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Dead Acer V80M motherboard, Slot1

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First post, by dominik0801

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Hello!

I got an Acer V80M motherboard, which has ALI chipset on it.
I would like to fix it, as it can handle 100MHz FSB, which my other Slot1 motherboard can not.

The motherboard look brand new. Although it has 1-1 cables soldered across the board on both sides (which is how it comes out of the factory), there are no damages whatsoever.

Before I started building it into a case, I wanted to try the board, so I put a few random (but compatible) parts in it, and fired it up.
It did not POST, no beeps came from the integrated speaker either.

Since the parts I used with it are also untested, I tried other parts in it, so:

  • I tried another RAM,
  • Another CPU,
  • Another VGA.

I checked it with my POST card, and it give me "2C" error code.
According to my pdf file, on Acer motherboards this mean

ACER (2C)Set up interrupt controller(8259).

It simply stops here, and would not proceed.

Since I would have done it anyways, I reflashed the BIOS chip, that did not fix anything, the POST code is always the same, it would not change.

I found out, that the Intel 8259 is a Programmable Interrupt Controller (PIC), but there is no such chip on the motherboard, so I guess that this motherboard uses another "equivalent", that fits the ALI chipset.
(Please correct me, if I am wrong. I actually fix hardware for a living, but these are modern stuff, and have most of the parts integrated in their BGA chipsets. So I know, that if there is an error code for, say, HDD controller initialization, it is most likely the chipset, as it controls SATA).

Under the BIOS chip, there is another IC. It is an ALi M5819P B1.
I could not find too many information about this IC, but according to the ebay listing, it has a "programmable periodic interrupt" in it.

My question is: Am I looking for the error in the right place?
Do you think, that replacing the ALi M5819P chip would fix my problem?
Do I have to program these ICs, or do they get programmed from BIOS or something?

I hope this post fits the forum.
Thanks in advance, if anyone has an idea.

Reply 1 of 5, by rasz_pl

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oh wow, a non Intel Slot1 board 😮
google says ALi M5819P is RTC https://picaxeforum.co.uk/threads/mistery-chi … i-m5819p.25487/

>ACER (2C)Set up interrupt controller(8259).
rip, that sure looks like bad southbridge http://bitsavers.org/components/ali/M1543C_De … Southbridge.pdf. Best case scenario BGA balls cracked underneath. Test it by placing board on hard flat surface, plug only CPU, maybe ram, post card and supply, push with finger on M1543C and start computer while maintaining pressure.

AT&T Globalyst/FIC 486-GAC-2 Cache Module reproduction
Zenith Data Systems (ZDS) ZBIOS 'MFM-300 Monitor' reverse engineering

Reply 2 of 5, by dominik0801

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rasz_pl wrote on 2023-03-30, 16:51:
oh wow, a non Intel Slot1 board :o google says ALi M5819P is RTC https://picaxeforum.co.uk/threads/mistery-chi … i-m5819p.25487/ […]
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oh wow, a non Intel Slot1 board 😮
google says ALi M5819P is RTC https://picaxeforum.co.uk/threads/mistery-chi … i-m5819p.25487/

>ACER (2C)Set up interrupt controller(8259).
rip, that sure looks like bad southbridge http://bitsavers.org/components/ali/M1543C_De … Southbridge.pdf. Best case scenario BGA balls cracked underneath. Test it by placing board on hard flat surface, plug only CPU, maybe ram, post card and supply, push with finger on M1543C and start computer while maintaining pressure.

Omg, I'm so thankful for that pdf.
I checked many sites, but couldn't find something this detialed.
Tomorrow I'm gonna try to reball the chip, I hope I have a close enough stencil for it.
If that doesn't help, I found replacement chips on aliexpress, for kinda cheap, would go with that path.

I'd like to revive this board, I like the weird design, and weird rewiring, trace cutting, etc.. they did in the factory, rather than make a new board. 😁

Reply 3 of 5, by rasz_pl

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Now that I had more time to think I dont know anymore. Bad connection would make it not able to decode PCI packets at all, and that would stop it from booting as BIOS is hanging off of that chip, not to mention ISA bus thus POST card.
I would start by checking 14MHz crystal/clock.
EDIT: one cracked ball that might do it would be INTR (H20) if BIOS checks if interrupts are working

This is truly weird board using freaky chipset. Later ALi Aladdin TNT2 with integrated fully licensed Nvidia TNT2 core was even crazier.

AT&T Globalyst/FIC 486-GAC-2 Cache Module reproduction
Zenith Data Systems (ZDS) ZBIOS 'MFM-300 Monitor' reverse engineering

Reply 4 of 5, by dominik0801

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rasz_pl wrote on 2023-03-30, 21:14:
Now that I had more time to think I dont know anymore. Bad connection would make it not able to decode PCI packets at all, and t […]
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Now that I had more time to think I dont know anymore. Bad connection would make it not able to decode PCI packets at all, and that would stop it from booting as BIOS is hanging off of that chip, not to mention ISA bus thus POST card.
I would start by checking 14MHz crystal/clock.
EDIT: one cracked ball that might do it would be INTR (H20) if BIOS checks if interrupts are working

This is truly weird board using freaky chipset. Later ALi Aladdin TNT2 with integrated fully licensed Nvidia TNT2 core was even crazier.

I am also doing these Northbridge/Southbridge reflows/reballs reluctantly, as they are really rare to actually have BGA problems.
Only a few of my boards succeeded/changed error codes after chipset reballs, but all of them got fixed with a new chip.

However, I was too impatient, did the reball of the SB. I don't know when they started using lead-free balls, but I was surprised to see, that this chip came off at 180 °C, rather than ~230.
It's still dead, same code.

After, I checked the crystals. I found 4 on the board, if I was careful enough (2x 32khz, 24mhz and 14mhz). Every one of them are outputting the right frequencies.

I think I will get one of these SBs, and replace it.
However, do we know what "A1" or "B1" stand for on the chips?

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