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From: briand@tekig4.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Slow Mac Clock
Message-ID: <1499@tekig4.TEK.COM>
Date: Fri, 15-May-87 13:55:37 EDT
Article-I.D.: tekig4.1499
Posted: Fri May 15 13:55:37 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 16-May-87 17:19:20 EDT
References: <1612@Shasta.STANFORD.EDU> <1012@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu>
Reply-To: briand@tekig4.UUCP (Brian Diehm)
Organization: Tektronix, Inc., Beaverton, OR.
Lines: 31
Keywords: stranger than fiction

>>Instead of changing the digit every second, my Mac changes the digit
>>indicating the seconds every 2.8 seconds. I have no idea when did all
>Once, my mac began keeping 1/3 time. that is, the clock ticked one second
>for what seemed to be 3 seconds. Changing the battery had no effect. In
>a moment of (brilliance|insanity, you decide) I momentarily (and
>purposefully) put the battery in BACKWARDS. Well, it fixed the problem!
>No other problems arose as a result. I am not reccommending that *you* do
>this, just thought you might be interested. 

This is possibly dangerous, though I would expect diode protection on the
circuit. Do YOU want to depend on a $.05 diode to prevent destruction of your
Mac?

You should realize that removing the battery will clear the problem, PROVIDED
you give the circuit enought time to use up all its stored power and drop
voltage. One way is to turn off your mac and remove the battery for about 10
minutes. You can hurry up the process by shorting out the battery terminals
when the battery is out, for about a minute. Do NOT have the Mac on when you
do that, however! Be super safe and unplug the Mac during the process.

You will need to reset all PRAM parameters when you power back up, including
resetting the clock (but that was the original problem, right?) and things like
menu blink count and mouse speed.

Putting in the battery backwards just meant that the battery absorbed all the
stored power in a burst of high battery current. Unneccesary and possibly
harmful to the battery.
-- 
-Brian Diehm     (SDA - Standard Disclaimers Apply)
Tektronix, Inc.
briand@tekig4.TEK.COM   or  {decvax,cae780,uw-beaver}!tektronix!tekig4!briand