PC Chips M825LU Wont Power On

[Avi Norowitz]

I have two identical PC Chips M825LU motherboards that I cannot get to
work. The CPU is an Athlon XP 1900+ and the memory is a 256MB DDR. I
have tested both the CPU and memory on a PC Chips M810D motherboard in
the same case, and have ensured they are in working condition. I have
the ATX power cord, the case power switch, the internal speaker, the
CPU, and the memory connected to the motherboard. The first time, the
motherboards will power on and then off 5 seconds later. After that,
the motherboards will not turn on at all. I have to clear the CMOS by
setting a jumper on the motherboard in order for it to power on again.
However, it then powers off after 5 seconds once again. If I remove
the CPUs the computer will power on and stay on, but of course nothing
will work.

I cannot think of what the problem could be. It seems unlikely that
both of the motherboards would be defective. It could be a
compatibility problem, but I can't see what could be incompatible.
Everything worked fine with the M810D. I've also tried some SDRAM I
had, but even if there was a problem with the memory, I'd at least
expect a CMOS beep code. I would appreciate if anyone could give me
ideas of what could be the problem.

Thanks.

 

[mdp]

There's a BIOS patch, depending on what PCB version you have, that addresses a power on issue: I copied the following:
------------------------------------------------------
Model name : M825U \M825LU v3.1 \M825LU V7.2A \M825LU V7.2C

file name:030811S.rom
check sum:090F h
1.Support AMD Duron CPU 1400,1600,1800

file name: 030513S.rom
check sum: 49ED h
1.To set 32Bit Mode default setting is "ON" in Standard CMOS Setup when "Load Best Performance".
..Fixed system would be lagged when plugging USB20 HDD in WIN98SE
3.Support PMC 39F020 5V 256K flash part
4.Fixed system hung up in Windows XP when printer set to be "Disabled" in Features Setup.

file name: 030320S.ROM
check sum: A418h
1.Support AMD Barton/Thorton CPU

file name: 030212S.ROM
check sum: 4333h
1.Patch code for Auto power on issue

file name: 030127S.ROM
check sum: 3B68h
1.Fixed system can't resume from S4 with USB devices in Win 2000.

file name: 030113S.ROM
check sum: D049h
1.Setting "USB controller" to be "Enabled" when load best performance in CMOS Setup Menu

file name: 021227S.ROM
check sum: A4A7h
1.Fixed sometimes USB Keyboard can't work properly during POST
2.Support GAME port Auto detection
3.Adjust timing for stability and compatibility

file name: 021211S.ROM
check sum: D18Eh
1.Fixed install Linux fail

file name: 021205S.ROM
check sum: 1CCEh
1.First release

All trademarks are properties of their respective holders. Intel® , Pentium® are owned by Intel. SiS® is owned by SiS. VIA® is owned
by Via.

 

[Avi Norowitz]

Thank you for the response. However, I don't see how I can apply a
BIOS patch without first being able to successfully turn on the
computer.

 

[mdp]

It sounds like it's turning itself off because it's thinking it's too hot or the CPU fan is not connected. Are you sure the CPU fan
is on the CPU fan header and the fan is on correctly?

 

[kony]

I have two identical PC Chips M825LU motherboards that I cannot get to
work. The CPU is an Athlon XP 1900+ and the memory is a 256MB DDR. I
have tested both the CPU and memory on a PC Chips M810D motherboard in
the same case, and have ensured they are in working condition. I have
the ATX power cord, the case power switch, the internal speaker, the
CPU, and the memory connected to the motherboard. The first time, the
motherboards will power on and then off 5 seconds later. After that,
the motherboards will not turn on at all. I have to clear the CMOS by
setting a jumper on the motherboard in order for it to power on again.
However, it then powers off after 5 seconds once again. If I remove
the CPUs the computer will power on and stay on, but of course nothing
will work.

I cannot think of what the problem could be. It seems unlikely that
both of the motherboards would be defective. It could be a
compatibility problem, but I can't see what could be incompatible.
Everything worked fine with the M810D. I've also tried some SDRAM I
had, but even if there was a problem with the memory, I'd at least
expect a CMOS beep code. I would appreciate if anyone could give me
ideas of what could be the problem.

Thanks.

I just took a look at a rev 3.1 M825LU manual and see it has a jumper
for 100/133 FSB, JP3 near the socket. Try setting that to 100MHz and
see what happens, maybe leave there long enough to flash the bios IF
the board seems stable enough to do so.

If you have any USB peripherals plugged in, try unplugging them...
PCChips boards can have all sorts of odd quirks, bugs in the BIOS. As
another poster mentioned try unplugging the fan(s) from the
motherboard headers if they supply RPM signals (plug into a power
supply adapter or only run the system long enough to see if doing
without the fan overcomes that aforementioend 5-second shutdown), or
if they don't, try sourcing a fan that does supply RPM signal and
attach that to the CPU fan header.

I suppose it goes without saying to check the heastink to verify that
it's properly installed, well-seated, nothing on the board is
preventing that... sometimes harder to see if it's in the case
already. You might also try another power supply if the same was used
for all testing.

Also if it's in a case already you might pull it and verify that you
don't have extra studs installed, shorting the back of the board. If
you're testing the board on one of those plastic static-bags, don't,
their exterior conducts electricity.

If you haven't yet strip the system down to bare minimums, CPU,
memory, video card, and try with/without a fan with RPM signal... no
keyboard or mouse, drives, etc, are needed at this point, then short
the power-on pins to start it or keep the power switch attached for
this purpose.

I have not used that particular board but others with same chipset are
pretty forgiving of low-quality memory, i doubt the memory is the
problem (unless defective which you seem to have ruled out by use in
another board) and would suggest you keep trying with any DDR (since
it's a better solution for the video performance).

When you clear the CMOS be sure that either the board is unplugged
from the power supply, or the power supply from AC. You might even
try pulling the battery just prior to clearing CMOS. Some slightly
older PCChips boards I've seen had really odd bugs about CPU support,
in that a board would somehow scramble it's bios if it had a different
CPU plugged in, so clearing CMOS didn't help and i eventually pulled
the EEPROM and flashed off the board, and make a second EEPROM too,
one with earliest bios and one with last... each bios would work with
some CPUs but not others, very odd since it didn't correspond to the
newer bios being the one that worked with the newer CPU in all cases.

If any or all of the above dont' work it may be time to give up on
these boards, from my experiences they may not have much of a lifespan
anyway so you might get 'em working then have two dead boards (or
upset customers) a year later.


Dave

 

[Avi Norowitz]

Thanks! Your guess was correct. When I put the heatsink and fan on the
CPU, the power remained on. I previously assumed that overheating was
not the problem, since it would not turn on at all even with the fan.
Clearing the CMOS allowed the computer to turn on and off a few
seconds later. However, this was after I already removed the heatsink
and fan. (I was trying to reseat the CPU to see if it would resolve
the problem.)

Nevertheless, the computer still is not working. While the power
remains on, nothing appears on the monitor. The Scroll Lock light on
the keyboard remains half-lit. This is still the same with both
motherboards.

In any case, I am happy to be making progress. I very much appreciate
your helpful response.