VOGONS


First post, by TheMobRules

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Hello friends,

A few days ago I got a GA-586HX motherboard for free during a retro purchase of a few AT mini-towers. The seller asked me if I was interested in an old mobo and I said that if it was in working condition I would take it. So we powered it up to test it, everything ran fine, except it complained about the CMOS battery (which makes sense since it still had the original DS12887 chip). So I took the gift (including the manual) and went home.

Yesterday I had some time and wanted to test it, so I installed a CPU, memory and video card of my own, turned it on, leds light up, the fan starts spinning and then... nothing. Not a single beep out of the speaker. No signal on the monitor. I tried several combinations of known working CPUs (P120, P133, P150), SIMMs (EDO, FPM) and video cards but still no signs of life. I also tried removing the COAST cache module it came with but nothing changed. 😢

I then remembered about the dead Dallas RTC, and thought it may be preventing the mobo from POSTing, so I replaced it with a hacked DS12887 + CR2032 that I use on another mobo. Nothing.

At that point I ran out of options, and since I have discarded any external problems, I concluded that something in the motherboard must have failed, even though it has been safely stored in an anti-static bag since it was tested about a week ago.

The board looks visually perfect, meaning that it is really clean and there are no broken/missing components or burned traces when comparing it to other pictures on the web. My options to attempt a repair so far are the following:
- Recap the board (even though no caps show signs of failure, some of them could have died anyway I guess)
- Replace the BIOS chip in case it's dead (I can borrow an EEPROM programmer from a friend if necessary)

Do any of these two options have any hope of bringing the board back to life? Or any other things I should check for problems? I won't waste my time on it if chances are too slim, but it seems like a nice board, and I would like to get it working as it is the only 430HX based board I have. 😒

The board revision is 1.51, and it has no jumpers, only 4 DIP switches to set the FSB/multiplier.

If you have any suggestions/advice, they are welcome. Thanks! 😀

Reply 1 of 3, by clueless1

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I've had similar symptoms with newer boards (Athlon XP era) when changing CPUs. Solved by pulling battery or using the Clear CMOS jumper. Since you said it has no jumpers, I don't know if there's any other way on the GA-586HX to clear the CMOS? Just a thought.

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Reply 2 of 3, by gdjacobs

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clueless1 wrote:

I've had similar symptoms with newer boards (Athlon XP era) when changing CPUs. Solved by pulling battery or using the Clear CMOS jumper. Since you said it has no jumpers, I don't know if there's any other way on the GA-586HX to clear the CMOS? Just a thought.

There might be grounding pads for a screwdriver.

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Reply 3 of 3, by TheMobRules

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Sadly there seems to be no way of clearing the CMOS via any method such as shorting pads or jumpers. But even then I tried removing the coin battery from my hacked Dallas RTC and I still can't get signs of life from the board. 😢

I think I have one of those ISA+PCI POST diagnostic cards somewhere in my house that could be useful in this case, I'll have to find it and give it a try...