Dualie Down

[mmonnin]

I have had a K7D Master L folding for me with some modded AXPs for awhile now but one day I noticed it was frozen. I went to reboot it but it wouldnt post. I didnt have time to look into it right away but last weekend I tested the RAM and Video card from another machine that I know were good but I couldnt get it to boot.

So it leads me to believe that either both of the CPUs are dead or the motherboard is dead. I took out each CPU and left one in and it didnt work. I moved CPU 2 to the other socket were CPU 1 resided and that was a no go as well.

So as if right now I cant test it further as its a dual CPU setup. Its put away in a box atm. :(

So thats ~4ghz of folding power that has been down for awhile that I would like to have back.

But I got my other Athlon machine up and running today after the OS got borked. Thats 2+ ghz back and folding.

I just wish I had someway to test the dualie cause I am not going to buy another MB to find it out it was the CPUs. Would anyone be willing to test it on one of their known good setups if I paid for shipping to and from?

[Leonardo]

Have you ruled out the power supply unit? It's got to either be the PSU or the motherboard. There is just no way that two CPUs could fail at the same time, unless there was just a huge, I mean huge power spike to the board, in which case probably all the other components would have given up the ghost at the same time.

Have you done the standard motherboard troubleshooting step of trying to run the board outside of the case?

[mmonnin]

It was never in a case. It has been running outside of a case for 1-2 years or something.

PSU turns on by itself via bridging the green and a ground wire. The fans spin and stuff but no post. No beeps either if I remember right.

[Leonardo]

It was never in a case. Ah, then we have a new troubleshooting step: if the motherboard is sitting on a box or table, disconnect all components except...place insida a computer case....to test for grounding problems. Wait..hmm....something's wrong with this scenario.

Concerning the problem. Those exact same symptoms will exhibit if you try to POST without RAM. But your RAM should be good. Let's see - you also tested known good video with the board. I just can't think of anything other than the motherboard or PSU. But if it powers on, just won't POST, then it sounds more like the board.

[mmonnin]

Exactly, thats where I am stuck. I didnt think it would be both CPUs but I cant 100% rule them out. Thus why I put it away in a box. /cry

[shwaip]

can't you test the cpus in a single proc mobo?

[Esso]

If the PSU is okay, i.e. it will powerup when you hit the switch ... but the mobo will not boot at all.

It might or might not startup.

Then investigate if the capacitors near the CPU's are bad, i.e. bulges on the top and leaking. (http://cquirke.mvps.org/badcaps.htm)

http://news.com.com/PCs+plagued+by+bad+capacitors/2100-1041_3-5942647.html
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=195

If they are bad you have to replace them with new ones, I managed to fix one MSI mobo with two P3 933 MHz.

~30 USD getting new capacitors for your board.

MSI are now in class action lawsuit, about this problem.
http://www.neoseeker.com/news/story/3602/


Note, Capacitors has lifespan of 2000-5000 hours.
http://nepp.nasa.gov/eeelinks/February2002/Reverse_Bias_Behavior.htm

[mmonnin]

can't you test the cpus in a single proc mobo?

Can you take a CPU modded for dual CPU opperation and put it into a single CPU board and it still work.

I have never heard of leaking caps in a MSI K7D Master L. It wouldnt be the best Dual AXP board if that were the case.

[Esso]

Well ...
http://badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=184

Also note that capacitors has an lifespan of 2000-3000 hours, they will eventually dye.
Like all of us. :p

Edit,
I didn't know that places like - badcaps.net- exists
What will they think of next ? ;)

[profdlp]

It doesn't sound good, but you might try resetting the BIOS and see if you get lucky.

[shwaip]

Can you take a CPU modded for dual CPU opperation and put it into a single CPU board and it still work.

I have never heard of leaking caps in a MSI K7D Master L. It wouldnt be the best Dual AXP board if that were the case.

I ran a real MP in a epox 8k3a+ for a long time. I assume it wouldn't be any different for a modded.

[mmonnin]

Checked and all the caps look ok.

Reset the BIOS several times.

Gona try to putting the CPUs in a different board another time. I will be pretty busy this week. I have a third interview with Micron (yes the RAM chip manufacture) next week that I need to prepare for. :)