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In my loft there is a computer with no branding that needs a new CMOS battery, and one that has the branding 'Tri Data' which I can't find anywhere on the internet.

Luggable computer (front)

It just shows a white screen as well and the keyboard doesn't want to work.

(The motherboard says HM386SX Rev 1.1)

Rear panel, showing connectors

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    Could it be a customized Compaq Portable II en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compaq_Portable_II ? The size and layout seems to fit, but the panels differ, and the Compaq Portable II was 286 based.
    – UncleBod
    Dec 2, 2018 at 19:12
  • I thought it could be. It is definitely modified as there is a Mono-RGB switch on the side that isn't soldered to anything.
    – Alex Maurer Briggs
    Dec 2, 2018 at 19:30
  • If you are asking because you need to find a replacement battery, then a photo of the battery might help. Lots of motherboards have been using CR 2032 for the battery, but I have no idea if CR 2032 batteries have been produced with a brand label rather than the text CR 2032.
    – kasperd
    Dec 2, 2018 at 22:35
  • @kasperd well its 386SX ... so there is high possibility there is no CR2032 ... back in the days there where either 60mAh Accumulator pack (small cylinder cca ~2.0 cm, long and ~1.5cm in diameter soldered to board with 2 pins each on one base of the cylinder) or old style accupacks (black box cca ~1x1x4 cm with 2 wire cable ... usually glued to board) so no standard battery like we are used to today.
    – Spektre
    Dec 3, 2018 at 9:00
  • Agreed with the two answers here that this is a generic luggable. I recall seeing ads from lots of companies for this style of computer in the early '90s. Young me thought they were incredibly cool and wanted one badly.
    – Dranon
    Dec 17, 2018 at 14:22

2 Answers 2

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This is one of dozens (hundreds?) of luggable designs that came out of Taiwan and other far east nations in the late 80s/early 90s before everything reverted back to the AT case style. The case was generic and you could put in any compatibly sized mobo, which were also widely available. The "Tri Data" might be a local company or computer shop, anyone could build these and put their label on them. Around 1989 I was selling something similar, but without the knobs at the bottom. IIRC I was called "Compall", and was not related to the modern Compal.

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  • Was this for a Baby AT? I remember the Baby AT mobo's becoming dominant about the same time, but I paired them with the generic Taiwanese PC cases that were as tall but much narrower than a standard PC/AT case.
    – Brian H
    Dec 3, 2018 at 2:55
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This looks like a generic, Compaq style schlepable build from standard components with the Elitegroup HM386SX as a typical generic Heatland 386SX chipset based motherboard. I would date it as early to mid 1990s. BIOS should be an AMI one.

TriData is probably the name and label the involved PC confectioner did slap on after fitting the components ... usually dreaming to be on par with DELL - and outgrowing them soon :))

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