trobuleshooting dead ps2 + serial ports

[chrisNova777]

i have a system with an aopen AX3S-U motherboard motherboard running a tualatin 1.4 cpu
heres a link to pics of the motherboard on another site: https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?p=961
specs: https://www.cnet.com/g00/products/aopen ... NhLw%3D%3D

i cant get the mouse to work.. i just took the ps/2 labtec mouse and put it on my windows 7 32bit machine to see if it works and it
does indeed work fine on that machine...

what can i do to trouble shoot this?
can ps/2 possibly be disabled in the bios?
or is it likely that the ps/2 port is blown somehow?

the serial ports are problematic on this machine aswell.
it has 1 9 pin serial on the back by ps/2 port
and another is accessible from a 9pin header on the board to connect to a ribbon connector with a serial port.
one of them was not working and one was but now both are not working

can anyone ofer me any direction on troubleshooting this?

maybe i should just buy a new motherboard + be done with the aopen buggyness

updatE:
i just used a logitech usb mouse with a ps/2 adapter that i know works because i confirmed it working on another machine and plugged it in.. i can see the laser is getting power thru the ps/2 port aswell as the Ps/2-to-USB adapter thru to the mouse itself.. but it still doesnt work!!!!!!! win98 doesnt detect a mouse...

its running win98se v4.10.2222A
if anyone has experienced this issue before with this exact motherboard please talk to me!
if anyone has any tips on programs i can use to gather more info about whats happening please point me in the right direction.. diagnostics software?

[chinny22]

its possible that its disabled in bios, reset to default should fix that.
You can try booting into dos, the one with Win9x is fine, load a mouse driver like cutemouse just to be sure its not a windows issue.
you can run edit.exe to see if you have a mouse pointer.
but ps2 is pretty low level so would be surprised if windows is at fault

[chrisNova777]

hmm is it possible that win98 is just not a good match for this machine??
as in, aopen didnt design the motherboard with win98 in mind, if it came out in 2001/2002
then it was probably aimed at windows XP/2000.... obviously the ps2 ports should work
so theres no way thats some kind of bug

i guess i should try to boot XP on it to see if everythign works then ill have my answer

[chrisNova777]

i cant even get hirens to load the mini XP
im sure ive done this on this system before
this is strange
some kind of voodoo going on here

[chrisNova777]

ive just read in the manual for the ax3s-u motherboard that it has a resettable fuse..
but it doesnt tell how to reset the damn thing..
it just totes it as a feature and brags about how its better that it has a resettable fuse.
no instrunction on how to use!!
HELP!
can anyone help me ?
how do i reset the fuse?

[xjas]

Mechanical wear is an issue on i/o ports that get plugged & unplugged all the time. Might want to check the continuity of all the pins & solder pads with an ohmmeter before you start tearing your hair out over the software.

[verysaving]

You can't reset the fuse!
The fuse should auto reset cooling down after an overcurrent,
of course if the overcurrent wasn't to high to damage it
so it can't reset properly.
Check it with a multimeter, if it's open it's surely faulty
and needs to be replaced.
I would start checking if 5 volt are present on pin 4 of PS/2 port.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resettable_fuse
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PS/2_port

[hyoenmadan]

ive just read in the manual for the ax3s-u motherboard that it has a resettable fuse..
but it doesnt tell how to reset the damn thing..

how do i reset the fuse?

Fuse resets itself when the device gets cold. You don't need do anything about it. If it doesn't return to its original conductive state by just letting it cold down, that means it got f*cked. Then you need replace it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resettable_fuse

[chrisNova777]

so would it help to unplug it and put it somewhere cold like outside or in garage???

i had it working for a few minutes and then it went off again
something must be shorting it out

[chrisNova777]

i downloaded win98se iso from archive.org and installed that right over top of my old install and it miraculously solved my usb problem
i now have the machine working 100% in win98se and usb mouse + usb keyboard working fine

the ps/2 ports still are dead! and i cant get the serial ports to work either..
im not that handy with soldering iron.. or multimeter.. am i right to think that i could get this problem solved by
taking it to a repair tech and have him check the fuses? to be 5v on either side?

[Jade Falcon]

Busted caps. might want to fix that.
Also check if there is a usb or ps/s power jumper. it should let you switch between 5v and 5vsb, they moving the jumper to the other setting. It might be that yellow on close to the PS/2 port.


EDIT:
I just realized the image is not your board but is a stock photo. That was a known board to have bad caps, might want to take a look at them just to be safe if you had not already.

[chrisNova777]

the caps look pretty good i didnt see any mis-shaped or with any problem signs

im not sure, but im guessing perhaps theres a fuse for the serial ports and a different fuse for the ps2 ports
they both seem to be these green resettable fuses with a number writen on it says 110
they are supposed to auto-reset.. so im assuming some peice of equipment i had was shorting it out
either a bent pin on ps/2 connector or not putting pin1 in right spot on serial header on mobo inbetween the two pci slots

[vladstamate]

Man I really had high hopes for this thread! But no, it is PS/2 not PS2...

Haha...

[Auzner]

It could be a bad chip on the board.

815E chipset design guide

In the Intel® 815E chipset platform, the Super I/O (SIO) component has migrated to the Low-Pin-Count
(LPC) interface. Migration to the LPC interface allows for lower-cost Super I/O designs. The LPC Super
I/O component requires the same feature set as traditional Super I/O components. It should include a
keyboard and mouse controller, floppy disk controller, and serial and parallel ports...

So look for like a Winbond or Nuvoton chip on the board and look at the components surrounding it. Anything look broken or burnt or smell funny? Got a high res pic?

Does the floppy work?

[chrisNova777]

Winbond

[yawetaG]

The capacitor on the right (not rightmost, the one closer to the middle of the picture) looks like it's about to vent - the top is bulging.

Your board has capacitor issues.

[Jepael]

At least capcitors TC20 and TC21 have vented.

Serial (COM) ports do not have fuses as they don't have power like PS/2 ports do. If COM ports are really broken, it's usually the RS232 voltage level converter, I can't read from the photo if that is the ST chip right next to Winbond chip.

[Auzner]

winbond w83627hf is the lpc bridge for those devices not working. PDF pdf pgs 114 and on for schematics. Nothing about a big cap or what those do for it. Like others are saying, definitely replace those two.
It could be a power or filtering issue. Mosfet near the bursting caps: http://www.mouser.com/ds/2/149/FDD6030L-93158.pdf

Developed a new photoshop action sequence to clear it up. The ST chip is ST75185C - Multiple RS-232 drivers and receivers
http://www.st.com/content/ccc/resource/ ... 001609.pdf
Probing one side sees if the ST is working, the other the winbond.

[chrisNova777]

my only problem with thsi board is i cant get the serial ports to work..
the ps/2 port problem i can sidestep by using usb.. but i cant get away from not having the serial ports work
as the software im trying to use on the win98se box is going to need authentication from the serial port dongle..
and interfacing with an opcode SERIAL midi interface aswell. maybe i do need to get the caps repaired...
therse a shop in my town i will try to take the motherboard to to have them look at it
to see what they think - (such a pain in the ass though id rather not)

would it be worthwhile looking into a solution like this?
http://www.sybausa.com/index.php?route= ... uct_id=197

2 serial db9 ports on a single pci card
is this going to give me nothing but problems?
or slap it in + my problems are solved?
any opinions?
has anyone here had any good experiences using this or any other type of PCI addon card for Serial ports?

would attempting this introduce compatibility problems?
i have read that in around 1998 on the mac there was a pci serial card solution that was revered/respected somewhat
made by a company called megawolf - respected for their serial throughput for the purpsoe of using it with Macintosh MIDI Interfaces..
ive always wondered, if that was so superior or beneficial to the built in ports on the mac, would the same principal be fruitful aswell on a pc? ie: using an addon PCI serial card....

my main interest in this box is using the pIII 1.4ghz cpu !! which has graet performance for its relatively low power requirement..

[Auzner]

Getting caps replaced will cost a lot at a shop. Make sure whatever you purchase has win 9x drivers to download. If there are drivers, a USB 2.0 PCI card and usb DB9 adapters might be more useful for a similar cost and effort. That RS232 PCI card is just going through PCI instead of the LPC.