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The first time I've ever seen smoke with a computer......

C

capeskate

Member
Alright, I'm going to write what I can say real quick, then post the rest after work.

I've been trying to get this computer to work, I replaced the motherboard. It will start up, but only tells me that the "BIOS is shadowed" after it counts up the ram. It tell me to tap F1 to enter setup, but it never does. It says "entering setup" but never enters it. My friend and I think this is because the motherboard is old, and may have been left in the cold at one point in time.

Then.....

I was having problems installing my floppy drive, because when I plugged in one of the floppy connectors the computer wouldn't start up. Why is this? How does it know I configured it wrong? So, I used the other floppy power connector, hit the switch, and I see smoke coming from the power connector. You can imagine my, (and my friends' reactions) when this happened, it reeked of burned plastic. It was real cool though.

It still starts up fine after this happened. But I can't get the motherboard to give me a boot error or anything. Won't enter CMOS. Should I flash the BIOS? How do I do that? I'll have more specs posted later, but I do know offhand that its a "Phoenix" board. 233 MHZ. I dont really need the computer, but I can't have something that I can't fix.

Plz help
 
Either the power connector was in backwards, or else it might have only been on 3 of the 4 pins on the drive.

If the floppy data cable is backwards, the light just stays on; nothing's damaged.


So, I used the other floppy power connector, hit the switch, and I see smoke coming from the power connector.
Click to expand...

Other floppy power connector? 3.5" drives only use one kind of power connector, different from the ones that hard drives and CD drives use.
 
Originally posted by: Jeff7



So, I used the other floppy power connector, hit the switch, and I see smoke coming from the power connector.
Click to expand...

Other floppy power connector? 3.5" drives only use one kind of power connector, different from the ones that hard drives and CD drives use.
Click to expand...

I think he meant the other floppy connector on comming from his PSU I would hope... My PSU comes with 2 floppy connectors perfect for me as my 9500 pro uses one too.
 
I was referring to the second floppy power connector, my problem isn't really the floppy drive though, I just thought it was kind of interesting. What I'm having problems with..is that the computer isn't passing the post. It gives me a few messages after it counts up the ram...


cpu = amd-k6
640k system ram passed
251 m extended ram passed
512k cache sram passed
system bios shadowed
video bios shadowed
umb upper limit segment address: EBBD

When I choose to enter setup....(f1) it just says "entering setup....."

That's as far as I've gotten...."entering setup..."
I dont know what to do, please help
 
Originally posted by: capeskate
I was referring to the second floppy power connector, my problem isn't really the floppy drive though, I just thought it was kind of interesting. What I'm having problems with..is that the computer isn't passing the post. It gives me a few messages after it counts up the ram...


cpu = amd-k6
640k system ram passed
251 m extended ram passed
512k cache sram passed
system bios shadowed
video bios shadowed
umb upper limit segment address: EBBD

When I choose to enter setup....(f1) it just says "entering setup....."

That's as far as I've gotten...."entering setup..."
I dont know what to do, please help
Click to expand...



try useing 1 ram chip at a time. might be bad ram?
 
i did that once with my p2 350mhz. try unpluging the mobo(every thing), let it sit out of the case over night then put it back in. it worked for me. did it on a nec mobo, se440bx2
 
Yea, the computer isn't fried at all, occasionally it'll give me a message that says "operating system not found", which is good. It wont boot from anything however, and I'll try taking out the ram, maybe that will work when I switch them out. I'll let you know what happens thanks.
 
I'm suprised my cousin's computer wasn't smoking after running hours with a load temp of 83C (maybe more). I clead out the heatsink and case the best I could without compressed air or extra thermal paste handy, and got an idle of 68C. Hmm... must visit them tomorrow and reset their HSF with new paste, and proper cleaning.
 
Originally posted by: capeskate
Alright, I'm going to write what I can say real quick, then post the rest after work.

I've been trying to get this computer to work, I replaced the motherboard. It will start up, but only tells me that the "BIOS is shadowed" after it counts up the ram. It tell me to tap F1 to enter setup, but it never does. It says "entering setup" but never enters it. My friend and I think this is because the motherboard is old, and may have been left in the cold at one point in time.

Then.....

I was having problems installing my floppy drive, because when I plugged in one of the floppy connectors the computer wouldn't start up. Why is this? How does it know I configured it wrong? So, I used the other floppy power connector, hit the switch, and I see smoke coming from the power connector. You can imagine my, (and my friends' reactions) when this happened, it reeked of burned plastic. It was real cool though.

It still starts up fine after this happened. But I can't get the motherboard to give me a boot error or anything. Won't enter CMOS. Should I flash the BIOS? How do I do that? I'll have more specs posted later, but I do know offhand that its a "Phoenix" board. 233 MHZ. I dont really need the computer, but I can't have something that I can't fix.

Plz help
Click to expand...

Well, before you do anything you should always ground yourself and your components when you work with them. If I were you I would reset the CMOS, and see if that helps. There also could be some physical damage to your motherboard. I am curious, does it give you a post, because when you mentioned it told you "operating system not found" you could have your ribbon cables not connected properly or the jumper settings incorrect. It should tell you in the post whether it reads your Hard Disk, or Hard Disks.
 
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