k7s5a Problem
Gonzo
about any motherboard in existence.
When you find the "perfect" motherboard let us all know but for now I am in
awe of my little $59 speed demon.
Thanks for warning us though LOL.
"georges" <geor...@altavista.com> wrote in message
news:9ruk9j$10gkf1$1...@ID-41741.news.dfncis.de...
> x-no-archive: yes
> Found an excellent discussion of the k7s5a
>
>
http://forum.ocworkbench.com/ocwbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=4&t=0031
25
>
> Sorry if this is old news here. I was considering this board utill I read
this
> article
>
> --georges
>
>
>
Ken Moore
one, still trying to get one that works. My first one was great,
except that you could write a floppy correctly in WinXP or Windows
2000. When I installed the BIOS to fix that it introduced the problem
of not starting properly on a cold boot. It required one ot two or
three resets to get it going. So, RMA.
Got new board and it came with old BIOS which would not do floppies,
and in the meantime, ECS released new BIOS to fix a lot of things,
none of which they told you about until they just disappear. Any, as
soon as I flashed and restarted, I could not boot into Windows XP,
because my start up files were corrupt. After screwing around for many
hours, I am requesting an RMA of the last board also, and hoping to
get a lote enough version that maybe the POS will work.
And that article is one of the best researched and writtng articles I
have seen in any forum, and the scary part is that it is absolutely
true. Some boards will work, and some wont, and it is a crap shoot as
to what you get. I build a lot of systems, and I have never had a
board as erratic, flaky, problematic, and downright crappy as this
one. So if you are one of the lucky ones, hurray, but dont try to tell
the others that there are no problems.
On Fri, 02 Nov 2001 23:50:28 GMT, "Gonzo" <rmur...@hot.rr.com>
wrote:
John Groff
that with ASUS and EPOX boards too. I've bought 4 of these boards and one
didn't POST - RMA'd and the next one was fine. You'll see a lot of forum
comments about power supplies, but I have one now running with a 250 W ANTEC
PS and case with no problems, including a 40 GB HD, CD-R and DVD. So yeah,
there are some problems, but I've had a lot more good than bad. By the way,
I think there may be some CPU temperature monitoring on this board, because
I had a TB 1.333/266 with the retail box heat sink fail (the clip on the
socket broke and the HS fell off!) and the computer shut down without
burning up the CPU. Anyone else seen this?
John
Gonzo
Ill be waiting for your response.
BTW, when you flashed your new BIOS you have to clear CMOS memory for it to
work properly, but you knew that right? Right?
AND to RMA a motherboard is not exclusive to ECS. I had to do the same for
my first Biostar board but not for my ECS. Like I said, when you guys find
the perfect motherboard then let me know. Until then, keep your snide
comments to yourself.
"Ken Moore" <kmo...@austin.rr.com> wrote in message
news:veh6utkmpbeg2lhm9...@4ax.com...
Gonzo
> x-no-archive: yes
> "Gonzo" <rmur...@hot.rr.com> wrote:
> >It's not an article, it's a forum posting like any you can find on just
> >about any motherboard in existence.
>
>
> Can you point me to a forum posting describing similar hardware
> deisgn errors, and methods to detect and correct them for the K7VZA?
Forum postings are made by people like you and me, not by techs or company
reps. That is to say that these people may or may not know what they are
talking about and the info presented should be taken with a grain of salt.
DO NOT allow some wannabe tech to give you erroneous info. Always stick to
common sense and try to contact the manufacturer first.
With that said, if you still want to sift through thousands of opions then
try ECS forum at http://www.ocworkbench.com/index.stm where you will find
thousands of opinions over the the "one" that was cut and pasted into this
usenet NG.
If you think there really is a problem then simply do not buy an ECS board.
Problem solved and it's as simple as that.
Personally I have had zero problems and this seems to agitate some people in
this newsgroup. That's too bad that they want to take it out on me and then
go and torture themselves again by ordering the very same motherboard.
What's up with that? Most common problem with the K7S5A is that people are
using sub-standard PSs and Memory but refuse to see that as a possibility.
That's their problem IMO.
Ray
brand and wattage power supply you are having success with? I am waiting for a
FedEx truck now with the
PC2100 ram by Crucial. What brand ram are you using with this board?
Thanks in advance for any input on this!
==================================================================
Gonzo
>
> "Gonzo" <rmur...@hot.rr.com> wrote:
>
> >With that said, if you still want to sift through thousands of opions
then
> >try ECS forum at http://www.ocworkbench.com/index.stm where you will find
> >thousands of opinions over the the "one" that was cut and pasted into
this
> >usenet NG.
>
> posted , can you be more specific?
What's a quality forum posting to you? What exactly are you looking for?
Gonzo
>
> georges <geor...@altavista.com> wrote:
> >x-no-archive: yes
> >Found an excellent discussion of the k7s5a
> >
>
>http://forum.ocworkbench.com/ocwbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=4&t=003
125
> >
> >Sorry if this is old news here. I was considering this board utill I read
this
>
> >article
>
> ( website listed in the article) to see if this problem applies to you
This is simply wrong. A error on a mem test could be a number of things and
anyone stating to you that it proves anything to be defective with the
motherboard is simply uninformed. If your mem test fails then the obvious
things to check first would be proper CMOS setup / mem timings, ram
compatibility or quality and PS quality and output among others.
It's a good idea to do the test but it's only a start, not proof of
something read in a forum. Go from there and isolate the problem.
Gonzo
> I will be putting a system together using an ECS K7S5A and was wondering
what
> brand and wattage power supply you are having success with? I am waiting
for a
> FedEx truck now with the
> PC2100 ram by Crucial. What brand ram are you using with this board?
>
> Thanks in advance for any input on this!
Fact is that I am using generic PC133 SDRAM with a CMOS setting of fast, 100
cpu speed / 133 mem speed. Most people I have read about have had good
success with Crucial DDR and SDR so I would go with that. My PS is Premier
300W model PS-ATX-300N but it is a pre-slotA PS so you probably wont find
one like it. I would personally go with any AMD approved 400W or 400W+
brand name PS that I could find. Should be no more than $30-$50(US).
Good Luck.
wisconsin_man
this. I'm not buying anything from ECS. That's what I call sloppy
engineering!
On 2 Nov 2001 17:14:28 GMT, georges <geor...@altavista.com> wrote:
>x-no-archive: yes
>Found an excellent discussion of the k7s5a
>
>http://forum.ocworkbench.com/ocwbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=4&t=003125
>
>Sorry if this is old news here. I was considering this board utill I read this
>article
>
>--georges
>
>
Kyle Brant
engineer I had the occasion to experience many product design changes
that were not "fully communicated" to all who might be affected by the
changes (and I'm referring to AMD as the possible guilty party in this
instance). AMD and ECS are both at fault, and I place more of the
blame with AMD who should have issued a "red alert" errata to its
"channel partners". After fixing my board with one small 220 ohm SMD
resistor, it's rock solid up to 138 MHz (1450 CPU speed) and memory
timings set to fastest available settings. So where do you think the
sloppy work transpired?
Granted, a consumer purchasing a mobo does not expect that a "fix" is
required to get the board to work as expected with the "best"
available CPU, but more than one factor affected this scenario.
Evidently, ECS made some minor revision change in the k7s5a board
design that slightly altered the characteristic impedance of the board
(to a marginally problematic value) thereby affecting the drive
strength of the CPU-Northbridge signals for only certain steppings of
the AMD 1400 CPUs. Rather an unusual combination of circumstances
wouldn't you say? No doubt ECS should have "requalified" the board
for all potential CPUs, but further to the odd set of circumstances,
the only software test that my k7s5a board fails is test 5 of
memtest86, no other memory tester detects any error, and my board
passes all tests except test 5. Memtest86 is not an industry
standard, and it's a bit crude in design, however, it does work to
find errors where other software does not. And to put the icing on
the cake, not every board presents the same set of errors with
memtest86. Some work w/o problem. Some fail more than just test 5.
Just my 2-bits worth on this adventure, which I'm glad to report has a
happy ending for me because I own a soldering iron and was able to
apply the resistor fix.
--
Best regards,
Kyle
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"wisconsin_man" <wiscon...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:oc49utsensr9kp989...@4ax.com...
Kyle Brant
great. Rated for 300watts total, 180watts 3.3v/5.0v combined, and I
gotta say it's the heaviest PS I've ever owned (makes the case top
heavy). Enermax is also recommended, but a 350 watt was $50 at a
local shop.
--
Best regards,
Kyle
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"Ray" <r...@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:3BE443E0...@nospam.net...
Ray
some real positive stuff and some real negative stuff. I suppose that could be
said of any board. My Crucial order just came in late Saturday. I'm going with
an Enlight 7237 with a 300watt power supply. I'm not going the RAID route or
anything too taxing. I'm hoping that 300watts will do the trick. If it doesn't
I'll go with a 400 watt as you mentioned. Right now I'm running a Duron 850mhz
using a generic case with 250watts (non AMD approved) and I've had no problems
at all. I've seen so may posts warning against using under 300watt non AMD
approved power supplies. Especially with Athlon's 1ghz and up. I'll be going
with a 1.4ghz Thunderbird in the new system.
Thanks again for the input!
Ray
Very informative, indeed. I certainly do NOT plan on doing any soldering
to my board. It's way above my pay grade. I was wondering if maybe I
should opt for an AMD 1.2ghz INSTEAD of a 1.3 or 1.4 ? What are your
thoughts on that? (or anyone else in the group)
I'm mainly looking for stability in my system. This box will be used for
some gaming and surfing. Nothing Mission Critical, that's for sure. An it
doesn't have to be the fastest on the planet.
Thanks for you input on this subject!
Kyle Brant
just fine according to posts by many others. What a punishment, you
have to get the newest CPU.
--
Best regards,
Kyle
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"Ray" <r...@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:3BE545AC...@nospam.net...
Gonzo
it were an official technical investigation document?
"winsonsin_man", when you find the perfect motherboard, let us all know OK?
"wisconsin_man" <wiscon...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:oc49utsensr9kp989...@4ax.com...
Gonzo
that with a Biostar board and killed it. Next board I got I used a 300W PS
and all was fine. Also note that you MUST read the flash instructions
carefully and fully before flashing as the AMI procedure for doing it is
different from your average Award Bios flash.
Good luck.
"Ray" <r...@nospam.net> wrote in message news:3BE53EDC...@nospam.net...
Mac
NEVER had a bad flash. Booting into DOS from a floppy isn't that taxing on
a PSU. I seriously doubt that the problem was caused by or had anything to
do with the PSU directly unless it failed part way through the flash.
Mac
"Gonzo" <rmur...@hot.rr.com> wrote in message
news:B1dF7.3118$qb.2...@typhoon.austin.rr.com...
Gonzo
>
> "Gonzo" <rmur...@hot.rr.com> wrote:
>
> >What's a quality forum posting to you? What exactly are you looking for?
>
> review of hardware problems affecting the K7VZA,
> a method of testing them, and a suggestion of alteernative
> hardware that would make the board work
Sorry Georges, but a forum is simply just that...a forum and not a technical
document. If you are looking for white papers then I would suggest you go
directly to ECS. They are the only ones that are really privy to that info.
Gonzo
I can only warn you of my own experience, that's all. It's up to you.
"Mac" <nos...@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:tub65nk...@corp.supernews.com...
Mike Timbers
Win98SE runs perfectly with Genome running while simultaneously calculating
Pi to 32 million places even when overclocked to a real 1500MHz.
Guess Memtest86 is really meaningful, eh?
"Kyle Brant" <Kyle_Spam...@email.msn.com> wrote in message
news:9s3mhe$115rlk$1...@ID-57815.news.dfncis.de...
Ray
wattage of the power supply. Are you saying not to flash this specific ECS
board (with an AMD 1.3+ghz cpu) with a 250watt PS ? This system (ECS) will
ONLY be run with a 300watt (AMD approved) power supply . If the one I ordered
doesn't work out I'll go for a 350 or 400 AMD approved PS and keep my fingers
crossed!
Thanks for the info!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gonzo
first generation SlotA board with an unapproved underpowered PS and when I
flashed it I killed the BIOS beyond repair. I attributed this to the PS as
my second board was fine with flashing after I upgraded my PS to a 300W
model. Could very well have been something else, but why take a chance.
An underspec PS can cause your system to crash. If it crashes during a
flash then your flash will be destroyed as will be your BIOS. To repair a
BIOS costs almost as much as simply buying a new board if not more.
"Ray" <r...@nospam.net> wrote in message news:3BE5BE0B...@nospam.net...
Gonzo
in one application and even more important is the fact that the results
could be interpreted a thousand ways.
FWIW, there is another (IMO Better) freeware mem tester out there called
"Sim Tester Docmemory 1.45".
Get it at http://www.simmtester.com
FWIW, Memtest 86 boots with a Linux based floppy and
Simtester boots with a Win98 floppy but don't quote me on that.
"Mike Timbers" <miket...@freenet.co.uk> wrote in message
news:9s48fl$111brt$1...@ID-81081.news.dfncis.de...
Kyle Brant
created the post linked below is a tech at a business responsible for
about 30 systems with k7s5a boards in them. Further, as an engineer,
I find his approach, technical discussion, analysis, and report style
to be of professional quality. Now if you think it's a "kid on the
net" spreading rumors like a manure spreader sows cowshit, so be it. I
am convinced otherwise. Having exchanged several messages with the
author of the article, I believe him to be very competent and skilled
(no evidence to indicate otherwise). Further, I used the recommended
resistor fix to correct the defect in my k7s5a (it used to fail
memtest86 on test 5). I'm not pointing fingers at anyone, I'm simply
thankful that a solution has been developed.
--
Best regards,
Kyle
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"Gonzo" <rmur...@hot.rr.com> wrote in message
news:SWcF7.3115$qb.2...@typhoon.austin.rr.com...
Kyle Brant
comment on the technical aspects of the test and whether it's results
are "meaningful". I personally reviewed the Linux version of
memtest86 to ascertain exactly what the program was doing. Further, I
was about to write my own version (for my own testing purposes) using
a similar code sequence when the resistor "fix" was discovered.
Not very likely a program would execute the sequence of instructions
in memtest86 test 5. My system was apparently very stable, though it
produced the memtest86 test 5 errors. When I underclocked the system
to 1050 Mhz, no errors in memtest86.
I installed win98se, ran 3dmk2k1, played UT online for hours at a
time, never a glitch. Ran CPU Stability test for over 12 hours, no
errors. Also ran Burnintest. But, those memtest86 errors persisted,
and fixing the problem on my k7s5a gave me comfort in knowing the
system is now very stable, reliable and passes all software tests that
I can throw at it.
--
Best regards,
Kyle
cut.s.p.a.m.m.e.n.o.t. from email address to reply
"Mike Timbers" <miket...@freenet.co.uk> wrote in message
news:9s48fl$111brt$1...@ID-81081.news.dfncis.de...
Kyle Brant
bootable floppy version (not really any OS installed, I suspect a
program loader is placed on the disk so that it loads and runs
memtest86 when the BIOS boots from a floppy). Docmem relies upon the
presence of DOS to run. In theory, Docmem cannot test all of memory
since DOS occupies some of that memory and you can't move DOS around
in memory for testing purposes. Another testing program that I like
and use very often is Tufftest, but it costs $10. Still, it uses it's
own OS and relocates itself in memory so all of memory can be tested.
Memtest86 takes a similar approach, the program is run from two
different memory locations so that all of memory can be tested.
--
Best regards,
Kyle
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"Gonzo" <rmur...@hot.rr.com> wrote in message
news:rdnF7.23488$6f.8...@typhoon.austin.rr.com...
Ray
Personally, I'd never flash a board that was unstable and crashing. As you
stated one is taking a big chance. If it crashes during a flash you're toast.
I'm new to this newsgroup and new to ECS. I haven't put this system together
yet. My last build was an Epox EP-8KTA+ with a Duron 850. It went together
quite nicely and booted the first time I fired it up. I'd like to acquire
information on this board before putting it together since I don't have a ton of
spare parts to swap out in a troubleshooting situation. For example I don't
have spare power supplies on a shelf. On an average I build one system once
every 12-18 months. I'm a bit ahead of that schedule mainly because I read some
very good reviews on this board and it's priced very attractively. I was
looking at either the ASUS A7M266 AMD761 ( @ $149) or the ABIT KG7 AMD761 (@
$122). This board appeared to offer a solution that was as fast, or nearly as
fast, as the AMD761 chipset at a fraction of the price.
After everything I've read I'm wondering if I'd be better off going with an
Athlon 1.2ghz rather than the 1.4ghz. From what I'm reading there "appears" to
be an issue, at least to some extent, with this board and either a 1.3ghz or
1.4ghz Thunderbird. I'm reading that the XP's are not causing any problems.
It's difficult to know what's "true" and what's not. I really hate getting
involved with RMAing boards (or other peripherals ) back and forth to vendors.
I realize that manufacturers, whether they are Abit, Epox, Asus or whatever, can
have a bad run of boards. Sometimes the public becomes an "accidental" BETA
tester. I usually wait till the second or third generation of any product. I'm
hoping I didn't jump in a bit soon on this one. Time will tell.
I'll continue reading the posts and ask questions and offer my experience with
this board once I start the build.
Thanks for your input!
=================================================================
Gonzo
grain of salt. Your average college kid can make anything sound convincing.
It's a matter of common sense and personal judgment and Im not impressed
with the postings at all for one reason only and that is that the poster has
yet to show me that he has gotten any type of response from ECS. Once I see
that then I will put some value on it.
An email or web posting from ECS to me would be worth ten thousand times
more than a forum posting from a disgruntled ECS board owner with a little
knowledge in electronics.
"Kyle Brant" <Kyle_Spam...@email.msn.com> wrote in message
news:9s552k$10khk5$1...@ID-57815.news.dfncis.de...
Kyle Brant
was their fault or that the board has a problem to avoid a full scale
recall of the k7s5a. What's you thought pattern on that one?
--
Best regards,
Kyle
cut.s.p.a.m.m.e.n.o.t. from email address to reply
"Gonzo" <rmur...@hot.rr.com> wrote in message
news:n4xF7.32227$Wv.8...@typhoon.austin.rr.com...
Kyle Brant
list, EXCEPT for use with the XP CPU.
--
Best regards,
Kyle
cut.s.p.a.m.m.e.n.o.t. from email address to reply
"Kyle Brant" <Kyle_Spam...@email.msn.com> wrote in message
news:9s68np$105uur$1...@ID-57815.news.dfncis.de...
Gonzo
> You fail to recognize that ECS will most likely not publicly admit it
> was their fault or that the board has a problem to avoid a full scale
> recall of the k7s5a. What's you thought pattern on that one?
Well considering that I am not running an XP CPU and I have had zero
problems with my K7S5A, take a wild guess....
wisconsin_man
board. It is the Gigabyte 7DX and it's stable and doesn't have any of
the problems being discussed above. I feel they probably have better
quality control. So you wanted to know, here it is.
On Sun, 04 Nov 2001 15:13:54 GMT, "Gonzo" <rmur...@hot.rr.com>
wrote:
Gonzo
> I haven't found the perfect board Gonzo, but I have a found a better
> board. It is the Gigabyte 7DX and it's stable and doesn't have any of
> the problems being discussed above. I feel they probably have better
> quality control. So you wanted to know, here it is.
Enjoy your new board. I know I am enjoying mine.
Gonzo
technical
> >document. If you are looking for white papers then I would suggest you
go
> >directly to ECS.
>
>
> >They are the only ones that are really privy to that info.
>
>
> Remember when you said
>
> >With that said, if you still want to sift through thousands of opions
then
> >try ECS forum at http://www.ocworkbench.com/index.stm where you will find
> >thousands of opinions over the the "one" that was cut and pasted into
this
> >usenet NG."
>
not
> found one similar with regards to the K7VZA, and neither have you.
> When you do, let me know
The forum posting that was posted in this NG is from an entire thread in the
ocworkshop forum. If you need help finding that thread just let me know and
I will help you find it. Is shouldn't be that hard to find as it one of the
larger threads in the ECS forum there.
Again I ask though, what exactly are you looking for? Have you tried the
ECS forum's search engine?
Gonzo
>
> "Gonzo" <rmur...@hot.rr.com> wrote:
>
> >Again I ask though, what exactly are you looking for? Have you tried the
> >ECS forum's search engine?
>
not
> found one similar with regards to the K7VZA, and neither have you.
> When you do, let me know
>
> There is not a similar posting .
My appology, I thought you had a K7S5A. My bad. 90% of the articles on
that forum are about the K7S5A unfortunately.
BigWez
Enlite P/S should work ok. The Xp works great and you don't have to go for
an expensive fan.
"Ray" <r...@nospam.net> wrote in message news:3BE6816E...@nospam.net...