Re: Making a L440GX+ work (was Trying to revive a server... AIC-7896 freezes pre-POST completion)

2006-06-14 Thread Derek Ragona
The halt could be anything from bad RAM, or other IRQ issues.  This begs 
the question as to why this board is not in use?


You should be able to update the BIOS from a floppy or cd-rom boot 
disk.  You can take your pick at bootdisk.org


The general rule with ram is you can run faster ram than you need, just 
usually wastes money that faster RAM costs.  But speed isn't the only issue 
with ram, some are ECC or non-ECC, plus the CAS timing can be 
different.  So your RAM while it seems to work,may not be quite right.


-Derek



At 03:27 PM 6/14/2006, Garrett Cooper wrote:

Derek Ragona wrote:
IF you can find the documentation for the motherboard, see if there is a 
reset jumper.  That jumper should reset the BIOS to factory defaults to 
allow it to get through the post and into setup.  Some motherboards 
actually take you into setup with the jumper moved to reset bad configurations.
Also, unplug any cards and drives, leave the system board with just ram 
and cpu and video (unless it is built in) until you get it configured.

-Derek

At 12:11 AM 6/14/2006, Garrett Cooper wrote:

Hello again all,
I know this isn't a FreeBSD question really, but I just started 
up a motherboard with onboard SCSI (Adaptec AIC-7896), and for some odd 
reason it freezes pre-POST before it attempts to boot and there isn't 
any way where I can get into the BIOS to change the settings it seems. 
Does anyone know how I can maybe disable the onboard SCSI controller 
since it appears to hang while detecting disks?

Thanks a million!
-Garrett


Thanks all for the help. It turns out after a bit of researching 
and seeing some numbers on boot, I was able to find the documentation for 
the motherboard. It's an L440GX+ motherboard which does appear to still 
work properly, but here's the clincher. I read that the processors I have 
installed are compatible (2xP3 600E CPUs), _but_ only if the BIOS is 
updated past a particular version and I don't know if that is true or 
not. Plus I don't know what is causing the thing to halt because it 
appears to work on occasion--got the system to boot once but halted it 
since I couldn't get into the BIOS and change the settings. I cleared the 
CMOS--both by setting the jumper and removing the battery, and all it 
appears to have done superficially is make the original splash screen 
come up during boot.
So, my question is has anyone experienced anything like this and 
if so how did you solve this problem, or does anyone know how to fix this 
situation apart from (maybe) installing Windows and updating the BIOS 
with a different processor?
Also, I have a horde of PC133 SD RAM and only one stick of PC100 
RAM, which doesn't appear to work in the motherboard, and the motherboard 
is rated to _only_ support PC100 SD RAM. Is it all right for me to use 
RAM which is rated 33MHz faster than recommended? I think it's possible 
with some motherboards but I'm not sure about this one.

Thanks again for all your help guys :).
-Garrett
___
freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list
http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions
To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]

--
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.
MailScanner thanks transtec Computers for their support.



--
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.
MailScanner thanks transtec Computers for their support.

___
freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list
http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions
To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]


Re: Making a L440GX+ work (was Trying to revive a server... AIC-7896 freezes pre-POST completion)

2006-06-14 Thread Garrett Cooper

Derek Ragona wrote:
The halt could be anything from bad RAM, or other IRQ issues.  This begs 
the question as to why this board is not in use?


You should be able to update the BIOS from a floppy or cd-rom boot 
disk.  You can take your pick at bootdisk.org


The general rule with ram is you can run faster ram than you need, just 
usually wastes money that faster RAM costs.  But speed isn't the only 
issue with ram, some are ECC or non-ECC, plus the CAS timing can be 
different.  So your RAM while it seems to work,may not be quite right.


-Derek



At 03:27 PM 6/14/2006, Garrett Cooper wrote:

Derek Ragona wrote:
IF you can find the documentation for the motherboard, see if there 
is a reset jumper.  That jumper should reset the BIOS to factory 
defaults to allow it to get through the post and into setup.  Some 
motherboards actually take you into setup with the jumper moved to 
reset bad configurations.
Also, unplug any cards and drives, leave the system board with just 
ram and cpu and video (unless it is built in) until you get it 
configured.

-Derek

At 12:11 AM 6/14/2006, Garrett Cooper wrote:

Hello again all,
I know this isn't a FreeBSD question really, but I just 
started up a motherboard with onboard SCSI (Adaptec AIC-7896), and 
for some odd reason it freezes pre-POST before it attempts to boot 
and there isn't any way where I can get into the BIOS to change the 
settings it seems. Does anyone know how I can maybe disable the 
onboard SCSI controller since it appears to hang while detecting disks?

Thanks a million!
-Garrett


Thanks all for the help. It turns out after a bit of 
researching and seeing some numbers on boot, I was able to find the 
documentation for the motherboard. It's an L440GX+ motherboard which 
does appear to still work properly, but here's the clincher. I read 
that the processors I have installed are compatible (2xP3 600E CPUs), 
_but_ only if the BIOS is updated past a particular version and I 
don't know if that is true or not. Plus I don't know what is causing 
the thing to halt because it appears to work on occasion--got the 
system to boot once but halted it since I couldn't get into the BIOS 
and change the settings. I cleared the CMOS--both by setting the 
jumper and removing the battery, and all it appears to have done 
superficially is make the original splash screen come up during boot.
So, my question is has anyone experienced anything like this 
and if so how did you solve this problem, or does anyone know how to 
fix this situation apart from (maybe) installing Windows and updating 
the BIOS with a different processor?
Also, I have a horde of PC133 SD RAM and only one stick of 
PC100 RAM, which doesn't appear to work in the motherboard, and the 
motherboard is rated to _only_ support PC100 SD RAM. Is it all right 
for me to use RAM which is rated 33MHz faster than recommended? I 
think it's possible with some motherboards but I'm not sure about this 
one.

Thanks again for all your help guys :).
-Garrett


Thanks for your concerns. Supposedly when I received it last year in a 
trade, this motherboard was a spare that was not used by the owner 
because I don't think he had a reason to use the antique hardware. The 
thing is that I need a replacement motherboard with working IRQ/PCI 
slots because my previous motherboard (Tualatin ECS board) may have been 
partially fried thanks to a bad PSU and a series of SCSI hard drives 
drawing too much current within the case. Needless to say I fixed the 
PSU issue, but the issue with the original motherboard still may linger on.


I'll see about using a BIOS flash boot disk, but there is a list of 
procedures that Intel gives on their website, which seems to involve 
Windows a bit more extensively than I originally thought.


Thanks again about the RAM part. I know that mixing and matching is the 
only no-no in RAM-land, but other than that the motherboard says it 
supports both flavors--either ECC or non-ECC.


-Garrett
___
freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list
http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions
To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]


Re: Making a L440GX+ work (was Trying to revive a server... AIC-7896 freezes pre-POST completion)

2006-06-14 Thread Garrett Cooper

Garrett Cooper wrote:

Derek Ragona wrote:
The halt could be anything from bad RAM, or other IRQ issues.  This 
begs the question as to why this board is not in use?


You should be able to update the BIOS from a floppy or cd-rom boot 
disk.  You can take your pick at bootdisk.org


The general rule with ram is you can run faster ram than you need, 
just usually wastes money that faster RAM costs.  But speed isn't the 
only issue with ram, some are ECC or non-ECC, plus the CAS timing can 
be different.  So your RAM while it seems to work,may not be quite right.


-Derek



At 03:27 PM 6/14/2006, Garrett Cooper wrote:

Derek Ragona wrote:
IF you can find the documentation for the motherboard, see if there 
is a reset jumper.  That jumper should reset the BIOS to factory 
defaults to allow it to get through the post and into setup.  Some 
motherboards actually take you into setup with the jumper moved to 
reset bad configurations.
Also, unplug any cards and drives, leave the system board with just 
ram and cpu and video (unless it is built in) until you get it 
configured.

-Derek

At 12:11 AM 6/14/2006, Garrett Cooper wrote:

Hello again all,
I know this isn't a FreeBSD question really, but I just 
started up a motherboard with onboard SCSI (Adaptec AIC-7896), and 
for some odd reason it freezes pre-POST before it attempts to boot 
and there isn't any way where I can get into the BIOS to change the 
settings it seems. Does anyone know how I can maybe disable the 
onboard SCSI controller since it appears to hang while detecting 
disks?

Thanks a million!
-Garrett


Thanks all for the help. It turns out after a bit of 
researching and seeing some numbers on boot, I was able to find the 
documentation for the motherboard. It's an L440GX+ motherboard which 
does appear to still work properly, but here's the clincher. I read 
that the processors I have installed are compatible (2xP3 600E CPUs), 
_but_ only if the BIOS is updated past a particular version and I 
don't know if that is true or not. Plus I don't know what is causing 
the thing to halt because it appears to work on occasion--got the 
system to boot once but halted it since I couldn't get into the BIOS 
and change the settings. I cleared the CMOS--both by setting the 
jumper and removing the battery, and all it appears to have done 
superficially is make the original splash screen come up during boot.
So, my question is has anyone experienced anything like this 
and if so how did you solve this problem, or does anyone know how to 
fix this situation apart from (maybe) installing Windows and updating 
the BIOS with a different processor?
Also, I have a horde of PC133 SD RAM and only one stick of 
PC100 RAM, which doesn't appear to work in the motherboard, and the 
motherboard is rated to _only_ support PC100 SD RAM. Is it all right 
for me to use RAM which is rated 33MHz faster than recommended? I 
think it's possible with some motherboards but I'm not sure about 
this one.

Thanks again for all your help guys :).
-Garrett


Thanks for your concerns. Supposedly when I received it last year in a 
trade, this motherboard was a spare that was not used by the owner 
because I don't think he had a reason to use the antique hardware. The 
thing is that I need a replacement motherboard with working IRQ/PCI 
slots because my previous motherboard (Tualatin ECS board) may have been 
partially fried thanks to a bad PSU and a series of SCSI hard drives 
drawing too much current within the case. Needless to say I fixed the 
PSU issue, but the issue with the original motherboard still may linger on.


I'll see about using a BIOS flash boot disk, but there is a list of 
procedures that Intel gives on their website, which seems to involve 
Windows a bit more extensively than I originally thought.


Thanks again about the RAM part. I know that mixing and matching is the 
only no-no in RAM-land, but other than that the motherboard says it 
supports both flavors--either ECC or non-ECC.


-Garrett


Also, I have nothing plugged in (never did) and was strictly using the 
onboard components.

-Garrett
___
freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list
http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions
To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]


Re: Making a L440GX+ work (was Trying to revive a server... AIC-7896 freezes pre-POST completion)

2006-06-14 Thread Derek Ragona
Look for just the DOS flash update.  It will be smaller and from intel 
comes with its own boot image.  You will have to run that on a windows PC 
to make the floppy.


-Derek


At 05:18 PM 6/14/2006, Garrett Cooper wrote:

Derek Ragona wrote:
The halt could be anything from bad RAM, or other IRQ issues.  This begs 
the question as to why this board is not in use?
You should be able to update the BIOS from a floppy or cd-rom boot 
disk.  You can take your pick at bootdisk.org
The general rule with ram is you can run faster ram than you need, just 
usually wastes money that faster RAM costs.  But speed isn't the only 
issue with ram, some are ECC or non-ECC, plus the CAS timing can be 
different.  So your RAM while it seems to work,may not be quite right.

-Derek

At 03:27 PM 6/14/2006, Garrett Cooper wrote:

Derek Ragona wrote:
IF you can find the documentation for the motherboard, see if there is 
a reset jumper.  That jumper should reset the BIOS to factory defaults 
to allow it to get through the post and into setup.  Some motherboards 
actually take you into setup with the jumper moved to reset bad configurations.
Also, unplug any cards and drives, leave the system board with just ram 
and cpu and video (unless it is built in) until you get it configured.

-Derek

At 12:11 AM 6/14/2006, Garrett Cooper wrote:

Hello again all,
I know this isn't a FreeBSD question really, but I just 
started up a motherboard with onboard SCSI (Adaptec AIC-7896), and 
for some odd reason it freezes pre-POST before it attempts to boot 
and there isn't any way where I can get into the BIOS to change the 
settings it seems. Does anyone know how I can maybe disable the 
onboard SCSI controller since it appears to hang while detecting disks?

Thanks a million!
-Garrett


Thanks all for the help. It turns out after a bit of 
researching and seeing some numbers on boot, I was able to find the 
documentation for the motherboard. It's an L440GX+ motherboard which 
does appear to still work properly, but here's the clincher. I read 
that the processors I have installed are compatible (2xP3 600E CPUs), 
_but_ only if the BIOS is updated past a particular version and I don't 
know if that is true or not. Plus I don't know what is causing the 
thing to halt because it appears to work on occasion--got the system to 
boot once but halted it since I couldn't get into the BIOS and change 
the settings. I cleared the CMOS--both by setting the jumper and 
removing the battery, and all it appears to have done superficially is 
make the original splash screen come up during boot.
So, my question is has anyone experienced anything like this 
and if so how did you solve this problem, or does anyone know how to 
fix this situation apart from (maybe) installing Windows and updating 
the BIOS with a different processor?
Also, I have a horde of PC133 SD RAM and only one stick of 
PC100 RAM, which doesn't appear to work in the motherboard, and the 
motherboard is rated to _only_ support PC100 SD RAM. Is it all right 
for me to use RAM which is rated 33MHz faster than recommended? I think 
it's possible with some motherboards but I'm not sure about this one.

Thanks again for all your help guys :).
-Garrett


Thanks for your concerns. Supposedly when I received it last year in a 
trade, this motherboard was a spare that was not used by the owner because 
I don't think he had a reason to use the antique hardware. The thing is 
that I need a replacement motherboard with working IRQ/PCI slots because 
my previous motherboard (Tualatin ECS board) may have been partially fried 
thanks to a bad PSU and a series of SCSI hard drives drawing too much 
current within the case. Needless to say I fixed the PSU issue, but the 
issue with the original motherboard still may linger on.


I'll see about using a BIOS flash boot disk, but there is a list of 
procedures that Intel gives on their website, which seems to involve 
Windows a bit more extensively than I originally thought.


Thanks again about the RAM part. I know that mixing and matching is the 
only no-no in RAM-land, but other than that the motherboard says it 
supports both flavors--either ECC or non-ECC.


-Garrett
___
freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list
http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions
To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]

--
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.
MailScanner thanks transtec Computers for their support.



--
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.
MailScanner thanks transtec Computers for their support.

___
freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list
http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions
To unsubscribe, send any mail to