Bootup failure after 2-4 seconds with old rig

[Spike]

I have an old headless box that I finally assembled a few weeks ago to use as a torrent and network storage machine. The specs are:

ECS K7S5A original
AthlonXP 1800+
768mb Crucial DDR266
Radeon 8500
WD 120GB 1200BB
WD 40GB 400BB
Pioneer 16x slot DVD drive
Enermax Whisper 350 watt
Generic Enermax case

This machine was up and running in various configurations for years but has been sitting idle for the last few months. After getting the machine up and running and installing Win2k pro and my remote desktop it ran beautifully for a while. I decided that it was sorta loud for my tastes so I swapped the generic cpu fan for my old Alpha PAL8045 with a quiet CM fan as well as put in a quiet (yate loon) 120mm intake. This worked for a few days then I ran into problems.

I tried to boot it up one day and it did nothing at all when I hit the power button. After that initial issue I pulled the machine completly apart (I figured it could be a short) and set it up outside the case with just basic components attached. CPU, Ram, vid card, and one hard drive. It starts up for ~2 seconds then shuts down. I swapped PSU's, ram, and even CPU's with no improvement. Does anyone have any suggestions how to fix this or what the problem might be?

This is not exactly a mission critical machine as I have my AthlonXP 3200+ and my opteron 165 machines running just fine, but I enjoyed having a low power usage headless torrent box running so I would like to get it up again. I appreciate any and all suggestions. Thanks!

-spike

 

[sieistganzfett]

from what i found online, that mobo only supports up to the 2600, it cant support a 333 or 400 fsb cpu so thats why that didnt work either(it can support ddr ram though from what i read).. since you have another system with the 3200, test if the 1800 posts with that system. if you have a pc speaker you can test if there is a beep code when there is no ram, if you dont get beeps it could be the motherboard. you can try to reset the cmos and see if there is any improvement since the ECS K7S5A uses ddr, test it in your 3200's mobo, you can also test the video card on that system one at a time to make sure all are good.

 

[Severian]

Having had several K7S5A's, both original and Pro versions, I will say that on more than one occasion I had this same issue. Invariably it was a corruption of the BIOS chip. I tried replacing the CMOS batteries, thinking it was probably a voltage drop from a weak battery, but the problem persisted. I usually hotflashed the ailing board's chip in a stable identical one. After a couple of years I got tired of dealing with the K7S5A's eccentricities and upgraded to better boards.

 

[Spike]

Originally posted by: sieistganzfett
from what i found online, that mobo only supports up to the 2600, it cant support a 333 or 400 fsb cpu so thats why that didnt work either(it can support ddr ram though from what i read).. since you have another system with the 3200, test if the 1800 posts with that system. if you have a pc speaker you can test if there is a beep code when there is no ram, if you dont get beeps it could be the motherboard. you can try to reset the cmos and see if there is any improvement since the ECS K7S5A uses ddr, test it in your 3200's mobo, you can also test the video card on that system one at a time to make sure all are good.

Um, what are you talking about? The chip is a 266 FSB once as well as the RAM, so that is all compatible. Plus this exact setup worked just as well for a long time so I don't think imcompatibility of any parts is the issue. The PC speaker is hooked up and there is no beep code, just the normal one beep for a healthy bootup.

Originally posted by: Severian
Having had several K7S5A's, both original and Pro versions, I will say that on more than one occasion I had this same issue. Invariably it was a corruption of the BIOS chip. I tried replacing the CMOS batteries, thinking it was probably a voltage drop from a weak battery, but the problem persisted. I usually hotflashed the ailing board's chip in a stable identical one. After a couple of years I got tired of dealing with the K7S5A's eccentricities and upgraded to better boards.

I am thinking you may have the issue right there. I don't have any other boards to flash this chip with so the board may be a loss. It's not the end of the world and I know there are much better boards out there but I figured if there was anyway to revive this without buying something new I would want to do that. I plan to get a HTPC case and a Socket A mATX or a whole new sempron mATX setup sometime in the near future. Thanks for the tips

-spike