ecs k7s5a mobo with 1.4 ghz running at 1050 why?

[gtr]

This really wieord. I thought it could support up to 1.4? Can someone help?

[Darknyt]

Just out of curiousity, did you set the cpu speed to 133/133MHz? and RAM speed to 133MHz???? This would only put you at 1333MHz like my AMD T-Bird, but its worth a shot. Currently, I have not been able to flash my BIOS so that I can get the 166/166MHz setting like RobRich has. Alot of people are having problems just loading the OS!!!!! ECS might have rushed this bad boy to get it to us. I know of one guy that took his PC-chips SiS 735 board and successfully flashed his BIOS with and ECS flash ROM. Thats some serious guts because he now claims that his board works fine with all the settings in the cpu menu...and the board thinks its an ECS K7S5A....I cannot help you otherwise. Sorry

[gtr]

I'm running pc-2100. I'm going to try pc133 next to see if it helps.

[gtr]

yeah the 133/133 seems normail but i can't load the os. exception or debugg when boot from cd. This mobo is a pain.

[Darknyt]

Do it the long way. Insert the floppy and boot from it. Then select, blah, blah, blah....you know the rest. Thats how I got it to load. I couldnt boot from the cd either. Boot from the floppy man.

[gtr]

I don't know why but i can't format the ntfs. I think errors in my harddrive is causeing problems. Format.com is not working, can someone refresh my memories. Also i can't install win2k in dos. What should i do? Cant install win98 in ntfs so i need it formated completely, how?

thanks in advance.

[Too Hip]

I'm having the same problems. I have a 1400mhz processor and it only posts at 1050 with the BIOS settings at 100/100. When I set them to 133/133 it posts at 1400 but Windows wont boot. I have tried clearing BIOS and also changed the memory settings.

[Darknyt]

gtr......if you need a win98 boot disk, I can email you the files piece at a time and just copy them to a floppy. Or borrow a boot disk from someone and boot from the floppy. Choose start computer without cdrom support, then at the a: type fdisk <enter>
then choose yes for large disk format. Choose create DOS logical partition and choose the HDD that you want. If you already have an active partition that you want to erase, choose delete active DOS partition. after it is created, press ESC and restart. Leave the floppy in the drive and boot to floppy again. Choose start computer without cdrom support again, then At the prompt a: type in format c: /s wait for the format to finnish and restart if the computer prompt you to do so. When the computer asks choose start pc without cdrom support just put the OS cdrom after you get the a: prompt and then change to the drive that your cdrom is in. then type install....the os should start loading to the HDD. Keep in mind this is for Windows 98se.

[This message has been edited by Darknyt (edited 08-24-2001).]

[newbie~wan]

gtr,

If you cant boot from CD, make a floppy. If the floppy doesnt work, remake it. I know, I know, it makes no sense.

I reformatted my mom's old computer using a boot floppy made in win98 (cuz bios couldnt boot from cd) and then I tried to use same floppy on my computer......didn't work.

I remade it, same process mind you, and then it worked. Go figure.

Just out of curiousity, what is the multiplier locked at on mobo for ur 1.4?
I cant think of two #'s that multiply to give 1.4.

[gtr]

Yeah, i did all of the partition stuff but i wouldn't reconize it. The funny thing is that my computer work when i set the bios to 100/1xx. Now my computer running 1050 and everything appears normal. I loaded the os after i figure it out after 7hrs. I wasted lot of time with trouble shooting new ide cables, clear cmos 6times and etc, b/c i was getting lots of errors while bootup. I thought i forget how to reformat but, the fact was that it's the bios causing all the errors. Now i've reformat installed runs great but at 1050Mhz.

Thanks all for you help!
Keep me posted if anyone's running 1.4 at 1.4 ghz. When i set to 133/133 it runs at 1400 and appears normal but window won't boot? I'm getting the same problem as Too Hip

[newbie~wan]

Whats ur cpu multiplier?

[RobRich]

You guys wouldn't be using generic memory would ya'? Just curious....

Set to 133/133, then slow all memory settings within the BIOS, plus force CAS back to 3. After you have Windows running, raise speed up the settings (lower the values!) until the prob happens again.

This has happened to me on a variety of DDR boards, nit just the K7S5A. A large percentage of PC-2100 floating around operates fine at CAS 3 or 2.5, but has problems with CAS 2, even if the vendor sold it as CAS 2 memory.

BTW, I've released a new ECS R&D bios to a couple of forum members. It is dated newer than the PR BIOS release for my board. I personally have not had time to test it yet, but assuming the feedback is positive from these guys, I'll release it for public download.

Robert Richmond

[newbie~wan]

Hey Rob,

Thanks for sending me BIOS flash, I will be gone till Monday afternoon and wont be able to test it till then.

One question though; I understand that this is a beta. Does that mean that it is possible that even if I correctly flash the BIOS w/ this revision, it might not work? Even though ECS themselves sent it to you?

Dont mean to be paranoid, I've just never considered myself a "lucky" person. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/frown.gif

[gtr]

newbie~wan, I don't know about a cpu multiplier? Is there a jumper on the board? It's probably on default. Could you explain please.

[Too Hip]

I got it to work! I have a Crucial 256MB DDR PC2100, 184-pin DIMM that I switched to the other memory slot and then it worked. Strange??? I did this by accident since it was getting in the way when I was adjusting my heat sink. I have the BIOS set at Ultra and 2.5 I don’t know why this worked but I’m happy now

[gtr]

Too Hip, What do you mean ultra and 2.5? Where is that setting at? I've also tried 256 micon pc133 ram and still the same.

[samwichse]

Hey RobRich, if you could email me that BIOS, I've been looking for it too. Don't think it's too likely I can overclock though, my chip is an ARGA. I didn't even know they went that low :-(.

Speaking of bad luck, I have the same question as newbie~wan. The reason it's beta is that it might have compatibility problems, not because it might just blow the board right?

[vesther]

If I had an AMD T-Bird Revision C Processor Running at 1.4GHz, then should I set the FSB to 133/133 and the Memory to 133 (I'm going to be using PC2100)?

If I use these settings, then will my 1.4GHz Revision C (266FSB) Processor run at exactly 1.4GHz?

[This message has been edited by vesther (edited 08-26-2001).]

[Bryan]

good question, vesther, i'd like to know the same.

[newbie~wan]

gtr, the cpu multiplier is half of the equation that determines your clock speed.

front side bus X multiplier = clock speed.

Ex:

133mhz fbs X 10 = 1.33 Ghz
On this board the multiplier is locked. You can check this in cpu section of bios where you check voltage and set memory/fsb speed.

Hey Sam,

I will email you that bios flash if you want, just post your email or send it to me at ferrell.59@osu.edu

To anyone who knows answer:

Doesn't saying "I set cpu speed to 133/133 and memory to 133" make no sense? I mean, isn't it redundant?

I thought one of the numbers in 133/133 was memory speed and the other was fsb speed.

[This message has been edited by newbie~wan (edited 08-26-2001).]

[cr250]

gtr did you have the 1.4 running in another mb with that power supply? If not it could be the power supply. I have a 1.33 266 chip that would not run with a good 300 watt. It would run fine at 100 but not at 133. Installed a 431 watt enermax and have had no problems.

[gtr]

No, i haven't. It might be worth to get a new power supply? Would you suggest that powersupply and does it support pentinum 4?

[awsumken]

A couple of pieces of info for you brave souls. One, you can get the bios you are looking tor at ocworkbench.com in the ECS forum. Also answers to a lot of the problems you appear to be having. The multiplier for the 1.4 at 133 will be defaulted to 10.5 which is awful close to 1.4.

The ECS board has been reported to have problems with some memory chips, but Crucial is not one of them, as a matter of fact it is one of the recommended chips.

And if you are having problems with system not running at 133 speed, I would suggest that you set the BIOS at the optimal default settings and try that before going to Performace or to Ultra settings.

[RobRich]

I dropped by the office today to pick up the beta BIOS that people are requesting. Since it appears it works (I still haven't tested it), here is the link:

http://www.geocities.com/robrich999hm/files.html

[gtr]

So i boot up this that file after i unzip it right? Does this fix the 133/133 problem?

[gtr]

So i boot up this that file after i unzip it right? Does this fix the 133/133 problem?

thanks,

[RobRich]

You will have to boot to DOS, then use the AMI Bios flash utility to load this update. The AMI flash software is available in the support section at http://www.ecs.com.tw

No release notes were provided with this revision, thus I can not confirm specific fixes.

Robert Richmond

[gtr]

I've emailed tech at ecs and they claimed that my ram is generic and is the source of this problem. I seriously doubt it consider i've tried 2 different brands of ram. Micron and the ddr pc266 ram is probably generic. What's your thought. Are they giving me b/s?

[gtr]

They said it runs with Crucial, PC2100. should i give this a try? Any opinions?

[gtr]

I just check my ram. It's micron which is the same thing as crucial. The tech support guy is claming now that my ram is statically charged. Any inputs? If i exchange it and it works fine it's probably coming out of my pocket. What's your inputs?

[newbie~wan]

Reeks of BS.

Crucial Ram is the standard from what I've read. I have crucial 256 pc2100 and it works fine. If you've tried multiple modules and board doesn't work there is almost NO chance ram is problem.

Unless you've been walking around on carpet carrying it or somethin......

[gtr]

Hey everyone, Its running for 5 mins now and i'm emailing with it. I remount the heatsink and used thermo paste and a case fan and it works without crashing so far. So as of ring now i'm pretty sure this board is very temperature sensitive. I think i'm going to buy a good heatsink anyways but, who would of known thermo paste is that important? I guess these 1.4's runs way to hot. If anyone else is haveing the same problem as me try a better heatsink? Maybe there is a thermo shutdown with this board? I'll let everyone know if it crashes. And thanks for your replies!

[Too Hip]

GTR, That's exactly what I did to get it to work. So maybe the memory wasn’t the problem.

[artaxerxes]

The problem may be due to your powersupply being unable to handle the hungry Athlon 1.4. Is it AMD approved and ~350WATTS, some power supplies are not up to snuff.

The other possibility is overheating - what sort of cooling are you using on the chip?

artaxerxes

[gtr]

It's running for two days so far, especially that the outside temp is cooler. My current heatsink will work with the thermal paste now, but probably on a cool day or in a a/c room. I realize it acts funny when the case temperture is above 90 F and cpu temp to be above 134. But under those temperature the computer runs good. I tood Rob's advice on buying the thermoright SK6 which should come next week and that should solve my problem. As of my powersuppy i'm running a apollo 300w. It has amd approved stickers but, don't know how long ago was that power supply made.