VA-503+ Jumpers / PCI/ISA Bus Speed

[garygbond]

Thanks for any help on this -- I'll be brief.

Problem statement:
Computer will not boot with SDRAM-2 jumper in 2-3 position. Boots fine with SDRAM-2 jumper in 1-2 position. This impacts PCI/ISA Bus speed.

System:
FIC VA-503+ rev. 1.2a (latest BIOS)
AMD K6-2 400
64MB PC100 DIMM
Creative Labs Graphics Blaster Exxtreme 4MB (PCI)
Creative Labs Voodoo2 8MB (PCI)
Ensoniq Soundscape (ISA)
56k modem (ISA)

Issues:
It is my understanding that the SDRAM-2 and SDRAM-3 jumpers control the PCI/ISA bus speed. Specifically, if both jumpers are in 2-3 position, PCI=FSB/2; if SDRAM-2 is 1-2 and SDRAM-3 is 2-3, PCI=FSB/3. Is that understanding correct?

Obviously, having the PCI bus at half FSB speed is much better than one-third. But when I move the SDRAM-2 jumper from 1-2 to 2-3, the computer will not boot (symptoms: power and HDD LED come on, but monitor (MAG Innovision 17") displays a "signal missing" message).

Questions:
Is this a MB or component issue (peripherals can't handle higher bus speed)? Any chance that when I was in messing with the BIOS that I screwed something up? Any other thoughts?

Thanks for any advice/thoughts/comments.

GaryB.
garygbond@aol.com

[bighammer]

bios will be fine but it may be that your peripherals can't handle the speed.
I don't have my 503+ manual with me, but it sounds like you have it right.
The 503+ is a funny board although screaming fast.
Did you get the Amended setting page with your board?
If not, the book is assbackwards and you will need to go to their site and check the jumper settings.

[garygbond]

25 Feb 99

Bighammer,

Thanks for the thoughts. I have the latest rev. manual with correct jumper settings, so I think I'm okay there. Actually, I double-checked manual settings versus the FIC website.

If it's a peripheral, I gotta believe that it's either the modem or soundcard -- they're the two oldest components. But if that's true, why wouldn't I at least get a signal out to the monitor? That almost sounds like a video card problem -- anyone with any experience with the CL Graphics Blaster Exxtreme wanna comment?

GaryB.
garygbond@aol.com

[garygbond]

Uh, never mind. I just discovered that the max rated speed for most PCI peripherals is 33 MHz -- no wonder they didn't work at 50 (100 FSB / 2). I'm just gonna have to be satisfied with my pokey 33 MHz. Thanks anyways!

GaryB.
garygbond@aol.com