ECS K7VTA3 problems

1329 Views 4 Replies 2 Participants Last post by stepher, Jul 14, 2008

stepher

Discussion Starter · Jun 15, 2008

I'm posting this with a sense I know the response, but I thought I'd put it out here in case someone came up with something of which I have not yet thought

My M/B (Athlon 2200+, 768MB, WinXP Pro w/ ATI9200SE AGP8X graphics card installed) is ~3 yrs old (just out of warranty I have a problem that developed the other day and it seems to have progressed thru 3 phases.

Phase 1: I have the WinXP sys KVM'd w/a Linux box. I had both systems up and running and was working on the Linux box at the moment. I then kvm'd over to the WinXP box, moved the mouse to bring up the screen (was dark, no screen saver). No response. Did it once or twice more until I noticed the WinXP sys had shut down (all LEDs off). I hadn't done anything to shut it down. So, I pressed the on-off pushbutton and brought it back up. Waited till I saw the initial WinXP screen and then switched back to the Linux box. A few minutes later I noticed the WinXP sys was off again.

At this point, I booted into the BIOS and checked the CPU temp (Hot day in the SF Bay Area). Seemed OK at ~48 degrees C. Tried to reboot, no dice. Turned power supply switch off and on and tried to reboot. Lights came on for only a moment and then went out. This led to phase 2.

Phase 2: From this point on, system never booted and I never saw the power LED come on, but the HDD LED alternated between full and half on at ~1 sec. intervals. In the past, I had experienced somewhat similar erratic behavior and thought it might be a) power supply gone marginal or b) new graphics card I installed last week (new card was an nvidia card the type of which I had problems with when I first bought the board). Replaced both and problem still remained. Went back to original power supply and also was able to test the CPU and memory which seem to be working fine. So, now to phase 3 (current phase, so to speak).

Phase 3: I stripped off all IDE and FDC connections and attempted to at least boot into BIOS (The graphics card is the only thing plugged into the M/B). Now what I get is a boot to the point of memory test (which it seems to complete) and a message "Detecting IDE Drives" (Doesn't matter whether the IDE cables are connected or not). The system then just sits there. If I press the Delete key (to get into the BIOS), the POST seems to stop at the end of the memory test (No "Detecting IDE Drives" message).

Needless to say, I'm somewhat perplexed, but I think I know what's coming. I would like to ask a couple of things. First, any ideas of things I might have overlooked which could get this board up and running (or is Fry's my next stop....I'd like to not have to spend a bunch of money right now and I certainly don't want to have to go thru the tedium of reloading the system...which brings me to my 2nd question....) assuming I can't "scare up" a used K7VTA3, anyone know of an equivalent m/b where I could plug in my WinXP hard drive and just fire it up?

My apologies for such a long posting, but much thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Cheers....and if your a Dad, hope it's a great day for you...Steph

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Wrench97

· #2 · Jun 15, 2008

Can you get to the Bios screen to read the voltages?
If so please post them.

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stepher

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jun 15, 2008

wrench97 said:
Can you get to the Bios screen to read the voltages?
If so please post them.

wrench97,

Thanks for the quick reply....

When I went in to check the CPU temp early on in "Phase 1", that was when I could also see the voltages (tho, I didn't take note of them at the time since it was beginning to seem more like a temp issue

Now, however, POST gets to the point of finishing the memory test, then the screen freezes. At the bottom of the screen is the message about pressing "Delete" to get to setup. The only effect pressing delete has is whether or not the "Detecting IDE Drives" message shows up

I have a DVM with which I could check core voltage if I only knew where to check and what the core voltage should be. Any suggestions?

One other thing I've noticed...and this is inconsistent.....I can turn off the power supply using the AC switch in the back. When I turn that AC switch back on, the system will occasionally go into bootup instead of "backup" mode. It's like the ps_on signal from the m/b to the power supply is pulled low as soon as +5VB is applied. Does that make sense?

I appreciate the interest in helping....Steph

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Wrench97

· #4 · Jun 15, 2008

Have a look here for voltages http://www.fonerbooks.com/power.htm Remember to be careful while poking around a running system.

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stepher

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jul 14, 2008

wrench97 said:
Have a look here for voltages http://www.fonerbooks.com/power.htm Remember to be careful while poking around a running system.

Hi, wrench97...

Realized I forgot to say thanks for the suggestion (ahhh, what's a month between "friends" (Big Grin)

Seriously, tho, I do plan to take a look at the voltage regulation/generation circuits (VCore?) on the MB. I've already checked my main lines (3.3, +5, +5SB, +12, etc.) and they seem to be within spec. My hunch is that the northbridge or southbridge device (or interface chips associated with it) that controls/interfaces to the IDE channels is the real culprit. It's a shame because the board failed ~2 months outside the parts warranty (labor ended over a year ago

Went out and found a pretty good deal on a dual core AMD board and CPU and was able to bring it up and running with my existing installed S/W (aside from a few frustrating WinXP anomalies regarding switching from a preinstalled 1-core to a dual-core). So, I will still check out the old MB, but the urgency has subsided.

Thanks again and cheers...Steph

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