G'day, sounds like corrupt CMOS to me.
2 ways to fix it.
1. get the bios password cracker from the PCBuild page and edit CMOS.
2. clear CMOS and start again. You've got nothing to loose.
Notes:-
The M/B should have a jumper to clear CMOS, if not, remove the battery for a while.
If the battery is a soldered in rechargeable, short it out to flatten it. (this is quick & dirty)
If the CMOS is a "Clock & Ram in a battery " chip, more drastic action is required.
You need to clear the password. You can do that with the cracker from the PCBuild page or you will find that a lot of the PC Diags
disks will let you edit CMOS & you can get past the password that way.
Best of luck..
Cliff Rogers   (Computer Technician)  email  [log in to unmask]
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Peaks/9176/
Absolute Computers Pty. Ltd. Cairns, Queensland, Australia. [log in to unmask]
http://www.cairns.net.au/~absolute
>
>         On boot-up, system stops at---
>
>         256KB CACHE MEMORY
>         Missing operating system
>
>
> OK---I'll boot from floppy to look at C drive.  Put in
> diskette---same message.
>
> Next thing I notice is---Drive A is 5.25", Drive B is 3.5"
>
> OK---I'll go into CMOS and rearrange boot sequence.  Guess what!
> It's passworded!  Owner doesn't know password!  UGHH!!  (and I told
> him I could probably figure this situation out;  hmmm....not good)
>
>         This rookie needs some direction, please.
>
> System info---
>
> 486DX2
> Drive A- 5.25"
> Drive B- 3.5"
> AMIBIOS date 11/11/92
> 8MB RAM