Aopen/Acer VI15G Socket 3 Mobo: Bad Cache? \ VOGONS

Aopen/Acer VI15G Socket 3 Mobo: Bad Cache?

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First post, by Hudson187

Posted on 2014-01-26, 22:27

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Here is my issue: I have a Aopen/Acer branded motherboard, socket 3, model VI15G with DX2 66Mhz. The board was working great until I decided to change out my case. I stripped everything out except the CPU and cache. Once reassembled in the new case, I installed all cards and a IDE/CF adapter. I was able to install DOS 6.22 without issues (except having to run fdisk /mbr after install). Upon Himem.sys initialization, I get a error saying "himem.sys has detected unreliable xms memory at xxxxxxxxx. So, I tried switching out the system memory; same issue. I've tried to run Memtest86 and it crashes upon "cachespeed' something or other. I was thinking maybe the cache jumpers were set wrong, so I set them to 1) what was printed on the mobo 2) jumper settings per the internet. Ive also tried to disable external cache in the bios; doing so everything works fine which is leading me to believe I have 1) bad cache 2) bad mobo. Any suggestions or something I'm over looking? I can't change the cache out as I dont have any 32pin dips.

I'm really hoping the board isn't dead as its a nice mobo!

http://www.hudson187.com

Reply 1 of 9, by Logistics

Posted on 2014-01-26, 23:46

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I would try reseating all the cache chips. If you have any DEOXIT then I would apply some to all pins with a saturated q-tip.

Reply 2 of 9, by Mau1wurf1977

Posted on 2014-01-27, 00:02

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With faulty cache you will not be able to install DOS I can tell you that 😀

Likely your RAM has issues.

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My YouTube channel

Reply 3 of 9, by Hudson187

Posted on 2014-01-27, 00:07

Hudson187 Offline

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Mau1wurf1977 wrote:
With faulty cache you will not be able to install DOS I can tell you that 😀

Likely your RAM has issues.

Ive tried 3 different memory sticks, all of which throw the error. Would it have anything to do with statewait options in the bios?

I will get some detoxit from work and give that a shot on all ram and cache pins.

http://www.hudson187.com

Reply 4 of 9, by Hudson187

Posted on 2014-01-27, 03:56

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Tried messing with bios settings and get the same issue; I'll try reseating and cleaning this week.

http://www.hudson187.com

Reply 5 of 9, by Hudson187

Posted on 2014-01-27, 03:58

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Mau1wurf1977 wrote:
With faulty cache you will not be able to install DOS I can tell you that 😀

Likely your RAM has issues.

Just for the fun of it, i'm going to source more fpm ram... just a small amount to see if this theory rings true 😊 coild always use more memory anyway!

http://www.hudson187.com

Reply 6 of 9, by Hudson187

Posted on 2014-01-30, 02:40

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Quick update: I've changed out the stock cache with some Cypress 32kx8 12ns (256k), populating 8 sockets, bank 0 and 1. I then got an error from the bios saying "BAD CACHE", which was weird... so I then started to experiment and ended up removing one chip on the side, outside of bank 0 and 1 and the system works perfectly. Himem.sys checks out fine and I ran Doom for a while without issues. I'm fairly positive that the chip is not TAG; I found little information on the web about this board; what I did find doesn't even list the socket at all, nor says the board has the TAG option. Also, the mobo itself has no designation near the socket. I did try contacting Acer for any information whatsoever and they told me its not supported therefore no info is available, which was what I was expecting. I would love to find a copy of the manual -- searching the webs found nothing.

Last edited by Hudson187 on 2014-01-30, 23:38. Edited 2 times in total.

http://www.hudson187.com

Reply 7 of 9, by Logistics

Posted on 2014-01-31, 00:15

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Are you looking for specific information from the manual or just want a real hard-copy of the manual?

VVVVVV

Last edited by Logistics on 2014-01-31, 07:41. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 8 of 9, by Hudson187

Posted on 2014-01-31, 03:26

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Thanks, however this is one of the few things I found.

http://www.hudson187.com

Reply 9 of 9, by JaNoZ

Posted on 2014-07-29, 20:09

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I am running into some same problems running this board.

first of all i used 2.1 bios and now 2.3, and i can never seem to get a CTRL+ALT+DEL working it just freezes.
Also is it picky about ram ?, i used mostly some 4x 8MB gold fingered FPM memory with 4 chips.
Can you run with 4 chip rams stably? i run into doom crashing and some random lockups with several programs including quake.
Can you run quake at all at a clean boot? i can't, only when i loaded up himem and emm386

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