that the Compaq Presario 3020 has onboard a Pentium I class processor with a clock frequency of up to 200 MHz and RAM
EDO SIMM no more than 128 MB.
But why read the tea leaves if you can just turn on the computer, go into the BIOS and see its characteristics?
So I did. However, the first trouble was waiting for me - the computer did not want to enter the BIOS by pressing F10, despite the fact that this is the standard way to get into the BIOS of Compaq computers before 2001 release.
After a thorough reading of the Internet, I found out that the BIOS of this computer "lies on his hard." This is partly true - the graphical interface for configuring the basic I / O system is actually located in the service partition on the hard disk, which apparently was overwritten by the previous owner.
However, BIOS settings can still be changed without this partition by booting from a floppy disk containing the proprietary Compaq Personal Computer Setup utility.
In order not to constantly boot from a floppy disk to change settings, it is necessary to replace the service partition containing the BIOS graphical interface and several diagnostic utilities. This can be done using two diskettes - the first diskette should contain the Personal Computer Setup utility, and the second the Personal Computer Diagnostics diagnostic utility. Images of these diskettes can be downloaded on the official HP website.
Having booted from the first diskette and following the prompts of the wizard, we restore the service partition. At the same time, the hard drive of the Compaq Presario 3020 computer should not be marked up, otherwise it will not work.
Everything, the service section is created! Now you can enter the BIOS settings GUI, waiting for the computer to blink a white rectangle in the upper right corner of the screen and press F10.
The available BIOS version dates back to 1996, and has been updated to the most recent version using the Presario Specific Models System ROM Update Diskette .
Specifications.
Now you can see what the Compaq Presario 3020 has under the hood:
Due to the fact that the native hard drive of the computer Compaq Presario 3020 was slowly but surely dying from old age (making quite nasty sounds while working), a more bulky fellow was found to replace him, as much as 20 GB. I did not install hard drives of a larger volume, since they have large starting and operating currents, and did not want to risk the health of the power supply.
Naturally, the BIOS did not automatically see the full capacity of the new hard disk, and I had to prescribe its C / H / S geometry with handles. Immediately there was a second problem - the BIOS does not support hard drives larger than 8 GB. Well, we put the 18383/16/63 geometry in the BIOS (namely, more than 8 GB hard disks try to be presented by IDE), and we can safely rely on a primary boot partition of no more than eight gigabytes, which is quite enough for a correct installation of the operating system.
Select and install the OS
The choice of operating system for Compaq Presario 3020 was made according to the following criteria: speed of work, equipment support, version relevance. But the most important parameter was the ability to run old DOS and later games, so * nix operating systems were considered no more than 5 minutes.
Due to the lack of original driver discs, the installation of Windows NT 4.0 ended in complete failure - most of the devices, including the video card and sound, were not trite. The HP support site didn’t have the necessary drivers either, so the choice fell on the Windows 9x family.
Although Windows 95 requires less resources for its work, it is too old compared to Windows 98.
The choice fell on Windows 98, but not simple, but from Fedorenka. More information about this build and its differences from the usual Windows 98 can be on the author's website .
It should be noted that if you make the primary boot partition larger than the BIOS sees, errors may occur when installing Windows 98 from under DOS, for example, read / write errors in the last sector of the disk.
That is, the installation of Windows 98 will not go beyond the stage of checking the Scandisk disk. Running an OS installation without checking the disk will not solve the problem, so we will not tempt fate.
In addition, the remaining space can be marked out after installing the OS, and the maximum size of additional partitions will be constrained only by the limitations of the file system into which they will be formatted. This is due to the fact that the operating system Windows 98 works fine with large hard drives, despite the BIOS settings and limitations.
But everything was not as rosy as I wanted. After the hard disk with the created service partition was partitioned and formatted on another PartitionMagic computer, the service partition deteriorated and Compaq Presario 3020 stopped loading from it.
This depressing fact was enough to stop trying to format the hard drive on another computer. It was decided to create partitions on the Compaq Presario 3020 itself, but due to the small amount of RAM and the inability to boot from CD-ROM (even the Plop Boot Manager did not help), PartitionMagic had to abandon using the most common FDISK.
The next trouble is FDISK has determined the total hard disk capacity to be 504 MB, although the BIOS clearly indicates 8 GB. Apparently, this is due to the restriction of MS DOS to the permissible number of heads and the lack of support for translating CHS values ​​in the code for the Int 13h processor in the BIOS.
To install Windows 98 this volume is quite enough, so I didn’t get into the essence of the problem and just created an active boot partition of 496 MB in size (the service partition ate 8 megabytes). Due to the limitations on the minimum size of the FAT32 file system partition, it was necessary to format the created partition in FAT16. An additional partition of slightly less than 20 GB was created after installing the operating system.
At this stage of the ordeal, the installation of the operating system ended, and the fan began.
Opportunities
We start Microsoft Word 97
Photoshop 7 also started
Internet (Opera broke, apparently due to lack of memory)
And, of course, games!
For lovers of the look of old iron, there is a surprise in the form of photos of the insides of the Compaq Presario 3020:
The back cover is removed
Inside
48 MB memory and 200 MHz Pentium I processor with passive cooling
8 MB system memory
Fan crouched underneath
92 watt power supply
Video Card S3 Aurora64V +. Connects to the built-in LCD display using a special connector.
Herringbone expansion cards for three slots on top, one bottom.
The Compaq Presario 33.6 internal modem is installed in the lower ISA slot.
Chip sound card ESS 1888 Plug and Play AudioDrive
Results
Compaq Presario 3020 perfectly cope with the role of a typewriter, as well as useful for fans of old games under DOS and Windows 95-98. The built-in modem allows you to use the computer as a fax machine, and a CD changer for 4 CDs and Winamp turns the all-in-one into a simple music system.
And now…
Lovers of antiquity, kindly file a habrakat
')
(Caution - traffic)
Appearance.
Compaq Presario 3020 from a distance can be confused with a very ugly CRT monitor.
On the monoblock stand there are buttons for adjusting the brightness and volume level, as well as a functional Q-button that provides additional features for the user, provided that the necessary software from Compaq is installed. The computer is turned on and off with a button on the power supply on the back of the case. On the sides are built-in speakers. The tilt of the stand is not adjustable, but you can change the angle of the 12 "LCD display.
On the right side of the monoblock is a 6-speed CD-ROM drive from NEC with a changer for four CDs. Yes, you were not mistaken, you can really insert 4 CDs into the drive, it will not even choke. Four CD-ROM readers will be available in the operating system at the same time, but, unfortunately, I did not try to copy information from several disks at once. Most likely, this is impossible (and if possible, it is very slow and noisy - the laser, for sure, there is only one).
On the left side there is a drive for 3.5 inch floppy disks, COM and LPT ports, two RJ11 connectors of the internal ISA modem, two USB ports, keyboard interfaces and a PS / 2 mouse, as well as audio connectors for the built-in ESS 1888 sound card. There are only three expansions (two PCI slots and one ISA), but the first PCI slot already has an S3 Aurora64V + video card installed, to the video output of which you can connect an additional VGA monitor. The video card supports 800x600 resolution (1024x768 when displaying an image on an additional monitor) and 32-bit color reproduction.
On the back of the case is the power connector and the power button on the computer.
Zamorochki
As it turned out, to find detailed technical information about the subject is quite difficult. On the official website of Hewlett-Packard (which was swallowed up by Compaq in 2001), although you can download drivers and utilities for the Compaq Presario 3020 Desktop PC, you will not find a detailed manual to download a guide for the three thousandth series (and my experimental obviously, the laptop is not). Sadly, the previous owner did not preserve the original paper instructions and discs from the Compaq Presario 3020, but left his own cardboard box.
It was necessary to be limited only to the brief information obtained from QRG for the Presario 3000 Series PC .
Despite the lack of specifics, it can be assumed that the Compaq Presario 3020 has onboard a Pentium I class processor with a clock frequency of up to 200 MHz and RAM
EDO SIMM no more than 128 MB.
But why read the tea leaves if you can just turn on the computer, go into the BIOS and see its characteristics?
So I did. However, the first trouble was waiting for me - the computer did not want to enter the BIOS by pressing F10, despite the fact that this is the standard way to get into the BIOS of Compaq computers before 2001 release.
After a thorough reading of the Internet, I found out that the BIOS of this computer "lies on his hard." This is partly true - the graphical interface for configuring the basic I / O system is actually located in the service partition on the hard disk, which apparently was overwritten by the previous owner.
However, BIOS settings can still be changed without this partition by booting from a floppy disk containing the proprietary Compaq Personal Computer Setup utility.
In order not to constantly boot from a floppy disk to change settings, it is necessary to replace the service partition containing the BIOS graphical interface and several diagnostic utilities. This can be done using two diskettes - the first diskette should contain the Personal Computer Setup utility, and the second the Personal Computer Diagnostics diagnostic utility. Images of these diskettes can be downloaded on the official HP website.
Having booted from the first diskette and following the prompts of the wizard, we restore the service partition. At the same time, the hard drive of the Compaq Presario 3020 computer should not be marked up, otherwise it will not work.
Everything, the service section is created! Now you can enter the BIOS settings GUI, waiting for the computer to blink a white rectangle in the upper right corner of the screen and press F10.
The available BIOS version dates back to 1996, and has been updated to the most recent version using the Presario Specific Models System ROM Update Diskette .
Specifications.
Now you can see what the Compaq Presario 3020 has under the hood:
Due to the fact that the native hard drive of the computer Compaq Presario 3020 was slowly but surely dying from old age (making quite nasty sounds while working), a more bulky fellow was found to replace him, as much as 20 GB. I did not install hard drives of a larger volume, since they have large starting and operating currents, and did not want to risk the health of the power supply.
Naturally, the BIOS did not automatically see the full capacity of the new hard disk, and I had to prescribe its C / H / S geometry with handles. Immediately there was a second problem - the BIOS does not support hard drives larger than 8 GB. Well, we put the 18383/16/63 geometry in the BIOS (namely, more than 8 GB hard disks try to be presented by IDE), and we can safely rely on a primary boot partition of no more than eight gigabytes, which is quite enough for a correct installation of the operating system.
Select and install the OS
The choice of operating system for Compaq Presario 3020 was made according to the following criteria: speed of work, equipment support, version relevance. But the most important parameter was the ability to run old DOS and later games, so * nix operating systems were considered no more than 5 minutes.
Due to the lack of original driver discs, the installation of Windows NT 4.0 ended in complete failure - most of the devices, including the video card and sound, were not trite. The HP support site didn’t have the necessary drivers either, so the choice fell on the Windows 9x family.
Although Windows 95 requires less resources for its work, it is too old compared to Windows 98.
The choice fell on Windows 98, but not simple, but from Fedorenka. More information about this build and its differences from the usual Windows 98 can be on the author's website .
It should be noted that if you make the primary boot partition larger than the BIOS sees, errors may occur when installing Windows 98 from under DOS, for example, read / write errors in the last sector of the disk.
That is, the installation of Windows 98 will not go beyond the stage of checking the Scandisk disk. Running an OS installation without checking the disk will not solve the problem, so we will not tempt fate.
In addition, the remaining space can be marked out after installing the OS, and the maximum size of additional partitions will be constrained only by the limitations of the file system into which they will be formatted. This is due to the fact that the operating system Windows 98 works fine with large hard drives, despite the BIOS settings and limitations.
But everything was not as rosy as I wanted. After the hard disk with the created service partition was partitioned and formatted on another PartitionMagic computer, the service partition deteriorated and Compaq Presario 3020 stopped loading from it.
This depressing fact was enough to stop trying to format the hard drive on another computer. It was decided to create partitions on the Compaq Presario 3020 itself, but due to the small amount of RAM and the inability to boot from CD-ROM (even the Plop Boot Manager did not help), PartitionMagic had to abandon using the most common FDISK.
The next trouble is FDISK has determined the total hard disk capacity to be 504 MB, although the BIOS clearly indicates 8 GB. Apparently, this is due to the restriction of MS DOS to the permissible number of heads and the lack of support for translating CHS values ​​in the code for the Int 13h processor in the BIOS.
To install Windows 98 this volume is quite enough, so I didn’t get into the essence of the problem and just created an active boot partition of 496 MB in size (the service partition ate 8 megabytes). Due to the limitations on the minimum size of the FAT32 file system partition, it was necessary to format the created partition in FAT16. An additional partition of slightly less than 20 GB was created after installing the operating system.
At this stage of the ordeal, the installation of the operating system ended, and the fan began.
Opportunities
We start Microsoft Word 97
Photoshop 7 also started
Internet (Opera broke, apparently due to lack of memory)
And, of course, games!
For lovers of the look of old iron, there is a surprise in the form of photos of the insides of the Compaq Presario 3020:
The back cover is removed
Inside
48 MB memory and 200 MHz Pentium I processor with passive cooling
8 MB system memory
Fan crouched underneath
92 watt power supply
Video Card S3 Aurora64V +. Connects to the built-in LCD display using a special connector.
Herringbone expansion cards for three slots on top, one bottom.
The Compaq Presario 33.6 internal modem is installed in the lower ISA slot.
Chip sound card ESS 1888 Plug and Play AudioDrive
Results
Compaq Presario 3020 perfectly cope with the role of a typewriter, as well as useful for fans of old games under DOS and Windows 95-98. The built-in modem allows you to use the computer as a fax machine, and a CD changer for 4 CDs and Winamp turns the all-in-one into a simple music system.
And now…
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/152002/
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