K7S5A Front Panel LEDs

[omega31]

Ok, fresh off my first try sucess with a P4 system using a Asus P4S533, I proceeded to build myself a Athlon XP 1600+ system using a ECS K7S5A. Doh! I knew I shouldn't have pressed my luck by posting this:
http://www.sysopt.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=121093&postid757237#post757237

I plugged in one stick of PC2100 ram, vid card, and XP 1600+ all on the K7S5A out of the case on a flat surface with an anti-static mat. I used an Antec SL350 psu to get it running.

Problem: ECS messed up the LED assignments for the front panel in the manual. I spent some time trying to get the mobo to power up, but nothing happened. I tried another K7S5A (on the recommendation of BipolarBill saying that SiS products were going to be barred from importation in the U.S. HERE (http://www.sysopt.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=119738)) I bought a second one the day after I bought my first) and I had the same problem.

I checked online and found out the correct pin assignments for the front panel, so I was then able to power my system up. Which came up to my second problem: a dead mobo. At least that's what I thought. So, I tried my first K7S5A, and everything was fine. Back to the second: nothing, no post.

So, I can say thanks to Bill for his K7S5A hoarding advice, since I was able to swap out boards. But on the other hand, it was the second board that was dead, so I could blame him for causing me to get another K7S5A. But, in the end, it was my decision to get another K7S5A so that I could either build a friend a system using this inexpensive board or build on it for another sale.

***End of rant.***

BTW, my new system is as follows:
ECS K7S5A
Athlon XP 1600+ (AGOIA stepping)
512mb PC2100 ram (Mushkin)
Maxtor 40mb 7200rpm ata133
Geforce 256 32mb sdram (original Geforce, will swap the vid card with my current system which has a Geforce3 ti200)
TDK 12x10x32 (old burner, will stay until I get a new one)
Thermaltake Volcano 8

Which brings me to my second rant. I ordered my processor from Newegg on Oct 24, and on the same day I ordered a Thermal Integration TI-V77 heatsink from www.2cooltek.com along with a non-electrically conductive shim. I got my 1600+ on Oct 26, but to this day, I have yet to receive my 2cooltek package. I ordered from 2cooltek before, so I wasn't expecting this problem. So, after waiting impatiently for the package (cursing at every FedEx truck that I see), I decided to get a Thermaltake Volcano 8 from a local shop. It's not the greatest cooler, but it's better than nothing. Temps went from 28C (at first boot) to 38C just idle.

***End of 2nd rant.***

[rangeral]

I would have used some other board to go with that muskin ram like an epox,shuttle or asus. Constantly hear of problems with ecs and don't recommend them myself but thats just my opinion.

[BipolarBill]

Most cases have a "three-pin" harness for the power LED. The ECS uses a two-pin arrangement. You have to pry up the tiny tab on the back of the harness, remove the red wire and move it over one. Total time - 30 seconds.

The HDD LED seems to be reversed polarity. Flip it over. 10 seconds.

So many things can go wrong when installing any board that we can't be sure why something died most times. Blaming it on me or ECS is scapegoating. You couldn't possibly have screwed something up, I suppose. Nah.

I have put together 6 ECS K7S5A's now without a single failure or even a small headache.

[Logan[TeamX]]

My only problem with my ECS K7S5A is my own inability to flash a good BIOS, instead of the crappy June ones. I'm paying for it right now. According to some of the more knowledgeable members here, the April (042902) and August (no idea) BIOSes are the most stable and dependable ones available for the ECS K7S5A.

Check it out... do your work, double-check all steps, and then hav a friend who's not a walking conductor check your work... sometimes two heads are better than one (bad Halloween pun :p)

Logan

[BipolarBill]

You can get the Aug. BIOS from the UK site.

[$1500-P4 gamer]

I got that mobo as per BP's recomendation. All was fine during install and I love the board! The mobo headers are easy. READ THEM ON THE MOBO. Fudge the manual on that part. If you would have looked at the mobo marking you woulda been fine from the start. Power sw. is clearly marked, there is no polarity to it its a momentary switch. Then reset also plainly marked. then power LED as BP said they are dif as its 2 pin not 3. No biggy I did just what he said. My Aopen mobo twas the same. I didi notice though that the polarity of the hdd led was reversed but no biggy. Boot opps no hdd light. Shutdown flip. Fixed. That easy..All in all always look at the mobo OVER the manuals instructions.I found that out long ago. Sometimes even the asus mobos and MSI ones I run into the manuals are wrong. Know why. Its called a board revision. They somtimes change those layouts and you know they dont update the manuals...That is a very fast stable mobo. Memtest86 for hours upon hours run and not one error. Thats a very tuchy test program and even the smallest hickup of mobo, ram, cpu will cause errrors. So she's rock soid and running like a champ with Samsung pc2100:D XP 1600+ and 40gig single platter maxtor ata100, Original Geforce3! Now my mom has a kick **** gaming rig that beats mine in some ways....:( Time for a upgrade I guess huh. Cant let my mom's pc be faster than mine. Guess thats my fault though for being such a nice guy and giving her my G3 and Maxtor hdd!:rolleyes:

[omega31]

Yeah, I should have read the assignments on the mobo, but I was impatient, so I was not thinking right.

It all works well. No complaints for performance. I still have to burn it in, but so far so good.

BTW, I got my 2cooltek order about 3 hours after I posted my rant. So now I have my Thermal Integration TI-V77 heatsink.