One for any old timers here

[srg]

Hi

I'm trying to build a 386 system (out of curiosity) and have all the parts bought new (4MB or 30-pin RAM and an IDE, Floppy etc Atapter card) and some second hand (ISA Graphics card, Motherboard, CPU).

The CPU is an AMD 386DX-40 in PGA form and the Motherboard is a SOYO SY-019R1. I got the Soyo motherboard as a job lot of nine and it is literally as new (never been taken out of the box before) and is dated Jan 1995. I have plugged everything in and setup all the Jumpers as the manual says.

The trouble is that after I switch it on, I get the keyboard LEDs flash and then nothing else, video, no nothing (PSU fan runs and the PSU is ok). If I hit the reset button I hear a little "bip" and I also get the "bip" when I switch off the machine.

The graphics card is tested fine in a 486 machine of mine so is the problem a load of 9 dead motherboards or a dead CPU? One interesting thing is that there is a part called OSC1 (I'm assuming the clock oscillator) that in mentioned in the manual and there even are pads for it, but none of the boards have it, surly it's been intergrated into the chipset??

Could a Dead CMOS Battery be the cause of this machine not booting, I hope not. Also, the board has 128K of cache mem on it, now I have hard that some nonscupilus manufacurers (like PCChips) used to put fake cache chips on their 486 boards, could this be a possibility (this board is Soyo, not PCChips).

Or is it simply that my Am386Dx-40 CPU (I've never tested it till now) is dead? But what about the KB LEDs, you need the CPU to change them. I currently don't have any other 386 CPUs to test, but I may be able to get an Intel 386DX-33 in the next couple of weeks.

Or have I been duped with the mobo's, I got them from e-bay (I got my 486 PCI mobo from there as well and that's fine).

Thankyou for all your help (This is the oldest machine I've tried to build!!)

Steven Graham

Windows XP Works on a K5 PR133 (100MHz) with 80MB RAM!!!!!!

 

[jlanka]

is everything seated correctly? (RAM,Video)? Also, is it possibly grounded on the case?

<i>It's always the one thing you never suspected.</i>

 

[srg]

No probs there

Windows XP Works on a K5 PR133 (100MHz) with 80MB RAM!!!!!!

 

[phsstpok]

You should confirm whether or not OSC1 is the clock oscillator. All mobos need this, always have. The first mobos that I am aware of that has an integrated oscillator are the nForces Athlon boards.

On 386 mobos the oscillator were usually socketed. The chip itself is encased in metal. It's shiny, is about 3/4" long and about 3/8" wide, and is often tied to the socket with a wire-tie.

<b>99% is great, unless you are talking about system stability</b>

 

[Daf]

Try to remove all cards, and memory, and don´t connect any internal or external periferal, including the CPU speed indicator on the front panel of the case, if you have one. Just in case.
Leave only the CPU, motherboard and PSU, and then switch on the computer. If the keyboard LEDs flash ok, and the speaker is correctly connected to the mobo (obviously, and if the CPU and mobo works ok!), then you might hear several beeps, indicating there is no memory on the system. In this case, switch off, insert the video card, and try again. Another beeps will sound. Continue until you detect the failed component.

If you don´t receive any beeps, posible you have a bad hardware component (motherboard/processor), or the motherboard is not correctly configured. Do you have the mobo manual?.

Hope it helps. Daniel

 

[Crashman]

Do you have your memory mounted in sets of 4?

I have a few of those old oscillators if you need one. $5, includes packaging and shipping.

<font color=blue>Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!</font color=blue>