VOGONS


First post, by Apple][

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Hello all,
It's my first post. You can guess from my username when I got involved with computers. I stopped playing with "vintage" in the middle of the 2000s.

A few months ago I got a motherboard FIC VA-503+ rev. 1.2A with BIOS JE439.
It doesn't boot and I'm out of ideas.

POST is fine, no issues while in the AWARD BIOS setup; it recognizes the CPU and the memory but doesn't recognize any device on any of the IDE ports.
After POST, it tries to find a bootable device, then the screen goes blank, the speaker starts a continuous high pitch sound, the CPU fan taking power from the motherboard starts alternating stop and spin.
It does that no matter if an HDD, CD or FDD are connected.

I've tried:
three CPUs K6-2; several SDRAM 100MHz DIMMs in each bank; cleared CMOS after swapping parts; S3 Virge and MX440 video cards; multiple HDDs, FDDs and cables; several ATX PSUs; disabled both IDE ports and tried to boot from a Promise Ultra100 TX2 PCI card.

So, you're my last hope for advice or I should just send the motherboard to the dumpster.

Reply 1 of 8, by myne

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Bulging/leaking caps?
Tried underclocking?
Given it a good wash?

I built:
Convert old ASUS ASC boardviews to KICAD PCB!
Re: A comprehensive guide to install and play MechWarrior 2 on new versions on Windows.
Dos+Windows 3.11+tcp+vbe_svga auto-install iso template
Script to backup Win9x\ME drivers from a working install
Re: The thing no one asked for: KICAD 440bx reference schematic

Reply 2 of 8, by Apple][

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Thanks for chiming in!
There's one bulged cap next to the CPU. So, I should recap the board before giving up on it.

Reply 3 of 8, by Repo Man11

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Apple][ wrote on 2024-12-21, 18:32:

Thanks for chiming in!
There's one bulged cap next to the CPU. So, I should recap the board before giving up on it.

Absolutely! This is actually good news, as a component that has visibly failed makes troubleshooting much easier. At the very least replace the one, and if it were me I'd be sure to replace all of the same brand/capacitance that failed as well.

After watching many YouTube videos about older computer hardware, YouTube began recommending videos about trains - are they trying to tell me something?

Reply 4 of 8, by myne

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You might not have to recap it to make it work enough to boot.
Set the fsb/mem to the lowest it will go and multiplier to 2 and try again.
If it works, it's worth recapping.

I built:
Convert old ASUS ASC boardviews to KICAD PCB!
Re: A comprehensive guide to install and play MechWarrior 2 on new versions on Windows.
Dos+Windows 3.11+tcp+vbe_svga auto-install iso template
Script to backup Win9x\ME drivers from a working install
Re: The thing no one asked for: KICAD 440bx reference schematic

Reply 5 of 8, by Apple][

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Well, it was worth trying.
K6-2 350 got to POST at x2.5 multiplyer; K6-500 at x2.0; bus/mem freq. 66 MHz.
It didn't boot with the same outcome.

These caps definitely don't look good though:

The attachment caps.jpg is no longer available

Reply 6 of 8, by PC@LIVE

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Apple][ wrote on 2024-12-22, 03:42:
Well, it was worth trying. K6-2 350 got to POST at x2.5 multiplyer; K6-500 at x2.0; bus/mem freq. 66 MHz. It didn't boot with th […]
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Well, it was worth trying.
K6-2 350 got to POST at x2.5 multiplyer; K6-500 at x2.0; bus/mem freq. 66 MHz.
It didn't boot with the same outcome.

These caps definitely don't look good though:

The attachment caps.jpg is no longer available

Looking at the photo, I would change all three, even if one seems fine, actually measuring it, it might not be like that, and if you have enough spare, I would also look at the others present on the motherboard, and I would also replace those equal to the three (if there are others), if it continues to manifest the same problem after changing capacitors, you have to continue to change the remaining ones, if instead the problem disappears, you can start the celebrations 🎈 🥳

AMD 286-16 287-10 4MB HD 45MB VGA 256KB
AMD 386DX-40 Intel 387 8MB HD 81MB VGA 256KB
Cyrix 486DLC-40 IIT387-40 8MB VGA 512KB
AMD 5X86-133 16MB VGA VLB CL5428 2MB and many others
AMD K62+ 550 SOYO 5EMA+ and many others
AST Pentium Pro 200 MHz L2 256KB

Reply 7 of 8, by Apple][

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Thank you for the support.
I'm expecting my new ESR tester to arrive on Monday. Then I'll check all capacitors and will order a bunch from Digikey.

Reply 8 of 8, by shamino

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Unfortunately an ESR meter will be fooled by capacitors in parallel to the one you're measuring - so they have to be removed to be tested, at which point you might as well just replace it anyway.
But if the meter shows a high reading in-circuit, then you'll know you have a problem with every cap in the circuit.
If only some of the caps in the circuit are bad, the others will follow anyway because they're probably all the same. As caps fail, the working ones take on more stress which can accelerate their demise.

If you see (or feel) any amount of bulging then the cap is very bad. Those symptoms don't always appear at all. When they do, it's after the cap has been dead already and is severely out of spec.