My Athlon 1.2 Asus A7 mobo system can't detect SDRAM memory.

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Learned scholars,

My Athlon 1.2 system can't detect SDRAM memory.

system: Athlon1.2 Asus A7 mobo,64mb Toshiba RAM,
128mb Hynix Ram, Strawberry128mbRAM, Geforce2 MX64mb,


Actually before, everything is ok. just that as a hobbyist i tend to
help my friends with pc matters and in the course of things, i have
plug and unplug the memory modules a few times.

recently my system can't detect the RAM and i have rubbed the RAM gold
plating contacts with erasers to clear off the dirt and impurities.
after many times of inserting, system managed to detect the RaMS.

Then i got a free 128mb SDRAM and prompttly installed them on my
ssystem. the detection problem crops aup again. i have tried all the
possible combinations of RAMS positions, but still can;t work. did
the cleaning with erasers too.

The system managed to boot up once but the screen was blurry and jerky
type. after plugging and replugging the display cord, system can't
reboot anymore

Any advise. Thanks
 
»¨ºÃÂú ÔÂBeautiful Flowers Full Moon said:
Learned scholars,

My Athlon 1.2 system can't detect SDRAM memory.

system: Athlon1.2 Asus A7 mobo,64mb Toshiba RAM,
128mb Hynix Ram, Strawberry128mbRAM, Geforce2 MX64mb,


Actually before, everything is ok. just that as a hobbyist i tend to
help my friends with pc matters and in the course of things, i have
plug and unplug the memory modules a few times.

recently my system can't detect the RAM and i have rubbed the RAM gold
plating contacts with erasers to clear off the dirt and impurities.
after many times of inserting, system managed to detect the RaMS.

Then i got a free 128mb SDRAM and prompttly installed them on my
ssystem. the detection problem crops aup again. i have tried all the
possible combinations of RAMS positions, but still can;t work. did
the cleaning with erasers too.

The system managed to boot up once but the screen was blurry and jerky
type. after plugging and replugging the display cord, system can't
reboot anymore

Any advise. Thanks
Click to expand...

Try setting DIP switch 5 to ON for SDRAM memory - the manual that came with
the A7A266 boards wasn't quite correct in explaining the switch. Don't know
about the -E model that came out later.
Billh
 
=?ISO-8859-1?Q?=BB=A8=BA=C3=C2=FA_=D4=C2Beautiful_Flowers_Ful?=
=?ISO-8859-1?Q?l_Moon?= said:
Learned scholars,

My Athlon 1.2 system can't detect SDRAM memory.

system: Athlon1.2 Asus A7 mobo,64mb Toshiba RAM,
128mb Hynix Ram, Strawberry128mbRAM, Geforce2 MX64mb,


Actually before, everything is ok. just that as a hobbyist i tend to
help my friends with pc matters and in the course of things, i have
plug and unplug the memory modules a few times.

recently my system can't detect the RAM and i have rubbed the RAM gold
plating contacts with erasers to clear off the dirt and impurities.
after many times of inserting, system managed to detect the RaMS.

Then i got a free 128mb SDRAM and prompttly installed them on my
ssystem. the detection problem crops aup again. i have tried all the
possible combinations of RAMS positions, but still can;t work. did
the cleaning with erasers too.

The system managed to boot up once but the screen was blurry and jerky
type. after plugging and replugging the display cord, system can't
reboot anymore

Any advise. Thanks
Click to expand...

1) Do not use an eraser or other abrasive to clean the contacts on
electronics ! This will remove the 10 micron thick gold plating,
and gold is _the_ best conductor, and should not be removed.
If an assembly has dust on it, blow the dust off. If you spill
a chemical contaminant on an electronic assembly, use a
compatible solvent. Since there is so much plastic involved,
only water or ethanol/propanol are completely safe. Other solvents
can be used, but must not be applied in bulk, and must not be
allowed to touch any components - just the fiber glass board or
the contact. Just like an LCD screen, the best cleaner is
no cleaner at all.

2) Be careful when removing memory, PCI cards, AGP cards, disk drives
etc. You _must_ remove all power on the board before doing any
work. At the very least, flip the switch on the back of an ATX
computer to the "OFF" position. The easiest way to make the
computer safe to work on, is unplug the line cord, and wait
until the green "power" LED on the motherboard has stopped glowing.
Then it is safe to work.

If you've been removing components with the power on, you could
easily have fried something.

3) Your handling of components should include an awareness of
electrostatic discharge. Handle components by the edges and
not the contacts. Don't leave greasy/salty fingerprints on
contacts, as that is what ruins them in the first place.

Bring the components to a common potential before inserting
them. Use an ESD wrist strap, to bring your body and the case
of the computer to the same potential. That helps take the
risk out of inserting RAM without damaging it. A wrist strap
can be purchased at Radio Shack for $5 .

As for your problems, you need to start with a simple configuration
and add components until it stops working. From your description,
I would borrow another video card, as it sounds like you may have
damaged the video card or the AGP slot that it plugs into.

Try using only one stick of RAM, from the RAM you know is working.
At least until you solve your other problems.

Don't be afraid to consult a repair shop, as they might still be
able to fix it.

HTH,
Paul
 
Thanks guys.



=?ISO-8859-1?Q?=BB=A8=BA=C3=C2=FA_=D4=C2Beautiful_Flowers_Ful?=



1) Do not use an eraser or other abrasive to clean the contacts on
electronics ! This will remove the 10 micron thick gold plating,
and gold is _the_ best conductor, and should not be removed.
If an assembly has dust on it, blow the dust off. If you spill
a chemical contaminant on an electronic assembly, use a
compatible solvent. Since there is so much plastic involved,
only water or ethanol/propanol are completely safe. Other solvents
can be used, but must not be applied in bulk, and must not be
allowed to touch any components - just the fiber glass board or
the contact. Just like an LCD screen, the best cleaner is
no cleaner at all.

2) Be careful when removing memory, PCI cards, AGP cards, disk drives
etc. You _must_ remove all power on the board before doing any
work. At the very least, flip the switch on the back of an ATX
computer to the "OFF" position. The easiest way to make the
computer safe to work on, is unplug the line cord, and wait
until the green "power" LED on the motherboard has stopped glowing.
Then it is safe to work.

If you've been removing components with the power on, you could
easily have fried something.

3) Your handling of components should include an awareness of
electrostatic discharge. Handle components by the edges and
not the contacts. Don't leave greasy/salty fingerprints on
contacts, as that is what ruins them in the first place.

Bring the components to a common potential before inserting
them. Use an ESD wrist strap, to bring your body and the case
of the computer to the same potential. That helps take the
risk out of inserting RAM without damaging it. A wrist strap
can be purchased at Radio Shack for $5 .

As for your problems, you need to start with a simple configuration
and add components until it stops working. From your description,
I would borrow another video card, as it sounds like you may have
damaged the video card or the AGP slot that it plugs into.

Try using only one stick of RAM, from the RAM you know is working.
At least until you solve your other problems.

Don't be afraid to consult a repair shop, as they might still be
able to fix it.

HTH,
Paul
Click to expand...
 
now the beeping sound is no more after i adjusted the graphics card a
little. Then system instability came in. Sometimes it can be started
sometimes it can't. most of them time the system is on but the monitor
won't turn on. just the orange LED light is on on the monitor panel.

and when it can be started, then the hdd problems comes in. windows
file is missing. So when i tried to reinstall windows or repair win, by
booting with cdrom drive with win cd setup, the system just went into
a windows setup like usual initially but then just went on for another
reboot automatically.

Pls advise.
 
=?ISO-8859-1?Q?=BB=A8=BA=C3=C2=FA_=D4=C2Beautiful_Flowers_Ful?=
=?ISO-8859-1?Q?l_Moon?= said:
now the beeping sound is no more after i adjusted the graphics card a
little. Then system instability came in. Sometimes it can be started
sometimes it can't. most of them time the system is on but the monitor
won't turn on. just the orange LED light is on on the monitor panel.

and when it can be started, then the hdd problems comes in. windows
file is missing. So when i tried to reinstall windows or repair win, by
booting with cdrom drive with win cd setup, the system just went into
a windows setup like usual initially but then just went on for another
reboot automatically.

Pls advise.
Click to expand...

You seem to have an awful lot of problems, all at the same time.
I wonder if the problem is with the power supply ? Have you
ever looked in the BIOS screen called "Hardware Monitor" ?
Check the voltages listed there - they should be within about
5% of the correct value.

Another thing to examine, is the tall cylinders on the motherboard
called capacitors. They sometimes have the letter K or an X stamped
in the top of the cylinder. Are the tops of the capacitors bulging,
instead of being flat ? Is there a brownish discharge at the base
of the capacitor, where it meets the motherboard ?

Here are pictures of bulging capacitors:

http://motherboardrepair.com/images/BE6II_bad_caps_1.jpg
http://motherboardrepair.com/images/BadCaps3.jpg

If you have a capacitor problem, Homie, the author of this
web site, repairs boards by replacing the capacitors. Homie
hangs out in the Abit newsgroup.

http://motherboardrepair.com/

HTH,
Paul
 
»¨ºÃÂú ÔÂBeautiful Flowers Full Moon said:
now the beeping sound is no more after i adjusted the graphics card a
little. Then system instability came in. Sometimes it can be started
sometimes it can't. most of them time the system is on but the monitor
won't turn on. just the orange LED light is on on the monitor panel.

and when it can be started, then the hdd problems comes in. windows
file is missing. So when i tried to reinstall windows or repair win, by
booting with cdrom drive with win cd setup, the system just went into
a windows setup like usual initially but then just went on for another
reboot automatically.

Pls advise.
Click to expand...

Make sure you have System Acceleration in the BIOS turned off.
Billh
 
<snip>
Actually gold is not the best conductor (a common misconception).
Copper and silver are actually better. The benefit of gold is that is
will not corrode, unlike the others. This will lead to more consistent
conductance over time.

thanks,
 
"LJB" said:
<snip>
Actually gold is not the best conductor (a common misconception).
Copper and silver are actually better. The benefit of gold is that is
will not corrode, unlike the others. This will lead to more consistent
conductance over time.
Click to expand...

How embarrassing. You are correct. Go ahead and grind it off :-)
From my copy of the CRC Handbook "Properties of Metals As Conductors"

Metal Resistivity microohm-centimeters
Nichrome 100
Lead 22
Tin 11.5
Iron 10
Aluminum 2.8
Gold 2.44
Copper 1.77 (drawn wire)
Silver 1.59
 
the problem turns out to be a buggy memory slot 2. After I had used up
slot 1 and 3 with SDRAM, the pc is working fine now,

Thanks for your advise.
 
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