First thing to check. the CPU! By the picture it looks to be a 4-533mhz celeron socket 370 processor in a slot-1 adapter board. While thats not the issue, the plastic clips holding the cpu card secure are MISSING.

they look like this: http://www.donutey.com/images/slocket/slocket10.jpg

if you cant find them, fold some paper into a thick V shape and use that to prevent the cpu card from moving.

I am quite computer literate but honestly I haven't really tinkered with something this old and don't even know where to start.

How about you start in the same way you would any other machine? Just because it's a little older than what you're used to, doesn't mean the standard diagnostic steps are any different. Are you getting any beep codes? Have you pulled and re-seated the CPU card and RAM? Checked the power supply?

Your description of the problem is also kinda contradictory... how can it boot but not get through the whole boot cycle?

@luckybob
It looks to me like the card is centered, so the clips might actually be there... there's a few different kinds of those clips, and some of 'em do sit lower on the card so that you wouldn't be able to see 'em from the angle the picture was taken.

BigK wrote:

Since this computer uses a "Sun" board that has special connectors that I don't know what they're called.

Are those connectors in your pictures? They look like fairly standard PC parts.

The important thing will be whether you can salvage the contents of the hard drive, which probably contain proprietary drivers that you'll have a very hard time trying to replace.

does the sun board have a fcc number
also any make model of motherboard
and the machine itself any details

is this your board ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAdl3CIkKi0

My board is similar but not the same.

I will post a few pictures to give you guys a better idea.

I noticed other similar boards had the plastic connectors, so it's very possible my Processor isn't sitting properly.

I purchased 3 Dimms of RAM and am using 1 Dimm for diagnosing.

I have stripped the computer down to MOBO + RAM + Processor, I have it turn on, but my monitor does not show a BIOS Boot Screen, which makes me wonder whether I should believe onboard graphics are failing, or the MOBO itself?

The Processor is a Pentium Celeron. The slot that the SUN Machine "Diagnostic Control Board" goes into is called an ISA Slot I have found out.

Preferably, I would like to fix this setup so I don't run into driver issues, if I cannot find identical hardware I will try to rebuild a (slightly faster) system and attempt a Windows 98 re-install. I have most of the drivers for the SUN microsystem Diagnostic Board.

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BigK wrote:

I have stripped the computer down to MOBO + RAM + Processor, I have it turn on, but my monitor does not show a BIOS Boot Screen, which makes me wonder whether I should believe onboard graphics are failing, or the MOBO itself?

For that matter, are you sure the monitor and the monitor cable are still working correctly?

It seems a little unlikely that the onboard graphics would fail and nothing else, but the only way to be sure would be to get a graphics card for testing. Any standard ISA card (or PCI card, if the board has any PCI slots) should work.

The slot that the SUN Machine "Diagnostic Control Board" goes into is called an ISA Slot I have found out.

Yes, exactly. ISA slots were very common on all motherboards older than a few years ago. Sun Microsystems did make some proprietary hardware, but it does not look like this computer you have is anything other than standard PC parts.

It won't show any video if it won't POST, and turning on and spinning the fans does not in any way mean it's getting though POST. I doubt it has anything to do with the video chip.

Take a pencil eraser and clean the contacts on the DIMMs and CPU board... some of those slotket adapters are really bad about getting dirt/corrosion on the edge connector, plus it's in an auto shop, so there's probably a bunch of oil and grease particles that have gotten sucked in over the years, possibly even some metal dust. Actually, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to give the whole motherboard and riser card a good wash.

If the slotket is missing the retainer clips, that certainly isn't helping anything, but that by itself wouldn't prevent the computer from working. It's probably been working for years without them anyway.

Also, just a side note, that really looks like a variant of the Jabil 'Maverick' motherboard. A version without the onboard network chip was used in some Gateway systems, and can be easily found on eBay for pretty cheap. So keep that in mind before you sink a whole lot of effort into the thing... it's not all that hard to get a near-exact replacement.

Strip it down and then air blast it the best that you can. Auto shops are not the best places for computers in general that are open to the air. Metal dust and if there is anyone doing body work in that shop chances are some conductive automotive paint can cause problems. Replace the ram and get a cheap slot one pentium 2/3 as they are dirt cheap.

no fcc number ?
also the machine itself whats it called
do you have a manual ?

'Sun' in this case doesn't refer to Sun Microsystems - but SUN the company who make emissions testing stations and other vehicle diagnostic tools (my point of reference: my father has been a mechanic for the past 40-something years).

Most of the hardware will be off-the-shelf parts, but its the interface board, drivers and software that make it special. Make a backup of that harddrive (or take it out and store it somewhere safe while you're doing all of this) before doing anything!

looks like this
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sun-Machine-450-EL-au … e_Tools&vxp=mtr

Alright guys, I am going to be cleaning all of the contacts today. Someone told me to invest in a better PSU since at this age it's possible its going anyway.

If the cleaning does not work, I will be hunting for a similar board and seeing how that goes!

Absolutely really appreciate all the input 😀

Someone told me to invest in a better PSU since at this age it's possible its going anyway.

Test the existing one first. It's possible it's going bad, but there's not much reason to replace it if it isn't... it's likely a pretty good quality unit anyway. Plus, newer PSUs lack the -5V output which was required by some ISA cards, which would be a problem if that interface card needs it.

Hey guys, so far no luck with booting...

I am considering taking it into a local repair guy and let him have a stab it, I did notice the CPU Card has one of the connectors minorly burned, I cleaned the connectors and no dice, and I am wondering whether I should try to replace that CPU Card or find a socket 370 to replace it with.

Just to make something clear, you did not mention any beep code, is the PC speaker even connected to the Motherboard ? Some boards have a PC speaker on the board itself but some others will require the case speaker to be connected to it.

BigK wrote:

I cleaned the connectors and no dice, and I am wondering whether I should try to replace that CPU Card or find a socket 370 to replace it with.

Alternatively, you can just get an ordinary Slot 1 CPU. They shouldn't be too hard to find. The only disadvantage is that it will be slower than whatever Socket 370 processor you've been using, but whatever's running on that machine isn't too processor-intensive, I'm guessing.

There is no beep code, although I did not check whether I can hook up the case speaker.

Right now I found a motherboard for $30 that is 'allegedly' working and has 640RAM w/ a Pentium III and an ISA Slot, so that may be a solution for this. I figured it is not an expensive 'gamble.'

I realise that this is resurrecting an old thread but I'm dying to know what happened - was the PC ever repaired? Did you find out what the issue was?