Did you try to clear the CMOS and reconfigure the BIOS with only essential settings. On Award BIOS, error code 52 is about additional ROM that failed initialization (on cards or on embedded expansions). Try not using shadowing.

Welcome to the forum!😃
I think I see a Dallas style RTC module. Some boards get buggy if the battery is empty. Can you change it or mod it with a battery holder?
Also do you have any way of reprogramming the BIOS EEPROM?

Hello,

And one more question: Are you sure that those 2 8MB modules are compatible to each other? They look very different. But hard to tell from this picture.

Datadrainer:
I tried with all shadow options Disabled too. Tried with BIOS default settings, resetting/clearing the BIOS too.

Doornkaat:
Actually its one of those fake Dallas. There is only a plastic cap called "Houston Tech" (see houston.png), but below there is a VIA chip (vt82885n see houston_capremoved.png) and this Motherboard uses a Cr2032 battery that is brand new.

CoffeeOne:
Good question. I could not find any info from them on the internet, Ill post a picture of both of them here (mem.png and mem2.png) .

I've never seen a fake Dallas RTC before. First time for everything with PCChips, huh?😅

Anyway, do you have a way to reflash the BIOS EEPROM? It's possible there are flipped bits in there.

thisab wrote on 2023-02-26, 14:53:

Datadrainer: I tried with all shadow options Disabled too. Tried with BIOS default settings, resetting/clearing the BIOS too. […]
Show full quote

Datadrainer:
I tried with all shadow options Disabled too. Tried with BIOS default settings, resetting/clearing the BIOS too.

Doornkaat:
Actually its one of those fake Dallas. There is only a plastic cap called "Houston Tech" (see houston.png), but below there is a VIA chip (vt82885n see houston_capremoved.png) and this Motherboard uses a Cr2032 battery that is brand new.

CoffeeOne:
Good question. I could not find any info from them on the internet, Ill post a picture of both of them here (mem.png and mem2.png) .

Hmm,

GM71C18163BJ6 chips: EDO RAM
TMS44400DJ chips: Fast Page Mode RAM.
I would not combine those. Seems not to work 😁

EDIT: Please change the topic heading to "Stuck on code 52 - m549 + Pentium MMX 200 - EDO 8MB + FPM 8MB", haha.

Doornkaat: Yea, I was surprised at first, but I saw a lot of (bad) comments about these PCChips on Vogons. However I dont have that kind of equipment 🙁 .

CoffeOne: Well, that might be the problem. I assumed both were EDO. Its a shame, I only have those 2 sticks. These RAM are crazy expensive and rare to find in my country (more than $100 for a single stick). I will try to find another similar one to test it.

thisab wrote on 2023-02-26, 21:46:

Doornkaat: Yea, I was surprised at first, but I saw a lot of (bad) comments about these PCChips on Vogons. However I dont have that kind of equipment 🙁 .

CoffeOne: Well, that might be the problem. I assumed both were EDO. Its a shame, I only have those 2 sticks. These RAM are crazy expensive and rare to find in my country (more than $100 for a single stick). I will try to find another similar one to test it.

OMG. Where are you from? In Germany you would be able to get a 8MB EDO stick for about 4 EUR without shipping.

CoffeeOne wrote on 2023-02-26, 22:03:

CoffeOne: Well, that might be the problem. I assumed both were EDO. Its a shame, I only have those 2 sticks. These RAM are crazy expensive and rare to find in my country (more than $100 for a single stick). I will try to find another similar one to test it.

OMG. Where are you from? In Germany you would be able to get a 8MB EDO stick for about 4 EUR without shipping.

Even is USA you can get two matching 8Mb EDO for $9-$10 including shipping 😀

Im from Brazil actually 😀 . These retro stuff are hard to find here and I guess its much cheaper to import it from elsewhere .

Well it turns out that I have a couple of PC100/PC133 memories laying around. And this motherboard supports SDRAM.
So, after much testing I could get it to power on with a PC100 64MB stick on DIMM1.

BUT... same issue

thisab wrote on 2023-02-26, 22:58:

Im from Brazil actually :) . These retro stuff are hard to find here and I guess its much cheaper to import it from elsewhere . […]
Show full quote

Im from Brazil actually 😀 . These retro stuff are hard to find here and I guess its much cheaper to import it from elsewhere .

Well it turns out that I have a couple of PC100/PC133 memories laying around. And this motherboard supports SDRAM.
So, after much testing I could get it to power on with a PC100 64MB stick on DIMM1.

BUT... same issue

Most boards with Intel VX chipset only support DIMMs with a maximum of 32MB as far as I know.
I will not move to Brazil!

CoffeeOne wrote on 2023-02-26, 23:03:

thisab wrote on 2023-02-26, 22:58:

Im from Brazil actually :) . These retro stuff are hard to find here and I guess its much cheaper to import it from elsewhere . […]
Show full quote

Im from Brazil actually 😀 . These retro stuff are hard to find here and I guess its much cheaper to import it from elsewhere .

Well it turns out that I have a couple of PC100/PC133 memories laying around. And this motherboard supports SDRAM.
So, after much testing I could get it to power on with a PC100 64MB stick on DIMM1.

BUT... same issue

Most boards with Intel VX chipset only support DIMMs with a maximum of 32MB as far as I know.
I will not move to Brasil!

I think its because these FPM/EDO RAM were mostly from a time of a protectionist ("Import substitution") era that ended around 1996. At that time, not even NES or SNES were common, they had their local versions (NES > Phantom System).

Nowadays we have high import taxes, but not that kind of protectionism anymore.

As for the DIMM, it accepted it fine, but it is still stuck (image attached).

thisab wrote on 2023-02-26, 23:16:

I think its because these FPM/EDO RAM were mostly from a time of a protectionist ("Import substitution") era that ended around […]
Show full quote

CoffeeOne wrote on 2023-02-26, 23:03:

thisab wrote on 2023-02-26, 22:58:

Im from Brazil actually :) . These retro stuff are hard to find here and I guess its much cheaper to import it from elsewhere . […]
Show full quote

Im from Brazil actually 😀 . These retro stuff are hard to find here and I guess its much cheaper to import it from elsewhere .

Well it turns out that I have a couple of PC100/PC133 memories laying around. And this motherboard supports SDRAM.
So, after much testing I could get it to power on with a PC100 64MB stick on DIMM1.

BUT... same issue

Most boards with Intel VX chipset only support DIMMs with a maximum of 32MB as far as I know.
I will not move to Brasil!

I think its because these FPM/EDO RAM were mostly from a time of a protectionist ("Import substitution") era that ended around 1996. At that time, not even NES or SNES were common, they had their local versions (NES > Phantom System).

Nowadays we have high import taxes, but not that kind of protectionism anymore.

As for the DIMM, it accepted it fine, but it is still stuck (image attached).

Hello,

Sorry, I am not convinced that the DIMM is supported. Can you make pictures of the DIMM (both sides)?
The 32MB DIMMs that work have to be double sided with 16 chips in total, so consisting of 16Megabit chips. Everything with higher density will not work probably. Like hanging on boot.

Hi there,

This won't help you immediately, but I just want you to be careful that you might not have an M549. I've got an M549 myself and it doesn't use a CR2032 battery. The chip under the Houston cap has a battery soldered to it. I had to do a really ugly job soldering in a new battery on top of the chip when I first got it. 😀

It's possible that there are different revisions of the board, but mine also has "V5.0" printed in the corner, so I'm guessing you might have a different model entirely.

CoffeeOne:
Here https://www.elhvb.com/webhq/models/pcchips/m549.htm it says that it accepts (16Mx4, 8Mx8, 4Mx16 SDRAM pc66).
Well, I dont have any memory that fits that criteria. This stick has a whopping 32 memory chips (16 GM72v16421ct10k on each side). Its weird that it POSTs and could count the 64MB.
I posted both sides.

danieljm:
Well, that is weird, mine has a v5.0 printed also (v5.png). If its not an m549 then Im out of guesses.
It looks exactly like this picture including placement of the caps, except for the CR2032 battery: https://www.elhvb.com/webhq/models/pcchips/m549p.jpg

Here is a full top view of the mb

Can you dump your BIOS or at least link to it online?

thisab wrote on 2023-02-26, 23:49:

Here is a full top view of the mb

I scanned my board compared to yours, and from what I can see they certainly look almost identical.

The keyboard controller chip is different. Mine is Holtek HT6542B and yours is VIA-II VT82C42N. That probably doesn't mean anything, but it's notable anyway.

And the only other thing I see is the CR2032, but my board has solder points for a battery holder. I'm not an expert with a multimeter, but I think they are electrically connected to that Houston socket. It could be just a later manufacturing change, or an aftermarket mod. Either way, I'm wondering about adding it to my own board now. 😀

danieljm, Are you running a MMX cpu ? You have it set to 2.8v core.
Right ! they have solder pads for a possble coin cell holder, see here: https://theretroweb.com/motherboard/image/m54 … 53941170738.jpg
Where the little map of N/S America, two pads and one looks like it has a + symbol (right one)....and what could be a 4pin external header location just below