Elitegroup D6VAA wont boot!

[Neil Wiessler]

Has anyone had any experiences with the D6VAA Dual Processor MB?

I had a client request a new system using the above board and I'm ready to shoot my self!

The system will not boot, no POST test, no beeps... nothing.

I removed all of the cards, pulled the power cord, and shorted JP1 to clear the BIOS... reinstalled only the Video Card, Floppy and Hard Disk, and still nothing.

I'm using a Intel Celeron 1.0 gHz processor in socket number 1, 1 stick of 128mb pc133 ram, and a nVidia base 4xAPG Video Card...

btw... I put each of the new components into my bench system, and every one of them works!

Hope I don't have a beat board!!!

Any help would be greatly appricated...

It Sunday here, and I'm scheduled to deliver the machine to my client tomorrow by noon!

Send help or bullets!

Neil
aka Celestial Mechanic

[dmoltrup]

Is it possible there is a grounding problem? My ECS board wouldn't boot until I put the little washers underneath it on all the mounting holes before screwing it to the chassis.

[Peter M]

... and you put the "Clear CMOS" jumper back to "Normal"? The RAM is properly seated? You didn't put screws and posts onto a mounting hole that isn't made to be a screwing hole?

regards, Peter

[Neil Wiessler]

Thanks for the posts, but no luck.

I checked all of the stand-offs again, they all have the washers, and are all in the correct positions....

I am at a loss!

I feel that perhaps the chipset is not compatible... thinking out loud, knowing that the 1.0 and higher celerons require a different chipset, I had my vendor ship me a 950 celeron for today.

If it turns out to be a chipset/processor clash, I'll post later today.

My vendor assured me that the VIA chipset "Should" work with the 1.0gHz, but I know for sure that the 950 "is" compatible!

Stay tuned for more of the saga "As the Motherboard Burns" :cool:

[Peter M]

So does your board have a VIA 694X, Z, or T north bridge? Only the 694T is Tualatin compatible (CPUID 06B1h)... there are non-Tualatin (CPUID 068xh) Celerons up to 1100 MHz, and there are slower Tualatin ones. Identify by Sxxxx lot number, using Intel's Celeron specification update document from their web site.

btw, most newer Celerons aren't dual processor capable at all.

regards, Peter

[Neil Wiessler]

Hey Peter...

U are an amazing wealth of info!

The D6VAA board according to ECS has the VIA VT82C694X & VT82C686B Chipsets.

Based on your info, I would have to assume that the 694X will not support the 1.0gHz Celeron.

I have the system up and running with a different MB (Gigabyte GA-6VTXE) with the same 1.0gHz Celeron, and all is cool.

I'm about to throw together the D6VAA with the 950mHz Celeron, and bet it will boot fine.

I'll let you know soon!

Thanks for all your help!

BTW... where do you recommend to find the best resources for deciphering all this chipset mess... The Intel site info is very confussing at times, and I'd hate to have to keep bothering you (even though you've been an excellent help)!!!


:)

[dmoltrup]

Originally posted by Peter Missel
btw, most newer Celerons aren't dual processor capable at all.


I didn't know you could go dual with Celerons at all. I though only full-blown PIIIs allowed this.
All I've seen is if you're running one PIII, it goes in the processor One spot, if a celeron, the processor 2 spot. Of course, if you're running dual PIII's, they have to be the same EXACT chip.

Anyone know if you can run two chips that are CLOSE? ..ie. a 1GHz and a 933? This would probably end up overclocking the 933, right?

[Peter M]

There is no "the" 1 GHz Celeron. There's a Coppermine flavor and a Tualatin. The former should work, the latter for sure doesn't.

Mixing different speed grades is not allowed on P-III dual CPU architecture. (You may do that on Athlon architecture, since there each CPU has its own separate connection to the north bridge, while on P-III they share one bus.)

regards, Peter

[zpap88]

on ECS site I can see that D6VAA support celeron fc-pga 100Mhz up to 900M or 1.1G depending of PCB version.
but "D6VAA with Celeron FSB100 can't install win2000, but install win98 pass"

You can also find a lot of informations on "http://forums.2cpu.com"
D6VAA is there a frequent theme

Luc