POST

Discussion relating to Socket 7 hardware.
Quincy

POST

Post by Quincy »

Just picked up a socket7 motherboard, ax59Pro.
According to the seller, it was working before he took it apart.
Try to do the POST test, the cpu fan comes on but nothing to the monitor.
All the components (beside the mobo), are working in another motherboard; Which lead me to believe, they are good.
Could this cause by the sdram? I installed pc133 sdram instead of pc100 because i don't have any pc100.
Beside try to find a stick of pc100 sdram, anyway can i determine it?
Thanks in advance.
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Cthulhu8u
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Posts: 44
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Location: Toronto, Canada

Re: POST

Post by Cthulhu8u »

Quincy wrote:Just picked up a socket7 motherboard, ax59Pro.
According to the seller, it was working before he took it apart.
Try to do the POST test, the cpu fan comes on but nothing to the monitor.
All the components (beside the mobo), are working in another motherboard; Which lead me to believe, they are good.
Could this cause by the sdram? I installed pc133 sdram instead of pc100 because i don't have any pc100.
Beside try to find a stick of pc100 sdram, anyway can i determine it?
Thanks in advance.
PC133 should actually be better than using PC100. I have used it in other socket seven motherboards with no problems. I would check a few things:
1) Is there any activity besides the fan? Does the speaker beep, hard drive churn about, anything other than the fan? Does the monitor power go green, or stay in standby/power blink as if not connected to signal?
2) It sounds like maybe you aren't getting video signal. Can you try a different video card? A PCI card is best to test a system for the first time.
3) Did the previous owner have SIMMS installed instead of DIMMS? Some motherboards can support both types of ram, if so they will sometimes have a ram voltage setting (jumper). If he had dimms, you may need to adjust this before using DIMMS.
4) Are you sure all the components are working? Maybe they worked last time you used them, but if you haven't lately tried each piece individually (especially the ram, video card, and monitor) they may have died since then.
5) Is everything plugged in correctly? Maybe a switched cable or jumper somewhere is preventing bootup.
6) Could the seller have fibbed? :cry:
ASUS P5A-B rev 1.04 (bios 1011 beta 02)
AMD K6-2+ 500
256 Mb RAM
3Dfx Voodoo 4 4500
Maxtor 6Gb HD
LG 52x CD-RW
SyQuest EZ 135 internal drive
D-Link DFE-530TX+ NIC
Generic PCI Soundcard
Lots of stickers...
Jim
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Post by Jim »

Two things I would try before getting too excited. 1) clear the bios,

(either by powering down then resetting the bios clearing jumper for a few seconds before returning it to its normal position, or by powering down then popping the mobo battery out for a few minutes, before putting it back in).

Some mobos react to equipment changes by "hibernating". Once the bios has been cleared so as to get rid of any conflicts between what it says about hardware in there and what is actually in the machine, power up and try to boot it again.

If that fails, then 2) try different ram. I do not have a board identical to yours, but some of my boards will work with some kinds of ram but not others.

For example I have some sticks of Micron double sided low density 256Meg PC 133 that will work in an Asus P5A-B, but not in a DFI K6BV3+/66.

I do however have some sticks of Micron double sided low density 256Meg PC 100 that will work in a DFI K6BV3+/66.

I also have some sticks of double sided low density Kingston 256Meg PC 133, (w/ Micron chips), that will work in a DFI K6BV3+/66 - Go Figure.

And Cthulhu8u is right about using a PCI video card. I have cleared some no video lockups that way, prior to installing the card that I want to use fulltime.

I should also mention "Double Sided Low Density Ram" specifically is what generally works. High density single sided ram quite often doesn't work in Super 7s, though you will usually get a long loud series of beeps if it is a ram problem.
Guest

Re: POST

Post by Guest »

Cthulhu8u wrote:
Quincy wrote:Just picked up a socket7 motherboard, ax59Pro.
According to the seller, it was working before he took it apart.
Try to do the POST test, the cpu fan comes on but nothing to the monitor.
All the components (beside the mobo), are working in another motherboard; Which lead me to believe, they are good.
Could this cause by the sdram? I installed pc133 sdram instead of pc100 because i don't have any pc100.
Beside try to find a stick of pc100 sdram, anyway can i determine it?
Thanks in advance.
PC133 should actually be better than using PC100. I have used it in other socket seven motherboards with no problems. I would check a few things:
1) Is there any activity besides the fan? Does the speaker beep, hard drive churn about, anything other than the fan? Does the monitor power go green, or stay in standby/power blink as if not connected to signal?
2) It sounds like maybe you aren't getting video signal. Can you try a different video card? A PCI card is best to test a system for the first time.
3) Did the previous owner have SIMMS installed instead of DIMMS? Some motherboards can support both types of ram, if so they will sometimes have a ram voltage setting (jumper). If he had dimms, you may need to adjust this before using DIMMS.
4) Are you sure all the components are working? Maybe they worked last time you used them, but if you haven't lately tried each piece individually (especially the ram, video card, and monitor) they may have died since then.
5) Is everything plugged in correctly? Maybe a switched cable or jumper somewhere is preventing bootup.
6) Could the seller have fibbed? :cry:
Cthulhu8u,
Thanks for the prompt reply.
Answer your questions:
- No speaker beep, hard drive is not connect, just the fan turn on, monitor power stay on amber like no signal.
- Try pci vid card, no change.
- No jumper setting for dim.
- All components are working when i put them back into another board.
- All connections double & triple checked.
- Before i condemn the board, i would like to exhaust all avenues.

Ideas/suggestions are welcome.
Guest

Post by Guest »

Jim wrote:Two things I would try before getting too excited. 1) clear the bios,

(either by powering down then resetting the bios clearing jumper for a few seconds before returning it to its normal position, or by powering down then popping the mobo battery out for a few minutes, before putting it back in).

Some mobos react to equipment changes by "hibernating". Once the bios has been cleared so as to get rid of any conflicts between what it says about hardware in there and what is actually in the machine, power up and try to boot it again.

If that fails, then 2) try different ram. I do not have a board identical to yours, but some of my boards will work with some kinds of ram but not others.

For example I have some sticks of Micron double sided low density 256Meg PC 133 that will work in an Asus P5A-B, but not in a DFI K6BV3+/66.

I do however have some sticks of Micron double sided low density 256Meg PC 100 that will work in a DFI K6BV3+/66.

I also have some sticks of double sided low density Kingston 256Meg PC 133, (w/ Micron chips), that will work in a DFI K6BV3+/66 - Go Figure.

And Cthulhu8u is right about using a PCI video card. I have cleared some no video lockups that way, prior to installing the card that I want to use fulltime.

I should also mention "Double Sided Low Density Ram" specifically is what generally works. High density single sided ram quite often doesn't work in Super 7s, though you will usually get a long loud series of beeps if it is a ram problem.
Jim,
Thanks for the help.
1) The bios cleared, no change.
2) I am thinking of ram, but i don't get any beep though.
What i have are single sided pc133 ram.
Any ideas?
Jim
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Post by Jim »

O.K. 2 things before I say its over my head. 1) Check the mobo battery. They are supposed to be over 3v .. I usually just stick it under my tongue, it should have some bite; - though till you've tried a good one you don't have a reference point.

2) Try to borrow some double sided low density ram from a friend to see if that solves the problem before you commit any money.

Finally (Desperation Measure - Powered Down) Leave the mobo battery out for more than a few minutes. Short the negative and positive battery holder contacts together while it is out. (object, - make doubley darn certain the bios is cleared) then stick it back in.

Reason, - have found that popping the battery does not always clear the bios for some reason, - (capacitance ?), unless it is left out for longer than one would think necessary.
Quincy

Post by Quincy »

Jim,
Will try when i get home, keep fingers cross.
Thanks
Jim
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Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2004 7:10 pm
Location: Toronto

Post by Jim »

Afterthought: if your board supports Simm Ram, try some of that, (even if it's only a few meg) to see if that brings the board to life.
DasMan2

Post by DasMan2 »

Qunicy make sure your Floppy drive cable is in place correctly , I have experience of some Socket 7 M.B.'s not doing anything to even post with improper cable seating.

Your Ram is probably the issue. PC133 ram does not go well in several socket 7 and Super socket 7 m.b.'s .

To test a m.b. battery saely and fairly accurately take a small computer case LED light (they are mostly + /- ended) place it onto the battery sides ...the light needs to light up somewhat or bright to be a good battery.
A dimmly lit LED shows of the relatively weak battery. Some batteries so weak do not light the LED at all ...yet two of them stacked together will light the LED ....those would be on their last legs for sure.
Guest

Post by Guest »

Jim & Dasman2.
Thanks & will do.
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punkrawker82
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Post by punkrawker82 »

I experienced this problem before on my board and couldn't figure out why for a week before I got a different stick of PC100 SDRAM and then it magically worked....I think the ram I had been trying went bad for some reason. I had left it out on a desk for months and it was quite dusty....(Maybe dust/static killed it??)

If its definately not your ram, then does your mobo have onboard video??

If you have onboard video......maybe there's a jumper or set of switches you have to use to disable the onboard video...it could explain the monitor staying in standby because its hooked to your AGP/PCI video card, and your system's not finding the card. Its expecting the onboard :?:
Past System
----------
Asus P5A-B rev1.05(Beta BIOS 1011.005)
AMD K6-2/CXT AFX @ 500Mhz(CPUCool 5 x 100)
128Mb PC100 SDRAM
VisionTek GeForce 4 MX 440 4x AGP @2x w/ 64Mb DDR
Creative Ensoniq PCI Sound Card
ADS Turbo Quad 4 Port USB PCI Card
Linksys NC100 v2 NIC
Western Digital 8Mb Cache SE 80Gb HD
Lite-On 52x32x52 CDR/RW
Lite-On 16x48 DVD

Current
----------
Athlon XP-A(Barton) 2600+ @ 1.91Ghz
Abit NF7-S v2.0
512Mb Kingston 3200 DDR(2.5-3-3-7)
VisionTek GeForce 4 MX 440 4x AGP w/ 64Mb DDR
Jim
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Location: Toronto

Post by Jim »

Hey Dasman2 that is a good one on testing mobo batterys, never thought of that, (though I should have). :oops:
Quincy

Post by Quincy »

Have tried all the suggestions, no change.
Sadly to say, assume the board is shot.
Thanks everyone for the help.
DasMan2

Post by DasMan2 »

Possibly the CMOS clearling jumper has been left on the "TO CLEAR" setting and needs to be replaced on the regular function setting.

Another thing is to inspect the Capacitors for leaking or Buldging as those should be replaced.

Did you check the onboard Battery ,was it good ?

Lastly should the battery be good and the board is bad the BIOS chip can be savalged by a group in the USA (New York state I believe),you could even donate it to them (In part or whole). :)

Need more info on that I can post up the info for you.
Quincy

Post by Quincy »

I am going to return the board to the seller.
Spent enough time on it already.

Searching for another super socket 7 board.
Let me know if any, locate an hour drive east of Toronto.

Thanks.
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