Bought an ASUS A8N32-SLI DELUXE and Athlon x2 4800+ combo, was listed as untested but for 40 Euro shipped I gave it a try.
The board is in really good shape but it locked up at the first boot and then it just refused to post. The cpu worked fine in another board.

I removed the chipset and vrm heatsink and using some hot air I reflowed both nVidia chips. I assembled it back and voila now it is working fine!

Bought an MSI 694T Pro, paying a bit too much, but it was a locked package deal with a Pentium3 + full set of RAM.
And it was supposed to be my very first ever mobo combining socket 370/Tualatins natively with (one) ISA slot, so I went for it.
https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/694T_Pro/support

But... I am not able to get it to boot!

Now, this mobo has an interesting 'traffic light' system, using 4 diodes to code certain levels of progress at boot, quite visionary for such an old board.
The cpu itself seemed to be the first issue, as I could not get it past the first hurdle, the Power ON.

Swapped out the cpu, and voila, we got to level 3 in my picture, memory detection. Where it got stuck again, and is where I am now.
Even after trying several versions of random memory sticks I have, from 16Mb and up, moving it into all the 3 slots one by one, still the same result.
So, given that my RAM is fine, I am clueless of where to go next.

Now, have to mention, 1 single capacitor, the largest on the board, and number 2 down from the top (left side of CPU socket) has a visible bulge.
So that may or may not prevent booting. But I have booted boards with semi-bulged caps like this before, on board of the same era, so was hoping to at least get into the BIOS/see POST.
The rest of the board shows flat caps all over, not that it necessarily means they are fine, but... the seller tells me it booted/was working 1 month ago, so who knows.

Apart from swapping out the BIOS chip (have already reset it several times) or fixing that cap, I know of no further tricks to try.
-> If anyone owns this board, feel free to share any trouble shooting tips here.

Such S370+ISA boards are not that common (anymore), so it would be bummer if this one had to be scrapped.

From the manual (also available as download in that link above):

Bulged cap is here:

dona311 wrote on 2024-11-15, 22:00:

Bought an ASUS A8N32-SLI DELUXE and Athlon x2 4800+ combo, was listed as untested but for 40 Euro shipped I gave it a try. The b […]
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Bought an ASUS A8N32-SLI DELUXE and Athlon x2 4800+ combo, was listed as untested but for 40 Euro shipped I gave it a try.
The board is in really good shape but it locked up at the first boot and then it just refused to post. The cpu worked fine in another board.

I removed the chipset and vrm heatsink and using some hot air I reflowed both nVidia chips. I assembled it back and voila now it is working fine!

Very nice grab. That motherboard was is really nice. I bought it new back in the day with a 4800+. The 4800+ 939 is pretty rare. You did great for 40 euro. It’s the fastest non-FX 939. It overclocks really well. In fact some people preferred getting that CPU instead of the FX.

Random thrift shite. Got another Zalman tower thing, the fan seems to be a bit worse for wear, it has mounts with it though which my nice unused looking one doesn't. Maybe can use them as pattern, didn't get round to braining anything out for other. Got another AV switch, I swear they will some in handy sometime 🤣 Prolly just for audio switching when get several machines in one pile. Then got that iogear USB card, saw them yesterday, went back today because I looked them up and they are supposed to have the NEC chip on, so hopefully one "gold standard" USB card for older machines. That's unopened NIB. They had more yesterday but this was the last. They also have a bunch of HP 24x DVD writers, but I'm kinda lukewarm on them, got enough at the moment. Guess a store donated leftovers or something. Did pick up two more of those blue diamond premium vga cables s too because I thought about how I was gonna use the two I got and realised I could use one more, so got 2 more in case.

Other stuff I saw... gigabit PCI NIC, I was all yeahnahyeahnah over it but it stayed there in the end. Weird German PSU with a 24V line, otherwise looked like early ATX, had very long connectors like it was for a fully tower, but only one line of drive connectors. Forgetting name, began with a G I think. Small formfactor HP box, nothing really to recommend it apart from being compact, I was thinking about it at first, but then determined it was sandycrotch, it it was haswell, I had a low power CPU for it.

zuldan wrote on 2024-11-16, 00:15:

Very nice grab. That motherboard was is really nice. I bought it new back in the day with a 4800+. The 4800+ 939 is pretty rare. You did great for 40 euro. It’s the fastest non-FX 939. It overclocks really well. In fact some people preferred getting that CPU instead of the FX.

Thank you, I think I got really lucky. I'm thinking about making a nice 2005/2006 gaming rig (with a X1900XTX or 8800GTS/GTX) and try to see how much the CPU can clock.

dona311 wrote on 2024-11-15, 22:00:

Are you planning to do some benchmarks? I recently got one but I still have to do anything with it.
X2 4800+ was money back in 2005.

Nexxen wrote on 2024-11-16, 13:35:

dona311 wrote on 2024-11-15, 22:00:

Are you planning to do some benchmarks? I recently got one but I still have to do anything with it.
X2 4800+ was money back in 2005.

Yes I plan to do some benchmarks and post them on the site. I'd like also to compare them against an early core 2 duo system. It'll be fun

Two more BX boards to add to the collection - Chaintech 6BJM and QDI P6I440BX/B1S/2000 (BrillianX 1S/2000)

Horun wrote on 2024-11-09, 23:16:

Have not tested the GTX 750-TI SC yet and still waiting for a sound card to arrive...

added: also just bought a Gigabyte GA-EP43-UD3L + Q9650 + 4GB ram combo for ~$50.

Update: The GA-EP43 arrived. Two push pins on cpu cooler were weak/near ready to break so replaced them and re-gooped cpu and NB heatsinks.
Tested the GTX 750-TI after making sure board worked first, and it does. So not a bad purchase but nothing to brag about.
One thing: did turn off the Giga Full screen logo in bios, just not vintage looking 🤣
Think the seller of the board recently upgraded something, as it came in a MSI B550-A Pro board box heheee

Just got myself a Roland MT-32. Is there anything to attend to right away when I get it? Like removing batteries, changing caps, etc…?

CMB75 wrote on 2024-11-17, 15:27:

Just got myself a Roland MT-32. Is there anything to attend to right away when I get it? Like removing batteries, changing caps, etc…?

I don't believe the MT-32 has a battery. As for caps or other maintenance, I would only worry about that if there is something faulty with the unit.

Otherwise, I'd just fire up some MT-32 supported games and enjoy. 😀

Hi, got a Asus V3800 Ultra brand new.. Is working well on a my test rig Willamette board, 1.5 agp. The thing is i want to use it on my slot 1 rig 3.3 agp by the fan dont spin and gets quite Hot.. Any tips?

CMB75 wrote on 2024-11-17, 15:27:

Just got myself a Roland MT-32. Is there anything to attend to right away when I get it? Like removing batteries, changing caps, etc…?

Don't panic if one of the MIDI ports isn't working or an audio jack is intermittent or dead. The solder joints on these devices are old and may have cracked over years of repeated mechanical stress. This is very easy to repair.

Roland SC-55 Refurbishment

Kahenraz wrote on 2024-11-17, 16:47:

CMB75 wrote on 2024-11-17, 15:27:

Just got myself a Roland MT-32. Is there anything to attend to right away when I get it? Like removing batteries, changing caps, etc…?

Don't panic if one of the MIDI ports isn't working or an audio jack is intermittent or dead. The solder joints on these devices are old and may have cracked over years of repeated mechanical stress. This is very easy to repair.

Roland SC-55 Refurbishment

Yeah, I’ve got a SC-55, hence my question with caps and batteries. Thanks for the hint to the solder joints, I will check them.

There is PCB-destroying glue that I've seen used in some SC-55s, but I don't think that it's a problem for the older MT32. Here is link a thread with pictures and more information.

PCB destroying adhesive found in my Roland Sound Canvas SC-55mkII (inspect your synthesizer!)

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-11-17, 16:05:

CMB75 wrote on 2024-11-17, 15:27:

Just got myself a Roland MT-32. Is there anything to attend to right away when I get it? Like removing batteries, changing caps, etc…?

I don't believe the MT-32 has a battery. As for caps or other maintenance, I would only worry about that if there is something faulty with the unit.

Otherwise, I'd just fire up some MT-32 supported games and enjoy. 😀

So far I've been using a WP32 McCake when I play. I think my ears are too old to notice a difference, if there is one.

But there's always something special about an original, pressing buttons, turning knobs... 🤤

Kahenraz wrote on 2024-11-17, 17:17:

There is PCB-destroying glue that I've seen used in some SC-55s, but I don't think that it's a problem for the older MT32. Here is link a thread with pictures and more information.

PCB destroying adhesive found in my Roland Sound Canvas SC-55mkII (inspect your synthesizer!)

That doesn’t look good. Do you know if Mk.1 SC-55 is affected, too?

I haven't seen anyone confirming, but there's no way to know without a larger sample size. That's why I encourage everyone to check. Not all mkIIs were affected either, but mine was. It must depend on where it was manufactured or what materials they had at the time.

The large capacitor at the back is located right next to a giant heatsink. I've heard of this capacitor failing due to its proximity, probably from the electrolyte drying out.

There is also a battery that can leak. It's unnecessary and should be removed. However, I seem to have had a unique problem after doing so.

The Roland Sound Canvas SC-55mkII may be out of tune when powered on without a battery

pitchshifter wrote on 2024-11-17, 16:15:

Hi, got a Asus V3800 Ultra brand new.. Is working well on a my test rig Willamette board, 1.5 agp. The thing is i want to use it on my slot 1 rig 3.3 agp by the fan dont spin and gets quite Hot.. Any tips?

The fan should have a plug-in to the board. You can test wiring it direct to 12v off one of the molex HD connectors and see if it spins..

Horun wrote on 2024-11-17, 19:06:

pitchshifter wrote on 2024-11-17, 16:15:

Hi, got a Asus V3800 Ultra brand new.. Is working well on a my test rig Willamette board, 1.5 agp. The thing is i want to use it on my slot 1 rig 3.3 agp by the fan dont spin and gets quite Hot.. Any tips?

The fan should have a plug-in to the board. You can test wiring it direct to 12v off one of the molex HD connectors and see if it spins..

But she is working well on the test bench, again its agp 1.5 in the test bench and 3.3 agp in the slot 1. Could this be the issue?