problem with re-built computer

trueman · November 6th, 2003, 09:01 AM

Hello,

I have just been given an old P233 from a friend that I want to fix up and send to my dad as he wants to learn computers. I had to buy a new hdd (3gb) a floppy drive cause the original was full of dust, and added a stick of ram. I pulled the power supply apart and blew out all the dust and also gave the case, m/b etc a good blow out also. I installed the new hdd and floopy drive and added a second stick of 32mb pc100 ram.
After switching the unit on it beeped numerous times and the screen stayed black. I took out the new stick of ram as I am not sure if the original ram is pc100 anyway. I rebooted again and the computer displayed the startup screen with American Megatrends etc and "Pentium 233" on one line.
After about 10 seconds the screen turns black and nothing else happens. I tried again and this time hit the del key to try and get into the BIOS setup but it still just went to a black screen.
Question 1. Even if I didnt try to get into the BIOS setup shouldn't I at least end up at a black screen with a flashing cursor or does the hdd need to be setup in the BIOS first? I end up at a blank screen where the monitor will go into stand by as there is nothing to display.
Question 2.
Why cant I get into the BIOS setup by hitting the del key anyway?
Question 3.
I have noticed that the floppy drive light and the hdd light stays on the whole time. Could this be the problem and if so how do I fix it?
Question 4. Does it matter If I use the first connector for the drive on the IDE cable or the end connector. (1 drive on IDE 1 with jumper set as master and cd-rom on IDE 2.
Question 6. If the new pc133 ram didn,t work can I assume that my original ram must be PC66 and i therefore need to buy another stick of PC66?

Thanks for the help,

Trueman.

Dputiger · November 6th, 2003, 09:19 AM

Hard drive lights are often on the entire time during boot--or at least the LED is. Floppy drive lights, however, should not be. you've reversed polarity at one end of the cable. On a system that old there may be no lead-wires, so try reversing the cable first at one end, then at the other, etc, until you've tried all four combos.

This may or may not be your issue. On OLD systems a mis-hooked floppy could cause no- boot, newer ones report or ignore it. Regardless, it needs fixing. Its a good spot to start.

trueman · November 6th, 2003, 09:37 AM

Gee that was a quick reply, thanks DPUtiger. I thought that the floppy cable had a notch like the IDE cable so you could only put it one way. However since your reply I went and checked and the notch is on both sides of the female plug so I could plug the cable in either way. I can't test it now because I also buggered the power supply so have to get a new one in the morning.

Thanks again,

Trueman.

Bill in SD, CA · November 6th, 2003, 11:16 AM

Welcome to TechIMO!

Sometimes "F2" is used to get into BIOS.

Bill

jmichna · November 6th, 2003, 11:37 AM

Re floppy cables...
There are four possible ways to connect a floppy cable, and three are wrong.

This is a really common error, and happens to everyone.

There is an end of the cable that contains a section of twisted wires, that twisted end is normally located closer to the floppy drive. Also, normally there is a red wire (indicates #1 position wire). That wire is normally oriented toward the interior/center of the floppy drive when you connect the cable. On the cable end connected to the mobo, make sure the red wire is oriented to Position #1 on the floppy controller (usually printed on the mobo itself).

Re the ram...
Count the number of connectors on the original ram (72, or 84, or ???). Also, some mobos couldn't take double sided (mem chips on both side of the ram board) ram. Also check and see what the max ram that mobo could handle is. Some early boards would not support more than 32mb, or 64mb ram.

stroyal · November 6th, 2003, 11:38 AM

I had an old Dell that I never could get into set up, unless I pulled out 1 stick of memory.
It would then enter set up on a memory change error

noisedude · November 6th, 2003, 11:42 AM

if you've lost the PSU you could do worse than to save yourself the effort and get an ex-coporate re-furb machine: if you're in the UK i can tell you some websites but if not they should be easy to find. they come with warranties but you get an old machine for little money - perfect for a net client or a 'homework machine'.

otherwise, go right back to basics, unplug as much as possible and add things one at a time. the basic bare minimum is:
mobo and CPU,
memory (only use stuff u know has worked in the board)
graphics card.

if you can get into the bios ok, try adding the floppy, then the hard disk, then any other cards, until it stops working or you have a full machine. if it stops then you know more or less exactly what's wrong, either the part you last added or the corresponding feature on the motherboard.

trueman · November 6th, 2003, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jmichna
Re floppy cables...
There are four possible ways to connect a floppy cable, and three are wrong. This is a really common error, and happens to everyone.

There is an end of the cable that contains a section of twisted wires, that twisted end is normally located closer to the floppy drive. Also, normally there is a red wire (indicates #1 position wire). That wire is normally oriented toward the interior/center of the floppy drive when you connect the cable. On the cable end connected to the mobo, make sure the red wire is oriented to Position #1 on the floppy controller (usually printed on the mobo itself).

I had the twisted end going into the mobo so had it all around the wrong way.
I blew the power supply unit by plugging in the supply whilst the switch was on at the wall. My dad said it must have been suspect anyway (hes an electrical tech.) So I will get a second hand one from the local computer store which should be fairly cheap. Its the old style power supply where the front on/off switch on the computer is connected direct to the power supply by 240volt supply. (not via the motherboard as in new power supply designs.)
As for the RAM, the stick I brought looks exactly the same as the 32mb stick I had. They both have a small white sticker with a code number and "Legend" printed on it but where the new stick says 32mb PC100 on the sticker, the old ram has a different code number and a few letters and doesn't mention if its PC100 or something else. it has another green sticker else where that says its 32mb. Would it be safe to guess I need PC66?
I might have to take it into the shop and getthem to work out what it is.

Thanks again for the help.

BTW Noisedude,

I live in Australia.

jmichna · November 6th, 2003, 07:21 PM

As long as the pin outs and chip config of the ram sticks are the same, faster ram on a slower system should be no problem. The faster ram will have to run no faster than the slow ram can tolerate.

Crucial has an excellent memory selector tool... you can plug in your system details and it will lead you to the proper ram for your system... even if you are not planning on buying Crucial ram, you will at least see exactly what type of ram your system can take.

http://www.crucial.com/

noisedude · November 7th, 2003, 07:20 PM

there's another issue with newer ram on old boards to do with latency and response times. basically i tried a few new sticks in my old cyrix 333 system and none of them worked, even a brand new PC 66 one. then i took a 32mb chip out of a machine of same age and it worked fine. i understand from other forums that this is perfectly normal behaviour but not necessarily great news for you trueman.

btw hope yr enjoying the rugby world cup down there...our boys are gonna give you a hiding in the semis, bout time we beat u at something