Power up - beep, beep, beep - hmm

[Brangwen]

Hi:

Trying to get a P233 running. On MS6111 mobo and 54 meg new PC100 SDRAM. VidCard, likely SIS. I power up, displays: Primary - invalid Atapi, BEEP, BEEP...BEEP. I try to hit Del to enter Bios, as I'm certain some changes need to be made. If I hit Del, the screen goes runs streaky like when vid card is set in wrong resolution. Any other way to get into Bios? Would clearing Bios help?
After this so-called post, if I do not hit Del, the monitor reads SETUP, PRESS F1 TO RESUME. When I press F1, the screen "rolls" again."

Thx.

Brangwen http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif

[SoopaStar]

can you describe the beeps a little better? What kind of BIOS is it? Award? AMI? Pheonix?

Paul

edit: 54 megs ram?

[This message has been edited by SoopaStar (edited 07-26-2000).]

[qball]

Almost missed that, but I think you are mistaken about the 54 meg ram, or that is your memory problem.

The beeps are the mobos method of telling you something is missing (taint the keyboard as you are already hitting F1). The manual should have a table of beeps and their meaining, or check website.

It is very possible the memory is incompatible. Check the mobo manual for appropriate memory, or check their website.



[This message has been edited by qball (edited 07-26-2000).]

[Brangwen]

It has 32 meg PC100 memory. I have no manual. Not certain WHO made this board. It uses AMI bios. This board is old, in my estimation. "How old is it, Johnny?" "It's sooo old it has EDO slots as well as Dimmn (SDRAM) memory slots. It is marked MS6111, VER. 1, as I recall but not certain. I'm attempting to figure out who made this so-called (or appropriately named) "mother board," but the site I use that utilizes the Bios string is not reachable for some reason right now. The A drive light just stays lit no matter how I configure that cable. It posts up and loads an a bootable Seagate HDD that I had used in an old 386 MHz Tandy I had laying around and will run the Win 3.1 and programs on that drive. But I can't load a CDROM driver as the FDD doesn't work. I've changed the FDD and cable twice. Interesting that the light just stays on the FDD.

Is this a case of a blown board? Any ideas?

Thx.

Brangwen http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif

[skywalker[TSG]]

the board is from microstar

however i did not find any info on their site
http://www.msi.com.tw

have you checked that the cards and cpu are fully seated ?

[Brangwen]

Thx, skywalker and all other members who posted thus far. I will take the box apart and re-seat everything and re-check the cables tomorrow to see if my results change. Oh, the video problem resolved when I switched to an old mono-monitor I borrowed from a friend. I receive an accurate memory count at post, but the FDD light remains a constant, i.e., "on." I shall post what happens tomorrow. Again, thx!

Brangwen http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif


[This message has been edited by Brangwen (edited 07-26-2000).]

[skywalker[TSG]]

the floppy cabel might be inserted wrong
try to put there is a red stripe on the cabel
this should be against PIN1 on the floppy
or the drive could be damaged

[Brangwen]

Skywalker, I've tried two different FDDs and at least 3 different cables. I've turned them in every concievable position, including redline to pin one. When incorrect, I do receive an error message at post. When not incorrect, no error message, but the FDD light remains on and the rom and Bios seek out the bootable HDD partition, totally ignoring any boot disk that I place in the A drive. This is so even when I disable in Bios all other drives but the FDD. Any other ideas?

Thx!

Brangwen http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif

[skywalker[TSG]]

you are using the connector at the end of the cable right ?

some cables has 2 or somtimes 3 connectors

this order
1 B:
2 5,25" floppy
3A:
also is A: enables in BIOS

if all of these things are correct then the floppy controller on the mobo might be damaged

cant you boot from CD ?

[jaco]

just a thought but is PC100 SDRAM compatible with a P233. Can you try some older memory?

[dgardner]

Have you tryed bare boneing it, and booting with didly-squat connected i.e. m/b ram (little as poss) Vid card no HDD no FDD!!!
Also you shouyld be able to get into BIOS this way.

See how far you get then. Obvisouly it wont boot but u can check for correct error messages!

Then just plug em on one by one and when u get an un-expected error there's the critter. Can't you try borrowing your mates FDD or something.

Also see if you can get hold of a controller card then Disable the on board controller
on BIOS!

Hope that helps a bit

~Dave~

[skywalker[TSG]]

PC-100 ram should work without problem on a P233
i run this config myself on a 166@266

altough the mobo might not like the memory
there should be no problem running PC-100 as PC-66

i would think that something is wrong with the FDD or the controller

[Brangwen]

After disabling the serial ports in the AMI BIOS, and determining that the CDROM and the FDD could not run off the same power cable (on this box!) I was able to get the FDD and HDD working. Now I'm attempting to locate a driver for a CDROM I've never seen before, with no apparent manufacturer label! Grr!

Thx so far for all the thoughtful suggestions!

Brangwen http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif

[skywalker[TSG]]

if its a IDE cd-rom
then all drivers will work

but just use the standard ATAPI/IDE driver that comes with windows/linux and all other OSs

[Brangwen]

My thanks to ALL who provided answers and insight regarding this computer quandry. I can happily report that the box is running with both the HDD and CDROM on the primary channel. I know this may not be the ideal configuration, but the Goldstar CDROM I'm using will not run on the secondary channel at this time. Perhaps after I upgrade the Bios... Right now, when I attempt to run the CDROM on the secondary it appears in MyComputer as an "audio CDROM," even while containing a data CD, and will not read the media. Hmm. I will have to try a different IDE device to see if that makes a dif. I think it's the way this particular AMI Bios is. Again, thx.

Brangwen http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif

[shadow]

Brangwen....RAM.

Skywalker....166@266? I love it. I have a 166 but can only get it to 188/75fsb.
At 210/83fsb the HDD complains.