Trouble with Powerleap CPU adapter and Asus P2B rev 1.02: Please help!

[Alex Zambelli]

I fully agree with the suggestions so far, i.e. most likely to be power
or memory problems. I have two suggestions beyond those already made:

- Make sure the Powerleap adapter is on a dedicated feed from the power
supply, no other devices on the same cable run.

Yep! It has its own feed. I assigned the feeds as follows:
1. DVD-RW with the CD-RW
2. Primary HDD with the FDD
3. Secondary HDD with the case fan
4. Powerleap all alone

- Get memtest86, but run *all* tests, not just the standard ones, and
run it for at least 24 hours. If memtest finds errors, try backing off
to CL3 timing and/or remove the no-name stick and test with just the Micron.

That sounds like solid advice. I will take a week to install the
soon-to-arrive Radeon 9500 Pro on my solid PIII-800 system. If all
goes well, I will go back to attempting the Powerleap upgrade. I will
follow your advice.

 

[Alex Zambelli]

Sorry I can't help, but maybe you can help me

I thought the p3 800 were 1.65 volts - how can you run
this in old p2b? Thanks

All you need is a slocket adapter. Set the voltage to 1.8V (as low
as it'll go). The CPU will simply be running at 0.15V higher than
usual, but that shouldn't be a problem as long as you have a good
heatsink and fan. In fact, it allows for good overclocking.

 

[BoB]

What should I be looking for? How can I recognize a bad memory stick
based on CAS values?

Think about it, mismatched memory, errors, etc are all no-no's!
NO-name stick's don't usually have cas2 at pc133, and have errors in the spd
code! I would never pair it with micron cas2. I got some
256 meg sticks of cas 2 crucial for 40$ shipped over a year ago,
great stuff/deal. Wish I had bought more!

 

[no_one]

I have a pair of P2B systems that both run with the Powerleap adapter; a 1.3
and a 1.4 Celeron. I did have a problem with one of the systems recently.
I was getting intermittent hangups and boot fails. I strated swapping
EVERYTHING including going back to the original slot 1 processor. I even
changed power supplies. I finally concluded that the MB itself had gone
south and replaced it with a junker that I had in the closet. It could be
the infamous capacitor problem that I had been reading about. I might get
around to getting the caps changed, but I also might move into a P4 based
system next time around.

 

[David Maynard]

Some Powerleap users had reported that it made a difference, so I
tried.

I over stated the case. If the motherboard jumpers only pull down the BSEL
lines (possible but not common) then conflicting slotket jumpers could have
an undesirable effect but you'd know right off because it would try to run
133 MHz FSB. However, if it came up at the right FSB it shouldn't cause any
instability because those lines are only sampled at startup. Well, SUPPOSED
to be sampled only then.

The proper way is to decide which one you want to be 'in control' and leave
the other on auto.

Same as above. One guy claimed that this alone caused his computer
to crash randomly. I was hoping it would work for me too.

Well, as the saying goes, I suppose anything is possible but I tend to
suspect that the other user misdiagnosed what the real problem was. It's
easy enough to do: e.g. "Oh yeah, I forgot that I also changed bla-bla at
the same time."

Don't get me wrong. You did the right thing because it sure can't hurt to
try even if one thinks "that can't be it." I would too.

This is all good advice.




I didn't notice a difference between running with and without the
plastic case, but it's entirely possible that this is the same case.
In fact, it could be that vibrations are causing the CPU to jiggle and
lose contact temporarily. I'll look into it.

I didn't notice any difference either (mine was worse in that it wouldn't
even light up). Nor with three other slotkets and processors I tried. I was
about to decide the motherboard was dead, which was what I fully expected
to begin with, when, as luck would have it, the thing suddenly lit up on
one try. As Dr. Frankenstein exclaimed, "It's ALIVE!" Searching for 'what
the heck is loose?' led me on a merry chase till I finally nailed it down
to the slot-1 connector.

 

[P2B]

I'm jealous. It's stories like yours that give me hope that this
CAN work. I just need to figure out what the one thing that's causing
the instability is.




Actually, funny enough, up until a month ago I was running this same
system (with PIII-800, though) on a generic 250W PSU! I upgraded to
the Enermax just recently in order to get more power on the +12V rail
in anticipation of a more powerful video card I plan to buy (ATI
Radeon 9500 Pro, namely). So this whole time not only did I have no
problem running all these peripherals on a 300W supply, but on a 250W
supply as well! I find it really hard to believe that the Powerleap
adapter would suck up so much additional power to make the system
unstable. If that were the case, Powerleap people would probably warn
about it since their product is aimed at really old systems anyway
that have no plans for PSU upgrades.

I ran my dual P2B-DS system with PIII-1Ghz processors and a raft of SCSI
optical and hard drives on a generic 250W PSU with no problems - until
the day the PSU refused to turn on again after I powered down to clean
the fan filters.

I replaced it with a 350W Enermax - which also works fine, but
Motherboard Monitor reports all voltage rails drifting up and down *way*
more than they used to.

If you still have that generic 250W PSU kicking around, it might be
worth trying it to see if the symptoms change at all...

 

[P2B]

Agreed. Thus my confusion.




Actually, I think the Powerleap adapter (and thus the CPU) feeds
entirely on the 12V rail since that's what it's connected to.

In fact it's connected to the 5V and 12V rails. 12V is used as the power
supply for the regulator chip (minimal current), which (in conjunction
with the FETs and associated components) regulates the 5V rail down to
the required CPU Vcore - thus the Powerleap places a significant load on
the 5v rail.

I even

 

[P2B]

I over stated the case. If the motherboard jumpers only pull down the
BSEL lines (possible but not common) then conflicting slotket jumpers
could have an undesirable effect but you'd know right off because it
would try to run 133 MHz FSB. However, if it came up at the right FSB it
shouldn't cause any instability because those lines are only sampled at
startup. Well, SUPPOSED to be sampled only then.

The proper way is to decide which one you want to be 'in control' and
leave the other on auto.




Well, as the saying goes, I suppose anything is possible but I tend to
suspect that the other user misdiagnosed what the real problem was. It's
easy enough to do: e.g. "Oh yeah, I forgot that I also changed bla-bla
at the same time."

Don't get me wrong. You did the right thing because it sure can't hurt
to try even if one thinks "that can't be it." I would too.




I didn't notice any difference either (mine was worse in that it
wouldn't even light up). Nor with three other slotkets and processors I
tried. I was about to decide the motherboard was dead, which was what I
fully expected to begin with, when, as luck would have it, the thing
suddenly lit up on one try. As Dr. Frankenstein exclaimed, "It's ALIVE!"
Searching for 'what the heck is loose?' led me on a merry chase till I
finally nailed it down to the slot-1 connector.

Yup, those Slot-1 connectors can certainly be a hassle, especially on a
board that's been through many CPU insertion/extraction cycles. However,
in my experience, once you get the thing to post it rarely causes
ongoing problems (assuming a retention mechanism is used) - but if that
*is* the OPs problem, a judicious slap upside the case while the system
is running should freeze it promptly.

 

[David Maynard]

Yup, those Slot-1 connectors can certainly be a hassle, especially on a
board that's been through many CPU insertion/extraction cycles. However,
in my experience, once you get the thing to post it rarely causes
ongoing problems (assuming a retention mechanism is used)

Yeah. That was my experience too, till this one. On that first light up I
went to putting the cards back in but just that was enough to break it
again. Of course, one then thinks that, well hell, one of these cards might
be a problem but taking them back out didn't let it run even though it just
had. Like I said, a merry chase till I nailed it down.

- but if that
*is* the OPs problem, a judicious slap upside the case while the system
is running should freeze it promptly.

Yep. Probably would, as long as it's enough to get transmitted to the
motherboard.

 

[Alex Zambelli]

I ran my dual P2B-DS system with PIII-1Ghz processors and a raft of SCSI
optical and hard drives on a generic 250W PSU with no problems - until
the day the PSU refused to turn on again after I powered down to clean
the fan filters.

I replaced it with a 350W Enermax - which also works fine, but
Motherboard Monitor reports all voltage rails drifting up and down *way*
more than they used to.

If you still have that generic 250W PSU kicking around, it might be
worth trying it to see if the symptoms change at all...

I still have it, but it's probably not worth it. In my original post
I mention that this is my 2nd attempt at trying to get the Powerleap
adapter to work. Indeed, when I tried it first about 6 months ago with
a 1.4GHz Celeron I used the old 250W PSU and ran into pretty much the
same symptoms as this time around. This is one of the reasons I don't
believe the PSU is the culprit at all. I simply find it hard to
believe that upgrading from a generic 250W to a quality 300W PSU would
not fix the problem, if there ever was one.

I don't see too much of a difference in voltages between the two
PSUs. This is what Hardware Sensors Monitor shows me (aprox. range
indicated):
+12V: 11.92V ~ 12.04V
-12V: 12.18V ~ 12.29V
+5V: 4.92V ~ 4.95V
-5V: 5.11V ~ 5.18V
I/O: 3.39V ~ 3.41V

 

[Alex Zambelli]

Yup, those Slot-1 connectors can certainly be a hassle, especially on a
board that's been through many CPU insertion/extraction cycles. However,
in my experience, once you get the thing to post it rarely causes
ongoing problems (assuming a retention mechanism is used) - but if that
*is* the OPs problem, a judicious slap upside the case while the system
is running should freeze it promptly.

Oh, at this point I'll be more than glad to slap this computer upside its case.

 

[Mike Tomlinson]

[snip problems with reliability on P2B & Tualatin Celeron]

Some suggestions:

1. Try a basic video card. Does your P2B generate its own 3.3v
onboard, or does it use the one provided by the PSU?

2. Differences with the Tualatin are not just in the core voltage; IIRC
the I/O voltages are different too. I don't know if the PowerLeap
adapter addresses the I/O voltage differences, and their website is
silent on this.

As another poster suggested, you could install a first-generation 1.0 or
1.1GHz Celeron; this is Coppermine technology and should work okay. It
won't be as quick as a 1.4GHz Tualatin, but an unreliable PC is just as
bad as no PC at all, IMO.

3. Try removing the no-name memory stick and run with the two Micron
DIMMs for a while.

 

[P2B]

[snip problems with reliability on P2B & Tualatin Celeron]

Some suggestions:

1. Try a basic video card. Does your P2B generate its own 3.3v
onboard, or does it use the one provided by the PSU?

Both. 3.3v is re-regulated onboard to supply the RAM. I *think* the
video card uses 3.3v direct from the PSU. In any case, the OP changed
CPU only, which should not affect the load placed on the 3.3v rail.

2. Differences with the Tualatin are not just in the core voltage; IIRC
the I/O voltages are different too. I don't know if the PowerLeap
adapter addresses the I/O voltage differences, and their website is
silent on this.

The Powerleap adapter does not address the I/O voltage difference - if
it did, the chipset and CPU would be using a different I/O voltage
reference, which would be unlikely to work. More details on my P2B mod site:

http://tipperlinne.com/p2b-dsvtt.htm

The modification I describe there reduces the motherboard's I/O voltage
to a compromise between AGTL+ and AGTL voltages, but this is done purely
to reduce the possibility of processor damage - extensive testing has
shown it has no effect on the stability of Tualatin processors on P2B
series boards.

As another poster suggested, you could install a first-generation 1.0 or
1.1GHz Celeron; this is Coppermine technology and should work okay. It
won't be as quick as a 1.4GHz Tualatin, but an unreliable PC is just as
bad as no PC at all, IMO.

Certainly, but many of us are running Tualatin processors on P2B series
boards using a variety of adapters (including Powerleap) without
stability issues. The combination is not inherently unstable, so the
OP's problem *should* be solvable.

 

[pcguy65]

www.newwaveupgrades.com

 

[Alex Zambelli]

www.newwaveupgrades.com

I warned about this in my original post: the P2B rev 1.02 can't
supply low enough voltage to the CPU and thus a special slocket
adapter is required to make Tualatins (1.65V) work on a rev 1.02
board. To my knowledge, the only company that makes such adapters is
Powerleap.

The New Wave website says their adapters only work on "P2B PCB Rev
1.10 or above". Also, "Your Motherboard must support 1.3 Volts to 2.05
Volts. Your system must be able to run at 100 MHZ FSB for Celeron, and
133MHZ for Pentium III. As long as these specs are met, it should run
fine."