Startup Delay (~30 sec) Issue

Startup Delay (~30 sec) Issue: This issue is prevalent in (though not confined to) Alchemy motherboard Macs/clones (e.g. Apple 6400's and PowerBases--see my issues page) using Mac OS 7.6.1 and 8. Ted Landau's MacFixit 10/27 posted two letters claiming to have identified causes of the issue but I remain highly skeptical. The first describes an engineering reason involving some IDE drives on Tanzania motherboard Macs and clones (e.g. Apple's 6500 and Motorola StarMax's) but the letter goes on to say that it's not reproduceable on Alchemy board machines--? In addition, I still get the startup delay on my PowerBase with a SCSI startup disk, albeit external. The second claims it's due to a weak motherboard battery ... in tens of thousands of computers? ... but only after switching to Mac OS 7.6.1 while switching back to 7.6 eliminates the delay? Maybe but I have a hard time believing that Mac OS 7.6.1 and 8 require extraordinary motherboard battery power. While I am not going to solder three 1.5 volt batteries together to check out the claim, I will try a motherboard battery replacement this weekend.