K7S5A post freeze

[Pluto]

My wife's system has an ECS K7S5A w/ a 1.4ghz Athlon (not XP) a single 256mb PC2100 DDR module, ATI AIW 128mb AGP card, SB Live, I think thats about it.

Upon cold boot from the system being off, some times (but not always) the system will power up with a blank screen, however the normal single post beep is heard. then nothing happens. then we have to hold the power button in for 5 seconds to shut the system off. Then it powers on normally after that.

Anyone seen this before or have any suggestions?
If it is the ECS board I don't have a lot of time left in the warranty period to exchange it (I guess its only 1 year?) so I should probably do it soon.

Thanks.

 

[Kazuo]

Now this sounds like a job for a new power supply. If it's not booting reliably, odds are it's the power supply having difficulty getting steady power to the system. I'd invest in a new one of those. Newegg sells Allied and Sparkle power supplies for cheap, both of which are pretty reputable brands. Personally, I think the 350W Allied should keep you in business. It's like $35, and should be good for most systems even when you upgrade.

 

[Pluto]

Perhaps you are right. Thanks for the suggestion, I will try it. I'll probably try switching with the power supply in my own system first, although I'm not sure it will help since they are both 250w and I think the one in mine is probably even older. Both are no-name/generic as far as I know. My system is a P3.

The PS in my Wife's system worked just fine when it was running a P3 setup, but I guess Athlon and perhaps the ECS board in particular are more demanding. I miss the days when any old power supply worked no questions asked, everything is about getting the right brand now, used to just have to worry about getting the right Mobo, Video+Sound card etc. now you gotta worry about getting the right model PS too.

 

[Buz2b]

Just to follow up a bit here, yes it is most likely your PS. That MB does not do well with underpowered PS's. Yes, there have been a few people that claim to have a stable system with a 250 watt unit but alot of that is dependant upon the unit quality. You will need to get a PS with at least 180 watt combined total on the 3.3 and 5.0 volt lines. Look for that rating first. There are others that help also, but that is the #1 factor with AMD and this board. The Sparkle (that was mentioned before) is an excellent choice. I have used it successfully with this board quite a few times. You should have no trouble with it or something similar.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

If the PSU fails to resolve the cold boot issue another thing you can try is to take a mechanical pencil and connect the T-bird's last L7 bridges to make the default voltage 1.85v (presuming you have good CPU cooling) as I experienced the same problem when upgrading from an 800Duron to a 1.4 T-Bird on the first K7S5A I built and that resolved the issue.

 

[Pluto]

Just one note, once the system is booted it runs great. It's just getting by that cold boot.

Another problem my wife told me she was noticing was the system clock seemed to be jumping all over the place, but I think its returned to normal now. *shrug*

 

[dannybin1742]

i think i have this identacle problem

i'mna try the new psu too

i have the same setup

the psu ran a k7vza with 750 duron just fine, now it won't run this one

 

[dannybin1742]

would a powermagic 400W work fine (it says amd recomended)

 

[Buz2b]

Originally posted by: dannybin1742
would a powermagic 400W work fine (it says amd recomended)

Maybe, maybe not. Many PS's are rated as "AMD Recommended". Problem is that they are "rated" or "OK" up to a certain MHz processor; which "qualifies them as AMD recommended. The problem is, if your CPU is a faster one than it was recommended for, you're screwed. Check the "combined" rating for the 3.3 and 5.0 volt rails. At 400 watts it should be somewhere near 200 watts (0r better) for those; possibly more. You are looking for a minimum of 180 watts. There are other "ratings" on the PS that matter but this would be the first to check. We can get into the others if you want.

 

[Cerb]

180w combined?
They seem to run fine w/ 156w combined (Enlight 300) just fine most of the time.
On the other hand, it is better to have the mobo be picky right off about the PSU rather than die 5 months later (a few bad KT133 experiences come to mind here)
If you're not sure the PSU in it is a good PSU, get an AMD recommended one.

 

[Buz2b]

Originally posted by: Cerb
180w combined?
They seem to run fine w/ 156w combined (Enlight 300) just fine most of the time.
On the other hand, it is better to have the mobo be picky right off about the PSU rather than die 5 months later (a few bad KT133 experiences come to mind here)
If you're not sure the PSU in it is a good PSU, get an AMD recommended one.

Yeah, 180 watts combined. Actually, I think the "theoretical sweet spot" for this is 165 watts but 180 seems to be best in this situation with this board. Funny you should mention the Enlight 300; that one used to be a real pain with most people not having much luck with them in the early release days. I don't remember the exact figures and never did track them but it seemed like that was one of the more popular units back then and it probably ran a 50/50 ratio of success vs failure with that board. A lot of frustrated people shouting, "But it worked fine in my XXXX system before?!?!". A lot also depends upon how many power hungry components are installed in the system. However, quality can vary greatly, even with 300 watt units. The
Sparkle 300 watt is an excellent PS (at an excellent price) that carries 200 watts combined on the 3.3 & 5 volt rails.