need help with MPC?

I just brought home a Columbia Data Products MPC which I found stored at the library I work at. It was stored in the original box and is in beautiful condition. The case needs cleaned up a bit due to things being taped to it etc. and the internals are completely dust free but I'm having a problem when I boot it.

I used an RCA cable ran to my VCR to get output on my TV which works fine. When I try to boot it up it tells me "fixed disk not found." I can hear it spin up when I first turn it on and I made sure all the cables were on tight and everything. Is there a BIOS with these very early PC's because my first thought was a dead battery and I just needed to go in and auto detect the HDD? I figure this was made before that convenience though...lol

Does anyone have any advice that might help me get her up and running? Any help is appreciated

EDIT:
Oh and one other thing. I noticed this has a 25 pin D port on the back labeled "console." What is that used for?

No battery. The console port is a serial port to jack-in a terminal. If you hold down the Escape key at boot time, the MPC will drop into it's built-in monitor (software front panel) program. Some testing/diagnostic features are available there. BTW, have you tried booting from a floppy?

--T

Well, I tried the Esc key thing and it did what it was doing before. "fixed disk not found." I tried making a DOS boot disk w/the only other machine I have with a floppy drive and every time I format the disk I get.


I don't think these floppies I have are any good so that's probably the problem there.