AFAIK the SIS 471 doesn't support EDO RAM.
Do you have any 30-pin modules to test in the board?
Most of the 72-pin modules used in PCs were of the EDO type and it can be difficult to find 72-pin FPM modules (these would be required to work with your board).

Hmm but it looks like EDO slots to me, I have a couple of 256KB SIMMs I think. Not exactly ideal but its at least something assuming I can get the board to post again tomorrow and it doesn't decide to hate me or something 🙁

awergh wrote:

Hmm but it looks like EDO slots to me, I have a couple of 256KB SIMMs I think. Not exactly ideal but its at least something assuming I can get the board to post again tomorrow and it doesn't decide to hate me or something 🙁

72p memory modules came in both FPM and EDO modules. EDO modules typically won't work in 486 boards, except for the very late ones.
I'd say EDO SIMMs won't work in your board due to it's age (it has 30p memory slots)

Errmmm....just a wild guess - try disabling hard drives in bios - set to "Disabled" or "None". And try rebooting again.

Edit : FPM modules (Non-EDO) have memory chips which are usually narrower than EDO counterparts, if I'm not mistaken.

You need to try different ram, most 72 pin ram Ive come across wont work in 486 boards, that is ram that came out of pentium class systems.

Most of the 72pin RAM is actually only 4MB, the only one labeled EDO definitely didn't work at all.
I never managed to get into the BIOS because the keyboard didn't seem to respond at least numlock didn't seem to anyway I didn't press delete much I think. Most of the sticks come from thin client things I think.

I'll see if I can get somewhere today and hope I don't get all depressed if it decides it doesn't work for me.

tried with 2x256KB SIMMs and I'm still stuck with it not posting 🙁 🙁 🙁
Sounds like it died on me 🙁 🙁 😵 😵

All i see is the standard flick of the keyboard lights and the LED on the board coming on and the sound of the speaker having power but no beeps of it working or not working 🙁

Now I'm all sad and sad 🙁

I had this problem with mine as well, had to remove the scsi card from it, boot the machine, power off, then boot again with the card installed. Could be a PnP resource conflict.

Anything with 486 in the subject line always seems to catch my eye. I highly recommend getting a new coin battery. Some 486 motherboards won't post if the real-time clock doesn't have battery backup.

72-pin FPM RAM is still available on eBay. I picked up four 32 MB FPM SIMMs less than 3 months ago. Two sticks of 8, 16, or 32 MB are great for testing. Some motherboards want the sticks in pairs, others do not.

Even for the 486 motherboard that do support EDO RAM, I find FPM RAM a lot more stable in such boards, especially when using fast cache/memory settings.

I've never used 256 KB 30-pin SIMMs, but it sounds awefully little. Your motherboard may not support this configuration. Try sourcing a pair of 72-pin FPM SIMMs.

Battery would be good but it did post before without it so I assumed it shouldn't change anything if I added one. Hmm maybe the 256KB 30-pin SIMMS are too small but they are the only 30-pin SIMMs I have lieing around.

When I was having the Wait... that is when it was actually POSTing I only had an ISA or VLB video card installed.

Try resetting the CMOS if can't or won't POST and use the VLB or ISA card. Then if able to enter BIOS, disable the hard drives.

And if possible, upload a picture of that board.

How do I reset the CMOS I don't see a jumper and there isn't a battery for me to pull out

As far as I know a 486 won't POST with just two 30-pin RAM sticks (you need four of them).

Sit back, relax, order the proper RTC battery and 72-pin FPM RAM, then try again. Even your pharmacy should carry the CR2032 battery (I think that is what they are). 30-pin SIMMs need to be installed with all 4 sticks only.

Once you've done this, begin troubleshooting again. Be sure to have at least 1 VLB and 1 ISA graphics card for troubleshooting. There may not be a jumper on the motherboard to reset the BIOS, there may just be a solder pad you have to short while the system is off. I don't believe that RTC's with a coin cell battery need to be cleared via a jumper or solderpad to reset them; it is often sufficient to remove the battery and/or BIOS.

So I can just use one of those normal 3v lithium batteries then? I just assumed that those log looking batteries from before then were different. I guess I can desolder a battery holder of a dead IBM Netvista mobo or something I think its a vertical one to so that would actually fit properly.

I was under the impression that your current motherboard had a coin cell holder already, just that the battery in it was dead? Is this not the case? Or do you have one of those purple or blue Lithium Ion batteries soldered in? Please upload a photo of the board.

I'll see if I can, No the battery has been desoldered and some coper wire has been soldered in its place.

The board posts again but its weird to me why it sometimes doesn't feel like posting but it works with 1 ISA card in slot4 and 1 stick of ram in the RAM slot clostest to the cpu (this is mostly incase it decides to hate me and I can't remember what worked).

I can't enter the BIOS because the keyboard doesn't respond at all except the initial flash.

I'll see if I can get you a photo by borrowing a camera or something.

Did you already try to wait a few minutes when it says WAIT?