Flip the board and look for dry solder joints on the back of the slots.

BitWrangler wrote:

Flip the board and look for dry solder joints on the back of the slots.

I was about to post that, and I believe that is common on boards for the solder points to either dry up or crack, which requires a re-flow of the solder. Luckily, my Packard Bell still runs, but takes a while for it to turn on since I'm using 2x AA batteries for the CMOS settings (the old battery was a soldered on BR1225), but I can solder on a battery holder for a lithium battery, but I need a de-soldering iron.

My 386SX/33 board had similar problems.

I ended reflowing the AT power connector (I just flippled the motherboard and used an soldering iron on terminals)

Man, 12V was 3V or less and -12V was 0V or -12v on rare occasions. What a mess...

I actually have an EXP-4045. Great board. I had a stupid issue where a metal standoff I forgot to remove (and another one I couldn't remove) shorted out traces on the board and refused to let it post. Man was that an annoying problem.

Thank for all the tips! I switched places on the IDE controller and GPU and it has been stable this far. I will take a look at reflowing if the problem comes back.

bjwil1991 wrote:

BitWrangler wrote:

Flip the board and look for dry solder joints on the back of the slots.

I was about to post that, and I believe that is common on boards for the solder points to either dry up or crack, which requires a re-flow of the solder. Luckily, my Packard Bell still runs, but takes a while for it to turn on since I'm using 2x AA batteries for the CMOS settings (the old battery was a soldered on BR1225), but I can solder on a battery holder for a lithium battery, but I need a de-soldering iron.

no need for a de-soldering iron, you can buy a cheap pump, like this one:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Metal-Desolderi … WEAAOSwHHFY-e1c

works ok for occasional work. Just make sure to add some fresh solder to the joint before pumping, it will go way smoother.

bjwil1991 wrote:

I was about to post that, and I believe that is common on boards for the solder points to either dry up or crack, which requires a re-flow of the solder. Luckily, my Packard Bell still runs, but takes a while for it to turn on since I'm using 2x AA batteries for the CMOS settings (the old battery was a soldered on BR1225), but I can solder on a battery holder for a lithium battery, but I need a de-soldering iron.

I'm not quite sure I'm on topic...but hey, if you want to be sure before doing something, you are not doing much at all. 😎
- Ok , to hell with cheap lectures and advices -
I'll be using the external battery header and a speaker wire on this one and I'm looking for a elegant solution:

Funny how the distance from positive and negative barrel battery terminals just match the battery holder.
Are they deactivated right now? In other words, can I install the holder where the barrel battery lays without "overvolting" something?
May I proceed ?

And although I tried to neutralize PC Chips fans with disdain earlier in "PC Chips sucks" thread, holding this intact ancient artifact feels more powerful than having the ultra hyper ultimate GTX or Titan from Nvidia. Furthermore, you wouldn't believe how much people are asking for a XT, 286 or 386 board around here...