hangs during POST

[craigey]

Hi All,

Would instaling 133Mhz SDRAM in a Gigabyte ga6bxd cause the system to hang. I couldn't find the info on their website. I think the board only supports 100Mhz.

Originally the Pc booted, but the drives had not been set-up to primary/secondary master/slave etc. After setting them up the system wouldn't post. It also has difficulties when doing the memory check. Sometimes it only counts half the Ram (512 not 1Gb). Other times it gets up to about 8000 before asking if you want to skip.

After removiing all drives etc. I noticed that my mate had put a metal m/b mount in a place where the board didn't have a hole to be mounted on. (it was near the Isa slots). I removed the mount. I know this could have fried the board, but it still seems to get to the post, but now wont do the memory check and just hangs. Also the board doesen't support his 80Gb Hd, but will with a bios update. If it ever gets passed the Post.

Does anyone have any ideas? If not does anyone know any good dual Intel Celeron 400Mhz boards and where I could get them from?

Thanks

 

[craigey]

anyone?

 

[dinosnake]

What happens when you put the board back to its original configuration - with the original (no added on) RAM and other devices?

Adding a SDRAM to a system cause problems - if the other memory is radically different than the added-in board. Parity, error correction, and (most importantly) voltage. Are the specs of the new and old memory compatible?

Remove the new RAM and see what happens. Your mileage may vary...

 

[craigey]

I've tried with 1 stick off the 133Mhz, nothing. I tried 1 stick of 100Mhz, nothing. I also tried a couple of other Ram modules still nothing!

I'm also certain the stray motherboard mount has shorted the board.

 

[dinosnake]

Bummer. :-(

The only options you have left is to clear the BIOS CMOS memory, just in case it is corrupt. Remove the battery, wait 10 minutes, reinstall.

While you are at it double check all available jumpers on the board - set JP10 to the proper system bus speed (don't use Auto), make sure the DIP switches are set correctly (Gigabyte states that using the wrong clock multiplier will cause system lockups), set JP1 to Disabled Keyboard Power On.

If you truly get nothing out of the system also check the power supply - grounding out the board may have blown the power supply's internal fuses.

Your mileage may vary...

 

[craigey]

Thanks,

I tried all the above b4 posting here.

I finally got the system working, by installing a new m/board & processor. At some point I'll test out the Gigabyte board and see if it's still alive!

 

[DorothyDix]

Good advice from all and obviously a great solution....I've messed around with quite a few Gigabyte boards and you may just find a low voltage in the cmos battery - either it's now dead or it's on it's way out. I've had exactly the same problem and sometimes you overlook the simple little things-new batteries cured about half my pile of "B.E.R" warranty returns .

Hope it helps

CYA

PAUL

 

[GrandpaCarl]

Well, we have another fellow with a Gigabyte motherboard that won't boot. You are not alone, but at least you have a pretty good reason why. Suggest you take a look at the thread602-323907 (PC won't boot), and follow a rather lengthy discussion on his situation. I suspect, however, that, if I understand your friend's added support brachet cound have shorted out a couple of points, then it is quite likely that your motherboard will need replacing. A short between two address or data lines or from one of them to ground or VCC could cause disaster. It doesn't matter that the short could be near the ISA slots. Note that the short might have taken a while to occur because of the solder mask coating on the printed circuit, but if there is enough pressure, the metal bracket will eventually cut through.

GrandpaCarl

 

[Crustyoldbloke]

Carl

Sorry, but my MOBO wasn't a Gigabyte after all, but the manual I had was. See 78th message on the question you referred to.

Phil

 

[papa70]

I believe that if the motherboard doesn't support an 80gb drive it could cause a hang. I've had that happen to me, either during the boot or when trying to have the bios detect the drive.