"a BLANK BIOS CHIP" will not allow "anything" to happen,
including (in almost all cases) NO re-flash of the BIOS.
To Flash a BIOS, the BIOS has to get to the point of "mounting"
the floppy drive and starting the "small" OS on it and running the
Flash program... Generally,  ( -- YMMV, there are better MBs
that have exceptions to this general rule.)

So, lets see if that is what really happens...
If you stick in a "plain jane" Win98 boot floppy and try to properly
boot from it, what happens?  ANYTHING?
(Forget for the time being that you may not be able to "see" the hard
drive contents.)
The BIOS has to be set to boot from floppy first, so you may
get into a "which came first, the chicken or the egg" scenario.
Bad HD jumper settings are "one of the things" that might cause a
BIOS to look "dead"...

Additional:
Some mother boards have a special key to hold down before/during
a POST to force them into what might be called "fail-safe" mode to
allow a "BIOS configuration screen" start-up when all else fails...
This is different from the normal key that gets you into the BIOS
under normal conditions.
This special key would be needed if a particularly "bad" setting was
made, or a critical BIOS setting got corrupted.
This key would be "special" to your particular MB and manufacturer,
so if nothing works, you need that MB info for more help.

But first,
I'd re-check all cables, jumpers, and simplify the system hardware
as much as possible as one of the next steps.

Document how things were and what you "think" you set them to
so you can re-trace (check, or tell about) your changes, or even
reverse them if necessary...  (Making lots of fast changes can get
confusing...)
                                             Rick Glazier

From: "Peter"
> Removing the battery does not erase the BIOS, it only erases the CMOS
> settings. You do not need to flash the BIOS, only to set the appropriate
> parameters in the CMOS setup. This includes setting the time, the peripheral
> interfaces, and the disk drives configurations. Fortunately, the modern BIOS
> usually includes an AUTOMATIC hard drive detection mode which makes
> configuration much easier.

> -----Original Message-----AL SMITH Toronto.
> I want to make one strong point first. NEVER remove that #2032 battery!!
> You will end up with a BLANK BIOS CHIP!!!!!!!
>
> Does anyone know where I can download the flash program that will fit on a
> floppy that will correct the problem????
>
> Many thanks to all those who gave me tips and ideas.

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