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i have narrowed the issue with the motherbaord in the previous post to a corrupted BIOS. now i desprately need a new BIOS chip: Award PCI/PNP 686 please help will just the same BIOS chip work or does it need to be another one from the same mobo?? thanx!
I drive an awesome 1972 Trans Am 455 Super Duty that gets about 8-10mpg, but thats a small price to pay for such awesomeness.
Assuming that is the problem, are you sure the bios is on a chip that's not soldered to the motherboard? If it is socketed and not soldered you may be able to order a preprogrammed bios chip for that motherboard. It has to match that particular motherboard. It's not something you can find at your local electronics shop.
Or if you have another working motherboard of the same model you can try a 'hot swap'. There's some info in this previous thread:
http://www.computing.net/hardware/wwwboard/forum/38564.html
But with the symptoms you describe in the previous thread I don't think you can be certain the bios is the problem. Try reseating the RAM and cpu, verify the motherboard jumpers are in the correct position and disconnect all the drives and remove all the cards except video. Then see if you get a posting screen.
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http://cgi.ebay.com/CW35-S-DFI-ATX-pga370-Baby-AT-motherboard-w-466-Mhz-CPU_W0QQitemZ6829123416QQcategoryZ4614QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem This is the only DFI motherboard I could find.Probably cheaper than chasing down bios for older motherboard.
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it wont even POST, jam. It beeps and seeks a floppy disk IMMEDIATELY after being turned on, i am assuming so it can re-flash itself. however i downloaded the .bin file for this exact BIOS, put it on a floppy, and turn the system on with the floppy in. it sat there reading that floppy drive for 5 mins or so (by reading i mean i could actually hear it doing something), then sat with the floppy light on for two hours or so but not making any of the inherent floppy drive access noises and not beeping or anything. so i figured it simply would not re-flash and turned it off. next time i turned it on it looked for a floppy disk immediately again. i pulled out a brand new disk, copied the .bin file, and let it boot with it again. the same result. tried 3 more times all with same result. what else can i do to re-flash it??? i think there probably isnt much left to do but replace the BIOS chip or the entire mobo.
I drive an awesome 1972 Trans Am 455 Super Duty that gets about 8-10mpg, but thats a small price to pay for such awesomeness.
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It's not going to boot from any drive if it's not even getting to the posting screen.
Did you try what I recommended in #1 above in the last paragraph?
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i am telling you, it SEEKS a floppy disk. and beeps up a strom if there is none present. i have reseated everything and uplugged all non-essentials. nothing else to try.
I drive an awesome 1972 Trans Am 455 Super Duty that gets about 8-10mpg, but thats a small price to pay for such awesomeness.
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It won't seek a floppy disk if all the drives are disconnected.
If it it actually seems to be doing things normally but you just can't get anything on the screen then there must be a problem with the video card and/or monitor. Reseat the card, put it in another slot or try a different card. Try the monitor on another PC to make sure it's good.
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when i disconnect the floppy drive, it beeps like crazy at me and wont stop. with the floppy CONNECTED it beeps twice and starts accessing it. it is not a video card issue the monitor is known working and video card was replaced to know effect. furthermore, the none of the "* lock" keys on the keyboard respond at all. it is not POSTing at all, i am sure. no keyboard response, not the typical single reasuring beep that tells you everything okay (inherent with Award BIOS), nothing but IMMEDIATE (literally 3 secs after power-on, not the normal 10 or so it takes to count memory, detect hard drives, etc.) floppy drive seeking if it is connected, and a never-ending complaint of short loud quick beeps if it is not connected.
I drive an awesome 1972 Trans Am 455 Super Duty that gets about 8-10mpg, but thats a small price to pay for such awesomeness.
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The bios does not attempt to access the floppy drive until until the memory scan and HD detection is complete. It will not access the floppy drive at all if it's not even posting.
But what you haven't confirmed yet--have you disconnected ALL the drives and removed ALL the cards except video? Have you reseated the cpu and RAM?
Have you checked someplace like here to attempt to decipher the beeps?
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yes i have disconnected everything ide fdd all memory sticks but main one, all other cards except video, etc. the beep codes it is throwing at me are not listed anywhere on the web, i spent nearly an hour searching.
I drive an awesome 1972 Trans Am 455 Super Duty that gets about 8-10mpg, but thats a small price to pay for such awesomeness.
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I'm not sure what's going on then. Possibly could the motherboard be shorting against the case? Otherwise I guess it must be the motherboard or bios as that's all that's left.
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i didnt think of a mobo against case short. hmmm...
I drive an awesome 1972 Trans Am 455 Super Duty that gets about 8-10mpg, but thats a small price to pay for such awesomeness.
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It happens. I didn't consider it likely since I didn't think you removed the motherboard. Sometimes a screw will fall on the motherboard that you don't notice. I've often had to turn a case upside down and shake it to dislodge it. Unfortunately a loose screw or motherboard short can cause permanent damage.
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It sounds as though the BIOS is corrupt, but the boot block is still intact. You need to prepare a special boot block flash disk in order get it to flash. Try this. Where he says "text editor" he means a program like Notepad. That is, open the Autoexec.bat on the floppy you have prepared with Notepad, and add the lines as outlined in that article. Give it a try, it's worth a shot.
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