P
P2B
One of my venerable P2B/Tualatin systems is misbehaving, and I'm at a
bit of a loss as to what to try next.
It's a P2B-S with a P3-S 1.4 on a Slot-T adapter and 512MB of Micron
PC133. Processor is running stock (1.4Ghz), mainboard overclocked to
133Mhz FSB, stock PCI clock. I was clocking it at 150Mhz FSB initially,
but it's the Cottage PC (no aircon there) and it was locking up on hot
days. It has been 100% stable at 133Mhz for 2+ years, even during the
July heatwave. No recent hardware changes.
Two weeks ago it froze - monitor would not come out of power save mode.
I pressed reset, no POST. Powered off and on, no POST. Cleared CMOS, no
POST.
Since I have little in the way of diagnostic tools or spare parts at the
cottage, and the case was fairly grungy inside, I decided on
preventative maintenance as the next step - removed and cleaned all
components, cleaned all edge connectors with iso alcohol, replaced CPU
and northbridge thermal compound, serviced fans, visual inspection of
mainboard, mounting posts, capacitors, cables etc. No obvious problem
found, system POSTed and ran fine after reassembly.
I thought I'd (inadvertently) fixed it, but 8 days later... same problem :-(
I disconnected everything but CPU, RAM, and video card - no POST.
Cleared CMOS, no POST. Left it overnight (without standby power or CMOS
battery), no POST. OK, this time it's failed hard, I'll drag it home to
my workshop where I can diagnose and fix it properly. Reconnected
everything - still no POST - and carted it down to the boat.
Dang thing works fine at home - been running benchmarks for 2 days
without a glitch. I have reset and powered off multiple times, it POSTs
every time. Checked supply voltages on the oscilloscope, all are well
within spec and free of ripple while the system is under load. I've even
tried mild percussive maintenance, since transporting the system
appeared to 'fix' it, but it won't fail here!
I'm heading back to the cottage tomorrow, and expect the system will
still work when it gets there but will probably fail in the same manner
sometime soon. Frustrating!
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
P2B
bit of a loss as to what to try next.
It's a P2B-S with a P3-S 1.4 on a Slot-T adapter and 512MB of Micron
PC133. Processor is running stock (1.4Ghz), mainboard overclocked to
133Mhz FSB, stock PCI clock. I was clocking it at 150Mhz FSB initially,
but it's the Cottage PC (no aircon there) and it was locking up on hot
days. It has been 100% stable at 133Mhz for 2+ years, even during the
July heatwave. No recent hardware changes.
Two weeks ago it froze - monitor would not come out of power save mode.
I pressed reset, no POST. Powered off and on, no POST. Cleared CMOS, no
POST.
Since I have little in the way of diagnostic tools or spare parts at the
cottage, and the case was fairly grungy inside, I decided on
preventative maintenance as the next step - removed and cleaned all
components, cleaned all edge connectors with iso alcohol, replaced CPU
and northbridge thermal compound, serviced fans, visual inspection of
mainboard, mounting posts, capacitors, cables etc. No obvious problem
found, system POSTed and ran fine after reassembly.
I thought I'd (inadvertently) fixed it, but 8 days later... same problem :-(
I disconnected everything but CPU, RAM, and video card - no POST.
Cleared CMOS, no POST. Left it overnight (without standby power or CMOS
battery), no POST. OK, this time it's failed hard, I'll drag it home to
my workshop where I can diagnose and fix it properly. Reconnected
everything - still no POST - and carted it down to the boat.
Dang thing works fine at home - been running benchmarks for 2 days
without a glitch. I have reset and powered off multiple times, it POSTs
every time. Checked supply voltages on the oscilloscope, all are well
within spec and free of ripple while the system is under load. I've even
tried mild percussive maintenance, since transporting the system
appeared to 'fix' it, but it won't fail here!
I'm heading back to the cottage tomorrow, and expect the system will
still work when it gets there but will probably fail in the same manner
sometime soon. Frustrating!
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
P2B