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Amptron PM9600 no signs of life

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First post, by tony359

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Hello all,

I've got a Socket 7 Amptron PM-9600 MB which is dead.

https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/amptron-pm-9600

Things I tried
- VCC2 and VCC3 are the same and correct - 3.3V on my P90
- Board is set to single voltage
- P90 works on another MB
- Clock is present, 60Mhz
- BIOS has voltage
- I've re-written the BIOS using my programmer
- Battery is ok
- The diagnostic card shows "----", no activity
- Reset line working

I have 3.3V missing from the diagnostic card but I think it's normal?

I am testing without RAM. It should still execute some code and beep.

Probing the BIOS lines, I basically see constant pulses. I might see a little attempt at doing something when I power up but very briefly, then I have regular pulses.

Any ideas?

Thank you!

My Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@tony359

Reply 1 of 7, by tony359

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Well, I have a quick update myself!

I discovered that applying pressure on one of the chipset chips allows the board to boot up! 😀

Looks like a reflow is in order. But I am aware that reflowing is not always the solution...

My Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@tony359

Reply 2 of 7, by majestyk

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The fact that PC Chips had to introduce new monikers for their products all the time because the old brandnames were "burned" says it all.
"Power TX" when it has nothing to do with Intel TX, "Design in USA" (not "Designed in USA"), ...

But back to the PM9600 - I guess it´s one of the BGA chips?

Reply 3 of 7, by rasz_pl

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What majestyk said 😀

tony359 wrote on 2022-08-31, 20:57:

Looks like a reflow is in order. But I am aware that reflowing is not always the solution...

in this case its most likely bad bga joints and reflow will fix it, or at least return it to the normal broken state of pcchipness

Open Source AT&T Globalyst/NCR/FIC 486-GAC-2 proprietary Cache Module reproduction

Reply 4 of 7, by tony359

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ahah - I wasn't aware I had a lemon! 😀

indeed I will proceed with a reflow. I shall let you know.

Meanwhile I also found that the cache memory chip had failed solder joints at the legs. A demanding board! 😀

Thank you!

My Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@tony359

Reply 5 of 7, by pentiumspeed

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Don't forget you need flux paste "no clean" kind, squirt some to coat the underside fully prior to reflowing the BGA IC. Solder crusts up exposed to oxygen instead of perfect clean solder.

Cheers,

Great Northern aka Canada.

Reply 6 of 7, by tony359

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No worries - my SMD skills are being improved but I am familiar with that. I have a pre-heating plate a proper hot air station and the Amtech 559 😀

But thanks for mentioning, appreciated.

My Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@tony359

Reply 7 of 7, by tony359

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I've posted a video of the repair of the PM9600 (with a link to this thread). Let me know what you think and thanks for your help!

(channel is not monetising, just a hobby!)

https://youtu.be/1kVps2oBmhs

My Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@tony359

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