Soyo Socket 7 Mobo - Help!

[epidemic]

Recently bought a Soyo 5EHM socket 7 baby AT motherboard on eBay. I know it's an old board, but I was looking for a cheap mobo replacment for my parents comp. Their old board bit the dust. I will list the specs on the other components is below.

Here's the problem...
I can't get anything when the computer is turned on. The power works and the fans inside run fine. The computer sounds like it is booting up (faint clicking sound, like it is checking the RAM), but I get nothing on the screen. I think it is a video problem. I verified that the video card and monitor work using another machine. Could it be the AGP slot? Or is there something else wrong?

Soyo SY-5EHM rev1.2
(socket 7, AT, VIA MVP3 chipset, AGP, 3 PCI, 3 ISA, 100MHz bus)
AMD K6-2 300MHz. (will be upgraded to K6-2+ 450 soon)
128MB PC100 RAM (works in other machine)
Diamind TNT2 Ultra 32MB video card
8.4GB Samsung 5400RPM hard drive
230W AT power supply
3.5" floppy

That's it! I stripped it down to the bare minimum to make sure there weren't other drives/boards causing problems.

 

[AkumaBao]

Try a different RAM chip. Does another video card work? Did you double check the jumpers to make sure it was set to the correct clock speed? ( I think 100MHz with a 300MHz K6-2) Is it set to the "x3" multiplier, and not higher? Is the voltage set to 2.4v? Maybe you need a BIOS update. I would say, " check the CPU ", but the K6-2's are a little hard to damage during installation.

 

[epidemic]

Update...
I tried a different RAM module - nothing
Tried a different AGP video card - nothing
Checked all the jumpers and they are all set correctly for the CPU
I even tried an ATX power supply out of my other system. That didn't make any difference either.

So, I guess the problem is either the CPU or the motherboard. Is that right?

I have a new AMD processor coming in the mail in the next couple of days. I'll try that, then I'll know for sure whether it is the CPU or the mobo.

 

[Buz2b]

Did you try to reset the CMOS on the board? That would be the first place to start. If there isn't a jumper to do this then remove the battery for a half an hour or so.

 

[richardparry]

When the 5EHM mobo's first came out we used loads of them. We used S3 AGP graphics cards with them.

Nearly every month the machine's would boot with no display and then switch off when it finishes loading windows.
I was using an ATX PSU.

I found that getting the AGP connector on the graphics card and shorting it on the earthed chassis sometimes fixed the problem. Your probably asking, is this a PSU problem, the answer is no.

Also, another thing that got it to work was using another graphics card in the machine usualy sorted it out.

Very strange methods but they worked for me

 

[epidemic]

It works! The problem had nothing to do with the CMOS. Turns out the CPU wasn't seated in the socket very well. I removed the processor, replaced it, jiggled it in the socket a little, and clamped it down. And now it works fine.

Pretty stupid mistake on my part I guess, but I've never had that happen before. Thanks for everyone's help.

Now my problem is with the mouse. I was able to format and load Windows just fine, but I can't get the mouse to work. I'm using a PS/2 mouse with a serial adapter. The comp won't recognize it. I thought maybe there was a BIOS setting for it, but there isn't.

There's a separate PS/2 port connector on the mobo, but I don't have the cable for it. Do I need to get this cable in order to get a mouse to work? I figured a serial mouse would work just fine.

 

[Buz2b]

<< I thought maybe there was a BIOS setting for it, but there isn't. >>

In a way there is a BIOS setting. You have to make sure you enable your serial ports under the integrated section of your BIOS.

<< Do I need to get this cable in order to get a mouse to work? >>

What OS are you using? If enabling your serial ports in the bios (and of course rechecking your connections) doesn't work then yes, you should get a cable for the PS/2 port. They are pretty cheap.

 

[epidemic]

Buz2b,
I thought I checked the BIOS for the serial port settings, but I will go in and double check that. Aren't those settings usually enabled anyway when you load the BIOS defaults?

I'm running Windows 98. I'm gonna see if I can find that PS\2 cable anyway. Hopefully, one of the "mom-n-pop" computer shops in town here will have them.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Buz2b]

Not necessarily both are enabled via default settings. Sometimes just one is enabled. But, only takes a second to check. As to the cable you need, I found this one just looking around in Google. If you can't find one locally, PM me. I might have one I can just give you. I'll check and see if I still have them.

 

[epidemic]

No, I wasn't able the find one at the local shops. It was a pretty bad experience. They had no idea what I was talking about, and then they tried to convince me that a PS/2 cable is proprietary to every mobo or mobo manufacturer. I told them that it isn't, but it was no use. I should start up my own shop. I may not know everything, but I sure as hell know more than they do. That's my rant for the day.

Thanks for the link. I think an Internet search will probably be a better route to follow.