Maybe it's set to IRQ7 and conflict with the LPT port but you should get a IRQ conflict error message then if your PC is modern enough

Never had any problems with a non booting PC just because a legacy card is defect...it should boot anyway.....odd

There is the IDE connector of the awe32 which can conflict with the one of the mobo
Many old mobos / io-cards only have 1 ide port, your awe32 ide port may be jumpered as 2nd ide port

To Amigaz:

I currently have Parallel port disabled in BIOS. I might try enabling it just to see if it makes a difference.

To StickByDos:

On my CT3900 model, there are 2 IDE interfaces. There is also a cluster of 3 jumpers near them that reads:

IOCHRDY
IDE100
IDE101

I don't know how to set these jumpers. However, I have tried this jumper configuration:

IOCHRDY Open
IDE100 Closed
IDE101 Closed

(No success.)

Best regards, Robert.

PS, I'm sorry I forgot something:

Also, there is another cluster of 5 jumpers next to the ones I already mentioned. These read:

IDE IRQ

10
11
12
14
15

Currently, all 5 jumpers are Open.

Jumpers here

According what you said, ide is disabled
You said "2 IDE interfaces" , only one is ide, the 2nd (panasonic) is an old interface for cdrom (not compatible with ide cdrom)

Have you tried it on another computer ?

Have you reserved irq in the bios set-up for legacy isa, if your bios assign irq 5 or 7 to pci device, it can conflict with your non-pnp awe32

Thanks very much for the jumpers info.

I've just tried the AWE32 in another computer, and I get exactly the same symptoms - no POST at all - the PC will not boot-up.

I suspect there may be something really wrong with the card. I've tried cleaning the ISA pin contacts that run along the ISA slot, but that did not help.

Best regards, Robert.

retro games 100 wrote:

I suspect there may be something really wrong with the card.

I agree. This looks rather bleak.

Maybe we can spot something if you make a high-res photo of the card (front and back) and post it here. But it may not be worth the trouble.

I'm really sorry but I can't upload a good photo of the card - I just haven't got a decent enough camera to take a proper close-up picture of it.

I tried the card in 3 different mobos, and all 3 failed to POST, so I really think the card was significantly damaged in some way.

I have subsequently disposed of it.

Best regards, Robert.