About a week aago, when booting, the system began slowly counting RAM. It took about 20 minutes to get to 16GB. It then responded, saying the RTC clock was wrong AND that 16GB of RAM was recently added ANDso was the CD-ROM drivve. Of course they had been there all along. Naturally I replaced the RTC battery. At the prompt, pressed F1. The 20+ minute boot process begain again. This time, I pressed F10 while it was counting up again, got the same F1 message again but then I got into the F10 setup. I reset the settings for the RTC, clicked Save Default Settings and Restart. Eventually was able to launch Windows and things seem to operate normally. After a long session, I shut down, only to continue to face the same problems over and over. Measured battery voltage out of circuit and got good results > 3.1 volts.
What is the likely problem? Is the BIOS chip defective? When I look at the system board next to the RTC battery, I see only an electrolytic capacitor and what I assume to be the RTC crystal and the CMOS Clear button. Another questionn: Is the RTC circuitry embedded in the BIOS chip. I was going to try and re-flash the BIOS, but I was disappointed to find it impssible to locateon the HP website. I realize that the xw8200 by current standards is a bit long in the tooth but it is otherwise an entirely useful machine for many purposes.
What are my options, if any, for bringing this workstation back to life?
Dennis...