A8V Post question

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Steve

Like I said in my previous post I was attempting to move my board to a
roomier case but when I power the system I get a vocal error message saying
that the system detected a CPU overclock error and it just won't post. Well
I pulled everything from the case, unhooked everything except 1 stick of
ram, the video card, power supply (both connections) and the hard drive and
then reseated everything... I tried to boot but I get the same error message
and no post. Have I fried my processor or is the problem in the board? Or
is there any way to tell?
 
"Steve" said:
Like I said in my previous post I was attempting to move my board to a
roomier case but when I power the system I get a vocal error message saying
that the system detected a CPU overclock error and it just won't post. Well
I pulled everything from the case, unhooked everything except 1 stick of
ram, the video card, power supply (both connections) and the hard drive and
then reseated everything... I tried to boot but I get the same error message
and no post. Have I fried my processor or is the problem in the board? Or
is there any way to tell?
Click to expand...

Unplug the computer and do the "clear CMOS" procedure. I think
for the CPU overclock error message to be emitted by the board,
actually requires some code to be executed by the processor,
so it cannot be completely fried. Chances are, the BIOS is
setting some clock too high, and leaving you in an error loop.
Clearing the CMOS might just break that loop.

See section 2.6 ("Jumpers") in the manual, for the proper
way to clear the CMOS. Generally, this always entails unplugging
the computer, to prevent damage to the motherboard via the +5VSB
supply. The procedure is the first part of that section in
the manual.

*****
The vocal post system is an autonomous circuit. It consists of
two chips - the voice chip and an eight pin DIP containing the
compressed voice samples. A couple of the errors (like no
CPU installed) are detected by looking at the logic level on
a single hardware signal (SLOTOCC). The rest of the error
messages are created by the processor sending some information
to the voice chip via the serial I2C interface. This datasheet
is an example of the technology:

http://www.winbond-usa.com/products/winbond_products/pdfs/PCIC/w83791sd.pdf
*****

HTH,
Paul
 
Paul said:
Unplug the computer and do the "clear CMOS" procedure. I think
for the CPU overclock error message to be emitted by the board,
actually requires some code to be executed by the processor,
so it cannot be completely fried. Chances are, the BIOS is
setting some clock too high, and leaving you in an error loop.
Clearing the CMOS might just break that loop.

See section 2.6 ("Jumpers") in the manual, for the proper
way to clear the CMOS. Generally, this always entails unplugging
the computer, to prevent damage to the motherboard via the +5VSB
supply. The procedure is the first part of that section in
the manual.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately that was the first thing I tried and it didn't have any
effect... that's why I thought I fried something
 
"Steve" said:
Unfortunately that was the first thing I tried and it didn't have any
effect... that's why I thought I fried something
Click to expand...

When you cleared CMOS, did you unplug the computer, and remove
the battery. On one motherboard I own here, I had a terrible
time getting the CMOS cleared (you can tell it didn't work
if the time on the hardware real time clock is still correct).
With the computer unplugged, and the battery removed, there
shouldn't be any power left to keep the CMOS alive. (Shorting
the battery socket contacts with a conductor, will make sure
of it.)

Have you tried the "cardboard test" ? Remove the motherboard and
power supply, and assemble a portion of the system outside the
case. Add components to the computer one at a time and listen
to the vocal post messages. With no components in the computer,
it'll complain about "No CPU present". With the CPU installed,
you'll hear it complain about "No RAM". Add the RAM and then
it will be looking for the video card. Keep adding components
and listening to the response. I've assembled two systems
this way, doing the cardboard test before even getting close
to the computer case. After everything was tested, then I
installed everything in the case.

What I cannot figure out about your symptoms, is the processor
must be executing some code, to be able to deliver the overclocking
message. I think the processor has to talk to the vocal post
chip via the I2C bus (SMBUS) to get that message to pop out.

How many sticks of RAM do you have ? Try reducing the system to
one stick, inserted in the socket the manual tells you is suitable
for single channel operation. Perhaps the overclocking message
is being delivered because your RAM is really broken. An
overclocking failure (a crash) can be caused by a processor
that malfunctions for some reason, but if it is fed bad data
from RAM, that could cause problems as well. Maybe this is
related to RAM somehow.

Other than that, it could be RMA time. If you have any time
left on the return period for the stuff, now is the time
to act.

Just guessing,
Paul
 
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