SM 20 Help

gtghm

Boy am I starting to feel like a complete idiot!...

I got the ram today to complete the parts for SM 20.
KG7-R
256 meg Crucial DDr
Athlon XP 1500 or 1600 don't recall exactly at this moment.

I installed everything as normal and went to try to boot.

The machine truns on, CPU fan spins, and the very beginning BIOS boot/post screen appears. It recognizes the CPU as an AMD at 1050mhz but then it freezes.
I can not hit del key to go into the BIOS and change settings.

I noticed that it never recognizes the memory test that usually follows the posting of the CPU info...

I have tried pulling the battery and jumperig the CMOS to clear it several times with out any effect.

I moved dim slots, that had no effect. I did try booting with out the memory installed and it gave me the proper beep code.

The Kg7 board is one of the boards that required the DIMMS to be populated from 4 to 1 so I doubt that it would work in any other slot anyway...

I don't have another stick that I can try but I might be able to take the stick I have to a computer place to have them test it...

I was wondering if it could be a PCI video card thing.
The video card that was sent is a PCI card and I seem to recall something about PCI video cards causing boot problems... However it doesn't sound like it in this case because I can get it to boot to the very beginning... But I don't have an AGP card to try.

Memtest won't work because the computer freezes up before it gets past the very beginning of the boot up screen.

It freezes imediatley after posting the BIOS version and the energy star logo then says athlon XP at 1050mhz then nothing. at the bottom of the screen the words appear that say hit del to enter the BIOS but you can't because the system is frozen.

I tried removing it from the case and running it on a non conductive sufrace but I got the same results.

All that is installed is the CPU, mem, video card.

"g"

primesuspect

sm20_the_cursed

KingFish

Is there a jumper mode on the board? If so, jumper it so that jumperfree mode is disengaged and then jumper everything to the most "safe" conservative settings and then crank them up in small increments until you can determine what is causing the freezing. Sounds like the board is already starting in some sort of BIOS safe mode since it is only using 1050MHz instead of the full rating of the cpu. I suspect the cpu may not be stable. If you have two sticks of DIMM on the board, remove one of them and try to boot. If not successful, try the other stick on the board. Try to obtain another video card and use it instead. Try to isolate as many components as possible to see which is the problem.

KingFish

gtghm

KingFish wrote:

Is there a jumper mode on the board? If so, jumper it so that jumperfree mode is disengaged and then jumper everything to the most "safe" conservative settings and then crank them up in small increments until you can determine what is causing the freezing. Sounds like the board is already starting in some sort of BIOS safe mode since it is only using 1050MHz instead of the full rating of the cpu. I suspect the cpu may not be stable. If you have two sticks of DIMM on the board, remove one of them and try to boot. If not successful, try the other stick on the board. Try to obtain another video card and use it instead. Try to isolate as many components as possible to see which is the problem.

KingFish

No Jumpers except for clear CMOS. Its soft menu III.
The 1050mhz is not suprising to me because I cleard the CMOS and pulled the battery. AFAIK it is common to see the BIOS mis-recognize a CPU at first boot/post.

Becides whats a 1500 or 1600 rated at any way not much more than 1.0 or 1.2Ghz if I remember correctly...

As for the Dimm I only have just the one stick that was sent to me.

I don't have any other video cards to try.

Thanks for the suggestions,
"g"

Thrax

1600 is 1400MHz.

gtghm

Here is a jpg of the situatoin. It will not go beyond this screen.

profdlp

Try unhooking all drives. Reset the CMOS (again, I know) and see if it gets any farther.

Good luck!

gtghm

There are no hard drives hooked up. All that is installed is the CPU, memory, video card.

Cleared the CMOS at least 20 times. Pulled the battery at least 10 times and then moverd the jumper to the clear side. left the batt out for 20 minutes then started over... Still no go. What I get is what the picture shows. I can reset the system but it alwasy stops where the pic shows. You can press del a thousand times and never get past there. I don't get any keyboard signal from the system after pressing too many keys, so I can tell its frozen. Only teh push button resets the machine. Cont-Alt-del won't work. Yes the KB is plugged in and its in the proper socket.

"g"

fatcat

mem stick DOA
the vid card is fine since it passed the vid bios
the cpu is booting 10.5x100 which is normal when CMOS reset (default for 1600+ is 10.5x133)
if u have tried all the DIMM slots, and each does the same, you need to obtain new stick of ram
are you getting any beeps?

gtghm

fatcat wrote:

mem stick DOA
the vid card is fine since it passed the vid bios
the cpu is booting 10.5x100 which is normal when CMOS reset (default for 1600+ is 10.5x133)
if u have tried all the DIMM slots, and each does the same, you need to obtain new stick of ram
are you getting any beeps?

I have tried all the DIMM slots.

If I put the stick in any of the four slots, I get a normal single post beep.

If I remove the stick I get the normal beeping pattern that would be associated with missing memroy, Continous long beeps with a pause in between about the same length as the beep signal.

I'm thinking mem too. I'll have to try and take it some place to have it tested.

Don't want to ask for parts I don't need...

Thanks,
"g"

gtghm

Ok I took the ram to a place and they tested it. It posted in another system just fine.

So the only things left are the CPU and the MOB.

I don't have any way to test either at this point.

(question to the SM team) What should I do next?

Thanks,
"g"

GHoosdum

Well it seems to me like SM20 wants to run without a motherboard... :shakehead

I guess you could narrow it down by trying the processor in another PC, and a known good processor in the KG7-R.

Any other Athlon systems around you could temp-swap with?

Spinner

GHoosdum wrote:

Well it seems to me like SM20 wants to run without a motherboard... :shakehead

I guess you could narrow it down by trying the processor in another PC, and a known good processor in the KG7-R.

Any other Athlon systems around you could temp-swap with?

Yeah, you're going to have to find out which component is up the shoot. Try your best to get your hands on another CPU and just to be thorough, another PSU. Once you have eliminated those components, the troublesome device will obviously then become apparent.

Also, I strongly urge you when testing memory, to swap out the memory in the troubled system, rather than testing existing memory in another. This is because different systems (motherboards) can be more tolerant of certain memory types/modules than others.

gtghm

I think I found a guy that I can give the proc to to see if it will post.

I'll let you know...

As for the PSU I got 2 other PSU's that it posted the same way so its not the PSU.

"g"

gtghm

Ok I had a friend try the CPU and its dead.

It would post for a second or 2 then lock up.

So I think we have figured out the problem.

I need a new CPU for sm20.

Thx,
"g"

KingFish

KingFish wrote:

Is there a jumper mode on the board? If so, jumper it so that jumperfree mode is disengaged and then jumper everything to the most "safe" conservative settings and then crank them up in small increments until you can determine what is causing the freezing. Sounds like the board is already starting in some sort of BIOS safe mode since it is only using 1050MHz instead of the full rating of the cpu. I suspect the cpu may not be stable. If you have two sticks of DIMM on the board, remove one of them and try to boot. If not successful, try the other stick on the board. Try to obtain another video card and use it instead. Try to isolate as many components as possible to see which is the problem.

KingFish

I had this happen to me before too. You can send it here and I'll add it to my processor graveyard. It's not pretty.

KingFish

Kwitko

I'm sending out a new CPU for SM20 tomorrow.

QCH

Uhhhh... I <strike>can</strike> could have a blown CPU too depending on what is available as a replacement....

muddocktor

I see the saga of SM20_The_Cursed is still an ongoing proposistion. I can guarrantee you that the KG7-R I sent was in working condition when I took it out of service; replaced it with a Chaintech dually refurb I had gotten from Newegg for $125. As far as a replacement cpu goes, that board can run any pally XP and can run all Tbred XP's except the XP2100 or XP2200. The KG7 boards have trouble with a 13 or 13.5 multiplier, but will run the 2400 and 2600/266 just fine. It's something to do with the way the board deals with multi's in the 13-14.5 range from what I remember reading.

gtghm

muddocktor wrote:

I see the saga of SM20_The_Cursed is still an ongoing proposistion. I can guarrantee you that the KG7-R I sent was in working condition when I took it out of service; replaced it with a Chaintech dually refurb I had gotten from Newegg for $125. As far as a replacement cpu goes, that board can run any pally XP and can run all Tbred XP's except the XP2100 or XP2200. The KG7 boards have trouble with a 13 or 13.5 multiplier, but will run the 2400 and 2600/266 just fine. It's something to do with the way the board deals with multi's in the 13-14.5 range from what I remember reading.

I figured that nothing was wrong with the board. I am greatly familure with the KG7 as it was my first AMD board. Actually I liked the way that it ran, as it was rock soild... I remember thinking I got screwed as I bought it a month before that KRA... I remember sending the KRA back to Abit for a KG7... I also remember the KRA's kicking the crap out of the KG7's but the KRA's weren't as stable or did they last long... I haven't looked into VIA since the 333 stuff but I remember thinkig that it was a sucky chipset... I think that there are peeps that had sucess withem and there was definately a picky side to them and if you had just all the right componets then they had some sucess. For the most part though if a guy posted building stability in an AMD system I would always recommend the KG7 boards...

I actually got an early KG7 that didn't support the 2200+ but the site posted it was supposed to be compatible that I was able to have the board upgraded to accept the new 2200, at the time... lol, I think I was a regular at Pauls page trying to get up on all the stuff about the Abit boards...

Anyhoo, I thought that it was the CPU but I just wanted to be sure...

I hope to have her up and going as soon as I can get the new sole instaslled...

Cheers,
"g"