Can you post a higher resolution picture of the board?

I can't tell if I'm looking at bent pins or compression artifacts in the second pic.

Here ya go...

tomcattech wrote on Today, 18:25:

Here ya go...

OHHHHHH it's RD-RAM you need to have blanks in the empty slots!

That or more memory modules.

Also that's a D850MV not an 865perl as mentioned in your original post.

pete8475 wrote on Today, 18:26:

tomcattech wrote on Today, 18:25:

Here ya go...

OHHHHHH it's RD-RAM you need to have blanks in the empty slots!

That or more memory modules.

Holy crap you're right... It's like not checking the fuses first before you change out a taillight... 😀

OK, tried with both blanks and full ram.... still no go... any other ideas?
(Thought you nailed it...)

Considering this came in a D865PERL box with all the instructions\etc, I'm going to assume that this was a bad board that someone way back when replaced with a PERL and stuck it in the box.

Buyer beware I guess...

tomcattech wrote on Today, 18:41:

OK, tried with both blanks and full ram.... still no go... any other ideas?
(Thought you nailed it...)

Do the fans spin when you push power or is absolutely nothing happening?

pete8475 wrote on Today, 18:57:

tomcattech wrote on Today, 18:41:

OK, tried with both blanks and full ram.... still no go... any other ideas?
(Thought you nailed it...)

Do the fans spin when you push power or is absolutely nothing happening?

Absolutely nothing....
Usually when I see something like this I'll see a bad cap\coil.... a burn or defacement of the board... a bad trace.... ground problem

But this thing is clean at least upon low magnification.

As I said above this may be one someone gave up on... 🤣

tomcattech wrote on Today, 19:01:

Absolutely nothing.... Usually when I see something like this I'll see a bad cap\coil.... a burn or defacement of the board... […]
Show full quote

pete8475 wrote on Today, 18:57:

tomcattech wrote on Today, 18:41:

OK, tried with both blanks and full ram.... still no go... any other ideas?
(Thought you nailed it...)

Do the fans spin when you push power or is absolutely nothing happening?

Absolutely nothing....
Usually when I see something like this I'll see a bad cap\coil.... a burn or defacement of the board... a bad trace.... ground problem

But this thing is clean at least upon low magnification.

As I said above this may be one someone gave up on... 🤣

In your first post you indicated this was an 865perl, it's an 850MV based on your pics so make sure you're using the right pins for power on first. I honestly don't know if they are the same on those boards. Also try just putting the board on a cardboard box or something so you can rule out something shorting out on that frame.

It also can't hurt to pull the bios battery and put a fresh one in there.

Do you have a post code reader? That could help a bit.

Also, make sure none of the capacitors are bulging out the bottom. They don't always go out the top when they swell, and this is prime capacitor plague era. I see lots of different colors, brands and types of capacitors... there could be just one bad one on there causing an issue, even if the rest are fine.

EDIT: Also, might want to add in your first post that you now know that it is a D850MV. Will avoid some confusion if others see the post.

pete8475 wrote on Today, 18:57:

n your first post you indicated this was an 865perl, it's an 850MV based on your pics so make sure you're using the right pins for power on first. I honestly don't know if they are the same on those boards. Also try just putting the board on a cardboard box or something so you can rule out something shorting out on that frame.

It also can't hurt to pull the bios battery and put a fresh one in there.

Yea, Thanks for catching that... I've verified the header pins for power on etc (and no they are not the same)
I've also verified the "clear bios\cmos" jumper is correct
I always put in a fresh battery when I get a new (to me) motherboard. Its just good practice.

Ozzuneoj wrote on Today, 19:10:

Do you have a post code reader? That could help a bit.

Also, make sure none of the capacitors are bulging out the bottom. They don't always go out the top when they swell, and this is prime capacitor plague era. I see lots of different colors, brands and types of capacitors... there could be just one bad one on there causing an issue, even if the rest are fine.

Unfortunately I don't have a code reader.... How that is possible when I have everything else is beyond me... anyway Amazon to the rescue tomorrow...

I'll pull it off the mount, take a look at it and give you guys an update soon.
Appreciate the assist as I would like to rescue this one.

So I went and dug out my D850MV and these two pins I've colored red should be the power button pins.

Put your power button connector on there.

pete8475 wrote on Today, 19:23:

So I went and dug out my D850MV and these two pins I've colored red should be the power button pins.

Put your power button connector on there.

Yep, those are correct...

I had this issue once when the RTC XTAL was dead.

Yours is being protected/surrounded by some black plastic.

tomcattech wrote on Today, 19:24:

pete8475 wrote on Today, 19:23:

So I went and dug out my D850MV and these two pins I've colored red should be the power button pins.

Put your power button connector on there.

Yep, those are correct...

Well just to rule out that the power button is broken try bridging those two pins with a screwdriver.

I would also try a different power supply to rule that out, and is your CPU supported by the bios version on the board? It needs a bios update for a lot of the later p4 processors.

Actually post the specs of everything please!

CPU, RAM, vid, power supply etc.

pete8475 wrote on Today, 19:28:

and is your CPU supported by the bios version on the board? It needs a bios update for a lot of the later p4 processors.

I was thinking this myself. If it didn't come with the CPU then this could be an issue. Especially if you had originally picked the CPU based on what was supported by the 865PERL.

My motherboard won't post if a keyboard isn't plugged in.
I think there's something wrong with that but that's the way it powers on and posts.

PD2JK wrote on Today, 19:24:

I had this issue once when the RTC XTAL was dead.

Yours is being protected/surrounded by some black plastic.

Yep, I see it...
Is there any easy way to test it without an oscope?

I thought we were onto something (CPU support due to the MB being misidentified) but still no go.
I had a P4 2.8 in it (which the PERL supports, but the D850 does not), so I put a P4 1.6 \ 256 in it (which the D850 supports via CPU-Upgrade)

I've learned a good lesson here: Never assume what is in the box even when you are told something else. (Especially in EBay)

Specs:
P4 1.6\256
Got 512 MB RAM in 2 out of the 4 slots with spacers in the last 2 slots:
2x 256 MB sticks (Samsung MR16R1628DF0-CM8)
Pwr: Bestec: ATX-250-12Z
Vid: AGP GeForce2 MX 32

I have a feeling we've put more man hours into this than the last guy who pulled it... 🤣

tomcattech wrote on Today, 21:20:

Yep, I see it... Is there any easy way to test it without an oscope? […]
Show full quote

PD2JK wrote on Today, 19:24:

I had this issue once when the RTC XTAL was dead.

Yours is being protected/surrounded by some black plastic.

Yep, I see it...
Is there any easy way to test it without an oscope?

I thought we were onto something (CPU support due to the MB being misidentified) but still no go.
I had a P4 2.8 in it (which the PERL supports, but the D850 does not), so I put a P4 1.6 \ 256 in it (which the D850 supports via CPU-Upgrade)

I've learned a good lesson here: Never assume what is in the box even when you are told something else. (Especially in EBay)

Specs:
P4 1.6\256
Got 512 MB RAM in 2 out of the 4 slots with spacers in the last 2 slots:
2x 256 MB sticks (Samsung MR16R1628DF0-CM8)
Pwr: Bestec: ATX-250-12Z
Vid: AGP GeForce2 MX 32

I have a feeling we've put more man hours into this than the last guy who pulled it... 🤣

Hey, if it's possible to get it running, we'll try to help. 😀

And yeah, as a general rule one must always assume that an open box computer component (or car part, or anything else like that) contains the OLD one, not the one that came in the box... otherwise, why would someone break the seal and open the box? Maybe just to check it before putting it on the shelf? It does happen, and I have gotten legitimate open-box items, but it is definitely less common, so you absolutely have to verify it yourself. Never assume a brand new unused item is in the box, even if a seller says it is.

Personally, I wouldn't have noticed based on the pics in this thread that this board didn't match because I am not that experienced with P4 stuff and would take your word for it that it was an 865PERL... and yet, I look at old computer stuff constantly. One can imagine that a seller that says "yeah, it's in there." but isn't a retro computing enthusiast likely has no idea whether it is the correct board or not.

One thing that stands out to me though from your list of specs is the Bestec power supply. A lot of their PSUs are notorious for having bad capacitors. I don't think they are inherently terrible power supplies, they are just victims of the cap plague like a lot of other units from that time period. I know you said it is working, but have you tried this board with some different power supplies? Preferably something that has been inspected for swollen or leaky caps, or that was made within the last 15 years.

Bestec used a few different cap brands, so they're inconsistent. I've seen Jamicon, CapXon, United Chemi-Con, and sometimes a mix. At least it isn't the ATX-250-12E motherboard killer (where one specific cap failing causes 5VSB voltage to increase until the southbridge smokes).