New 694D PRO (MS-6321) Dualie Mobo

[skisteven1]

I just got a new 694D PRO (MS-6321) mobo off ebay. I powered it up (w/o a proc) and it seems to work enough to at least convince me it works. Other than that, I've only got the documentation I got off the website. This is my first dualie mobo, so i'm really not sure what I'm doing -- as such, any tips you can offer would be great.

I've got a Celeron 600 (cmine?) in antoher computer right now, and it appears that this mobo supports it, so I'd like to just use that at first (to at least get the board up and running). But I'm not sure if I need a terminator or if its just a jumper setting (though I can't find one). Where do I get a terminator if i need one?

Also, I'd like to get it running eventually (read: approx 2-3 weeks) with a set of ~900Mhz PIII's. Is there anything special I should be on the lookout for? Or will any two procs of matching clock speed work fine? Presumably I'd order them from the same place, and get two of the same. I know I need socket 370, but that's about it. Can you offer any other tips or information?

<EDIT> Also, does it matter what core I use? What should I look for? cmine? prescott? something else?
</EDIT>

Here's some info I ripped from the manual:
CPU
l Support dual Intel® Pentium® III(FC-PGA) processor.
l Supports 533MHz, 566MHz, 600MHz, 667MHz, 700MHz, 733MHz,
800MHz, 866MHz, and 933MHz .
Chipset
l VIA® 694X chipset. (510 BGA)
- FSB @133MHz
- AGP 4x and PCI plus Advanced ECC Memory Controller
- Support PC100/133 SDRAM &amp; VCM technology
l VIA® VT82C686A chipset. (352 BGA)
- Advanced Power Management Features
- DirectSound AC97 Audio
- Dual bus Master IDE Ultra DMA 33/66
l 1394 PHY Controller (optional)
- TI® TSB41LV02 PHY Digital-to-Analog Transceiver
- Support up to Two 1394/1394A v 2.0 Compatible Data Channels
l 1394 Link Layer Controller (optional)
- TI® TSB12LV26 1394 Link Layer Host Controller
- IEEE 1394, 1394 OHCI v1.0 &amp; 1394A v2.0 compatible
- Supports 100/200/400 Mbps High Throughput
- 3.3V &amp; 5V Operation for PCI-to 1394 Interface
l Promise ATA100
- Dual bus master IDE Ultra DMA/ATA 100
- up to 133MB/sec burst transfer rate (through PCI Bus)
Clock Generator
l 66.6MHz, 100MHz and 133Mhz clocks are supported.

 

[TStep]

It's been a while, but I do not think CeleryII (Coppermine) are dual capable, only the PIII Coppermines are.

 

[skisteven1]

I know the board will work with one proc, but can I do it with just my one celeron? Does this involve a terminator? how much should that run me?

 

[InlineFive]

I don't think you will need a terminator for the second processor slot. Just leave it empty if you use a Celery.

 

[Zap]

For dual CPU, you can use the old PPGA Celeron chips at 533 and below (but not the 533A). A cool low end combo would be dual 366 Celerons overclocked to 550 each. Those were the only Celerons that were dual capable. For P3, you can use any pair of Coppermine chips. Supposedly they don't even have to be a matched pair in speed, though most people would recommend completely identical down to the stepping. You may also be able to run Tualatin chips in there with adaptors. Only the 512k cache Tualatin P3 chips are dual capable.

 

[skisteven1]

OK, so the other day when I powered up the motherboard with a video card just to make sure it worked, it turned on and the beginings of the BIOS came up on the screen. Today, now that i've seated it in my new antec sonata case, it turns on and delivers nothing to the screen. I tried taking it out and powering it on -- no go. When I hit the power button a little light turns on behind the parallel port (not sure if its relevant). Is my mobo totally fried? Can I salvage anything? Is there a way to fix anything? I'd really like to use this mobo (great deal on it) instead of looking for another. Any ideas?

 

[mechBgon]

Try resetting the CMOS. I had a 694D Pro II-AR myself a while back. You should be aware that there are some Coppermine PentiumIII's that aren't dual-capable, by the way, and matched steppings are the ideal way to go. PentiumIII S-Spec finder to help you Every Coppermine PentiumIII (not Celeron) from the 800MHz models upwards is SMP-capable.

Bigger picture: a $40 1.6GHz Duron on a $55 Shuttle AN35N Ultra will outperform a dual-1GHz P3 system in gaming, and most other situations as well, even at stock speed. Don't spend more than it's worth here.

 

[skisteven1]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Try resetting the CMOS. I had a 694D Pro II-AR myself a while back. You should be aware that there are some Coppermine PentiumIII's that aren't dual-capable, by the way, and matched steppings are the ideal way to go. PentiumIII S-Spec finder to help you Every Coppermine PentiumIII (not Celeron) from the 800MHz models upwards is SMP-capable.

Bigger picture: a $40 1.6GHz Duron on a $55 Shuttle AN35N Ultra will outperform a dual-1GHz P3 system in gaming, and most other situations as well, even at stock speed. Don't spend more than it's worth here.

I was planning on using it for server box, and got a great deal on the mobo -- which is what started the whole mess anyway. So far I haven't put a chip in, so its not a proc problem

Thanks for the tips though

 

[mechBgon]

Again, remember that any AthlonXP will outperform your MSI dualie in nearly any situation, and AthlonXP's use less-expensive DDR modules too. Guess what my dual-P3 got replaced by? If you're going to have to buy RAM for this box, as well as processors, then sit down and do the math.

Shuttle AN35N Ultra $55
AthlonXP 2000+, retail $58

plus whatever quantity of RAM you want. For comparison, a single Coppermine-core Pentium3 is $87 and you'll pay a hefty premium for PC133 memory if you don't have some already.

Just my 2¢ worth...

 

[skisteven1]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Again, remember that any AthlonXP will outperform your MSI dualie in nearly any situation, and AthlonXP's use less-expensive DDR modules too. Guess what my dual-P3 got replaced by? If you're going to have to buy RAM for this box, as well as processors, then sit down and do the math.

Shuttle AN35N Ultra $55
AthlonXP 2000+, retail $58

plus whatever quantity of RAM you want. For comparison, a single Coppermine-core Pentium3 is $87 and you'll pay a hefty premium for PC133 memory if you don't have some already.

Just my 2¢ worth...

Well, I've got 512mb of 133 ram already, and the thought was that I could first use my 600 Celeron, then buy one proc, and then another (spread out the money...). I also know a place where I can get a deal on procs. Even so, its probably not much more to go to a new athlon.

Anyway-- So I got a hold of a new AGP video card, which I tried in the mobo. Nothing. Since that's two video cards (PCI and AGP) that both don't work, i'm pretty certain the problem is with my board. Is there anything I can do? When I hit the power, a light still comes on behind the parallel port, so I don't know if that means anything.

Am I SOL? or are there some home remedies I can try?

 

[mechBgon]

And you're trying this without a CPU installed? Install a CPU, bro

 

[skisteven1]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
And you're trying this without a CPU installed? Install a CPU, bro

I heard from a few people that it should at least display something, even without a cpu. I'll give it a shot in a few.

If that fixes it, I'm going to feel really, really, REALLY retarded.

 

[skisteven1]

OK, so I tried it with a CPU. Here's the results:

The little red light that turned on before (behind the parallel port), now turns on red and green (there's like 4 LED's). However, that's about all the happens. The proc (fan) spins up, but still nothing on the screen.

 

[mechBgon]

It does have RAM installed too, right? If you haven't read your mobo manual's section on CPU setup yet, look to see what jumpers you might need to set in order to run a 66MHz-bus processor (your Celeron 600, which I presume you're using here). It's been about three years since I set up my dual-P3 and I don't recall the board's method of choosing FSB anymore.

 

[skisteven1]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
It does have RAM installed too, right? If you haven't read your mobo manual's section on CPU setup yet, look to see what jumpers you might need to set in order to run a 66MHz-bus processor (your Celeron 600, which I presume you're using here). It's been about three years since I set up my dual-P3 and I don't recall the board's method of choosing FSB anymore.

It's set to "auto", which I presume will work. And no, there's no ram yet... The first time I powered it up though, I got someting to come up on the screen without a proc and without ram. Running a mobo without either should still produce video output, right?

 

[OSUBeaver]

I had that board with raid, 2 1.13 gig PIII's and 2 gigs of ram and i loved it. It may not be super fast by today's standards, but i know it outperformed my roomates dell P4 1.8 on games and everything else. You don't need terminators, thats what those tabs in the middle of the socket are for, they detect a chip. But, if you are using one chip, you have to put it in socket 1. MSI's site does have the manual which will show which socket is the first one as well as help you out with the led errors as well. I do recall having to clear cmos to get it to boot up properly when installing new hardware.

oh yeah, and jsut put a cpu, ram, and a video card in it already it's not going to blow up on you.

 

[mechBgon]

Guy, you need RAM and a CPU in there, ok?

OSUBeaver, the tabs are actually thermistors for measuring the CPU temperature.

 

[skisteven1]

OK, I put in RAM and a proc, and still no go. Both of the clock settings (FSB and ram) are set to auto, so that shouldn't be a problem. I know the ram and cpu are both good, because I took them out of another computer. Still, I get nothing.

Any ideas? I know there are diagnostic LED's on this mobo, and I see them blinking, but I have no way to lookup what it means. There's nothing in the online manual about LED's. Does anyone have the lookup table?

 

[OSUBeaver]

I thought thats what the tabs were too, until i emailed MSI and they told me they were there to check for a chip. Maybe the tech guy was wrong.

 

[skisteven1]

Originally posted by: OSUBeaver
I thought thats what the tabs were too, until i emailed MSI and they told me they were there to check for a chip. Maybe the tech guy was wrong.

tabs? the LED's that are (behind) right near the parallel port? they were all red before I put in a proc and ram, but now they blink in red and green patterns. Many of the reviews I've read mention "diagnostic LED's", I assumed that these were them.

 

[OSUBeaver]

Sorry I as referring to the tabs acutally in the socket, anyways, maek sure your chip is in the socket closest to the I/O panel, that is socket 1. As for teh Diagnostic LEDs, all the info on them is on page 1-10, 1-11 in the online .pdf manual. You might try the pro2 manual cause thats the one i have.

 

[matman326]

This is a link to the download page for your manual, you need adobe to use it.

694D Pro

 

[skisteven1]

Originally posted by: OSUBeaver
Sorry I as referring to the tabs acutally in the socket, anyways, maek sure your chip is in the socket closest to the I/O panel, that is socket 1. As for teh Diagnostic LEDs, all the info on them is on page 1-10, 1-11 in the online .pdf manual. You might try the pro2 manual cause thats the one i have.

That does it. I had the manual for Pro (linked just below your post -- thanks matman), but it doesn't go up to page 1-10. The new one has the relevant pages. I'll be out of town for the next day and a half or so, but I'll update you guys when I'm back.

Thanks again to everyone for all the help so far!

 

[skisteven1]

ok, the damndest thing just happened. I went away for the weekend, and before I left, it didn't work. Everything was plugged in, I'd hit the power button, it would spin up, and nothing. So I come back, do it again, once again nothing. So i get a piece of paper to write down the red and green LED sequences on the mobo in order to post here, and turn it on maybe 3 more times trying to get the whole sequence. Finally, the monitor lights up and it works just fine. Once again, I tried it 3-4 more times, and it turns on every time.

Problem? Or should I just be happy that it works and not ask any questions? Or is it likely to fail soon?

UPDATE: 2 dozen more reboots, works fine every time. I've also replaced the AGP video card I went out and got to test with my orig. PCI card. Still no problems.

Should I be happy? or wary?

 

[CraigRT]

just be happy and use it

haha, that's WEIRD!