PcBytes wrote: Well,one thing that will quite surely prolong its life to infinite and beyond (I can't believe
I'm saying this 🤣 )
Don't be shy. That's the place for me. 😀 Not to mention this is so "Star Trek" and the boundaries of the
universe.
And so, after reading the suggestions and watching one video in this matter, i measured the capacitors in
the V.R.M. area (nearest processor) and there are some of them shorted (four). What the hell !
Maybe we found out the solution. I am not saying the problem is solved, cause we never know the
extent of the damage, but seems promise. i just have to replace them (soldering is hard as hell, whereas
changing electrolytic capacitors is easy enough).
And i realized every second hand hardware that brings me down seems to have a couple of these shorted caps.
Overcharge ? Age ? Brand (quality) ? I think the problem is more about lack of care. For example,
a bad quality PSU, a slightly pulled card while the system is ON and i guess the list go on.
People don't love hardware as much as i love it. 😠
PcBytes wrote:
Well,one thing that will quite surely prolong its life to infinite and beyond might be replacing the capacitors (ECS/Pcchips are known for using G-Luxon/Teapo crap)
Brand of capacitors used in the M748LMRT is G-LUXON. Right on.
Run to the hills ? I think i am missing something here.
gdjacobs wrote:
Considering it's vintage, even good caps might be at the end of the bathtub curve. It depends on the usage pattern. I can definitely recommend cap replacement as well.
Now that i diagnosed the motherboard, i don't see the need for a total recap.
The capacitors remaining are healthy, how can we determine their final hour ? Bathtub curve ? I assume you
mean "end of life" ? Who in the hell would be using such an old and infamous motherboard? Yeah, maybe it
was agressively overclocked in its hey days or something like that. God only knows 😀
I'll bluff this time. Oh my god, that's not exactly what I am trying to say. I mean: I want to see what will
happen if i continue to use the old caps.
* please be patient with my dumbness. Sometimes I discuss even with docs and dentists. Like, i just want
to absorb some info from you people (Are those G-LUXON so atrocious ?).
Aditionally, I've been told to remove only one shorted capacitor and see what happens. In other words, see
if all other problematic capacitors are fixed (meaning much less hassle). That makes more sense to me.
Thanks, you both. Really appreciated. Ahahahah Hold on M748, I'm on the way...
PcBytes wrote:I actually plan on getting one of these myself,recap the hell out of it (I have lots of caps in here) and see how far can I push it. That,or I might actually shoot for a M577,one of the best SS7 boards I've had. Should really make a nice 98SE machine out of it,assuming it has USB (for my mouse,
since my mouse bracket broke).
My M517 had USB connectors, so the M577 is fine, but Windows98SE is so smooth on my working M748MR.
It is important to mention:
- A M748MR supports up to P3 Katmai 500Mhz in Slot 1 (couldn't find a BIOS update for this gal)
- A M748LMRT v3.3 originally supports up to P3 800Mhz in Slot 1 and Celeron on socket 370 (didn't bother with BIOS update because as i told you, it is out of order
3D games is a no go! Don't even think about it. Don't do it, fellow. 😢 Final Reality, a simple
benchmark, lagged when using the onboard 3D accelerator. How about my experience with FIFA series!?
A ridiculous thing. Can't get that out of my head !
For this matter, i have a powerful Voodoo 3 3000 PCI and i wonder what a fast P3 would produce paired
with it. Wings to fly ?
i could make some comparison just for the hell of it. 😈
I wish you good luck if you start the journey.