I did try to reseat the card and try other slots to no avail.

or maybe a Diamond SpeedSTAR VGA Rev 4 Tseng ET4000AX is good. I'm also looking at other posts here

Is the computer an LPX type motherboard or a full regular AT type system?

Are you sure it's the video card that's not working? That should usually be indicated by the computer by some beeps (maybe 1 long 3 short). Do you get any beeps when starting the system?

ISA graphics are going to limit what that computer to do and the onboard graphics that's probably a cirrus logic is probably going to be connected through VLB, much faster

Its the regular AT motherboard. its not the slim system. I'm not exactly sure its the graphics card. When I turn on the system, I get the sound of the HDD reading, no beeps, and no picture on the monitor. I know the monitor is working. I have connected other systems to it.

Have a look at this page first:
http://www.dosdays.co.uk/topics/1993.php

I'm guessing your choice is 16Bit ISA, or VLB at that time - what type of slots do you have available?

If there's no beep the system may just not be posting at all. Get a POST card to see what it's doing - this style is what I use - don't get the version that's practically a bare board with a single chip since that's not really ISA compatible:

Try removing the RAM to see if the behaviour changes too, that should make it beep.
It's weird that a system with a DX2 would be ISA only, I thought most of them were VLB?

press Num Lock key few times - if keyboard light doesnt blink then computer bios didnt run = broken computer

Thermalwrong wrote on 2023-09-18, 21:10:

It's weird that a system with a DX2 would be ISA only, I thought most of them were VLB?

could be that, in accordance with the label under my screenname, I am a newbie.
Here are the slots
https://imgur.com/4A5NIh1
I will chcek out that post checker. thanks for the tips

another note its that the keyboard controller chip is not installed. does that matter? I have the chip but when I purchased from Ebay, the seller told me it was not installed but was included in the package. not sure where to install that either

dewster221 wrote on 2023-09-20, 17:13:

another note its that the keyboard controller chip is not installed. does that matter? I have the chip but when I purchased from Ebay, the seller told me it was not installed but was included in the package. not sure where to install that either

Not sure, but could that cause it to not boot?

It's certianly not going to help with rasz_pl's suggestion 😀

A wider shot of the whole board would help us identify the specific model which may help?

computer wont start without keyboard controller, bios will hang very early in initialization process

ok good to know. I will try to figure out how to install that and try the boot process again.

dewster221 wrote on 2023-09-20, 19:46:

ok good to know. I will try to figure out how to install that and try the boot process again.

The chip should have a marker at one end to show which end has Pin 1 on it (semi-circle notch in the end or round dimple on the top casing) and then the motherboard should indicate which is Pin 1 with printing on the PCB...

Is it me or does that board look more like a 286 or 386sx perhaps? I don't think I've ever seen a 486 with a high/low bios and a socketed PLCC chip like that.

Thermalwrong wrote on 2023-09-20, 23:23:

Is it me or does that board look more like a 286 or 386sx perhaps? I don't think I've ever seen a 486 with a high/low bios and a socketed PLCC chip like that.

It's such a poor image it's hard to say .... to me it looks like varta damage everywhere...

giantclam wrote on 2023-09-20, 23:30:

Thermalwrong wrote on 2023-09-20, 23:23:

Is it me or does that board look more like a 286 or 386sx perhaps? I don't think I've ever seen a 486 with a high/low bios and a socketed PLCC chip like that.

It's such a poor image it's hard to say .... to me it looks like varta damage everywhere...

Is this a better image?
https://imgur.com/Taspzmb and does this help? https://imgur.com/bPXSNw5 look like there is battery leak damage. and is the battery missing?

Much better images and, unfortunately, confirms what my eyes were seeing ~ if you care, DO NOT power this board up again ~ it needs repair/revamp/reworking first...

...green crusties in the keyboard IC socket gave it away... all of that area will need redressing (new IC socket, check all components/traces, replace all the tantalum caps...

...the green line defines the approx. area of visible concern ... the fact the ICs between the ISA slots are contaminated, means the fluid when under the 1st ISA slot to get there. It looks like wash marks (lets hope it wasn't vinegar), but unfortunately this extends to the PLCC socket (replace it), plus any other glue logic there-abouts...I marked some tants near power connector..all caps of this type on the board should be replaced (before they forego their self healing properties and embrace the freedom of self explosive sacrifice =)....I marked the small crystal can ... the portion closest the the edge of PCB is alkaline creep damage...inside the soldered earth strap can is fine ... as it does, the creep has working it's way around the periphery of the PCB...there may be more damage solder side... underneath the keyboard controller IC is guaranteed to be a horrorshow.... =^/

edit: and those DIL switch blocks can't be trusted anymore...

giantclam wrote on 2023-09-22, 05:23:

Much better images and, unfortunately, confirms what my eyes were seeing ~ if you care, DO NOT power this board up again ~ it ne […]
Show full quote

Much better images and, unfortunately, confirms what my eyes were seeing ~ if you care, DO NOT power this board up again ~ it needs repair/revamp/reworking first...

...green crusties in the keyboard IC socket gave it away... all of that area will need redressing (new IC socket, check all components/traces, replace all the tantalum caps...

...the green line defines the approx. area of visible concern ... the fact the ICs between the ISA slots are contaminated, means the fluid when under the 1st ISA slot to get there. It looks like wash marks (lets hope it wasn't vinegar), but unfortunately this extends to the PLCC socket (replace it), plus any other glue logic there-abouts...I marked some tants near power connector..all caps of this type on the board should be replaced (before they forego their self healing properties and embrace the freedom of self explosive sacrifice =)....I marked the small crystal can ... the portion closest the the edge of PCB is alkaline creep damage...inside the soldered earth strap can is fine ... as it does, the creep has working it's way around the periphery of the PCB...there may be more damage solder side... underneath the keyboard controller IC is guaranteed to be a horrorshow.... =^/

edit: and those DIL switch blocks can't be trusted anymore...

I really appreciate all the information. unfortunately that is far above my skill level. my only hope would be to find a replacement main board. or send it to someone who could do all that.