VOGONS


First post, by Chewhacca

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

Hi guys, new to the forums and for the last week I've been trying to rebuild a 486DX/2 system but now I've hit a snag. The computer won't get to the post screen. I've had other computers do this and changing the clock battery seemed to fix it but i can't find one on this particular motherboard.

Other things that I have tried are removing all the expansion cards, using different video cards (S3, Matrox, Tseng Labs (PCI & ISA)) and that didn't seem to help either.

I've also tried removing all of the RAM and turning on the system. This caused te motherboard to beep an error code so that's proof of life at least.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. 😀

Reply 1 of 10, by Tetrium

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

What was the beep error code?

Whats missing in your collections?
My retro rigs (old topic)
Interesting Vogons threads (links to Vogonswiki)
Report spammers here!

Reply 4 of 10, by Tetrium

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++
Chewhacca wrote:

Hi guys, new to the forums and for the last week I've been trying to rebuild a 486DX/2 system but now I've hit a snag. The computer won't get to the post screen.
.....
I've also tried removing all of the RAM and turning on the system

I've just reread what you said. Won't this indicate theres something wrong with the RAM?
If the RAM works in another board then perhaps you're trying to use the wrong type of RAM in your board (like EDO).

Whats missing in your collections?
My retro rigs (old topic)
Interesting Vogons threads (links to Vogonswiki)
Report spammers here!

Reply 5 of 10, by Chewhacca

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

When the computer powers on, there aren't any beep codes or anything with the RAM installed. When I remove the RAM I get the no RAM error. I was only doing this to test that the BIOS operates correctly which it appears to.

Reply 8 of 10, by Tetrium

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++
Chewhacca wrote:

OK, sorry to waste your time, just swapped out the RAM for some other stuff (looks the same) and the computer just POSTed.

The reason I asked you to try different RAM is because there are basically 2 kinds of SIMM modules, the older FPM and the newer EDO modules. Most 486 boards will not work with EDO modules and from a first glance it's virtually impossible to separate an EDO module for a FPM module.
I found the easiest way is to either look at the part number on the chips and "guess" by experience if it's probably EDO or not, if it sais so on a sticker 😁.
But the best way is to try them in a Pentium board and look at the POST screen, it will tell you if it's EDO or not 😉

A personal favorite of mine for testing SIMM's this way is the FIC PA-2005. It's a regular AT Socket 7 board with no overclocking potential but it will work with single SIMM's! Ideal for testing SIMM modules 😁

And you're not wasting my time, I come here out of free will hehe 😉 😉 😉
Glad you got it working 😉

Whats missing in your collections?
My retro rigs (old topic)
Interesting Vogons threads (links to Vogonswiki)
Report spammers here!

Reply 9 of 10, by Chewhacca

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

Well, when I say I got it working, I was following a very loose definition of "working." should keep me occupied for the next few weeks getting everything up and running though. 😁

Reply 10 of 10, by sliderider

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++
Tetrium wrote:
The reason I asked you to try different RAM is because there are basically 2 kinds of SIMM modules, the older FPM and the newer […]
Show full quote
Chewhacca wrote:

OK, sorry to waste your time, just swapped out the RAM for some other stuff (looks the same) and the computer just POSTed.

The reason I asked you to try different RAM is because there are basically 2 kinds of SIMM modules, the older FPM and the newer EDO modules. Most 486 boards will not work with EDO modules and from a first glance it's virtually impossible to separate an EDO module for a FPM module.
I found the easiest way is to either look at the part number on the chips and "guess" by experience if it's probably EDO or not, if it sais so on a sticker 😁.
But the best way is to try them in a Pentium board and look at the POST screen, it will tell you if it's EDO or not 😉

A personal favorite of mine for testing SIMM's this way is the FIC PA-2005. It's a regular AT Socket 7 board with no overclocking potential but it will work with single SIMM's! Ideal for testing SIMM modules 😁

And you're not wasting my time, I come here out of free will hehe 😉 😉 😉
Glad you got it working 😉

If there's a part number on the memory then plug it in to Google and see if it finds anything. I've identified a lot of unknown parts that way.