[ale] Installing RH 7.2 on an Epox 8KHA+ - Problems

Sun Mar 17 17:58:20 EST 2002

   Well things have gone from Bad to Worse. I redid the CPU/heatsink
by clenaing them both, reapplying the grease, and putting them back
into the system. I also put the graphics card and the network card
back in and re-seat the memory (is there such a thing as "re-sat"?).
I put all the connector cable back and the system would power up
but I got nothing on the screen. All I got was the code "FF" on the
motherboard LEDs. The POST section of the manual says that FF is,

Boot Attempt (INT 19h)

   The second thing I tried was to pop the motherboard again, and
redo the nylon washers between the screws and the motherboard
(I'm using metal posts). I got the same result (the case is an Enlight
7237 I think, with a 300 W power supply). Tried a few more tricks
with the washers to make sure I was grounding out the motherboard,
and got the same result (nothing on the screen).
   The third thing was to swap out the graphics card with one that
I know works (I'm using to write this email). Same result. Played
the washer switcheroo, same result.
   Any recommendations at this point? Anybody want to see how
far I can throw this bad boy?
   Does anybody know of any place in the Roswell/Marietta area
where I can take it to get it checked out and maybe put together
correctly and perhaps take a stab at installing RH 7.2? Will Ginstar
or Prime do this?

TIA,

Jeff Layton

Jeff Hubbs wrote:

> Adrin wrote:
>
>> As long as you are checking things like that.   Might as
>> well look at the Power supply voltages.  I had some strange
>> errors once and it turn out that the 12 Volt supply was
>> about 12% to low.  I never had a problem with AT power
>> supplies but my first ATX lasted a little over a year.
>>
>> Adrin
>>
> That is a problem I experienced as well.  Symptoms would look a lot like that, and might affect the video card before
> the motherboard/CPU.
>
> - Jeff
>
>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: laytonj [mailto:laytonj]On Behalf Of Jeff Layton
>> Sent: Sunday, March 17, 2002 11:09 AM
>> To: Jeff Hubbs
>> Cc: ale at ale.org
>> Subject: Re: [ale] Installing RH 7.2 on an Epox 8KHA+ -
>> Problems
>>
>> Jeff Hubbs wrote:
>>
>>
>> > Jeff Layton wrote:
>> >
>> >
>> >>  Good morning,
>> >>
>> >>    I just put together a new system with an Epox 8KHA+,
>> >>  AMD XP 1800+, S3 Savage 2000 64 Meg, WD 200BB,
>> >>  and an old NEC MultiSync 5FGp monitor. I tried installing
>> >>  RH 7.2 using the graphical mode and it always pukes.
>> >>  Sometimes, I get a good error message:
>> >>
>> >>  Traceback (innermost last):
>> >>    File "/usr/lib/anaconda", line 477 in ?
>> >>       from splashscreen import splashScreenShow
>> >>    File "/usr/lib/anaconda/splashscreen.py", line 24 in ?
>> >>       from gtk import *
>> >>    SyntaxError: can't assign to operator (line 2318)
>> >>
>> >>  Othertimes, I get,
>> >>
>> >>  Probling for Monitor Type: Unable to Probe
>> >>  X server started successfully
>> >>  install exited abnormally
>> >>
>> >>  (X came up with that silly gray background for about
>> >>  5 seconds and then drops back to the framebuffer mode).
>> >>    I used this exact same monitor (and keyboard and mouse
>> >>  for that matter) to install RH 7.2 on a PIII/500, Stealth
>> >>
>> III/540,
>>
>> >>  IBM 30 Gig HD (75 GXP I think).
>> >>    Textmode for RH 7.2 also pukes, but at various points
>> >>  during the install. I also tried RH 7.1 and the graphical
>> >>
>> install
>>
>> >>  dies everytime just as RH 7.2 does. Text mode in RH 7.1
>> >>  gets a little farther, but will also die (but in random
>> >>
>> spots).
>>
>> >>    Does anyone have any ideas? I've built a few systems
>> >>  (about 10+) and installed RH more times than I can
>> >>
>> remember
>>
>> >>  and this is the first time I've ever had any problems.
>> >>
>> Did I
>>
>> >>  build the box badly? Do I have a short perhaps? Is there
>> >>  something weird about the KT266A chipset? The Athlon?
>> >>
>> >>  TIA,
>> >>
>> >>  Jeff Layton
>> >>
>> >>
>> > Jeff -
>> >
>> > A brand-new machine that fails in varying spots when
>> >
>> installing an OS
>>
>> > suggests the possibility of a thermal problem.  Are you
>> >
>> 100% certain the
>>
>> > CPU is properly heatsinked?
>> >
>> > The last time this happened to me, whoever built the
>> >
>> machine had left
>>
>> > the protective backing paper on the thermal tape on the
>> >
>> underside of the
>>
>> > heatsink.  Removed all that, replaced the then-damaged
>> >
>> tape with a small
>>
>> > bit of thermal goop, and the machine ran normally.
>> >
>> The CPU is Monarch and it came with no tape or anything on
>> it.
>> I cleaned it with iospropyl achohol and used Acrtic Silver
>> II on
>> the CPU and the heatsink (ThermalRight SK-6 which had no
>> tape
>> on it - and I cleaned it with iso alcohol). I applied
>> everything the way the
>> ThermalRight website said to (at least I think I did).
>> Everything seemed
>> to go together just fine.
>>
>> I'm assuming that nothing's wrong here. I turned on the box
>> and let it
>> sit for about an hour of so to check the CPU temperature
>> with the BIOS
>> and it stabilized at about 40 deg. C.
>>
>> Could it be something with the graphics card not being set
>> correctly?
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> Jeff
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> > This may not be your ONLY problem but you should make REAL
>> >
>> sure before
>>
>> > proceeding.
>> >
>> > - Jeff
>> >
>> > ---
>> > This message has been sent through the ALE general
>> >
>> discussion list.
>>
>> > See http://www.ale.org/mailing-lists.shtml for more info.
>> >
>> Problems should be
>>
>> > sent to listmaster at ale dot org.
>> >
>>
>> ---
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>> sent to listmaster at ale dot org.
>>
>>
>> ---
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>> sent to listmaster at ale dot org.
>>
>>
>>
>
>

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