epox mvp3g5 board blown / transistor needs to be exchanged

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DonPedro
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epox mvp3g5 board blown / transistor needs to be exchanged

Post by DonPedro »

bad luck is haunting me ...

after my investigations into the sis530 chipset I wanted to start an exploration of the via-chipset.

I have 3 boards (shuttle hot 597, dfi k6xv3+/66b2 and and ep-mvp3g5). all of them I bought via ebay.

so far only the shuttle (el cheapo) works without hickups. the dfi proved to have extreme troubles with my ram-sticks. those ram-sticks work perfectly in all other ali-5 boards. but the saddest experience I had yesterday was by trying to get the epox board working. it is just plain dead. :( I really don't understand how people dare to sell such a piece of crap propagating it with "100% ok" and alike. unfortunately it just does not make sense to return the board since shipment costs the same amount as I eventually will be refunded.

anyway, I believe I have found the reason why the epox board does not even start to boot. I found an electrical part which seems to me to be a kind of a transistor (-mosfet). 2-3mm thick, 9x7mm footprint. it shows a very very thin fissure and some silverwhite dust. according to the imprint it is a STB40NE03L-20 transistor. I would say that someone who knows how to handle a soldering gun while pointing it at delicate devices will be capable of exchanging that item without trouble.

my question now is: does anyone know where I can buy such a transistor?
Jim
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RE: epox mvp3g5 board blown / transistor needs to be exchang

Post by Jim »

What you have to do is see if you can figure out who made it. Given that info there are books that give equivalent parts, (w/ different part numbers), made by other manufacturers. Armed w/ a list of various equivalent parts you can go to your local electronics parts store and see what they have.

Re your DFI, yes they are a bit fussy about RAM. I have found that most of the non Hynix RAM that I have will cause them to crash when using aggressive settings; but you should be able to get it to work w/ non aggressive settings. If you are getting Black screen and Beeping, Clear the bios, and reseat the ram, filling the slots in order of the Dimm #. i.e. fill Dimm1 before filling Dimm2; and fill Dimm2 before filling Dimm3. That worked for me.

I have books for Motorola part numbers, and also have a book of equivalents from active electronics, I'll take a look and see if I can find that number for you; but KachiWachi is far more knowledgeable in this area.

K, I checked my 3rd edition "Towers International Transistor Selector" and it does not show a manufacturer ID "STB". It has "SIB", (Siemens UK), "SGB", (SGS/ATES UK), "STE", (Standard Electric) and "STL", (Stow Laboratories). Could be my book is too old (1982) to show some more recent manufacturers, or maybe you misread the #. Try to get a more recent edition of "Towers" from your local library. Mine is 289 pages of fine print, (like a phone book). It lists pretty well every transistor ever made, what their basic specs are, European, and US equivaalents, (i.e. Part Numbers).

Mine also does not show a Part Number beginning 40N. (Probably too old) 2N is very common; and there are a lot of 5 diget part numbers beginning 40; but not w/ letters in the 3rd position.
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Uranium235
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Post by Uranium235 »

Maybe the easiest way to find the mosfet you need is by locating one on another bad "donor" motherboard.
I've had some bad luck too with motheboards on Ebay. One out of every three used boards I've bought have had problems.
DonPedro
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Post by DonPedro »

ok, I will try to describe what exactly is printed on the mosfet.

in the upper left corner there is a logo: ST
right from it is a number: 9940
next line is the word "MOROCCO"
next line is the code "2B40NE" (or the letter "O")
in the lower left corner is the code "03L" (or O3L, letter "O")
then in the same line with some space the code "-20".

thank you for any more information!

re the dfi-board: I assume that it is also defect. dimm1-slot (next to the backplate) does not work at all regardless what ram-stick I use.
then I tried 2x128 sticks in dimm-socket 2 and 3, sticks that work in my shuttle board without problems. but here I get boot problems (beeping sounds) sometimes. if so I succeed booting by pressing the reset button and it boots. but even when it boots without complications I get memory problems from time to time within windows (freezing within osmark). I then ran memtest and it found 1000 something errors after some hours running. I wonder how these sticks were able to run without problems in the shutte board. I then tried a 256mb stick but only could place it in dimm socket 2. other sockets won't work at all. sometimes it recognizes the stick as of only 128mb ram, pressing reset button solves this. but finally I would say this board is defect and it is not the fault of the ram used.

the idea with taking some part from another board is a good one but no board I own uses that specific mosfet transistor. :(

off-topic: uranium, how are you doing with the aladdin7 board? were you able to proceed satisfactorily, did you found a datasheet on this chipset? I am trying to locate one (specsheet) but until now with no success.
Last edited by DonPedro on Sun Dec 10, 2006 3:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Jim
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Post by Jim »

K, went back and checked "Towers" again. Quote Towers -

"Devices either have type numbers peculiar to individual manufacturers (See Appendix D) or conform to industry standard serial numbering systems (suppliable by more than one manufacturer). The principal industry standard numbering systems are :

(a) '2N' (The EIA in the USA maintains a register of '2N' types familiarly known as 'Jedec' types, which have had world wide acceptance.) The most accessible detailed information on current '2N' types will be found in the 'Transistor Data Book' published annually by Derivation and Tabulation Associates Inc (Data) of 32 Lincoln Avenue, Orange New Jersey, USA.

(b) 'Proelectron' (The Association Internationale Pro Electron in Europe maintains a register of Pro Electron types which have had wide acceptance in Europe.) All comercially available devices registered with the Pro Electron organization are listed together with technical data and the names and addresses of suppliers in the annual edition of 'Semiconductors' published on behalf of Pro Electron by Ae.Kluwer, Santvoortbeeklaan 21 -23, 2100, Deurne - Antwerp, Belguim.

Transistors in the Pro Electron system are registered under a two letter / three numeral code (e.g. BC107) for consumer devices, or a three letter / two numeral code (e.g. ACY17) for industrial devices. Device numbers starting with 'A' refer to germanium and 'B' to silicon. All second and third letters have applications significance as indicated in Appendix D hereto.

(c) '2S' (In Japan the JIS, Japanese Industrial Standards, system of transistor numbering is almost universal, there being very few housecode devices. In this system, all transistor numbers start with '2S' followed by a letter and several numbers (e.g. 2SB364). The letter after the 'S' has significance : A = pnp hf, B = pnp lf, C = npn hf, D = npn lf."

Endquote

There are also "Old Standards" both European, (numbers starting 'OC'), and British, (numbers starting 'CV'),; but since my book is from 1982, I don't think they need apply.

Checking "Appendix D" I found that "ST" is a manufacturer's "House Code" for - "Semiconductors & Transitron", who I would assume are the manufacturer. The only 4 diget part numbers I could find beginning 9xxx were all made by a manufacturer coded "HIN" - "Hindustan Conductors Pvt. Ltd. Solid State Devices Div." - and they were all small transistors "TO92" type, w/ the highest part number being 9016H. As for "2B40 (or "O") NE" the "2" series starts w/ "2C" and goes up from there.

No help really. KachiWachi may have a newer edition.
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DonPedro
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Post by DonPedro »

thanks jim!

I found out out that ST (Microelectronics) is part of SGS Thompson Microelectronics and also have found a datasheet on the device.

I think the source I located for finding datasheets is quite useful for all of us. here is the link.

so now I need only a place to go where they sell such mosfets. anybody an idea?
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Post by Jim »

BTW Peter, The DFI is one of those boards that is poor about recognizing hardware. You do Have to clear the bios whenever there is an equipment change.

Edit K, I found that data sheet too. KachiWachi should be able to tell you what current parts are interchangable w/ that, if you can't find an original. (My books are too old). I don't know your home environment. Here I would go to Electrosonic Co. w/ the data sheet and say I want one.
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DonPedro
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Post by DonPedro »

to all,

any suggestions on a replacement board for the ep-mvp3g5 are welcome!

it should be:
- robust, stability is important to me
- true atx (no at-board with atx power plug)
- offer 2mb cache
- features the winbond-pll-chip W83194R-58(A) or any other pll chip that supports on the fly change of fsb/sdram from 100mhz to 133mhz via software from within windows.
DonPedro
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Post by DonPedro »

@jim

I followed your advice and cleared cmos. It helped somehow, I now have less trouble with what ram-stick in what dimm-slot, but it really does not compare to the ease-of-use of a p5a-board. I am spoiled, I know ..... :)

anyway, if anyone needs a dfi-k6xv3+/66b2 board I would give it away for free, shipping costs are to be carried by the new owner.

I am still looking for a working!!! epox mvp3g2 or -g5 board, so if someone has one too much and is ready to give it away please pm me ...
Jim
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Post by Jim »

Sad to hear you are giving up on DFI; - was looking forward to seeing what you could get out of one of them.Can't help you with an EPox. Don't use em; - only 3 PCI slots, and I try to steer clear of anything w/ the pox; though I hear they are good boards.
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2x 80G Maxtor (7200) Ducted w/ 2x486 Fans Mount
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DonPedro
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Post by DonPedro »

jim, the epox mvp3g5 features 5 pci slots ....
Jim
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Post by Jim »

Yeah, that's because it's an ATX. Most AT boards have 3 PCI and 1 AGP. VERY few have 4 PCI and an AGP, not to mention ATA/66. The DFI is one of those VERY few. As for ASUS, they are ok boards, provided you are content w/ ATA/33.
Superpuppy 3
K6-3+ 450 ACZ (6x100)
DFI K6BV3+/66 Rev B2 (2 Meg) w/ 2x28mm Chipset Fans
2x256 Meg PC 133 Hynix SDRAM
1x 20G Maxtor (7200)
2x 80G Maxtor (7200) Ducted w/ 2x486 Fans Mount
52/24/52/16 LG CDR/RW/DVD
8/4/3/12/24/16/32 LG Super Multi
ATI 9000 aiw Radeon AGP
SB Audigy 1 MP3 Sound
CMD 649 IDE Controller
NEC USB 2 Card
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