bertrammatrix wrote on 2024-10-03, 14:27:

Have you tried different memory? I've had modules pass memtest and then still give problems that didn't really seem ram related...until I swapped them out and all was well

I have, I put in a known working 128MB stick and nothing else. I also have tried 2x512MB and 2x256MB. All PC-133. I have some past experience with 815 motherboards where they are mysterious unstable because I had more than 512MB of ram in them before I learned they’re artificially limited. Caused all sorts of weird problems, that’s why I kept reducing the ram in the VH6T. That’s part of why I chose the Via chipset, I wanted more than 512MB so I could install XP/2k

aspiringnobody wrote on 2024-10-03, 14:15:

PCI IDE works, but as far as I know there isn’t a way to boot a CD from an add-in card on this board so that’s as far as I got. […]
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myne wrote on 2024-10-03, 12:56:

It's far more likely to be one of the support chips around the chipset.
Try a pci ide/sata card.

PCI IDE works, but as far as I know there isn’t a way to boot a CD from an add-in card on this board so that’s as far as I got. I’ve got a few Promise cards and a couple of Highpoint ones.

I’m hesitant to run the CD-ROM off of the board because at some points I’ve been having problems with the secondary channel as well.

I’m wondering if this is one of those rare cases where I’ve replaced a high ESR cap with a low ESR cap and it actually matters. There don’t seem to be any caps that area of the board anyway.

I tried forcing PIO mode and it still didn’t detect the drive. Only thing I haven’t tried is a CF card, but I’ve never had good luck with those in a more modern PC.

I’m tempted to pull out my CUSL2-C start recapping it. It was flaky before so I never proceeded any further.

Afik the bios doesn't care whether the CD is on an external or not. It just sees an ide channel and boots.

Memory is a good suggestion though.
Run memtest

My VH6T is very stable after recapping it and it works well with a 1.4GHz Tualatin. So it must be a problem with your specific board.

I’m wondering if this is one of those rare cases where I’ve replaced a high ESR cap with a low ESR cap and it actually matters.

For reference, here I've listed the capacitors used as a replacement on my own board.

schmatzler wrote on 2024-10-03, 20:29:

My VH6T is very stable after recapping it and it works well with a 1.4GHz Tualatin. So it must be a problem with your specific board.

I’m wondering if this is one of those rare cases where I’ve replaced a high ESR cap with a low ESR cap and it actually matters.

For reference, here I've listed the capacitors used as a replacement on my own board.

I followed your guide, actually. Thanks for that!

FWIW, my Abit VH6T does not handle 133Mhz FSB properly and is frequently unstable, using a PCI IDE controller mitigates the stability issues somewhat but is not 100%. 100Mhz FSB is completely stable. I generally use an Epox-3VSM for Tualatin, though the Micro ATX form factor is slightly limiting when it comes to wanting to use PCI IDE controllers along with a Voodoo 2/PCX2.

I also disable IDE block transfer and prefetch in the BIOS when using built-in IDE with VIA boards as a rule of thumb, it makes SATA->IDE adapters a lot more stable.

DEAT wrote on 2024-10-03, 22:58:

FWIW, my Abit VH6T does not handle 133Mhz FSB properly and is frequently unstable, using a PCI IDE controller mitigates the stability issues somewhat but is not 100%. 100Mhz FSB is completely stable. I generally use an Epox-3VSM for Tualatin, though the Micro ATX form factor is slightly limiting when it comes to wanting to use PCI IDE controllers along with a Voodoo 2/PCX2.

I also disable IDE block transfer and prefetch in the BIOS when using built-in IDE with VIA boards as a rule of thumb, it makes SATA->IDE adapters a lot more stable.

I did try at both 66MHz and 100MHz FSB and didn't really notice a difference in behavior, although I don't really know if the board was honoring my request or not.

I think I might "upgrade" this machine to a Socket 478 motherboard and a P4. It's supposed to be my "really high performance Windows98 machine." I use it for things like FF7/FF8 that benefit from the faster CPU but would require patching to work properly on my Windows XP/Pentium D machine. Any games newer than the Pentium D can handle just get run on my 14700k machine -- I haven't noticed the need for a dedicated Windows 7 machine (yet).