Ancient motherboard (FIC PA-2007)?

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larrymoencurly

My friend has an FIC PA-2007 motherboard. It's very old -- Socket 7, only ISA and PCI slots, and VIA VP2 chipset, but is needed because of some $$$ boards plugged into the ISA slots.

If the CMOS memory is cleared and the motherboard is booted with just DIMMsinstalled, it will do nothing but just repeat a slow beep. No beep without any memory installed. I can't figure out how to get into the BIOS to correct this without using SIMMs, and I've tried holding down various keys, like INSert and DELete, before turning on power.

If SIMMs are installed, the motherboard boots fine, and then if they're removed and DIMMs are put in, it also works normally -- until something happens to the BIOS setup information, in which case the SIMMs have to be used again. It's not possible to use SIMMs and DIMMs simultaneously (different voltages on a shared bus).

Does anybody remember his quirk and how to get around it without having to plug in SIMMs?
 
(e-mail address removed) avait énoncé :
My friend has an FIC PA-2007 motherboard. It's very old -- Socket 7, only
ISA and PCI slots, and VIA VP2 chipset, but is needed because of some $$$
boards plugged into the ISA slots.

If the CMOS memory is cleared and the motherboard is booted with just DIMMs
installed, it will do nothing but just repeat a slow beep. No beep without
any memory installed. I can't figure out how to get into the BIOS to correct
this without using SIMMs, and I've tried holding down various keys, like
INSert and DELete, before turning on power.

If SIMMs are installed, the motherboard boots fine, and then if they're
removed and DIMMs are put in, it also works normally -- until something
happens to the BIOS setup information, in which case the SIMMs have to be
used again. It's not possible to use SIMMs and DIMMs simultaneously
(different voltages on a shared bus).

Does anybody remember his quirk and how to get around it without having to
plug in SIMMs?
Click to expand...

Hello,

Have you tried this ? http://www.anandtech.com/show/67

With kind regards
 
Does anybody remember his quirk and how to get around it without having to plug in SIMMs?
Click to expand...

You're saying SIMMs do address a problem not shared in common by
DIMMs.

Money is no excuse for that. Failure is simply the overriding
currency of computers. If output and outcome are to be tangibles,
protecting them from failure is the first step to using a computer.
Salience only then becomes more of a factor as the computer ages in
time.

Plug in the SIMMs and advise him it's time to consider alternative
realities while the Graces yet reside in that box.

Perhaps then you may get lucky and find some extant SIMM sticks (I
have seen very odd things, some which suspiciously may resemble DIMMs/
SIMMs, stuffed away on a shelf I specially designated for Pack Rats.
Spooky place to dwell too long, though).
 
You're saying SIMMs do address a problem not shared in
common by DIMMs. Money is no excuse for that. Failure is
simply the overriding currency of computers. If output and
outcome are to be tangibles, protecting them from failure
is the first step to using a computer. Salience only then
becomes more of a factor as the computer ages in time. Plug
in the SIMMs and advise him it's time to consider
alternative realities while the Graces yet reside in that
box. Perhaps then you may get lucky and find some extant
SIMM sticks (I have seen very odd things, some which
suspiciously may resemble DIMMs/ SIMMs, stuffed away on a
shelf I specially designated for Pack Rats. Spooky place to
dwell too long, though).
Click to expand...

The problem is that those SIMMs I tried total just 16MB,
and the computer needs at least ~196MB for decent
performance with the software he's running. So I have a
feeling he'll have to bite the bullet and buy some SIMMs.

On a whim I decided to try out my FIC VA-503+ mobo because
it's the closet thing I have to the FIC PA-2007 (VIA MVP3
chipset instead of VP2, but the south bridge is identical
for both). But it turns out to have the opposite problem
with memory: it wouldn't boot with those 16MB SIMMs until
I first booted with a 256MB DIMM.
 
If the CMOS memory is cleared and the motherboard is booted with just DIMMs installed, it will do nothing but just repeat a slow beep. No beep without any memory installed. I can't figure out how to get into the BIOS to correct this without using SIMMs, and I've tried holding down various keys, like INSert and DELete, before turning on power.
Click to expand...

It uses an SiS chipset but, FWIW, my old socket 7 PCChips M571 V70A
motherboard's AMI BIOS documentation states that holding down the
<Home> key before powering on is required "if using SDRAM of 2T CAS
latency". The <End> key can be used to clear the CMOS RAM when
rebooting after a BIOS flash.

Holding down the <INSert> key while booting prints a detailed BIOS ID
at the bottom of the POST screen, as follows:

51-0421-001437-00101111-071595-M571-007_66_M571-H
000-0-0000-00-00-0000-00-00-000
000-0-0000-00-00-0000-00-00-00-0-000000003FC91010 INT13-1.2
Cr-6.26.00 CPU-3.03 DIM-1.80 GPC-1.11 APM1.2-1.11 USB-1.02 IO-1.09

- Franc Zabkar
 
The problem is that those SIMMs I tried total just 16MB,
and the computer needs at least ~196MB for decent
performance with the software he's running. So I have a
feeling he'll have to bite the bullet and buy some SIMMs.

On a whim I decided to try out my FIC VA-503+ mobo because
it's the closet thing I have to the FIC PA-2007 (VIA MVP3
chipset instead of VP2, but the south bridge is identical
for both). But it turns out to have the opposite problem
with memory: it wouldn't boot with those 16MB SIMMs until
I first booted with a 256MB DIMM.
Click to expand...

I recall the 503+. A holy grail among mbs once and also owned one.
500 or 350Mhz K6 wasn't it?

You've got me, though. Longest owned system I maintain in that regard
is around a 1200Mhz Athlon in a MSI config for a guy that's still
using it to connect to the internet with a 56K Supra every week night
to listen to a radio show out of California.

Once running, your friend could leave it running, although that's not
such a good idea considering the age of the components. Not really.

Whatever the hidden or dedicated costs behind that, you've probably
been considering alternative approaches for the eventuality when in
fact it will fail. I know I used to tell me my friend his would, even
though he didn't like it. He'd repeat it angrily, incredulously: "Are
you trying to tell my computer is going to break?" Finally got the
point where he sprang for it after seeing some borderline multicore
software in action that works OK on his 3.4Ghz P4 -- just in time. I
put together for $150 when I found some good MSI MBs around $20 new.
So now I tell him he'd have pay at least $300 now for something
similar, as there aren't any boards of that caliber available. And he
still connects for his nightly radio show.

What's the IDE board in there (hmm...do I really even want to know)?
 
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