Motherboard replacement dilemma...

  • Thread starter Thread starter KILOWATT
  • Start date Start date
K

KILOWATT

Hi everyones. Thanks a lot to take the time to read...i appreciate.
I'm in a big dilemma here, and i need your comments and ideas.
I have an IBM Aptiva with the following configurations:
AMD K6-2 400Mhz--256Mb pc100 RAM--80 Gb 7200rpm Maxtor--
integrated ATI Rage Pro 8Mb video--integrated ESS solo chipset. It really
served me well since 1999, but since more than about one year i have
a stability problem that is getting worse with time:

1-Experiencing some random reboots when opening a program, no matter
wich one.
2-Graphics are slow, really slow to update. When closing or opening a window,
it is displayed slowly sections by sections instead of instantly as it used to be.
When dragging around a window, it leaves trails of it that takes seconds to
dissapear. Even the cursor have sometimes difficulties to "follow" the mouse.
3-Computer has crashed a few times during the last months,but when doing
CTRL-ALT-DELETE to reboot, i get a strange checkerboard pattern
on the screen. Then i have to cold stop the computer by the power switch.
4-A problem i had a few months ago that reappeared yesterday is the clock
that is getting late (as worse as 30 mins advance in a period of 3 hours!).
This is not caused by Windows because i've checked this issue in details
with a few ones here last time and on the sci.electronics.repair newsgroup.
As some suggested, i did set back the clock and leaved the computer off for
a few hours(leaved off 10 hours) and thereafter when i went in the BIOS at
startup, the time was off again by many minutes (35). The only culprit remaining
is the BIOS and it's associated circuitry (And Yes, i've replaced the battery also
with any results).

I'm not shure, but i think that my machine suffers from the bad Taiwanese capacitors
syndrome that plagued so many motherboards since a few years.The ones on my board
doesn't seems to show any visual indications of a bad capacitor like the ones pictured
on Gary Headlee's web site: http://www.motherboardrepair.com/index.php?sec=images
Maby it's the problem,maybe something else.

A few months ago, what i planned to do was to build this winter a new powerful
Pentium IV based "monster" with all the bells and whistles, and use this sick machine
for light jobs such as a personnal web and FTP server. But now, even if i'm not ready
to build the monster, the situation is urging me to make an anticipated choice because
this machine is getting almost useless with time. Even my mother complaints that it's
sometimes a pain to just play a basic SpiderSolitaire game on that machine! To do
something, my choice has to be between:

a) Replace this Aptiva machine with a modest but brand new one...with part of the $$
i saved for the monster and build the later at another time. This would seem a viable
solution but i have a big problem: I have many expensive programs that don't run on
Windows2000 or XP wich is what is currently distributed with new machines. I don't
think that the new machine would work correctly if i remove XP to install an old OS
like Window98...do you think so?

b) Buy a replacement motherboard wich would be an effective and very cheap solution.
But it's about the same problem as in "a)" since i think that new motherboards needs
recent versions of Windows to operate as intended. If i could find a motherboard
that would operate properly on Win98, then this would solve my problem. Any
idea where i can find a place that sell "old" but brand new motherboards and
processors ? I've heard that people have multi-boot machines that have Windows
98 and 2000 or XP on it. If this is the case, then don't you think that Win98
would work alone on a new motherboard? TIA for any replies.
--
Alain(alias:Kilowatt)
Montréal Québec
PS: 1000 excuses for errors or omissions,
i'm a "pure" french canadian! :-)
Come to visit me at: http://kilowatt.camarades.com
(If replying also by e-mail, remove
"no spam" from the adress.)
 
Oups! A thing i forgot to mention is that Windows
has been reinstalled recently without any improvements
for the described problems. It's really a hardware issue.
 
Hi everyones. Thanks a lot to take the time to read...i appreciate.
I'm in a big dilemma here, and i need your comments and ideas.
I have an IBM Aptiva with the following configurations:
AMD K6-2 400Mhz--256Mb pc100 RAM--80 Gb 7200rpm Maxtor--
integrated ATI Rage Pro 8Mb video--integrated ESS solo chipset. It really
served me well since 1999, but since more than about one year i have
a stability problem that is getting worse with time:
Click to expand...

Windows 98 will run on the new machines and motherboards. The only
problems you might have is running a huge harddisk - like a 200 gig
without repartitioning it or using overlay files or something.

Finding a MB that supports a K6 may or maynot be difficult. The only
other thing is your power supply is it adequate ? And whther you case
is a standard case that can take a standard motherboard and not some
weird proprietary thing.

If you want to save money get a cheap CPU/MB combo with integrated
video and sound and cheap but decent PS if the PS is really old and
wimpy.

Check Newegg and see what they have if you live in the US.
 
Hi everyones. Thanks a lot to take the time to read...i appreciate.
I'm in a big dilemma here, and i need your comments and ideas.
I have an IBM Aptiva with the following configurations:
AMD K6-2 400Mhz--256Mb pc100 RAM--80 Gb 7200rpm Maxtor--
integrated ATI Rage Pro 8Mb video--integrated ESS solo chipset. It really
served me well since 1999, but since more than about one year i have
a stability problem that is getting worse with time:

1-Experiencing some random reboots when opening a program, no matter
wich one.
2-Graphics are slow, really slow to update. When closing or opening a window,
it is displayed slowly sections by sections instead of instantly as it used to be.
When dragging around a window, it leaves trails of it that takes seconds to
dissapear. Even the cursor have sometimes difficulties to "follow" the mouse.
3-Computer has crashed a few times during the last months,but when doing
CTRL-ALT-DELETE to reboot, i get a strange checkerboard pattern
on the screen. Then i have to cold stop the computer by the power switch.
4-A problem i had a few months ago that reappeared yesterday is the clock
that is getting late (as worse as 30 mins advance in a period of 3 hours!).
This is not caused by Windows because i've checked this issue in details
with a few ones here last time and on the sci.electronics.repair newsgroup.
As some suggested, i did set back the clock and leaved the computer off for
a few hours(leaved off 10 hours) and thereafter when i went in the BIOS at
startup, the time was off again by many minutes (35). The only culprit remaining
is the BIOS and it's associated circuitry (And Yes, i've replaced the battery also
with any results).

I'm not shure, but i think that my machine suffers from the bad Taiwanese capacitors
syndrome that plagued so many motherboards since a few years.The ones on my board
doesn't seems to show any visual indications of a bad capacitor like the ones pictured
on Gary Headlee's web site: http://www.motherboardrepair.com/index.php?sec=images
Maby it's the problem,maybe something else.

A few months ago, what i planned to do was to build this winter a new powerful
Pentium IV based "monster" with all the bells and whistles, and use this sick machine
for light jobs such as a personnal web and FTP server. But now, even if i'm not ready
to build the monster, the situation is urging me to make an anticipated choice because
this machine is getting almost useless with time. Even my mother complaints that it's
sometimes a pain to just play a basic SpiderSolitaire game on that machine! To do
something, my choice has to be between:

a) Replace this Aptiva machine with a modest but brand new one...with part of the $$
i saved for the monster and build the later at another time. This would seem a viable
solution but i have a big problem: I have many expensive programs that don't run on
Windows2000 or XP wich is what is currently distributed with new machines. I don't
think that the new machine would work correctly if i remove XP to install an old OS
like Window98...do you think so?

b) Buy a replacement motherboard wich would be an effective and very cheap solution.
But it's about the same problem as in "a)" since i think that new motherboards needs
recent versions of Windows to operate as intended. If i could find a motherboard
that would operate properly on Win98, then this would solve my problem. Any
idea where i can find a place that sell "old" but brand new motherboards and
processors ? I've heard that people have multi-boot machines that have Windows
98 and 2000 or XP on it. If this is the case, then don't you think that Win98
would work alone on a new motherboard? TIA for any replies.
Click to expand...

Windows 98se should operate on most of the newer systems. I am running it
on a P4 1.6 gh system that I bult a couple of years ago. About all that you
have left of the old machine is the hard drive that you can use on a newer
system. You might want to look at one of the all in one computer boards
that have a 1 to 1.5 ghz processor and vidio and everything built into one
board. You can buy that board , use your memory and hard drive and get a
case for it. The boards are under $ 100 and a $ 30 or $ 40 case will get
you going with what you have. You will notice a big improvement in what you
have. YOu may have a virus on the system.

The clock in the computer is actually two types of clocks. When the
computer is off there is a clock chip the same battery that holds the cmos
memory powers to keep time. Once the computer boots up it will read that
clock and then not look at it again. The clock you are then seeing on the
screen is being generated by the software in the computer. Some programs
will cause the clock to really loose time from the time that was read in
from the hardware clock.. This is totally a software problem.
 
Above problem was same as mine and it looks like the checkerboard pattern is
a graphics card problem

SUGGESTIONS:

1) Uninstall card drivers and get new ones from the net (NOT from the
accompanying MBoard CD) Cheapest !! or

2) Install another card if you have a pci slot free (it must be a PCI if you
have an onboard, not AGP - even if you have the slot, it will not play)

3) Clean up the Registry (very carefully -

but best solution - if you have all your programmes and data on cd's -
"format c: /u" and reinstall

TINSTAAFL
 
Hi "TINSTAAFL"...Thanks for the reply. (It's Arabic or German, this name? :-Þ )
1) Uninstall card drivers and get new ones from the net (NOT from the
accompanying MBoard CD) Cheapest !!
Click to expand...

I've already tried different updated drivers, instead of the originals
one from the recovery CD. The same problem. Windows have been reinstalled
two times since then without any improvements. Take note that the most recent
drivers are from 1999. ATI and any other manufacturers, will not pay big
bucks for the programmers to write updated drivers for a card or chipset
that is many years old. They rather concentrate their efforts on their newer products.
I'm considering changing the motherboard, AND the power supply. The wattage
of this original one is well under 125 watts when calculating the voltages and currents
for the 3.3, 5, and 12 volts! Unfortunately for me it's the microATX format, and it's
gonna be a lot more difficult to find replacement mobo and ps.

--
Alain(alias:Kilowatt)
Montréal Québec
PS: 1000 excuses for errors or omissions,
i'm a "pure" french canadian! :-)
Come to visit me at: http://kilowatt.camarades.com
(If replying also by e-mail, remove
"no spam" from the adress.)
 
Hi everyones. Thanks a lot to take the time to read...i appreciate.
I'm in a big dilemma here, and i need your comments and ideas.
I have an IBM Aptiva with the following configurations:
AMD K6-2 400Mhz--256Mb pc100 RAM--80 Gb 7200rpm Maxtor--
integrated ATI Rage Pro 8Mb video--integrated ESS solo chipset. It really
served me well since 1999, but since more than about one year i have
a stability problem that is getting worse with time:
Click to expand...

After reading ahead, it occurred to me that you may have more than one
problem, or perhaps it's been ongoing for long enough that there's
persistant data corruption. I would run memtest86 to rule that memory
errors, since a new corrupted install would be a real PITA to
troubleshoot.
1-Experiencing some random reboots when opening a program, no matter
wich one.
Click to expand...

Since it's not WinXP, it's heat or power. Heat is easily detected,
power a bit harder if you don't see any abnormalities in voltage from
the power supply.

I'm not shure, but i think that my machine suffers from the bad Taiwanese capacitors
syndrome that plagued so many motherboards since a few years.The ones on my board
doesn't seems to show any visual indications of a bad capacitor like the ones pictured
on Gary Headlee's web site: http://www.motherboardrepair.com/index.php?sec=images
Maby it's the problem,maybe something else.
Click to expand...

A machine of this age, unless barely ever used, might have
low-quality-capacitor issues or even normal aging in conjunction with
a cheap or tiny motherboard having minimal over-engineered capacitors,
but since the caps have aged at least to the manufacturer's projected
lifetime figures, they can't really be considered defective (as if
that's any consolation?).

A few months ago, what i planned to do was to build this winter a new powerful
Pentium IV based "monster" with all the bells and whistles, and use this sick machine
for light jobs such as a personnal web and FTP server. But now, even if i'm not ready
to build the monster, the situation is urging me to make an anticipated choice because
this machine is getting almost useless with time. Even my mother complaints that it's
sometimes a pain to just play a basic SpiderSolitaire game on that machine! To do
something, my choice has to be between:

a) Replace this Aptiva machine with a modest but brand new one...with part of the $$
i saved for the monster and build the later at another time. This would seem a viable
solution but i have a big problem: I have many expensive programs that don't run on
Windows2000 or XP wich is what is currently distributed with new machines. I don't
think that the new machine would work correctly if i remove XP to install an old OS
like Window98...do you think so?
Click to expand...

Any board will run Win98, but some have drivers poorly developed for
Win98. For example, modern onboard sound like nForce or Sis has given
me more problems, though it still worked with more recent drivers
and/or an OS reinstall. Beyond that, new hardware runs Win98 just
fine. The other well-know issue there is if you want use 512MB or
more memory, in which case you need edit the System.ini file to limit
the vcache (Google search will easily find it).
b) Buy a replacement motherboard wich would be an effective and very cheap solution.
But it's about the same problem as in "a)" since i think that new motherboards needs
recent versions of Windows to operate as intended. If i could find a motherboard
that would operate properly on Win98, then this would solve my problem. Any
idea where i can find a place that sell "old" but brand new motherboards and
processors ? I've heard that people have multi-boot machines that have Windows
98 and 2000 or XP on it. If this is the case, then don't you think that Win98
would work alone on a new motherboard? TIA for any replies.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I have no idea where to find gear in Canada.
If it were me, I'd try to determine whether the power supply is still
funcitonal, and if it is, upgrade the box with a Tualatin Celeron
CPU/board. They're low-power, low-heat, use PC100 memory, low cost,
etc. Not a high-end machine but a great bang for the buck since you
might find (at least here in the US) a mobo & CPU for under $80
delivered. Onboard video on such systems, often Via PLE133T, isn't
going to run 3D games very well, but it's about the same speed as your
current Rage-Turbo video for 2D except for the level of MPEG
hardware acceleration, and providing the memory bus is running at
133Mhz (PLE133T does support async +33MHz memory bus).

On the other hand, there may be a few mom-n-pop computer shops in your
area that have super-7 boards or Socket 370 PPGA + CPU for quite
cheap.... just depends on the particular shop, how inexpensive they
are. Some higher-volume shops end up throwing such stuff away, so
it's more a matter of how much space they can devote to piles of old
low-profit parts, and how effectively they can refuse to provide
support for those parts.

On the other hand, is this IBM box even standard, or a low-profile
w/riser, more similar to LPX form-factor?


Dave
 
Hi "TINSTAAFL"...Thanks for the reply. (It's Arabic or German, this name? :-Þ )


I've already tried different updated drivers, instead of the originals
one from the recovery CD. The same problem. Windows have been reinstalled
two times since then without any improvements. Take note that the most recent
drivers are from 1999. ATI and any other manufacturers, will not pay big
bucks for the programmers to write updated drivers for a card or chipset
that is many years old. They rather concentrate their efforts on their newer products.
I'm considering changing the motherboard, AND the power supply. The wattage
of this original one is well under 125 watts when calculating the voltages and currents
for the 3.3, 5, and 12 volts! Unfortunately for me it's the microATX format, and it's
gonna be a lot more difficult to find replacement mobo and ps.
Click to expand...

You are better off buying a cheap case/PS and integrated MB/CPU combo.
 
Hi Kony, Thanks for the reply. I've created the diskette for Memtest86
and gave it a try. But how long exactly this program needs to run?
In the README file it's indicated in section 9 that with a Celeron-366
with 64MB of SDRAM the typical time may reach 5 hours 25 minutes!
I then leaved the computer running overnight, but forgot to check this
morning. When i camed back home late this afternoon, the program was
still running, the only things that changed was the PASS that incremented
to 23 all that time. :-) I thought that the program would complete the
operations (standard test) and stop or exit. Do i only need to let it run one
"pass" then exit? Anyway no errors where found. Tomorrow i'll buy a
brand new Antec 350watts ATX power supply, then hook it up to this
machine just in the case that the actual power supply is defective.

I've measured a few days ago the voltages on the 3.3, 5, and 12volts lines
when the CD-ROM drives are spinning and the comp operates at maximum
CPU usage...and everything seems in-specs. (3.31, 4.85, 11.8V). But if there's
drops of a few milliseconds in the outputs when the load changes, my digital
multimeter can't detect that. Anyway i will need the power supply so i'll give it a
try. If after a few hours or days of testing, the machine is as sluggish as it is now,
i'll start shopping for a new motherboard and CPU...and possibly a new ATX
case if i can't find something interesting in the microATX form factor. For the
CPU, i bet that even the cheapest Intel Celerons currently on the market will
outperform by far the Aptiva with a K6-2 400MHz i have actually...even
compared to it's better days!

--
Alain(alias:Kilowatt)
Montréal Québec
PS: 1000 excuses for errors or omissions,
i'm a "pure" french canadian! :-)
Come to visit me at: http://kilowatt.camarades.com
(If replying also by e-mail, remove
"no spam" from the adress.)
 
You might try opening it up and taking a can of compressed air and
completely blowing all the dust off of the CPU. This is sometimes the
problem.
 
If it says IBM on it, I say strip it for parts and dig a hole in the back
yard and thow it in and cover it up with dirt and forget about it. Use it
for Target Practice, or whatever else you can think of. Maybe it will make
a good boat anchor?

Most IBM Motherboards are proprietary and can not be reused or fit into a
normal computer case. So often, you can not just go out and buy a new
motherboard and have it fit into the old case, so be careful. You can try
it and see if it will fit. If not just get another case.

I would go out and look for either an Asus A7N8X, A7N8X-VM or A7N8X Deuluxe
if you want an AMD Computer. There are some variations.

For Intel look for a motherboard with the Intel 865 or 875 Chipset. Asus
and Intel motherboards are nice.

If you do not like Asus or Intel Motherboards try the motherboards with
higher quality like Abit, Gigabyte, and maybe Soyo. There are a lot of
options when it comes to motherboards. Shuttle makes som nice bare-bones
kits with either the Nforce2 Chipsets or the Intel 865 Chipset.

Try looking at www.newegg.com and see what people make good comments on. Go
and read some reviews at places like www.tomshardware.com and
www.anandtech.com
Then go to forums like the one at www.pcmech.com
and see what they think of your ideas of what to buy. You will want to buy
some DDR SDRAM and a New CPU probably. Look for free shipping on parts you
want to buy. A good power supply will also be needed most likely. A fairly
good video card can be found from about $50-$150, depending on what you
want. You could easily spend $400.00 or more on a new video card but you
can get by with a lot less.
 
Back
Top