VOGONS


First post, by B24Fox

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Hey all.
I recently got this Acorp 5VIA3-P Motherboard with a Pentium MMX @200mhz, and was looking forward to using an old 32MB DIMM which I kept since the late '90s (it has 2 "HY57V651620TC-10" chips, on each side), but the board won't POST or even beep.
It does, however, work fine with 72-pin SIMMs installed. So i'm thinking there must be a jumper somewhere that selects SIMM or DIMM.
I've been searching for a manual for days, but all the links i found are dead. And i know that a user here by the name of @raindog1975 has the same board.. but i'm new here, and am not allowed to PM anybody 🙁
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks.

P.S. here are some pictures of a board just like mine, if it helps.
https://39.img.avito.st/1280x960/6221869039.jpg
https://76.img.avito.st/1280x960/6221858776.jpg

Reply 1 of 42, by darry

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B24Fox wrote on 2020-05-25, 02:16:
Hey all. I recently got this Acorp 5VIA3-P Motherboard with a Pentium MMX @200mhz, and was looking forward to using an old 32MB […]
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Hey all.
I recently got this Acorp 5VIA3-P Motherboard with a Pentium MMX @200mhz, and was looking forward to using an old 32MB DIMM which I kept since the late '90s (it has 2 "HY57V651620TC-10" chips, on each side), but the board won't POST or even beep.
It does, however, work fine with 72-pin SIMMs installed. So i'm thinking there must be a jumper somewhere that selects SIMM or DIMM.
I've been searching for a manual for days, but all the links i found are dead. And i know that a user here by the name of @raindog1975 has the same board.. but i'm new here, and am not allowed to PM anybody 🙁
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks.

P.S. here are some pictures of a board just like mine, if it helps.
https://39.img.avito.st/1280x960/6221869039.jpg
https://76.img.avito.st/1280x960/6221858776.jpg

Best I could find .

Jumpers:
https://web.archive.org/web/20030131135648/ht … TEST/5via3p.htm

BIOS:
12/02/97-580VPX-SMC669-2A5LDSMBC-00
ACORP 5VIA3P VER:C.2 12/02/97
2A5LDSMB
https://web.archive.org/web/20020215000434/ht … S/1m/5via3p.exe

Reply 2 of 42, by B24Fox

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Thanks darry! But i've already tried "acorp.com" and "acorp.com.tw" using the WayBack Machine, and was helpful in sorting the CPU jumpers... but the links for the Manual are long gone 🙁
On the brite side, the board already has the latest bios; so i don't have to mess with that too 😀
Also, I dug through my SDRAM stash, and started trying out some newer DIMMS (thinking, what the heck..), and one of them worked!!!! It's a 64MB, single sided, 8-chip, 100Mhz DIMM from 2001. So it seems that the chipset/board is just picky about it's RAM..

The manual would still be GREATLY appreciated, if anyone has it..

Reply 3 of 42, by Doornkaat

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I contacted raindog1975 in your place and asked wether he might have the manual so he could post it here.👍

raindog1975 has last been active over a year ago so don't get your hopes up too much though.

Reply 5 of 42, by imi

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I have a Lucky Star 5V-2 that looks almost identical, it has 4 ISA and 3 PCI instead, but the layout, chip placement, and jumpers seem to be identical otherwise.
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/Rq8AAOSwF79dzvSY/s-l1600.jpg

unfortunately I also don't have a manual for that, but may help when searching.

Reply 6 of 42, by B24Fox

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Thanks imi ! Except for the missing Jumper on the side of the first SIMM slot, it actually seems to be near identical to mine! Maybe i'll have more luck with the 5V-2 manual.
Up untill now, I only had the Tomato 5SVA manual to go by... which was close-ish..
If I find the the 5V-2 manual, i'll also post it here.

Reply 7 of 42, by evasive

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don't ask. I just browsed through my files and found this. It's not a full manual but better than nothing I guess.

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    5via3p.zip
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Reply 9 of 42, by evasive

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Yep, at least they are consistent and this comes with a layout 😜

Even the images have gone from the archive.org copy of the site where I got that from. It is was truely no longer online

Reply 11 of 42, by B24Fox

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Thanks evasive, but I already have the CPU jumper settings.
(LATER EDIT: for anyone interested in the original website: https://web.archive.org/web/20020804033818/ht … TEST/5via3p.htm -- https://web.archive.org/web/20020625070802/ht … er/Jdefault.asp -- https://web.archive.org/web/20010225063111/ht … acorp/acorp.htm . Also, known ACORP websites, were: www.acorp.com , www.acorp.com.tw , www.acorp.ru , www.acorpusa.com , www.acorp.ro , www.acorp.hu , www.acorp.net.cn )

The other jumpers are what bother me. Especially the 3-pin jumper marked "JD" under the corner of the SDRAM slot.

Compared to the "Lucky Star 5v-2" (after a closer look) there are still significant differences regarding the jumpers. Especially the missing "JD" jumper on the 5V-2... (not that the 5V-2 manual is anywhere to be found)

But in the manual for the Lucky Star 5VPX2 ( http://www.elhvb.com/mboards/luckystar/manual … 5VPX2/5vpx2.pdf ) there can be seen a "JD1" 8-pin jumper, also placed under the same corner of the SDRAM slot.. that the manual confirms my hunch, by describing it as: "JD1 - DIMM Voltage Selector". And it switches btwn: 5V DIMM and 3.3V DIMM.

So i dunno if they actually mean that both voltages are only for the DIMM, while the SIMM always remains at 5V... or what.. But i would really like to not fry my RAM, seeing as i'm gonna switch quite often btwn SIMM and DIMM modules, on this board.. 😒 But in any case, this is an 8-pin , and mine is a 3-pin .. so the schematic is not really useful.

Reply 12 of 42, by B24Fox

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In case someone else stumbles upon this thread, here are some useful pictures of the manual that I found (sadly no full manual yet).
And the latest BIOS + the reflashing utility (both from the Acorp website, using the WB Machine)

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Reply 14 of 42, by B24Fox

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Yeah.. I found that link too.. Almost wanted to bang my head against the table when I saw that it was right there, and now it's gone.. 🙁
I even tried google searches in Russian, but still nothing 🙁

Reply 15 of 42, by the3dfxdude

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I knew I had an Acorp manual here, but just pulled it out, and it's for 5ALI61. Which of course is ALI chipset.

However, it does have a jumper for the DIMM slots. It says that it supports 3.3V SDRAM if JP5 has both jumpers set to 1-2 and 5V EDO/FPM jumpered both to 2-3. Maximum for the DIMM slot is 128MB. Also SIMMs must be min 70ns for fast page or 60ns for EDO.

So if you could find out the types of DIMMs you are trying, and maybe check that jumper next to the slot what it does. Given the SIMMs work, it's probably just exactly what type you are trying.

Reply 16 of 42, by B24Fox

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the3dfxdude wrote on 2020-05-29, 03:09:

I knew I had an Acorp manual here, but just pulled it out, and it's for 5ALI61. Which of course is ALI chipset.

However, it does have a jumper for the DIMM slots. It says that it supports 3.3V SDRAM if JP5 has both jumpers set to 1-2 and 5V EDO/FPM jumpered both to 2-3. Maximum for the DIMM slot is 128MB. Also SIMMs must be min 70ns for fast page or 60ns for EDO.

So if you could find out the types of DIMMs you are trying, and maybe check that jumper next to the slot what it does. Given the SIMMs work, it's probably just exactly what type you are trying.

Is JP5 a double 3-pin jumper?
Because on the 5via3p, the jumper "JD" only has one row of 3 in-line pins.

Hope i'm not mistaking, but isn't all SDRAM, specked at 3.3V ? The SDRAM that worked, has "18JL0003" written on a sticker; and "USA" "u8mx8tw-ssdf" written on the chips. Google can't find any useful info or datasheets on these codes, but i have a hard time believing that this no-name ram would support dual-voltage.

I think the only way (besides the manual) that may actually prove with certainty if "JD" controls the RAM voltage, and which positions do what (1-2 or 2-3 or OPEN) , is to look for the standard pinouts of the RAM slots, and test the voltages with a multimeter, with no ram inside.

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Reply 17 of 42, by evasive

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I think the only way (besides the manual) that may actually prove with certainty if "JD" controls the RAM voltage, and which positions do what (1-2 or 2-3 or OPEN) , is to look for the standard pinouts of the RAM slots, and test the voltages with a multimeter, with no ram inside.

Sounds like a solid plan.

Reply 18 of 42, by PC Hoarder Patrol

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Here's a link with the board apparently set up with 64MB SDR - does the picture gallery give any more clues? (looks to me like it's jumpered on the two pins nearest the board edge)

https://www.olx.ro/oferta/kit-sk7-intel-penti … html#a93b4f90d2

Reply 19 of 42, by darry

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PC Hoarder Patrol wrote on 2020-05-29, 21:26:

Here's a link with the board apparently set up with 64MB SDR - does the picture gallery give any more clues? (looks to me like it's jumpered on the two pins nearest the board edge)

https://www.olx.ro/oferta/kit-sk7-intel-penti … html#a93b4f90d2

If you look at the picture at native resolution --> https://frankfurt.apollo.olxcdn.com/v1/files/ … age;s=1632x1224 , it does indeed look like a PC133 SDRAM DIMM is physically installed . Whether or not the board actually works with is another question . Nowhere in the ad does it say that the board is working or has been tested in any way, with that specific DIMM or any other .