Wobblestone
Member
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2023
- Messages
- 29
Hi,
I had to post this. Although for the experienced guys here, this might not even be worth posting.
Surprisingly I did not find much about this, so maybe it might help others to do a very easy fix on a retro mainboard.
What was the problem?
The other day I pulled out my trusty working testbench, since I had to check out some ISA cards. This testbench consists of a mainboard with a Pentium CPU. The mainboard doesn't matter, but for sake of completeness it is a Soyo SY-5VA.
One day before I have removed the clock chip, which was a Dallas, on which I already soldered a new CR2032.
I switched it on and... it did not boot. The post card stopped at post code 07. The previous sequence was C0 - C1 - C6 - 0C - C3 (for some seconds) - C5 - <too fast to follow> - 06 - 07.
There it stopped. No beeps, nada.
Ok, out with the RAM. It almost instantly stopped, and beeped. Ok, thoses beeps indicate no RAM.
Then I gave up, I was in a hurry and no time for that shit.
Today I pulled out that thing again. And it instantly hit me.... I removed the clock chip. An IBM PS/2 SX55 with 386SX, which I serviced some weeks ago, did not boot at all without a clock chip. After inserting the Dallas (without new battery on it), it at least booted. The same with the Commodore PC40 with 80286.
Ok, in with the clock chip - and it again booted into DOS
Conclusion: If you have an old mainboard which used to work fine, and you've removed the clock chip, it seems to be very likely, that it will not boot! Insert again the clock chip - and it doesn't matter if the battery is good or not - and it should work again.
I had to post this. Although for the experienced guys here, this might not even be worth posting.
Surprisingly I did not find much about this, so maybe it might help others to do a very easy fix on a retro mainboard.
What was the problem?
The other day I pulled out my trusty working testbench, since I had to check out some ISA cards. This testbench consists of a mainboard with a Pentium CPU. The mainboard doesn't matter, but for sake of completeness it is a Soyo SY-5VA.
One day before I have removed the clock chip, which was a Dallas, on which I already soldered a new CR2032.
I switched it on and... it did not boot. The post card stopped at post code 07. The previous sequence was C0 - C1 - C6 - 0C - C3 (for some seconds) - C5 - <too fast to follow> - 06 - 07.
There it stopped. No beeps, nada.
Ok, out with the RAM. It almost instantly stopped, and beeped. Ok, thoses beeps indicate no RAM.
Then I gave up, I was in a hurry and no time for that shit.
Today I pulled out that thing again. And it instantly hit me.... I removed the clock chip. An IBM PS/2 SX55 with 386SX, which I serviced some weeks ago, did not boot at all without a clock chip. After inserting the Dallas (without new battery on it), it at least booted. The same with the Commodore PC40 with 80286.
Ok, in with the clock chip - and it again booted into DOS
Conclusion: If you have an old mainboard which used to work fine, and you've removed the clock chip, it seems to be very likely, that it will not boot! Insert again the clock chip - and it doesn't matter if the battery is good or not - and it should work again.