Hi all, i'm not sure if this is going in the right forum but hopefully someone will be able to correct me if wrong. I have a problem and really hope someone can help an amateur like me solve it.

We have an old computer in our house as you'll be able to tell from the specs! Nonetheless it works and does the job for my younger siblings. Unfortunately the motherboard on the computer recently messed up so i was given an equally ancient one by my Aunt to install. It is an ASUS P/1 P55T2P4.

Now i'm no computer expert by any stretch of the imagination. I know what RAM and processors are and where PCI and ISA slots are but don't pretend to know anymore than that! I can usually hook up the components of a computer to the mobo without difficulty too...but not this time.

I am trying to simply use my hard drives and all my old computer equipment on the 'new' ASUS motherboard. They're both Socket 7 boards so i didn't think there'd be a problem. But here's the catch: Whenever i hook up the IDE cable the computer won't boot. It won't even go into BIOS when there's no hard drive connected because the board doesn't have a battery! It's like the hard drives switch on but after roughly 5 seconds the computer monitor shuts off as though there's nothing happening. So what is the issue here? It's not a bad cable because i tried it on my good computer (the one i'm using now).

A nagging doubt at the back of my mind is something about SCSI...don't know anything about it. But could it affect whether the motherboard works?

Please give me advice on this. If it's any help i did discover the manual in this thread:

http://www.computing.net/windows95/wwwboard/forum/143086.html

Thankyou!!

SCSI is another hard drive interface like IDE, but I don't think the motherboard should have that problem if the cable fits on the hard drive to the motherboard. However, try replacing the powersupply with one that has a higher wattage, it sounds like the motherboard detects that there is not enough power and is automatically switching itself off. Of course, I may be wrong. It would also be good to stick a battery in there, too. While it does not affect the computer very much, I think you would be less frustrated if you didn't have to re-enter and keep saving the BIOS/CMOS setttings.

Hope this helps.

Hi Sarah, thanks for the reply.

When i say there isn't a battery on the motherboard, i mean that there is literally no space for one. It must never have had one because there is quite simply nowhere it would go. I guess some of the guys with experience on these older boards would be able to explain that one away.

The power supply suggestions sounds a good call but unless it's just a case of altering the jumper settings i'm afraid it'll be a bit beyond my scope.

Thanks again for the reply, much appreciated!

Okay, you're welcome. I'm sure other guys will see your post soon, though looking through the install guides, i found this:

http://www.build.windowsreinstall.com/how_to_build_a_pc_part3.htm

It says that the powersupply is usually held in by a couple of screws. It is a box thing and any of the 2 back corners of your computer. It is the same box in which you plug in the power cord into. Remove it and replace it with a newer one, and screw it back in, and plug in all the appropriate power cords. No problem really.

Another thing before you go and replace the powersupply: it may be the motherboard that is bad or faulty. If you can boot-up fine without the hard drive being powered-up or connected, then i think it's the powersupply. If not, i think that it's a faulty motherboard.

Other guys help me on this if I'm wrong or misleading this guy with his old PC.

ftp://ftp.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/sock7/430hx/xp55t2p4/xp55t2p4-300.pdf

I looked up the manual and according to it, there should be a conventional "coin" battery near the front of the board, in line with where the PCI slots begin, and the ISA slots stop, there is none there?

Have you read the manual?

Are you saying you can't enter the bios at all?

Page 9 of the manual shows the bios/clear jumper, JP17

You MUST get the bios thing straightened out first, look for that battery.

Clear the bios.

IF that does not work, then assume one of two things:

either an IRQ conflict, or

an electical failure of some kind.

CLEAR THE BIOS FIRST.

If it won't boot then, SIMPLIFY the problem.

Start out with ONLY

the motherboard, cpu, and ram

A video card (if not onboard) and monitor

Keyboard and power supply.

THAT'S IT

NO mouse, drives, floppy, or CDROM

Now see if it will boot to the setup/bios/cmos

IF IT WILL NOT

Try to find another video card, and make sure you have no other periphials cards or devices hooked up.

Try another power supply.

ARE YOU SURE you put the thing in the case right? Could there be an unused METAL standoff from the old installation "shorting" the underside?

TRY TAKING IT OUT of the case, lay it on a "safe" table.

When you get that working, install JUST the floppy drive, and get that to boot.

Last, you should be able to go ahead and install the CDROM and hdd's and configure the bios.

Fantastic tips guys, thanks! I won't get chance to start on it again until later today but if i get it working i will let you know and give you my unswerving gratitude!

I have a Asus P/I-P55T2P4 sitting in front of me and mine has a battery on it. It is directly in front of ISA slot 1 (Toward the front of the MoBo) It is called a Self-powered RealTime Clock in the manual. It has an alarm clock on it and looks like an IC chip. Also has Dallas Real Time clock written on it. If your's does not have one of these, someone must have taken it off. Anyway this is what maintains your BIOS Setup settings if you have one. It does not look like a battery but it certainly is.

PuterdudeA1