The saga continues... WTF is going on?!

[CaptainNemo]

My MSI 745 Ultra and (Pal) XP2100+ went strange on me last week (as some of you may know), and I ended up buying another mobo (MSI KT600 one) and a new CPU (XP1800 TbredA) to try and diagnose the problem. I also ended up buying an SLK-700 (dirt cheap atm) because I think the spring on my current HSF is 'tired'.

Anyway, the good news is that the XP1800 & KT600 mobo are very happy together; I also know that my memory is OK.

However, the bad news is that I still know if my XP2100 and my much cherished 745 Ultra mobo are fried or not.

I can check the XP2100 by plugging into the KT600 board; that's my next job, but it isn't my biggest priority atm.

What's baffling me is this:

The XP1800/KT600 is running atm in BIOS mode, so they are both OK. However, not so long ago the XP1800 was sitting in the 745 Ultra. With a keyboard and gfx card plugged in (but no monitor), it ran a flawless boot until the D-bracket hung on the VGA test (which was expected - no monitor); not bad for a mobo that I had written off!

However, when I switched it off (by holding the power switch for 5 seconds or whatever) and switched it on again, it started doing the CPU/Chipset is dead (D-bracket) routine and switching itself off after a couple of seconds (this is why I ended up buying another mobo & CPU). But this supposedly dead CPU is in the KT600 board and fine (this is why I suspect the XP2100 may be ok too).

Why would the 745 Ultra go bonkers in the first place? Why would it work once and then refuse to work at all? How do I reset everything on it (done CPU removal, CMOS clear etc.)?

AaAaAaAaAaAaargh! etc.

"Some mice have two buttons. Macintosh has one. So it's extremely difficult to push the wrong button." - Apple ad. circa 1984.

 

[allanon1965]

i would say the mobo is dying, as to why.....why does anything electrical fail, they just do...it was "their time" so to speak, i am an ASE certified Master Auto Tech with 22 years experience and see this everyday in my shop, starters that suddenly stop working, new ones old ones it doesnt really matter, they work fine going to the grocery store, you pop in real fast for a gallon of milk, wait behind some idiot in the 20 items or less aisle, who has a damn cart full of groceries, then get back out 20 minutes later only to find you car now wont start. turn the key and nothing! you get it towed in and later the technician calls you to say, you need a starter. you ask "why, it was fine when i went into the store!" lol....well in my line of work, its called sh** happens...hehehe..sorry if this is not the answer you are looking for, but it lets me unwind from a rough day on a side note, look for swollen or leaking capacitors on the mobo, usually a major culprit as of late.

Fat, Drunk, and Stupid is no way to go through life Son.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by allanon1965 on 11/25/03 08:29 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Crashman]

It could have failing capacitors. If so, you could easily repair it.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[stupid_tech_geek]

In this months CPU magazine they have a nice write up detailing the procedure to remove leaky capacitors. If you see some funky lookin slime on your board, It's time to replace them.

A7n8x dlx G Bios Agressive settings
xp1700 Paly 2x 256 Crucial 2700@ cl 2.5
ATI Radeon Sapphire 9200 WDCaviar 60gig w 8mb Cache @ 7200
"There is no magic server pixie dust."

 

[Crashman]

d00d, I was the one who started this rash of articles on bad capacitors after complaining in the right place a couple years ago.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[CaptainNemo]

Well, it looks like the 745 Ultra and the XP2100+ are both fried; I'll guess I'll never know what happened.

All of the caps appear to be fine too, so I could only confirm that by replacing them all (not worth it).

"Some mice have two buttons. Macintosh has one. So it's extremely difficult to push the wrong button." - Apple ad. circa 1984.

 

[srg]

It's weired how mobo's just die like this.

I have an Abit KG7 (AMD761/VIA686B) that is now in my second machine but I had it for about a year without any troubles in my Main machine untill I tried Video encoding. Since then, the machine is completely unstable with 512MB RAM or more. The weired thing is that the RAM is fine but I think the memory conroller is dodgy, as the RAM is fine in another machine.

The mobo is happy enough and rock solid stable with 256MB in it, but I havn't tried video encoding.

I have viewed this site on my Am386DX-40! it works!!