386sx board not booting \ VOGONS

386sx board not booting

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First post, by Half-Saint

Posted on 2026-04-10, 11:00

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I was testing this board before putting it up for sale but unfortunately it turned out to be defective. What happens is the following:
- screen remains blank
- keyboard Num Lock LED lights up and reacts to me pressing num lock
- around 10 seconds 2 beeps can be heard but still no video output

I suspect bad RAM. What would be the easiest method of testing? I also don't know how the banks are organized as there is nothing
written on the board. There are 36 chips total. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Reply 1 of 8, by Nexxen

Posted on 2026-04-10, 11:29

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Last edited by Nexxen on 2026-04-13, 19:40. Edited 1 time in total.

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Reply 2 of 8, by Shponglefan

Posted on 2026-04-10, 11:35

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Do you have a POST diagnostics card? That could help indicate what the issue is.

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Reply 3 of 8, by Half-Saint

Posted on 2026-04-10, 12:26

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Shponglefan wrote on 2026-04-10, 11:35:

Do you have a POST diagnostics card? That could help indicate what the issue is.

Yeah but it stops on some garbage like 716F which I can't find in the manual.

Reply 4 of 8, by Predator99

Posted on 2026-04-10, 12:31

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Dont think this is a garbage code. Press the button on the card several times. Which are the predecessor codes?

For me your PC seems to be up and running but you dont see anything?

Press Ctrl-Alt-Del ... does it reboot?

Is there a change when you start without a Video card?

Reply 5 of 8, by Half-Saint

Posted on 2026-04-10, 12:49

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No, without video card it's the same. I can't hear the RAM test either.

I tried a known good VGA card as well as a Hercules monochrome card and it was the same.

I won't be able to do any more testing until Monday.

Reply 6 of 8, by Pickle

Posted on 2026-04-10, 16:16

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you can find your board in the ultimate retro under JC information systems corporation 386x scat II model 2050
based on the jumper doc your board has 8 mb. You could try removing all the chips U19-U36
there isnt a bios listed so if you have a eeprom reader it would be good to save the bios.

Reply 7 of 8, by MikeSG

Posted on 2026-04-11, 08:13

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Without video card it should have a unique beep. That's one of the last tests a BIOS does.

I would reseat all the RAM chips... They are the most critical about timing, and sensitive to an oxidised connection.

Reply 8 of 8, by Half-Saint

Posted on 2026-04-13, 17:11

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MikeSG wrote on 2026-04-11, 08:13:

Without video card it should have a unique beep. That's one of the last tests a BIOS does.

I would reseat all the RAM chips... They are the most critical about timing, and sensitive to an oxidised connection.

I know but it doesn't. It beeps the same as before.

Is there a simpler way of reseating the chips? I use a flathead screwdriver and it takes forever.

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