Re: No Slot Clock - Damaged?

[supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer)]

[[Mailed to Gus Vilomar and posted to csa2.]]

"Gus Vilomar" <gvilomar@bellsouth.net> wrote:

>Is there a way to reset the clock other than the NSC software?  The NSC
>software is not letting me reset the clock - I keep on getting "No clock
>found or faulty time". Is there a "reset button" on the chip?  I doubt it
>but it's worth asking.

There is a possibility that the IC is locked up and the battery
is not dead.  I've been reading the NSC manual and according
to it, the SmartWatch chip only draws power from the battery
when the computer is powered down.  Otherwise, it draws
power from the computer.  So even with a dead battery, the
SmartWatch should work providing you leave the power on.

The manual says:

"The SmartWatch is a 28-pin, 600 mil wide DIP socket with
a built in CMOS timekeeper function and an embeded lithium
energy source to maintain time and date.  It accepts any
28-pin bytewide ROM or volatile RAM.  A key feature of the
SmartWatch is that the timekeeper remains transparent to
the memory device placed above.  The SmartWatch monitors
VCC (+5 volts) for an 'out of tolerance' condition.  When such
a condition occurs, an internal lithium energy source is
automatically switched to prevent loss of clock data."

So the SmartWatch only uses the battery when the power
from the computer (VCC +5 volts) is absent.

My guess is that the data in the chip has somehow
become corrupted.  As to how to reset the chip, the manual
says this:

"The SmartWatch information is contained in 8 registers
of 8 bits each which are sequentially accessed one bit
at a time after the 64 bit pattern recognition sequence
has been completed...bits 4 and 5 of the day register
are used to control the RESET and oscillator functions.
Bit 4 controls the Reset (A14 - pin 1).  When the reset
bit is set to logical 1, the RESET input pin is ignored.
When the RESET bit is set to logical 0, a low on the
RESET pin will cause the SmartWatch to abort data
transfer without changing data in the watch registers.
Bit 5 controls the oscillator.  This bit is shipped set to
logical 1, which turns the oscillator off.  When set to
logical 0, the oscillator turns on and the watch becomes
operational."

Ok, maybe someone who understands the above can
provide a clue on what to do to reset the SmartWatch.
Since this is a battery powered device with a sealed
battery, you can't just cut the power to reset it.  ;-(
Anyone have any ideas?