HowToFixComputers.com

masawo · Contributor Joined: 03 Sep 2005 Posts: 6

Hey guys/gals,
Here's my question - The manual for the chaintech 7njl6 displays pos/neg connections for a couple of items but not for everything. So i assumed that everything else would just be plugged in with the posi side towards pin 1(the g-btn). I've checked on Chaintech's site, Google'd the heck out of chaintech, 7njl6, and haven't come up with a detailed FPC for this board. I know the LED's are correct since they light up, but what about the other connections? When I start the box up i get no beeps, no post, no video, yet i do get HDD LED, Power LED.

System:
AMD Athlon xp 3000+ Barton
Chaintech 7NJL6 Mobo
Ultra 512mb PC3200 DDR x 2 (origininally had one stick in slot 3 as per manual, switched sticks to slot 1&2)
Chaintech GeForce FX 5200 256MB Card (doesnt need external power)
Sound: currently just onboard
Ultra 500w PSU with modular connections

Thanks for any tips/flames/rips/assistance.

Zilla · Guest

Wow, that's EXACTLY the same specs as mine, except
the PSU, mine is 400W! smile

The memory in "slots 1 & 3"
is for dual channel. I'll see my connections. What case
do you have? Ultra? I got the case, PSU, and m/b from
TigerDirect for $60 after rebates.

--
- Zilla
Cary, NC USA
(Remove XSPAM)

"masawo" <lovekungfu@comcast-dot-net.no-spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:XTmSe.31742$cv3.5513@fe12.news.easynews.com...

masawo · Contributor Joined: 03 Sep 2005 Posts: 6

I have the Ultra UV Wizard Black Mid ATX Case UV Blue Side , also from Tigerdirect smile

. I purchased their barebones kit that came with case, mobo, cpu and a stick of 512 and just added the other components that i wanted. Not too happy with tiger right now cause it took almost 2wks to get my stuff when their site said 48hr delay, then 5-7day delay, then changed to everything is on back order, but wait its really not...etc... was like pulling teeth just to get my stuff, but oh well...thanks for the reply and the help.

big grin

uddarts · Guest

"" wrote:

masawo · Contributor Joined: 03 Sep 2005 Posts: 6

Here's an update:

Finally got it to POST completely accidentally. Reset the jumper for the Green Button/standby switch and it posted. Go figure :shock: . After it posted and repaired the install of XP to recognize new hardware from a reused HDD still running ok. However there are some POST codes being displayed. Will have to look those up and see what they are, but for now it runs. Also, its only showing the Athlon 3000+ as a 1.2Ghz CPU, i believe. Need to look into that as well. One thing at a time i guess. Keep any tips/hints coming I like having a 2nd opinion.

Guy · GURU Joined: 08 Feb 2005 Posts: 171

You will have to go into your BIOS to adjust the clock speed.

Refer to your manual, Page 15 to verify the JP3 jumper setting. You want the higher setting.

In the BIOS, the FSB speed is pre-set to a conservative "Optimal" setting. This is the reason your CPU is running slow--the BIOS default setting "underclocks" your system. Refer to your manual, Page 30 to change your FSB's clock speed. Start with "Aggressive" and make sure your system remains stable. Then, you can bump it up to "Turbo" or "Expert" if you want. These settings give you more control over your system (RAM CAS latency, etc) but you better know what you are doing before going too far!

This entire section (starting on page 23) walks you through controlling the speed of your various components -- memory, CPU, and AGP video.

If these POST codes (such as 75) are showing up briefly in the upper right corner on bootup, and going away by themselves, just ignore them since this is normal.

HTH!
_________________
Guy

nthums1 · Forum Regular Joined: 20 Aug 2005 Posts: 47

A couple of points. The LED's may light when hooked up backwards and stay lit even though they should go out. This might cause trouble.
Double check with AMD site as to what the specs for your CPU are by part number. This should give you the correct bus speed and multiplier. If JP3 is properly jumpered, optimized defaults in the BIOS should give you the proper speeds. Chaintech told me to reset the BIOS, boot up into the BIOS and load optimized defaults. Some of the settings don't seem right since I don't have need of all hardware or even a floppy. I installed the operating system, and then went back adjusting BIOS items one at a time.
Running ME.
All seems reasonably stable, except software issues. ATI seems to have issues related to the latest versions of Winamp. Something about their multimedia center software and Winamp maybe fighting over who has control of file extensions. Seems a lot like the contest of IE vs Netscape and several other fights that should have never originated. BTW, in the recent past Jason must have sold his baby to AOHell. And it has been buggy and troublesome eversince. Thinking I will change to foobar2000, which I'm testing right now. It too is having trouble if ATI MMC bar is running, but at least it doesn't blue screen to death and force cold boot.
Also beware there seems some odd stuff relating to USB and these cases.
I've noted that one pin isn't used that is shown in the usb spec and on the mobo manual. It is supposed to be used for some signaling, maybe overcurrent? Also it would be using the shielding of the case cable. So besides signalling with dc for overcurrent, it should also be acting as an ac ground, noise. And I had ran across where some of these cases were having shorts in the front panel jack to ground. Some idiot/half engineer may have solved that issue by removing the pin at the mobo end.

hope this helps, some.

Zilla · Guest

Good to hear. Like someone mentioned, set your clock
speed to 200MHz to get the 400MHz FSB for you CPU.

--
- Zilla
Cary, NC USA
(Remove XSPAM)

"masawo" <lovekungfu@comcast-dot-net.no-spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:4DbTe.238210$WN5.26775@fe02.news.easynews.com...

masawo · Contributor Joined: 03 Sep 2005 Posts: 6

This mobo is crazy, anytime i change the settings in the BIOS for anything other than FAIL-SAFE it won't post. All the jumpers are set as per manual, all the components work properly. It could be that the HDD was pulled from a previous system that i had and there are some conflicts because Win XP is not stable and will reboot every so often or just lock up or even better the good old memory dump. I also have 98 on this HDD and when i boot up to 98 i get no problems with it booting except the fact that the CPU is still not running at its proper speed but at 1300mhz. What do you guys think, reformat that HDD and do a clean install of XP or is it something else?

nthums1 · Forum Regular Joined: 20 Aug 2005 Posts: 47

Not crazy, just a whole lot different when it comes to how the core hardware is configured.
I've seen from time to time utilities that will reset your registry for all the hardware just prior to a reinstall. Also out there somewhere was a good read for swapping out the MOBO without formatting the drive. In this were several methods/ levels of ensuring it would work. For some it was just hooking up, booting into safe and removing all old MOBO associated Hdw, reboot and let autodetect. I seriously doubt this will work with this MOBO and believe it will require much more drastic steps. I originally set up with SE a transfered drive. It was a W95a upgrade to 98 and the SE cabs copied on to it for ready install. It ran buggy for a few weeks before it lost VMM32.vxd. I know some of the issues were mine, such as accidentally letting the case firewire cable flop under the MOBO before tightening into place. The sheathing had many tiny perforations that looked like a small dog had been chewing on it. Suspect it was shorting MOBO solder joint pins to ground. Also with the removable power cables, the stiffness of the main one may have been straining contacts. Having noticed at this point that tarnish was beginning on all such contacts (no gold) I lightly coated all contacts with silicone bulb socket grease (non-conductive) and then worked the connection together and apart several times to dislodge the light tarnish and simultaneously coat with the grease so it wouldn't be forced to try to make good contact through the tarnish. Some oxidized metals are actually harder than their pure state. Also I had accidentally reversed the LED polarity for the HDD. And I thought I was being careful when I put it together? Shesh.
Of course, I worked the power cables to preform this as best as possible so they weren't creating unintended forces at the connection points. These connectors were designed to just float, zero pressures, once installed.
You might leave off the case UsB connector until running just in case it has a case short problem. And then there is on mine the question of why the extra pin wasn't used.
I'd strongly suggest reseating on MOBO parts, cards, ram, etc. just in case. I might even try the grease on these pins later.
Lots of people seem to love this silver heat sink compound, but I'd be leary as it is conductive and a tiny amount spread to the wrong place sounds like disaster. There are plenty of other excellent products and I intend to get one to replace what I used. Would like to know what you find under the north and south heatsinks? I intend to do mine when I get the special heat sink compound, non-conductive of course.
Double check for possible shorts from MOBO to case, including something that might have slid between them (;-
At this point, if you have an extra drive laying around, feel like spending a few dollars on acquiring an extra, etc. I'd start with a clean install, just to make sure Hdw problems don't exist. I'd reserve wiping the current drive as a last resort, unless it is a recent copy of another drive. Don't do as many I've seen so with posts about not booting to a new drive. They forgot to setup the drive so it would be recognized.
My second attempt, after clearing what I wrote above, I reset the BIOS, powered on into BIOS, Set optimal defaults from front page, booted with WD CD utilities in and set up new drive for recognition. Rebooted to 98 OEM CD to load enough DOS to get to setup files on ME upgrade disk. Swapped CD's and did that. It did some disk checking of course and at somepoint asked to see the 98 disk again for authorization verification. From there I just let it install and once completed run the Ctech CD per directions for proper MOBO drivers. I think ME installed a default driver for the on board network, and either it was older than Ctech's or I forced Ctech's to install. This is how it went for me on ME.
Since then of course, I've downloaded MS updates and installed most. With ME, IE6 & WMP9 reinstalling should it go south can be a pain in the ***. IE6 & WMP9, and maybe something else, have to be uninstalled or at least killed in a special way to get a good reinstall. Bill Gates rot in hell. You should have come out with an auto fix for this when you first realized the problem, which was probably before they released IE6 or WMP9, yet not one word of caution, it can screw your system. And too now we are at a point that they are practically forcing IE6 on you for security reasons, which will break your system, which will force you to buy xp. Speaking of security, MS should be forced by homeland security to release patches for all OS that will enable the high security features only available in xp for wireless. And BTW, rumor has it that the reasons xp runs so fing slow is not only because of the extra bloat code they stuck in it, they were prepping for being able to sell you their latest wonder product, XP 64 bit. Twice the bandwith, twice as fast, RIGHT! Lesson here is to remember W95 and the release of the 32 bit OS.

I've drifted, I've complained. And I've seen so many complaints, I'm paranoid. My bewares after up and running. ATI 9600 seems to through a bitching amount of heat, software driver package may suck. Ugly time just trying to upgrade to the near end of ME WHQL certified and something about their MMC portion and the latest Winamps gives blue screens, OE exceptions, and system locks. I've disdained anything to do with WMP for a long time as they want sell you everything including streams better than the old 6 transistor AM pocket radios. What to hell happened to free broadcasting? So after trying a few others & screw Real networks, Winamp seemed to be the answer. For many years it served me well until the last few releases since bought out by AOhell. Foobar is my current answer. Do make sure you get your virus, spyware, firewalls updated ASAP and active.
Back to hdw. again. I have been unhappy with USB2 speed, but it may be the offboard hdw.
Question, is the memory speed shown during boot the DDR rate or the true rate. It shows me 200 Mhz which I question because of what is on the memory package.

don · Contributor Joined: 15 Sep 2005 Posts: 7

Zilla · Guest

So far I've been lucky to NOT have these heat
problems in spite of not having fans on the m/b
except the cpu. I use dual channel with Kingston
2x256MB memory.

--
- Zilla
Cary, NC USA
(Remove XSPAM)

"don" <orion456@excite-dot-com.no-spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:jA8We.75643$j34.543@fe07.news.easynews.com...

don · Contributor Joined: 15 Sep 2005 Posts: 7