Dell BIOS Fn-X mode issue?

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

I have a Dell Latitude C600 with both broken hinges and a keyboard with
some sticking keys.

The real problem however, is that a times, the laptop will not turn on
(power on), instead it will go into a power-on / power-off cycles. It
will stay on for few seconds and then turn itself off. A few times, the
screen shows MANUFACTURING MODE **** Press Fn-x to return to....****
Is the BIOS chip/battery going out?

Thanks a bunch