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From: Jan Alter on 10 Jul 2010 11:30 "frischmoutt" <frischmoutt(a)ici.com> wrote in message news:4c385961$0$27602$ba4acef3(a)reader.news.orange.fr... > > "GMAN" <Winniethepooh(a)100acrewoods.org> a �crit dans le message de news: > jLUZn.301429$ot7.271503(a)en-nntp-16.dc1.easynews.com... >> In article <4c3781b4$0$27613$ba4acef3(a)reader.news.orange.fr>, > "frischmoutt" <frischmoutt(a)ici.com> wrote: >> >TXP4 Asus Mobo w/ a K6-200, running Win98SE, w/ an USB ADSL modem, > playing >> >the role of gateway / firewall. >> >I don't have the intention to modify my configuration, needing to >> >monitor >> >the traffic. Changing the computer by a recent one is not an optimized >> >solution, I don't need power. >> > >> >After 30 mn at 28�C room, the monitor began to display ASCII characters >> >everywhere, ending with a BSOD. >> > >> >After 15 mn cooling, I rebooted. Same behaviour under DOS as well. I'm >> >highly suspecting the graphic adapter. A thorough visual inspection > didn't >> >end with any issue. The capacitors aren't bulging but I can't say if >> >they >> >are dry or not. >> > >> >Prior to borrowing a bord to a colleague, I'd like to analyze more >> >deeply >> >the situation. >> > >> >Would the C-MOS be one of the reasons (the battery is a little bit above > 3V) >> >? >> >What else might induce this display corruption ? >> > >> >Thanks in advance >> > >> > >> Is the fan functional on the video card? > > Hi, > No fan at that time, the board has been bought in 1996 ! > I also forget to mention that the computer case was always open and the > airflow around it wasn't disturbed. > The board probably died because of its age (~20000 hrs). > > Before asking around for a board replacement, I'd like to focus on all the > possible causes. > > Thanks > > Have you checked temps in the cmos setup? (I would hope they're available in the cmos setup). Look at the caps as well on the graphics card. My first thoughts, along with your own and Paul's, are to substitute a PCI graphics card. If the issue doesn't clear up with that then its possibly the mb. -- Jan Alter bearpuf(a)verizon.net
From: Paul on 10 Jul 2010 15:47 frischmoutt wrote: > "GMAN" <Winniethepooh(a)100acrewoods.org> a �crit dans le message de news: > jLUZn.301429$ot7.271503(a)en-nntp-16.dc1.easynews.com... >> In article <4c3781b4$0$27613$ba4acef3(a)reader.news.orange.fr>, > "frischmoutt" <frischmoutt(a)ici.com> wrote: >>> TXP4 Asus Mobo w/ a K6-200, running Win98SE, w/ an USB ADSL modem, > playing >>> the role of gateway / firewall. >>> I don't have the intention to modify my configuration, needing to monitor >>> the traffic. Changing the computer by a recent one is not an optimized >>> solution, I don't need power. >>> >>> After 30 mn at 28�C room, the monitor began to display ASCII characters >>> everywhere, ending with a BSOD. >>> >>> After 15 mn cooling, I rebooted. Same behaviour under DOS as well. I'm >>> highly suspecting the graphic adapter. A thorough visual inspection > didn't >>> end with any issue. The capacitors aren't bulging but I can't say if they >>> are dry or not. >>> >>> Prior to borrowing a bord to a colleague, I'd like to analyze more deeply >>> the situation. >>> >>> Would the C-MOS be one of the reasons (the battery is a little bit above > 3V) >>> ? >>> What else might induce this display corruption ? >>> >>> Thanks in advance >>> >>> >> Is the fan functional on the video card? > > Hi, > No fan at that time, the board has been bought in 1996 ! > I also forget to mention that the computer case was always open and the > airflow around it wasn't disturbed. > The board probably died because of its age (~20000 hrs). > > Before asking around for a board replacement, I'd like to focus on all the > possible causes. > > Thanks > > There were some BIOS settings, that could upset a graphics adapter. But I thought they were associated with AGP slots, and not PCI. For PCI, I didn't think the BIOS settings would have as much of an effect. http://www.techarp.com/showFreeBOG.aspx?lang=0&bogno=150 All sorts of BIOS settings are documented here. http://www.techarp.com/freebog.aspx In the TXP4 manual, I only see "video BIOS cacheable", and I doubt that would be the problem. I'd try to borrow a graphics adapter first. The thing is, if some other part of the computer was failing, it likely wouldn't have booted at all. If you had bad system memory, there might have been other symptoms. That leaves bad memory on the video card perhaps, a bad GPU, or some BIOS setting which is corrupting data sent to the video card. Of all those choices, I'd pick the video card first. If you have reported other software crashing, then I'd look at system memory first, then move on to swapping out the PCI video card. A memory test is easy to do in any case, and one of the advantages of running this particular program, is it runs the screen in a 640x480 VESA mode. It would be interesting to see if the screen corrupts, while memtest is running. http://www.memtest.org Some motherboards of that era, seemed to have problems with chipset failures, due to the soldering. A guy who used to work a lot on 440BX boards, reported losing a few and it seemed to be the chipset was dying on them. And all he could figure, was perhaps a soldering problem. Before the capacitor plague, you would have predicted a 10-15 year lifespan for electrolytics, so the capacitors could easily last for as long as the TXP4 has been around. The "bad caps" we see now, might last for 2 years, and might burst even if not used. But they weren't always like that. Paul
From: frischmoutt on 10 Jul 2010 17:39
"Paul" <nospam(a)needed.com> a �crit dans le message de news: i1aiof$73r$1(a)news.eternal-september.org... > frischmoutt wrote: > > "GMAN" <Winniethepooh(a)100acrewoods.org> a �crit dans le message de news: > > jLUZn.301429$ot7.271503(a)en-nntp-16.dc1.easynews.com... > >> In article <4c3781b4$0$27613$ba4acef3(a)reader.news.orange.fr>, > > "frischmoutt" <frischmoutt(a)ici.com> wrote: > >>> TXP4 Asus Mobo w/ a K6-200, running Win98SE, w/ an USB ADSL modem, > > playing > >>> the role of gateway / firewall. > >>> I don't have the intention to modify my configuration, needing to monitor > >>> the traffic. Changing the computer by a recent one is not an optimized > >>> solution, I don't need power. > >>> > >>> After 30 mn at 28�C room, the monitor began to display ASCII characters > >>> everywhere, ending with a BSOD. > >>> > >>> After 15 mn cooling, I rebooted. Same behaviour under DOS as well. I'm > >>> highly suspecting the graphic adapter. A thorough visual inspection > > didn't > >>> end with any issue. The capacitors aren't bulging but I can't say if they > >>> are dry or not. > >>> > >>> Prior to borrowing a bord to a colleague, I'd like to analyze more deeply > >>> the situation. > >>> > >>> Would the C-MOS be one of the reasons (the battery is a little bit above > > 3V) > >>> ? > >>> What else might induce this display corruption ? > >>> > >>> Thanks in advance > >>> > >>> > >> Is the fan functional on the video card? > > > > Hi, > > No fan at that time, the board has been bought in 1996 ! > > I also forget to mention that the computer case was always open and the > > airflow around it wasn't disturbed. > > The board probably died because of its age (~20000 hrs). > > > > Before asking around for a board replacement, I'd like to focus on all the > > possible causes. > > > > Thanks > > > > > > There were some BIOS settings, that could upset a graphics adapter. > But I thought they were associated with AGP slots, and not PCI. > For PCI, I didn't think the BIOS settings would have as much of an effect. > > http://www.techarp.com/showFreeBOG.aspx?lang=0&bogno=150 > > All sorts of BIOS settings are documented here. > > http://www.techarp.com/freebog.aspx > > In the TXP4 manual, I only see "video BIOS cacheable", and I > doubt that would be the problem. > > I'd try to borrow a graphics adapter first. The thing is, > if some other part of the computer was failing, it likely > wouldn't have booted at all. If you had bad system memory, > there might have been other symptoms. That leaves bad > memory on the video card perhaps, a bad GPU, or some BIOS > setting which is corrupting data sent to the video card. > Of all those choices, I'd pick the video card first. If you > have reported other software crashing, then I'd look at > system memory first, then move on to swapping out the > PCI video card. > > A memory test is easy to do in any case, and one of the > advantages of running this particular program, is it runs > the screen in a 640x480 VESA mode. It would be interesting > to see if the screen corrupts, while memtest is running. > > http://www.memtest.org > > Some motherboards of that era, seemed to have problems with > chipset failures, due to the soldering. A guy who used to > work a lot on 440BX boards, reported losing a few and it > seemed to be the chipset was dying on them. And all > he could figure, was perhaps a soldering problem. > > Before the capacitor plague, you would have predicted a > 10-15 year lifespan for electrolytics, so the capacitors could > easily last for as long as the TXP4 has been around. > The "bad caps" we see now, might last for 2 years, and > might burst even if not used. But they weren't always like > that. > Paul Paul and other people who replied, thanks guys. Replacing the board first seems to be the best approach. Anyway I didn't realized that before but going into the BIOS conf would be useless since the display is everything but readable! Should be cleared 1 sec after boot starting ! I'll drop a line when fixed. Regards |