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Help on reviving PCCHIPS M571 Socket 7 motherboard

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First post, by bazingaa

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Hello,

I had this PCCHIPS M571 (probably a LMR variant, SIS5598 chipset as I remember) motherboard for a long time and last time it worked should be around 2007, when I had it as a FreeNAS server. I vaguely remember it didn't POST when I put it in the storage. I found a bit of corrosion too.

The Pentium MMX 233 MHz was already installed when I put it in the storage. Before everything, I replaced CMOS battery and cleared CMOS using jumper few times.
With an ATX PSU (PSU is fully working, this is a modern PSU which I use to test everything), the board powers on (Power LED also lights up) but there is no beep on the buzzer even without installing RAM sticks. ATX power switch turns on and off (with 4 sec press) normally. CPU fan works normally too. Other than that, the MB and looks like MB is pretty dead.

I found 2 bad capacitors and replaced them, but there is no difference.
Then I tried with a PCI POST Test card but there is no light on +3.3V (did Socket 7 motherboard had +3.3V anyway ?), CLK and SYS. The LCD is also showing nothing (so no activity?).
(card is full working, tested on my P4 and all LEDs did light up and LCD was showing the boot process)

My original plan was to restore my old PC with my P-MMX CPU (originally I had ASUS SP97-V with this CPU when I got this PC in 1998, it was dead around 2002 and I replaced MB with this used PCCHIPS motherboard) but I couldn't find a cheap motherboard supporting P-MMX on Ebay. Most of the ones available are for Pentium only (I found DataExpert TX531, Gigabyte GA-586VX, FIC PA-2005, Abit AB-PT5, ASUS PCI/I-P54SP4 etc). I also found a "IBM USI Pro263" Super Socket 7 mATX MB on Ebay but it only support AMD K6-3 and originally from an IBM Aptiva model 2187.

I am wondering whether this MB could be revived or just let it RIP without investing more time and money on this.

Thanks in advance

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Reply 1 of 19, by Cosmic

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I recently had a similar issue with my Slot 1 AT motherboard here:

Dead Slot 1 motherboard A-Trend ATC-6310M [Solved]

In my case the solution was to use an ATX to AT adapter. I'm not sure if it would help your issue, but if you don't have one, the adapters are fairly inexpensive and it may be worth a shot. It initially worked fine with ATX then suddenly stopped working - literally worked, shutdown/restart, then didn't work. Adapter brought it back to life. I have an SS7 motherboard that is currently dead in a similar fashion (FIC VA-503+) but I haven't tried it with the AT adapter recently.

bazingaa wrote on 2023-05-23, 01:10:

Then I tried with a PCI POST Test card but there is no light on +3.3V (did Socket 7 motherboard had +3.3V anyway ?), CLK and SYS. The LCD is also showing nothing (so no activity?).

My understanding is these AT + ATX combo boards would derive +3.3V from the +5V rail. Some boards would use the ATX +3.3V if it was available and would otherwise generate it if needed, and some boards always did the conversion on board, regardless of ATX PSU.

May also be useful to check for shorts on the AT and ATX pins as I did in my post. It was tedious but helped my understanding of the board.

Reply 2 of 19, by Horun

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Agree ! Try a real AT PSU or and adapter. I have a few of those AT/ATX capable PSU boards and they hate the ATX connector for some reason with any newer PSU.

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 3 of 19, by bazingaa

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Cosmic wrote on 2023-05-23, 01:29:
I recently had a similar issue with my Slot 1 AT motherboard here: […]
Show full quote

I recently had a similar issue with my Slot 1 AT motherboard here:

Dead Slot 1 motherboard A-Trend ATC-6310M [Solved]

In my case the solution was to use an ATX to AT adapter. I'm not sure if it would help your issue, but if you don't have one, the adapters are fairly inexpensive and it may be worth a shot. It initially worked fine with ATX then suddenly stopped working - literally worked, shutdown/restart, then didn't work. Adapter brought it back to life. I have an SS7 motherboard that is currently dead in a similar fashion (FIC VA-503+) but I haven't tried it with the AT adapter recently.

bazingaa wrote on 2023-05-23, 01:10:

Then I tried with a PCI POST Test card but there is no light on +3.3V (did Socket 7 motherboard had +3.3V anyway ?), CLK and SYS. The LCD is also showing nothing (so no activity?).

My understanding is these AT + ATX combo boards would derive +3.3V from the +5V rail. Some boards would use the ATX +3.3V if it was available and would otherwise generate it if needed, and some boards always did the conversion on board, regardless of ATX PSU.

May also be useful to check for shorts on the AT and ATX pins as I did in my post. It was tedious but helped my understanding of the board.

Horun wrote on 2023-05-23, 01:43:

Agree ! Try a real AT PSU or and adapter. I have a few of those AT/ATX capable PSU boards and they hate the ATX connector for some reason with any newer PSU.

Thanks guys, I will give it a try with ATX -> AT adapter. I have ordered one from Aliexpress (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003992418202.html) and I would take around 2 weeks to arrive.
I used this MB with an AT PSU back then but I can't remember whether it did POST at the end. I will also try to check voltages at the regulators.
BIOS chip of this also ASD AE29F2008-12, I might have to check that after sorting out the power issues.

Reply 4 of 19, by Cosmic

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bazingaa wrote on 2023-05-23, 02:08:
Thanks guys, I will give it a try with ATX -> AT adapter. I have ordered one from Aliexpress (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10 […]
Show full quote
Cosmic wrote on 2023-05-23, 01:29:
I recently had a similar issue with my Slot 1 AT motherboard here: […]
Show full quote

I recently had a similar issue with my Slot 1 AT motherboard here:

Dead Slot 1 motherboard A-Trend ATC-6310M [Solved]

In my case the solution was to use an ATX to AT adapter. I'm not sure if it would help your issue, but if you don't have one, the adapters are fairly inexpensive and it may be worth a shot. It initially worked fine with ATX then suddenly stopped working - literally worked, shutdown/restart, then didn't work. Adapter brought it back to life. I have an SS7 motherboard that is currently dead in a similar fashion (FIC VA-503+) but I haven't tried it with the AT adapter recently.

bazingaa wrote on 2023-05-23, 01:10:

Then I tried with a PCI POST Test card but there is no light on +3.3V (did Socket 7 motherboard had +3.3V anyway ?), CLK and SYS. The LCD is also showing nothing (so no activity?).

My understanding is these AT + ATX combo boards would derive +3.3V from the +5V rail. Some boards would use the ATX +3.3V if it was available and would otherwise generate it if needed, and some boards always did the conversion on board, regardless of ATX PSU.

May also be useful to check for shorts on the AT and ATX pins as I did in my post. It was tedious but helped my understanding of the board.

Horun wrote on 2023-05-23, 01:43:

Agree ! Try a real AT PSU or and adapter. I have a few of those AT/ATX capable PSU boards and they hate the ATX connector for some reason with any newer PSU.

Thanks guys, I will give it a try with ATX -> AT adapter. I have ordered one from Aliexpress (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003992418202.html) and I would take around 2 weeks to arrive.
I used this MB with an AT PSU back then but I can't remember whether it did POST at the end. I will also try to check voltages at the regulators.
BIOS chip of this also ASD AE29F2008-12, I might have to check that after sorting out the power issues.

Just to hopefully help you avoid an issue I had with my AT case build, I once ordered the same adapter you did but the green/black wires were too short and wouldn't reach the front of the case. I needed to buy a longer one such as this "AYA" one:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/152720433164

May or may not be an issue for your case, especially if you have your own switch, are just testing, or are comfortable lengthening the cable if needed. 😀

Reply 5 of 19, by bazingaa

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Cosmic wrote on 2023-05-23, 02:16:
Just to hopefully help you avoid an issue I had with my AT case build, I once ordered the same adapter you did but the green/bla […]
Show full quote
bazingaa wrote on 2023-05-23, 02:08:
Thanks guys, I will give it a try with ATX -> AT adapter. I have ordered one from Aliexpress (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10 […]
Show full quote
Cosmic wrote on 2023-05-23, 01:29:
I recently had a similar issue with my Slot 1 AT motherboard here: […]
Show full quote

I recently had a similar issue with my Slot 1 AT motherboard here:

Dead Slot 1 motherboard A-Trend ATC-6310M [Solved]

In my case the solution was to use an ATX to AT adapter. I'm not sure if it would help your issue, but if you don't have one, the adapters are fairly inexpensive and it may be worth a shot. It initially worked fine with ATX then suddenly stopped working - literally worked, shutdown/restart, then didn't work. Adapter brought it back to life. I have an SS7 motherboard that is currently dead in a similar fashion (FIC VA-503+) but I haven't tried it with the AT adapter recently.

My understanding is these AT + ATX combo boards would derive +3.3V from the +5V rail. Some boards would use the ATX +3.3V if it was available and would otherwise generate it if needed, and some boards always did the conversion on board, regardless of ATX PSU.

May also be useful to check for shorts on the AT and ATX pins as I did in my post. It was tedious but helped my understanding of the board.

Horun wrote on 2023-05-23, 01:43:

Agree ! Try a real AT PSU or and adapter. I have a few of those AT/ATX capable PSU boards and they hate the ATX connector for some reason with any newer PSU.

Thanks guys, I will give it a try with ATX -> AT adapter. I have ordered one from Aliexpress (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003992418202.html) and I would take around 2 weeks to arrive.
I used this MB with an AT PSU back then but I can't remember whether it did POST at the end. I will also try to check voltages at the regulators.
BIOS chip of this also ASD AE29F2008-12, I might have to check that after sorting out the power issues.

Just to hopefully help you avoid an issue I had with my AT case build, I once ordered the same adapter you did but the green/black wires were too short and wouldn't reach the front of the case. I needed to buy a longer one such as this "AYA" one:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/152720433164

May or may not be an issue for your case, especially if you have your own switch, are just testing, or are comfortable lengthening the cable if needed. 😀

Thanks for the info. I have tried with AT PSU adapter and the situation is still the same (PCI POST card doesn't show 3.3V, CLK, SYS).

I have measured voltages at ATX socket when AT PSU is connected and there is no 3.3V at there as well.
Also I tried to check power regulator ICs and I have measured the voltages as shown in the photo below.

The continuity between 3 * 3.3V pins in the ATX socket is "infinity" so they are not connected at all.
I also tried to inject 3.3 V with an external regulator to each pin but no indication on POST card 3.3 V LED.

Is there any thing weird or what else could be checked ? I don't have an oscilloscope with me.
May be this motherboard doesn't use 3.3V at all and PCI post card doesn't work without 3.3 V ?

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    power regulator ICs and measured the voltages
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    measured voltages at ATX socket when AT PSU is connected
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Last edited by bazingaa on 2023-06-01, 01:01. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 6 of 19, by Zerthimon

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What's the deal with this jumper?

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Reply 8 of 19, by bazingaa

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### UPDATE ###

Just to confirm whether 3.3 V is needed to run PCI POST card, I tried below steps.

I found out that 4th PIN pf P4 connector in PCI POST card is connected to B41 pin of the PCI slot which is +3.3 V.
I injected 3.3 V to that pin using an external 3.3 V regulator powered from floppy power cable.
Then POST card 3.3 V LED lighted up but CLK LED is faintly lighted up. No display is on the POST card LCD display.

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Reply 9 of 19, by dionb

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Old pre-PCI 2.2 boards didn't supply 3.3V to the PCI bus, so nothing abnormal there. That's why later PCI cards that require 3.3V don't work on older boards without modification.

So lack of 3.3V is not your issue stopping POST - that board would never have had 3 3V on PCI.

Reply 10 of 19, by Roman555

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bazingaa, it's useful site about PCChips M571. If you haven't found it by yourself. You can find schematics there.
IMO, the voltages of VRM on your photo look good: Vcore about 3V, Vio about 3.5v.
Also I can recommend youtube channel by Tony359 and his video about reviving PCChips board:
https://youtu.be/1kVps2oBmhs

[ MS6168/PII-350/YMF754/98SE ]
[ 775i65G/E5500/9800Pro/Vortex2/ME ]

Reply 11 of 19, by Jasin Natael

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I have one of these boards. I had some wonkiness getting mine to work as well. I made a thread on it, if you care to read through it.
In the end I ended up using a Cyrix MII in this board, but it's still working to this day. I would recommend the use of ATX PSU.

PC Chips M571 K6-3+ Support - UPDATED WITH BENCHMARKS

Reply 12 of 19, by Zerthimon

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bazingaa wrote on 2023-06-01, 01:02:
Zerthimon wrote on 2023-06-01, 00:44:

What's the deal with this jumper?

That is actually the front LED/SW header. As I remember those broken pins were NC anyway.

Looks like a bent pin and soldered to a transistor. Is that factory?

Reply 13 of 19, by Jasin Natael

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Zerthimon wrote on 2023-06-01, 15:28:
bazingaa wrote on 2023-06-01, 01:02:
Zerthimon wrote on 2023-06-01, 00:44:

What's the deal with this jumper?

That is actually the front LED/SW header. As I remember those broken pins were NC anyway.

Looks like a bent pin and soldered to a transistor. Is that factory?

I would have to check, but I don't recall mine being that way.
Possibly a different revision, I think there were like three versions of this board made.
The latest version has a different style AT keyboard connector IIRC?
Also supposedly it will do 83mhz FSB and possibly has native BIOS support for later CPUs as it has a voltage regulator that can do 2.0v vcore.

Reply 14 of 19, by bazingaa

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Zerthimon wrote on 2023-06-01, 15:28:
bazingaa wrote on 2023-06-01, 01:02:
Zerthimon wrote on 2023-06-01, 00:44:

What's the deal with this jumper?

That is actually the front LED/SW header. As I remember those broken pins were NC anyway.

Looks like a bent pin and soldered to a transistor. Is that factory?

Jasin Natael wrote on 2023-06-01, 19:31:
I would have to check, but I don't recall mine being that way. Possibly a different revision, I think there were like three ver […]
Show full quote
Zerthimon wrote on 2023-06-01, 15:28:
bazingaa wrote on 2023-06-01, 01:02:

That is actually the front LED/SW header. As I remember those broken pins were NC anyway.

Looks like a bent pin and soldered to a transistor. Is that factory?

I would have to check, but I don't recall mine being that way.
Possibly a different revision, I think there were like three versions of this board made.
The latest version has a different style AT keyboard connector IIRC?
Also supposedly it will do 83mhz FSB and possibly has native BIOS support for later CPUs as it has a voltage regulator that can do 2.0v vcore.

Sorry for the confusion, that pin in J8 isn't soldered to anything and NC as per manual.
Version of my motherboard is V5.1

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Reply 15 of 19, by bazingaa

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dionb wrote on 2023-06-01, 06:48:

Old pre-PCI 2.2 boards didn't supply 3.3V to the PCI bus, so nothing abnormal there. That's why later PCI cards that require 3.3V don't work on older boards without modification.

So lack of 3.3V is not your issue stopping POST - that board would never have had 3 3V on PCI.

Thanks a lot for the confirmation. I had ASUS SP97-V before this MB (both has same chipset SIS5598) and I vaguely remember something about only 5V PCI cards are supported.

Reply 16 of 19, by bazingaa

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Roman555 wrote on 2023-06-01, 13:10:
bazingaa, it's useful site about PCChips M571. If you haven't found it by yourself. You can find schematics there. IMO, the volt […]
Show full quote

bazingaa, it's useful site about PCChips M571. If you haven't found it by yourself. You can find schematics there.
IMO, the voltages of VRM on your photo look good: Vcore about 3V, Vio about 3.5v.
Also I can recommend youtube channel by Tony359 and his video about reviving PCChips board:
https://youtu.be/1kVps2oBmhs

Thanks a lot for the information . I will go through that. I think I got the manual from the same site a while ago.
About Vcore, doesn't it looks a bit high. I think Vcore should be 2.8 V for Pentium MMX 233 MHz (https://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Pentium/Intel- … BP80503233.html)
May be this board starts with default 3 V and later reduces when actual CPU is detected from BIOS.

Reply 17 of 19, by bazingaa

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Jasin Natael wrote on 2023-06-01, 13:41:

I have one of these boards. I had some wonkiness getting mine to work as well. I made a thread on it, if you care to read through it.
In the end I ended up using a Cyrix MII in this board, but it's still working to this day. I would recommend the use of ATX PSU.

PC Chips M571 K6-3+ Support - UPDATED WITH BENCHMARKS

Thanks for the thread. I will go through that. I had the the same Pentium MMX CPU installed on this MB from 2002. I bought this MB from a person who used it with a Cyrix CPU though.
He actually tried to sell me the CPU telling that my Pentium MMX is a fake one 🤣.

Reply 18 of 19, by Roman555

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bazingaa wrote on 2023-06-02, 03:40:
Thanks a lot for the information . I will go through that. I think I got the manual from the same site a while ago. About Vcore, […]
Show full quote
Roman555 wrote on 2023-06-01, 13:10:
bazingaa, it's useful site about PCChips M571. If you haven't found it by yourself. You can find schematics there. IMO, the volt […]
Show full quote

bazingaa, it's useful site about PCChips M571. If you haven't found it by yourself. You can find schematics there.
IMO, the voltages of VRM on your photo look good: Vcore about 3V, Vio about 3.5v.
Also I can recommend youtube channel by Tony359 and his video about reviving PCChips board:
https://youtu.be/1kVps2oBmhs

Thanks a lot for the information . I will go through that. I think I got the manual from the same site a while ago.
About Vcore, doesn't it looks a bit high. I think Vcore should be 2.8 V for Pentium MMX 233 MHz (https://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Pentium/Intel- … BP80503233.html)
May be this board starts with default 3 V and later reduces when actual CPU is detected from BIOS.

It's nothing. I suppose you're right. I meant pentium mmx should work even if Vcore or Vio is slightly higher. So there's something else that totally prevents normal start. Maybe if you scrutinize the mainboard you'll manage to find some scratches or damaged smd components. Good luck!

[ MS6168/PII-350/YMF754/98SE ]
[ 775i65G/E5500/9800Pro/Vortex2/ME ]

Reply 19 of 19, by bazingaa

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#UPDATE#

Got a PCChips M585LMR and tested CPU on that. CPU is working.
Also got a Pentium-MMX 166 MHz CPU and tested on M571LMR, no signs of life. So, I have given up the resurrection for the time being. 🙁

Also PCI POST card doesn't show any SYS or CLK or LCD display on that working board.
Conclusion : These PCI POST cards are not suitable to troubleshoot Socket 7 motherboards 🙁

Thanks a lot for the support guys! 😀

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