Help! MSI KM2M Combo-L not working! Tried everything (I th..

[Tim]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

Hi all:

Building a system with an MSI KM2M Combo-L board (I have 1G of PC133
RAM). New powersupply, new case, new cables
salvaged-but-working-CD/floppy/HDD/AMD1600+. Firstly, had problems
detecting any IDE drives. Reseated cables, but they seemed to be in
all the way. Then multiple problems loading W2K. Died a couple of
times with "blue screen" and a message about page file. Swapped
memory sticks and sockets. Swapped out powers supply with known
working one. Tried minimal BIOS settings (it's the latest). Then
after several iterations of rebooting/reformating HDD (with another
computer), the BIOS screen freezes before it gets to the memory count.
AND there are funny "sparkles" throughout the text. Tried letting it
"rest(cool)" but no improvment.

Any other ideas? I currently have a RMA in to Newegg. But hey, if
someone could suggest something that works, I'd keep the dang thing.

I'm starting to thing that I should have sold the memory on ebay, and
bought a more modern board.

Ideas anyone? Please?

Thanx in advance.
Tim

 

[Michael]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

"Sparkles" imply memory speed/wait state problem. Try lowering rate in
BIOS (if possible).

tim wrote:

> Hi all:
>
> Building a system with an MSI KM2M Combo-L board (I have 1G of PC133
> RAM). New powersupply, new case, new cables
> salvaged-but-working-CD/floppy/HDD/AMD1600+. Firstly, had problems
> detecting any IDE drives. Reseated cables, but they seemed to be in
> all the way. Then multiple problems loading W2K. Died a couple of
> times with "blue screen" and a message about page file. Swapped
> memory sticks and sockets. Swapped out powers supply with known
> working one. Tried minimal BIOS settings (it's the latest). Then
> after several iterations of rebooting/reformating HDD (with another
> computer), the BIOS screen freezes before it gets to the memory count.
> AND there are funny "sparkles" throughout the text. Tried letting it
> "rest(cool)" but no improvment.
>
> Any other ideas? I currently have a RMA in to Newegg. But hey, if
> someone could suggest something that works, I'd keep the dang thing.
>
> I'm starting to thing that I should have sold the memory on ebay, and
> bought a more modern board.
>
> Ideas anyone? Please?
>
> Thanx in advance.
> Tim

 

[Tim]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

Thanks for the suggestion. *If* I can get into the BIOS again, I'll
give it a try. I haven't had a chance to work on it for a couple of
days. And in the mean time, I've found a couple of other modules of
PC100 and PC133 (1 each) that I can try. I'd be surprised if the
current 512M was faulty though. It's Crucial and was unopened before
installing it.

Michael <news@bigtoes.com> wrote in message news:<RfKyc.83328$DG4.55479@fe2.columbus.rr.com>...

> "Sparkles" imply memory speed/wait state problem. Try lowering rate in
> BIOS (if possible).
>
>

 

[Tim]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

Hey, yet another thing I forgot to check when I did "everything."

Another thread about standoffs, reminded me that one of the standoffs
that I installed on the mobo tray, didn't quite line up with the hole
in the mobo. I left it in thinking "well it's support for the board,
just not rigid support." Unfortunately, it's brass.

I'm hoping it didn't inappropriately ground something and fry the
board/memory/CPU. Anyone wanna give odds?

I'm projecting being able to do some final diagnosis/repair (by) this
weekend, including running the mobo outside the case again. Then if
that works back in the case with a nylon standoff in place of the
non-lining up one. IF that doesn't work, then it's take advantage of
the RMA.

(boy, I feel like an idiot. After all my precautions against static,
too!)


Time

 

[Tim]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

Well. I had a chance to put in a couple of nylon standoffs and I used
the jumper to set the mobo to FSB100. Whicher it was, I've loaded
Win2K on the system. Unfortunately, with the FSB @ 100, my 1600+XP is
only reported as a
1050Mhz chip (@ 133 I think it's 1.4Ghz). I haven't used the CD that
came with the mobo yet, so I'm hoping to discover why 133 doesn't
work. Any ideas anyone?

Thanks for the help so far.

> I'm projecting being able to do some final diagnosis/repair (by) this
> weekend, including running the mobo outside the case again. Then if
> that works back in the case with a nylon standoff in place of the
> non-lining up one. IF that doesn't work, then it's take advantage of
> the RMA.
>
> (boy, I feel like an idiot. After all my precautions against static,
> too!)
>
>
> Time