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GAH! Bad mobo? psu? HEPL!!

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  • GAH! Bad mobo? psu? HEPL!!

    I swear I'm about ready to pull my hair out. I'm going to keep this short and simple (I think).

    Here is the stage that I am down to in troubleshooting.

    My motherboard (an Epox 8k7a), is literaly sitting on the floor on top of an anti-static bag. It has a brand new AGOIA stepping XP 1600+ in it, with a coolermaster HHC-001 (solid copper with heat pipes) heat sink on it, and Arctic Silver 3 between them. I have 512mb (2 x 256) of Crucial PC2100 non-parity DDR SDRAM that ought to be good since I thought the memory was the problem and RMAed it so these are brand new sticks. I am currently testing with a variety of video cards, including (in order of power consumption): Matrox Parhelia 512, Hercules Prophet 4500 Kryo II, Matrox G400 SH 32, Matrox G200 8MB SG. I am also testing with three different power supplies: a cheapo 300w L&C that came with a cheapo case that I bought, a 300w AOpen that came with a very not cheapo case that I bought (almost 4 years old now), and a 3 month old 400w Sparkle.

    Here's the problem, no matter what video card/psu combination I use, eventually the system (if it can be called that at this point), will shut itself off. Using less system straining video cards (G400/G200) the system will take longer before it shuts off, but it will always do so eventually, usually after no more than 20 minutes. If I use the 300w AOpen PSU it seems to last a little longer as well, but still no more than 30 minutes or so. (btw, to turn on the system I am using a jumper to briefly short the power switch jumpers so there is no possiblity that there is a short in the power switch either). (edit) I forgot to add, ALL of the video cards and PSU's work absolutely flawlessly in my older Athlon 650/512 PC133 Crucial/Epox 7KXA system.

    I am at my wits end here, I have completely run out of ideas. Someone please tell me that I am right in my assumption that the mobo is bad (I don't want to have to buy a new one if that isn't the problem).

    (oh, one last note, I've managed to get into the bios and load the fail-safe defaults, then disable agp fast-writes and set agp to 1x/2x).

    Now I'm going to go eat dinner, have a large rum and coke (heavy on the rum), and then sulk in a corner for a while or something. Grrrrrr......

    Thanks
    Ian
    Last edited by HedsSpaz; 30 August 2002, 15:08.
    Primary System:
    MSI 745 Ultra, AMD 2400+ XP, 1024 MB Crucial PC2100 DDR SDRAM, Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro, 3Com 3c905C NIC,
    120GB Seagate UDMA 100 HD, 60 GB Seagate UDMA 100 HD, Pioneer DVD 105S, BenQ 12x24x40 CDRW, SB Audigy OEM,
    Win XP, MS Intellimouse Optical, 17" Mag 720v2
    Seccondary System:
    Epox 7KXA BIOS 5/22, Athlon 650, 512 MB Crucial 7E PC133 SDRAM, Hercules Prophet 4500 Kyro II, SBLive Value,
    3Com 3c905B-TX NIC, 40 GB IBM UDMA 100 HD, 45X Acer CD-ROM,
    Win XP, MS Wheel Mouse Optical, 15" POS Monitor
    Tertiary system
    Offbrand PII Mobo, PII 350, 256MB PC100 SDRAM, 15GB UDMA66 7200RPM Maxtor HD, USRobotics 10/100 NIC, RedHat Linux 8.0
    Camera: Canon 10D DSLR, Canon 100-400L f4.5-5.6 IS USM, Canon 100 Macro USM Canon 28-135 f3.5-5.6 IS USM, Canon Speedlite 200E, tripod, bag, etc.

    "Any sufficiently advanced technology will be indistinguishable from magic." --Arthur C. Clarke

  • #2
    If you can't verify parts work in another system, pick yourself up another MB in the morning and give that a whirl
    "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind." -- Dr. Seuss

    "Always do good. It will gratify some and astonish the rest." ~Mark Twain

    Comment


    • #3
      I'd suggest posting in the Epox forum at www.aoaforums.com
      Let us return to the moon, to stay!!!

      Comment


      • #4
        So you HAVE verified the parts in another system - what more can it be but the Motherboard

        AZ
        There's an Opera in my macbook.

        Comment


        • #5
          You get the latest bios update for your board from Epox?
          Also what temp is the bios reporting for the CPU after the system is on for 10-15 minutes.

          Oh.. one other thing. Are any of the major components on the motherboard getting hot? Wspecially check the regulators near the CPU.. they should all be pretty warm and about the same temp.

          Comment


          • #6
            I should check some details:
            Is the ACPI on? Not in mine. It eats IRQs, etc.
            Is the Exclusive Keyboard Power ON Function, jumper JP13 enabled? Not in mine MB.
            Is the Power Loss Recovery (JP5) Disabled (Default)?
            Did you check the CPU temp?
            Did you check the 5 V and 12 V values? Connecting fans directly to the MB pull these down.
            Is the Shutdown Temperature in the BIOS PC Health Status Set to a value or Disabled?
            Did you OC the board? Did you try to set the CPU clock to 100MHz (JCLK1)
            A stupid question: are the connectors J2 and J3 right assembled? I made a stupid error with my MB when I connected first time the Power LED upside down (pin1 to pin 5 etc).
            I am using a Chieftec case and its original PSU of 350W.
            I didn’t have any major problems wit my 8K7A+.
            I agree with az & others that it can be the motherboard. Maybe the CPU?

            Fred H
            Last edited by Fred H; 31 August 2002, 14:27.
            It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings...
            ------------------------------------------------

            Comment


            • #7
              are you trying to run it whiles it is ON the anti-static bag?

              anti-static are (slightly) conductive, you should have the board laying on a nonconductive surface when you start it up!!!.

              Comment


              • #8
                the board laying on a nonconductive surface when you start it up!!!....
                Better to run it at its place, in the computer box, grounded in multiple points, short connections. Long leads drop the 5/12 voltages.
                And, HedsSpatz, let us know if, and how, you solv the problem

                Fred H
                Last edited by Fred H; 2 September 2002, 02:24.
                It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings...
                ------------------------------------------------

                Comment


                • #9
                  And, HedsSpatz, let us know if, and how, you solv the problem
                  I've solved the problem by ordering a new motherboard. *grin*

                  I convinced myself that it was a bad mobo, there really wasn't much else it could be at this point. Eariler this summer I had pulled my old heatsink off to put on some new thermal compound cause I thought I was running too hot (which I was), and between taking the heatsink off and putting it back on I manage to severely chip the core. Very shortly after that is when all my problems started. I suspect that because I spent so much time screwing around and trying to get it to work that the now damaged cpu managed to damage the mobo in the process. (possibly the ram too, not sure)

                  As a side note, ACPI has nothing to do with the problem, I'm not even getting into windows and there aren't enough devices plugged in atm for irq's to be a problem. Besides which, I've never heard of IRQ conflicts causeing a computer to randomly shut off.

                  I do agree that the 8K7A/+ is a great board, I wish I could order another one, but no one sells it anymore, and it's out of warrenty, so, new board for me.

                  And since I'm sure you're wondering (what red blooded geek wouldn't be?), I ordered an MSI 745 Ultra. That seems to be the reigning highest recommended board around here atm so it seemed good to me (I especially like the price tag). I just wish it had 6 PCI slots, but whatcha gonna do. *shrug*

                  Ian
                  Primary System:
                  MSI 745 Ultra, AMD 2400+ XP, 1024 MB Crucial PC2100 DDR SDRAM, Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro, 3Com 3c905C NIC,
                  120GB Seagate UDMA 100 HD, 60 GB Seagate UDMA 100 HD, Pioneer DVD 105S, BenQ 12x24x40 CDRW, SB Audigy OEM,
                  Win XP, MS Intellimouse Optical, 17" Mag 720v2
                  Seccondary System:
                  Epox 7KXA BIOS 5/22, Athlon 650, 512 MB Crucial 7E PC133 SDRAM, Hercules Prophet 4500 Kyro II, SBLive Value,
                  3Com 3c905B-TX NIC, 40 GB IBM UDMA 100 HD, 45X Acer CD-ROM,
                  Win XP, MS Wheel Mouse Optical, 15" POS Monitor
                  Tertiary system
                  Offbrand PII Mobo, PII 350, 256MB PC100 SDRAM, 15GB UDMA66 7200RPM Maxtor HD, USRobotics 10/100 NIC, RedHat Linux 8.0
                  Camera: Canon 10D DSLR, Canon 100-400L f4.5-5.6 IS USM, Canon 100 Macro USM Canon 28-135 f3.5-5.6 IS USM, Canon Speedlite 200E, tripod, bag, etc.

                  "Any sufficiently advanced technology will be indistinguishable from magic." --Arthur C. Clarke

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    If you need a SIS745 board with 6 PCI slots you get the Aopen AK75...
                    Let us return to the moon, to stay!!!

                    Comment

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