Have you plugged in a keyboard?

smtkr wrote on 2025-11-11, 22:49:

Have you plugged in a keyboard?

No, because there's yet no image

Hello kolmio,

These 2E FF or 2A FF POST codes, where your BIOS hangs, are quite early in the boot process, just before the Video card is initialized. That’s why you don’t see anything on the screen.

Do you get any beep codes, and which BIOS version did you use?

I see your MS-5169 is a PCB VER:2 board. The latest BIOS for PCB 2.0/2.1 is V2.6. All later BIOS versions are not suited for your board.

Cheers, Jan

Chkcpu wrote on 2025-11-12, 12:36:

Do you get any beep codes, and which BIOS version did you use?

Hello Jan, I reflashed BIOS 2.6 and then at first code changed to 6A FF, after another restart 2A FF again. No beeps.

How bad is the corrosion, and where? Any clear and sharp photo you can share?
Which EEPROM is used?

It seems some elements are fully eaten up by it. And if that wasn't enough, there are some scratches on the back.

PD2JK wrote on 2025-11-12, 19:15:

How bad is the corrosion, and where? Any clear and sharp photo you can share?
Which EEPROM is used?

So what do you think judging by the look of it, should I try to fix it or it's just scrap? 😀

Whoa, has this thing been running outdoors in a swamp?

First things first I'd recommend cleaning up the corrosion. A dilute vinegar and salt solution rubbed in with an old toothbrush should get rid of most of the worst of it. Then rinse with pure water (if tapwater is hard where you live, use demineralized water). Let it dry and then get out the contact spray and use that with the toothbrush. That should at least show the extent of the damage.

But...

Last week I got my hands on an MS-5169 rev 4 board. It didn't boot reliably sometimes hanging on 2A as well. No corrosion here - but a bunch of bad caps: all 1500uF and 1000uF caps were shot, with some bulging and leaking and others not yet doing so, but after desoldering showing far too little capacitance and too much ESR. This is entirely to be expected on MSI boards from around the turn of the millennium. I replaced the caps and my board has been rock-solid since.

On your first two pictures I think I can see 1500uF caps looking decent, but the pics are blurry and I can't see any of the 1000uF caps. If you haven't already done so, take a look there.

Indeed quite severe, the kind of corrosion this far one would see typically with pre-Pentium boards, but fixable.

dionb wrote on 2025-11-23, 12:57:

Whoa, has this thing been running outdoors in a swamp? […]
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Whoa, has this thing been running outdoors in a swamp?

First things first I'd recommend cleaning up the corrosion. A dilute vinegar and salt solution rubbed in with an old toothbrush should get rid of most of the worst of it.

But...

This is entirely to be expected on MSI boards from around the turn of the millennium. I replaced the caps and my board has been rock-solid since.

😀 It's from Italy. I don't think it's swampy... 😀

To dilute vinegar, how much water parts do I need?

And caps indeed don't bulge on this and as it's from 1998, they could be good - but storing conditions I'm afraid can ruin anything.

Depends on the vinegar. I'd do 1/4 white cleaning vinegar to 3/4 water with a teaspoonful of salt.

And Italy has plenty of swamps - Paestum was abandoned for it, most of Lombardy is still swampy today.