EPoX motherboard won't pass POST; beep codes suggest video error

[Thomas Perry]

I have upgraded a computer's motherboard to an EPoX EP-8KTA+ and it will not
pass the POST properly. It produces one long beep followed by two shorter
ones. Apparently this is caused by a video error (the BIOS is made by
Award), but no matter which video card I try, I cannot get it to start.
After the beeps, I can hear disk activity, which is confirmed by the IDE
activity LED, and after a minute or two, the machine shuts itself down. I
have tried an NVidia Vanta (the original card), an ATI Rage Pro, and an
NVidia GeForce 2. These are of a fairly wide range of ages, so I'm assuming
that AGP voltage etc. will not be the problem. I have also tried taking all
other PCI cards out, swapping the RAM for another module and disconnecting
all IDE devices, all to no avail. I bought the motherboard second-hand from
a friend, so is it possible that it could have been damaged in transit (i.e.
walking with it in its box in an upright position)? Although he said he'd
give me my money back if it didn't work, he's a good friend and I don't want
to have to return it.

TIA,

Thomas Perry

[Geoff Rivett]

it sounds to me that you have tried nearly everything. is your power supply
good enough. if its ok it sounds like you will have to return it .
"Thomas Perry" <tper...@whsmithnet.co.uk> wrote in message
news:3dbd7...@news1.vip.uk.com...

[CoCo]

hi

or are you sure the graphiccard really seated properly?!? (had this
malfunction with a gf2 with a secureing hock...)

coco

"Geoff Rivett" <ham...@hotmail.com> skrev i meddelandet
news:3dbe8377$0$9452$cc9e...@news.dial.pipex.com...

[Peter van der Goes]

OK, you bought it used. Did you get the manual with it? What type of CPU are
you using?
Have you checked the dip switch settings on the board to be sure they are
correct? What type/rating PSU are you using? Your present PSU may be
inadequate, especially as you say you are using an 8KTA+ as an upgrade.
As you don't give us particulars and seem to be assuming it's video or
memory, I'm suggesting that it may be something more basic.

"Thomas Perry" <tper...@whsmithnet.co.uk> wrote in message
news:3dbd7...@news1.vip.uk.com...

[Thomas Perry]

"Peter van der Goes" <pv...@nospam.att.net> wrote in message
news:aHTv9.36349$Mb3.1...@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...

> OK, you bought it used. Did you get the manual with it? What type of CPU
are
> you using?

I didn't get the manual, as he forgot to include it in the box, but I've
downloaded one from the EPoX website.

> Have you checked the dip switch settings on the board to be sure they are
> correct?

Yep, it's correctly set up for the processor (AMD Duron 700MHz)

> What type/rating PSU are you using? Your present PSU may be
> inadequate, especially as you say you are using an 8KTA+ as an upgrade.

Deer Computer Co. Ltd. Switching Power Supply Model: DR--250ATW. Presumably
it is 250W? I would have thought that it is adequate. Although I've read
some bad reports about Deer power supplies (alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt, see
the post "Deer Computer Company - Bad power supplies"), this particular one
seems to be working fine. And if it had failed, would I be correct in
saying that I wouldn't hear any fans starting up, LEDs illuminating etc?

> As you don't give us particulars

I'm assuming that info about the hard drive, CD-ROM etc. is irrelevant, as
it seems to be a fairly low-level problem, plus see below...

> and seem to be assuming it's video or
> memory, I'm suggesting that it may be something more basic.

You may be right... memory was only one of the things I tested that was
unrelated to video, but I only tested it out of desperation. All
documentation I've read suggests that the beep codes it produces are to do
with the video card, and so if it is something else, then what's the point
of beep codes?

I've tried resetting the CMOS using the jumper, as "Graham W" kindly
suggested. I disconnected the power lead, moved the jumper over to the
other combination of pins, left it there, then plugged the power back in,
assuming that to clear the CMOS, you have to turn the computer on and it
says something like "CMOS cleared", and after nothing happened when I
pressed the power switch, I moved the jumper back. I'm now back where I
started, and nothing seems to have changed. Should I try leaving the jumper
in the "clear" position for longer? It was only there for a few seconds.

Thanks for all your responses, but TIA again,

Thomas Perry

[Peter van der Goes]

Please see comments in context:

"Thomas Perry" <tper...@whsmithnet.co.uk> wrote in message

news:3dc16...@news1.vip.uk.com...

> "Peter van der Goes" <pv...@nospam.att.net> wrote in message
> news:aHTv9.36349$Mb3.1...@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
> > OK, you bought it used. Did you get the manual with it? What type of CPU
> are
> > you using?
>
> I didn't get the manual, as he forgot to include it in the box, but I've
> downloaded one from the EPoX website.
>
> > Have you checked the dip switch settings on the board to be sure they
are
> > correct?
>
> Yep, it's correctly set up for the processor (AMD Duron 700MHz)
>

By that, do you mean the jumpers are set to default (automatic detection)?
If not, try the automatic detection settings.

> > What type/rating PSU are you using? Your present PSU may be
> > inadequate, especially as you say you are using an 8KTA+ as an upgrade.
>
> Deer Computer Co. Ltd. Switching Power Supply Model: DR--250ATW.
Presumably
> it is 250W? I would have thought that it is adequate. Although I've read
> some bad reports about Deer power supplies (alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,
see
> the post "Deer Computer Company - Bad power supplies"), this particular
one
> seems to be working fine. And if it had failed, would I be correct in
> saying that I wouldn't hear any fans starting up, LEDs illuminating etc?
>

Not necessarily. An inadequate PSU can cause all sorts of interesting
symptoms, like refusal to boot/reboot properly. A *quality* 250W PSU
*should* be OK with a Duron 700, but if you have a way to try a different
PSU, you might want to.

> > As you don't give us particulars
>
> I'm assuming that info about the hard drive, CD-ROM etc. is irrelevant, as
> it seems to be a fairly low-level problem, plus see below...
>

Again, the full component list allows a better estimate of PSU requirements.
For example, I have a home office server here (XP1900) with 4 7200 RPM hard
drives, DVD-ROM, DVDRW, Zip 250, etc. The PSU needed is definitely more than
the "average".

> > and seem to be assuming it's video or
> > memory, I'm suggesting that it may be something more basic.
>
> You may be right... memory was only one of the things I tested that was
> unrelated to video, but I only tested it out of desperation. All
> documentation I've read suggests that the beep codes it produces are to do
> with the video card, and so if it is something else, then what's the point
> of beep codes?
>
> I've tried resetting the CMOS using the jumper, as "Graham W" kindly
> suggested. I disconnected the power lead, moved the jumper over to the
> other combination of pins, left it there, then plugged the power back in,
> assuming that to clear the CMOS, you have to turn the computer on and it
> says something like "CMOS cleared", and after nothing happened when I
> pressed the power switch, I moved the jumper back. I'm now back where I
> started, and nothing seems to have changed. Should I try leaving the
jumper
> in the "clear" position for longer? It was only there for a few seconds.
>

Ah, not IME. AFAIK, the proper procedure is to unplug, move the jumper for ~
1-2 minutes, then move the jumper back *before* plugging back in and
attempting a restart.