VOGONS


First post, by ux-3

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My ss7 ATX board suddenly stopped powering up at all. The PSU doesn't start up. It was running 5 minutes before. No smell, no smoke, no bulged caps. Only silence.

Switched PSU - same.
Switched CPU - same.
Have naked board on desk - same.

What could be the reason for this?

Last edited by ux-3 on 2024-07-27, 18:56. Edited 1 time in total.

Retro PC warning: The things you own end up owning you.

Reply 1 of 14, by Nexxen

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Do you have a multimeter?

Post HQ pics of your board and specifically the power circuit.

PC#1 Pentium 233 MMX - 98SE
PC#2 PIII-1Ghz - 98SE/W2K

- "One hates the specialty unobtainium parts, the other laughs in greed listing them under a ridiculous price" - kotel studios
- Bare metal ist krieg.

Reply 3 of 14, by Nexxen

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Are the two mosfets producing the correct voltages? 3.3 and 2.8v?

CS5165 https://pdf1.alldatasheet.com/datasheet-pdf/v … RRY/CS5165.html
Does is work accordingly?

Vcc2 and Vcc3 are correct with voltages?

PC#1 Pentium 233 MMX - 98SE
PC#2 PIII-1Ghz - 98SE/W2K

- "One hates the specialty unobtainium parts, the other laughs in greed listing them under a ridiculous price" - kotel studios
- Bare metal ist krieg.

Reply 4 of 14, by ux-3

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Nexxen wrote on 2024-07-15, 20:34:

Are the two mosfets producing the correct voltages? 3.3 and 2.8v?

Nothing produces any voltages as the PSU doesn't power up at all.

Retro PC warning: The things you own end up owning you.

Reply 5 of 14, by Nexxen

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ux-3 wrote on 2024-07-15, 20:38:
Nexxen wrote on 2024-07-15, 20:34:

Are the two mosfets producing the correct voltages? 3.3 and 2.8v?

Nothing produces any voltages as the PSU doesn't power up at all.

Got distracted.
If you test them for a short? 0 ohm or any resistance?
The CS?

PC#1 Pentium 233 MMX - 98SE
PC#2 PIII-1Ghz - 98SE/W2K

- "One hates the specialty unobtainium parts, the other laughs in greed listing them under a ridiculous price" - kotel studios
- Bare metal ist krieg.

Reply 6 of 14, by Nexxen

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If you have a hot air station you could desolder one and check for the short.
Caps are 0 ohm?
Are chipset's legs touching?

This is the realm of boring chores, a lot of foot work probing stuff like you have no life to live.
Next move is to desolder a mosfet and check, then caps...

Before all you could clean the board (soap) and look for broken parts, traces, anything like that.

PC#1 Pentium 233 MMX - 98SE
PC#2 PIII-1Ghz - 98SE/W2K

- "One hates the specialty unobtainium parts, the other laughs in greed listing them under a ridiculous price" - kotel studios
- Bare metal ist krieg.

Reply 7 of 14, by paradigital

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Go back to basics first. Check that there are no dead shorts between any of the voltage rails and ground.

Reply 8 of 14, by ux-3

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I have no hot air station.

The board quit starting from now to 5 minutes later, build in a case.

I guess it "expired".

Last edited by ux-3 on 2024-07-15, 21:59. Edited 1 time in total.

Retro PC warning: The things you own end up owning you.

Reply 9 of 14, by Nexxen

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ux-3 wrote on 2024-07-15, 21:46:

I have no hot air station.

The board quit starting from now to 5 minuted later, build in a case.

I guess it "expired".

It's gonna take some time and patience but I'm sure it's a cap or the two mosfets (power circuit).

Maybe make it a side project and do something from time to time.
Come on, you want to call it so soon??? Let's give it a chance 😀

PC#1 Pentium 233 MMX - 98SE
PC#2 PIII-1Ghz - 98SE/W2K

- "One hates the specialty unobtainium parts, the other laughs in greed listing them under a ridiculous price" - kotel studios
- Bare metal ist krieg.

Reply 10 of 14, by ux-3

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how can I check the mosfets?

Retro PC warning: The things you own end up owning you.

Reply 11 of 14, by rasz_pl

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I dont get why people are jumping at CPU vrm first.

Basics are:
- find ATX pinout, with unplugged supply measure resistance between ground and +12V +5V +5V_StandBy rails
- with ATX supply connected measure voltage on PS-ON pin while trying to push power button
- with ATX supply connected measure voltage on Power button pins of the motherboard

ps: its a mobo for one of those bottom of the barrel ~2000 "value" systems https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/bcm-in530

https://github.com/raszpl/FIC-486-GAC-2-Cache-Module for AT&T Globalyst
https://github.com/raszpl/386RC-16 memory board
https://github.com/raszpl/440BX Reference Design adapted to Kicad
https://github.com/raszpl/Zenith_ZBIOS MFM-300 Monitor

Reply 12 of 14, by ux-3

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I got a different replacement S7 board. After it worked fine for a day in all sorts of tests, after a week of vacation, it suddenly had difficulty to power off and then would not power on at all. It worked again, then acted dead once more. Sounds familiar?
So I changed the PSU. I noted my workbench power button cable had a side broken. Replaced that. Then it powered on reliably again. Then I thought: I only used a different PSU briefly with that broken button. Then I went back to the original PSU. Which caused the same trouble again, after working fine for some time. Perhaps...
And yes, with a different PSU, my old beloved SS7 board powers up again. 😀

So I have a faulty PSU to diagnose. It doesn't start up every once in a while... Good trade!

Last edited by ux-3 on 2025-10-19, 11:34. Edited 2 times in total.

Retro PC warning: The things you own end up owning you.

Reply 13 of 14, by Nexxen

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ux-3 wrote on 2024-07-27, 19:05:
I got a different replacement S7 board. After it worked fine for a day in all sorts of tests, after a week of vacation, it sudde […]
Show full quote

I got a different replacement S7 board. After it worked fine for a day in all sorts of tests, after a week of vacation, it suddenly had difficulty to power off and then would not power on at all. It worked again, then acted dead once more. Sounds familiar?
So I changed the PSU. I noted by workbench power button cable had a side broken. Replaced that. Then it powered on reliably again. Then I thought: I only used a different PSU briefly with that broken button. Then I went back to the original PSU. Which caused the same troube again, after working fine for some time. Perhaps...
And yes, with a different PSU, my old beloved SS7 board powers up again. 😀

So I have a faulty PSU to diagnose. It doesn't start up every once in a while... Good trade!

🤣
I was already in the power circuit fault and it was the PSU! It was power, even if not the board's ... 😀
Happy it wasn't faulty to begin with. Have fun with it!!

PC#1 Pentium 233 MMX - 98SE
PC#2 PIII-1Ghz - 98SE/W2K

- "One hates the specialty unobtainium parts, the other laughs in greed listing them under a ridiculous price" - kotel studios
- Bare metal ist krieg.

Reply 14 of 14, by Nexxen

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rasz_pl wrote on 2024-07-16, 00:47:
I dont get why people are jumping at CPU vrm first. […]
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I dont get why people are jumping at CPU vrm first.

Basics are:
- find ATX pinout, with unplugged supply measure resistance between ground and +12V +5V +5V_StandBy rails
- with ATX supply connected measure voltage on PS-ON pin while trying to push power button
- with ATX supply connected measure voltage on Power button pins of the motherboard

ps: its a mobo for one of those bottom of the barrel ~2000 "value" systems https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/bcm-in530

I had many in a short time span and saw VRM everywhere.
Even for your lawnmower! 🤣

PC#1 Pentium 233 MMX - 98SE
PC#2 PIII-1Ghz - 98SE/W2K

- "One hates the specialty unobtainium parts, the other laughs in greed listing them under a ridiculous price" - kotel studios
- Bare metal ist krieg.