Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.epox (More info?)

I have an Epox 8RDA+ MB. Last friday I was working at my desk and my
computer shuts off. I think I knocked the power supply switch against
the back of my desk. So I curse it of and immediately turn the
computer back on. At first, I see a normal BIOS POST screen; but with
some weird "=" signs showing up. It stalls on that screen. I reboot
it a few times and the same thing happens. So I say screw it and I'll
deal with it on monday.

I come in on monday and I'm worse of then I was on friday. I don't
even get a BIOS POST screen. I'm now getting a never-ending high low
beeping noise. I open up the case and see that the POST code is a C5.
According to the MB documentation:

C5 – Call chipset hook to copy BIOS back to E000 & F000 shadow RAM.

I figured I had some bad RAM pieces. So I test both RAM pieces on
another PC and both work. I even try a brand new piece of RAM with no
luck. My only guess now is somehow the BIOS flash got corrupted.
However without the ability to boot or even get the post screen, I
can't re-flash the BIOS. I'm stuck; it's the chicken and the egg BIOS
problem.

Anyone have ideas?

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.epox (More info?)

Bitstring <757133b.0405241619.5484e895@posting.google.com>, from the
wonderful person jayWHY <jaywhy2@comcast.net> said
>I have an Epox 8RDA+ MB. Last friday I was working at my desk and my
>computer shuts off. I think I knocked the power supply switch against
>the back of my desk. So I curse it of and immediately turn the
>computer back on. At first, I see a normal BIOS POST screen; but with
>some weird "=" signs showing up. It stalls on that screen. I reboot
>it a few times and the same thing happens. So I say screw it and I'll
>deal with it on monday.
>
>I come in on monday and I'm worse of then I was on friday. I don't
>even get a BIOS POST screen. I'm now getting a never-ending high low
>beeping noise. I open up the case and see that the POST code is a C5.
> According to the MB documentation:
>
>C5 – Call chipset hook to copy BIOS back to E000 & F000 shadow RAM.
>
>I figured I had some bad RAM pieces. So I test both RAM pieces on
>another PC and both work. I even try a brand new piece of RAM with no
>luck. My only guess now is somehow the BIOS flash got corrupted.
>However without the ability to boot or even get the post screen, I
>can't re-flash the BIOS. I'm stuck; it's the chicken and the egg BIOS
>problem.
>
>Anyone have ideas?

See my thread about 8RDA+ dead .. then check your capacitors VERY
carefully for bulges and leaks. How old was the board .. the ones from
early 2003 appear to have reached the end of their lives in some cases,
unless you can be bothered to have them repaired (admittedly mine was in
use 24/7).

--
GSV Three Minds in a Can
Outgoing Msgs are Turing Tested,and indistinguishable from human typing.

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.epox (More info?)

> See my thread about 8RDA+ dead .. then check your capacitors VERY
> carefully for bulges and leaks. How old was the board .. the ones from
> early 2003 appear to have reached the end of their lives in some cases,
> unless you can be bothered to have them repaired (admittedly mine was in
> use 24/7).

You're right. A few of the green capacitors are bulging and one of
them is actually leaking from the top. However, I'd still love to
know exactly how a bulging or leaking capacitors causes a failure in
shadowing.

Hopefully I can return this thing.

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.epox (More info?)

jayWHY wrote:
.....
>
> You're right. A few of the green capacitors are bulging and one of
> them is actually leaking from the top. However, I'd still love to
> know exactly how a bulging or leaking capacitors causes a failure in
> shadowing.
>
Nothing to do with shadowing...the problem is simply that a bad capacitor
brings down the particular voltage/filter level affecting the whole board's
functionality. Whatever the board is doing the second the voltage disrupts -
the error will be accordingly.

hth

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.epox (More info?)

Bitstring <757133b.0405251032.7994473c@posting.google.com>, from the
wonderful person jayWHY <jaywhy2@comcast.net> said
>> See my thread about 8RDA+ dead .. then check your capacitors VERY
>> carefully for bulges and leaks. How old was the board .. the ones from
>> early 2003 appear to have reached the end of their lives in some cases,
>> unless you can be bothered to have them repaired (admittedly mine was in
>> use 24/7).
>
>You're right. A few of the green capacitors are bulging and one of
>them is actually leaking from the top. However, I'd still love to
>know exactly how a bulging or leaking capacitors causes a failure in
>shadowing.
>
>Hopefully I can return this thing.

If the capacitors start failing =anything= can happen (especially if
they've leaked all over the motherboard traces). In particular you'll
observe there are some right in there with the memory sockets, so it
will be no surprise to learn that the memory can 'go away' (for all
values of 'go away' from 'occasional 1 bit errors' to 'DIMM? what
DIMM?').

Lotsa luck with your return - you should have a 2 year warranty (and the
oldest 8RDA+ boards are only about 18 months old), but as I noted in the
other thread, it may be more hassle / expense to collect than it's
actually worth.

--
GSV Three Minds in a Can
Outgoing Msgs are Turing Tested,and indistinguishable from human typing.

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.epox (More info?)

Jay

Well, after looking at some of the other threads around here recently:
How do your capacitors look?

(Leaking/bursting electrolytics seem to have been a problem.)

Regards

Brian

"jayWHY" <jaywhy2@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:757133b.0405241619.5484e895@posting.google.com...
> I have an Epox 8RDA+ MB. Last friday I was working at my desk and my
> computer shuts off. I think I knocked the power supply switch against
> the back of my desk. So I curse it of and immediately turn the
> computer back on. At first, I see a normal BIOS POST screen; but with
> some weird "=" signs showing up. It stalls on that screen. I reboot
> it a few times and the same thing happens. So I say screw it and I'll
> deal with it on monday.
>
> I come in on monday and I'm worse of then I was on friday. I don't
> even get a BIOS POST screen. I'm now getting a never-ending high low
> beeping noise. I open up the case and see that the POST code is a C5.
> According to the MB documentation:
>
> C5 - Call chipset hook to copy BIOS back to E000 & F000 shadow RAM.
>
> I figured I had some bad RAM pieces. So I test both RAM pieces on
> another PC and both work. I even try a brand new piece of RAM with no
> luck. My only guess now is somehow the BIOS flash got corrupted.
> However without the ability to boot or even get the post screen, I
> can't re-flash the BIOS. I'm stuck; it's the chicken and the egg BIOS
> problem.
>
> Anyone have ideas?