DoutorHouse wrote on 2023-05-13, 13:07:

Have you checked the battery? I also remember having a similar issue on my Aptiva but mine was a 2134 model... iirc it was related to some APM setting on bios... Also, did you try the diagnostics disk for that model, if it has one?

Hello, yes the CMOS battery is a new one. I just updated the BIOS ( the old one was from 2000 year, this one is from 2002 as shown in the BIOS, but there is nothing new, no new options or whatever. The BEEP code is still there, just with a lowered volume....weird. There is still nothing that says the CPU temps, voltages....etc.

EDIT: I enabled /disabled everything under Power Managment but same situation.

_StIwY_ wrote on 2023-05-13, 13:48:

DoutorHouse wrote on 2023-05-13, 13:07:

Have you checked the battery? I also remember having a similar issue on my Aptiva but mine was a 2134 model... iirc it was related to some APM setting on bios... Also, did you try the diagnostics disk for that model, if it has one?

Hello, yes the CMOS battery is a new one. I just updated the BIOS ( the old one was from 2000 year, this one is from 2002 as shown in the BIOS, but there is nothing new, no new options or whatever. The BEEP code is still there, just with a lowered volume....weird. There is still nothing that says the CPU temps, voltages....etc.

EDIT: I enabled /disabled everything under Power Managment but same situation.

Ah... was really hoping that disabling the Power Management options did the trick... Have you also checked the cables? The power adapter has some cables related to the APM, iirc. Also, maybe there is something touching the RAM simms or some card... I confess i'm a bit OCD when it comes to that sort of thing and i would probably start by carefully reassembling the entire computer, slowly piece by piece... I also don't know if you have the manual but you should check if it supports that specific processor and ram, graphic card and network card, keyboard and mouse, etc... Carefully checking all jumpers again is also an option...

DoutorHouse wrote on 2023-05-13, 18:46:

Ah... was really hoping that disabling the Power Management options did the trick... Have you also checked the cables? The power adapter has some cables related to the APM, iirc. Also, maybe there is something touching the RAM simms or some card... I confess i'm a bit OCD when it comes to that sort of thing and i would probably start by carefully reassembling the entire computer, slowly piece by piece... I also don't know if you have the manual but you should check if it supports that specific processor and ram, graphic card and network card, keyboard and mouse, etc... Carefully checking all jumpers again is also an option...

As for the BEEPs, judging from the manual, it says some some generic system board problem ( i wonder why since everything works fine )

I'll do this in next week also because i will put an SB Live as soundcard ( the ESS Allegro 1 is pretty mediocre ), in the meanwhile i'm trying to find the IBM Enhanced Diagnostics program ( should be put into a floppy disk ) but i have no luck finding this on the internet

EDIT: I found it here, did all tests. passed with no problems.

https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/ibm-enhance … -intellistation

_StIwY_ wrote on 2023-05-14, 09:49:

As for the BEEPs, judging from the manual, it says some some generic system board problem ( i wonder why since everything works […]
Show full quote

DoutorHouse wrote on 2023-05-13, 18:46:

Ah... was really hoping that disabling the Power Management options did the trick... Have you also checked the cables? The power adapter has some cables related to the APM, iirc. Also, maybe there is something touching the RAM simms or some card... I confess i'm a bit OCD when it comes to that sort of thing and i would probably start by carefully reassembling the entire computer, slowly piece by piece... I also don't know if you have the manual but you should check if it supports that specific processor and ram, graphic card and network card, keyboard and mouse, etc... Carefully checking all jumpers again is also an option...

As for the BEEPs, judging from the manual, it says some some generic system board problem ( i wonder why since everything works fine )

I'll do this in next week also because i will put an SB Live as soundcard ( the ESS Allegro 1 is pretty mediocre ), in the meanwhile i'm trying to find the IBM Enhanced Diagnostics program ( should be put into a floppy disk ) but i have no luck finding this on the internet

EDIT: I found it here, did all tests. passed with no problems.

https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/ibm-enhance … -intellistation

Which diskette did you use?

DoutorHouse wrote on 2023-05-17, 14:37:

Which diskette did you use?

Uh ? I linked in my previous post. But that diagnostic program just tests the hardware, everything was confirmed as working, but it said nothing about the boot BEEPs.

Anyway i was wondering if it would be possible to exchange the CPU with another one ? I can't find informations about the max CPU supported by the IBM motherboard.

UPDATE : My IBM Aptiva stopped doing BEEPs for now.....i didn't touch anything, i guess what has changed...

Do the (early) Aptivas with just ISA and PCI slots allow one to use graphics cards other than the integrated one? I recently got my hands on a 133 MHz Pentium model (a 2168 of some sort) but its image output via the VGA port is blurry enough to hurt my eyes.

Usually you have to disable the onboard by jumper... it might be more than one in locations spread across the board.

BitWrangler wrote on 2023-07-25, 04:41:

Usually you have to disable the onboard by jumper... it might be more than one in locations spread across the board.

Okay, thanks. Wish I had the manual...

Woop, I wrote what I didn't meant by this. Customer somehow had computer fell down and bought it to computer shop I worked at.

Fix was the CPU was popped out of socket due to weight of the large, passive heatsink but still held on by the heatsink's clip. Reinstalled the CPU and heatsink got computer bought back to life! Lucky owner!

Cheers,

I just picked up an Aptiva 2158 with a K6-2 350Mhz, 64Mb RAM, and onboard ATI Rage Pro 8mb and ESS Solo-1. The eBay seller seems to be a bit of a retro specialist, and it was nicely cleaned up already, no sign of bad caps or physical damage, and even still charge in the coin battery. No hard disk though.

I've been looking out for an Aptiva for ages - this is a bit newer than the P120 sliding front tower Aptiva that was my very first PC as a kid, but my second PC was a self build with an ALi Aladdin Super7 motherboard and a K6-III, so it feels like it's ticking multiple boxes on the nostalgia front!

For storage I added a generic Amazon 128Gb mSATA SSD in a generic AliExpress mSATA to 2.5" IDE adapter. This is split into 3 partitions, with Win98 installed on the first.

I've also already swapped in a 128Mb DIMM from another system, which has made it feel like it's running much more fluidly. Installing the final ATI graphics drivers from the AMD site also seemed to make a difference. Other drivers for the ALi chipset (IDE and AGP) and ESS audio are from the Vogons Drivers library. Also installed the Nubs36 USB drivers.

It doesn't seem super stable, or smooth running though. There are periodic pauses, which don't always resolve themselves - especially when installing software. It also occasionally locks up during boot (the scrolling blue white bar at the bottom has stuck permanently a few times). And I've noticed that if I leave it unattended for say 30 mins, it has tended to blue screen with a "Disk Write Error" (might that be some issue with power saving?).

This instability feels worse than other Win98 installations I've got running recently, and much worse than I remember my original ALi Aladdin V/ K6-III system having been in the late 90s.

Any ideas what might be causing the instability?

Try to disable everything in the power options. Both my Win 98 SE computers just froze completely if left unattended before I forbade Windows from ever powering down the display and hard drives; they don't anymore. (I, too, am using generic Chinese SATA-IDE adapters.)

Though now that I think of it, I guess it might be okay for the display to be powered off since it's probably those cheap SATA adapters.

Re: the locking up when booting, are you using any network cards? For me they have proven at times problematic in 98, causing either loooong delays or outright freezing.

Edit: another idea: have you tested your RAM with Memtest86+ or something similar?

amigopi wrote on 2023-08-01, 23:17:

Try to disable everything in the power options. Both my Win 98 SE computers just froze completely if left unattended before I fo […]
Show full quote

Try to disable everything in the power options. Both my Win 98 SE computers just froze completely if left unattended before I forbade Windows from ever powering down the display and hard drives; they don't anymore. (I, too, am using generic Chinese SATA-IDE adapters.)

Though now that I think of it, I guess it might be okay for the display to be powered off since it's probably those cheap SATA adapters.

Re: the locking up when booting, are you using any network cards? For me they have proven at times problematic in 98, causing either loooong delays or outright freezing.

Edit: another idea: have you tested your RAM with Memtest86+ or something similar?

Thanks for the suggestions! I ran Memtest86 from a Clonezilla boot disc, and it passed fine. I had gone as far as completely disabling power management in the BIOS (back to "it is now safe to turn off your computer"!) but without luck.

I seem to have got to the bottom of it by removing the mSATA drive though. First I tried moving the actual mSATA drive to another adapter (the small PCB style rather than 2.5" drive format) but had exactly the same issues. After peeling off the "QA Passed" stickers though, it turned out both used the same controller chip.

Then I tried installing Windows to a 8Gb CF card instead, and had much better results. Everything was much smoother, fewer lockups, although I did have a blue screen about VMM.vxd when I installed the ALi IDE bus master driver (the one from the mirror of the IBM support site no less).

8Gb (the biggest CF card I had at home) seemed quite limiting though, so next I tried a 128Gb Samsung SD card (actually microSD) in one of the ubiquitous IDE adapters, again in several partitions with plenty of unallocated space. This has also been fine! (although perhaps not quite as snappy as the CF card?). I didn't bother with the ALi IDE driver at all this time, as I can still enable DMA without it.

So, the problem seems to be narrowed down to the mSATA drive itself, OR the ALi chipset not getting on with the controller chip on the adapters? I've used identical adapters in other retro systems with Intel or SiS chipsets without any of these issues. I guess I can test the drive in another system to see if it is the mSATA drive itself.

The only other thing I changed was using a rounded (80 wire) IDE cable - mainly because the spacing between plugs was wider. I don't suppose using a modern adapter on the old 40 wire IDE cable might have been a cause?

While changing the IDE cables over, I noticed this little patch of rework on the motherboard. Is it likely to be a factory modification, or has a previous retro enthusiast repaired something?

Good to hear you got it working – I feel my IDE-SATA adapters are also a bit suspect, but they serve for now. (Though I'm glad to hear the SD adapters are a valid option – I have been considering them myself.)

The only other thing I can comment on are the IDE cables: in my systems, it hasn't mattered one bit whether I've used old or new cables, 40 pin or 80 pin, it's all the same. Sure, the 80 pin ones may be faster, but not to the naked eye, and I've not run any benchmarks.

Now I'm happy with the running of the 2158 in Win98 with the SD and CF cards as drives, I'm thinking about some other upgrades or additions, and I'd appreciate any advice on what is worthwhile?

The motherboard DIP switches seem to allow up to a 100Mhz bus x 4.5 multiplier, which matches with the maximum documented K6-2 450Mhz in the manual. Would that actually be a worthwhile upgrade? It looks like K6-2s are cheap as chips, whereas K6-IIIs go for crazy money! I saw on Wikipedia that a K6-2 will interpret a motherboard multiplier of 2 as 6, so could I get say a K6-2 550 and run it overclocked to 600Mhz on this motherboard?

I've ordered another 128Mb PC100 stick to permanently install the full 256Mb RAM.

I've also ordered a GeForce 5500 FX PCI from AliExpress (apparently "new"?) as something like a Voodoo 3 is out of my price range for now. Hopefully this might be a worthwhile improvement on the ATi Rage onboard, even if it isn't really age appropriate?

I'm thinking about installing a spare IDE DVD-RW drive in the second 5.25" drive bay (where the black fascia will be hidden by the little door!).

I've already replaced the CPU fan on the S7 heatsink with a new 'silent' 50mm fan from eBay - a vast improvement! But the PSU fan is clearly still a bit noisy as well - I'll have to think about opening that up to change?

But I'm starting to wonder whether the 70w original PSU will still be enough for the system with a PCI graphics card and a second optical drive, more RAM, etc? I guess on the other hand, the SD and CF card adapters will be drawing much less current than a spinning HDD would have done? Would it be sensible to swap the PSU for e.g. a spare 250w P4 era one I have?

Re: the PSU, check the power connectors on your mobo first – at least the older Aptivas employed a custom solution making it difficult (or, at least, not straightforward) to swap the PSU. It's been discussed in this thread I think, and if not, then at the very least on some thread on Vogons.

amigopi wrote on 2023-08-04, 11:09:

Re: the PSU, check the power connectors on your mobo first – at least the older Aptivas employed a custom solution making it difficult (or, at least, not straightforward) to swap the PSU. It's been discussed in this thread I think, and if not, then at the very least on some thread on Vogons.

Thanks for the heads' up - I checked the manual, and the pin out for the connector is identical to standard ATX - APART from the green wire/pin 14 being labelled "5v" on the manual diagram (and "Ground" in the accompanying table ...) rather than Power On. I tried the shorting Green and Black with the ATX header disconnected though, and it powers up the PSU fine. So I think that must mean it is a bog standard ATX connector? The only thing might be that the PSU seems a little "shallower" than standard? (and the CD-ROM drive seems particularly long).

Oh, and I did try the mSATA to IDE converter and 128Gb drive in another system (a VIA Epia) and it worked fine, perfectly stable. So I think it must just be an incompatibility between the ALi chipset (or the IBM BIOS) and the SATA translator chip? Still, the CF and SD adapters are working perfectly fine.

Some more of the parts I ordered for the Aptiva 2158 arrived, but I'm hitting some issues ...

Geforce 5500FX PCI arrived from China and I tested it in another system, where it seems to work fine. However, the Aptiva won't boot with it inserted. The PSU fan seems EVEN louder and more whiney though, so my gut feeling is that adding the graphics card pushes the PC beyond the power that the PSU can supply? The little supplied PSU is only 70w (I don't think I've ever seen an ATX PSU rated so low!). But I guess it might also be possible that the much more modern Geforce simply won't work with the ALi Super 7 chipset? Or is there something I need to specifically do to disable the integrated ATi graphics?

I tried swapping in a more modern (that's relative) 300w PSU but it turns out the IBM PSU, while ATX format, is *much* shorter than standard. I even tried swapping the CD-ROM to a newer (again, thats relative) DVD-ROM that was shorter, to create clearance, but there turns out to be a rivet behind the PSU that stops a standard PSU sitting in place properly!

I'm soon going to have a spare SFX power supply (I'm moving my main Windows PC to a smaller ITX case which uses a 1U PSU instead) so it occurred to me that might be the way to go - SFX PSUs are only 100mm deep, plus one fitted with an adapter here would be sitting centrally in the ATX PSU space, so clear of any other protrusions. I'll order a SFX-ATX adapter plate from AliExpress ...

Hello, just wondering how prevent my IBM Aptiva 2178 to turn on/turns off shortly everytime i turn on the powerstrip? There is nothing in the BIOS to prevent such behaviour, maybe there is a jumper somewhere in the motherboard, thanks.

Awesome thread to find. Great to see more IBM 's here in the forum.