Box won't boot ? ASUS DUAL MB PIII, P2B-DS

[Thomas]

Greetings everybody !

After having got all the parts I need to finish the building of a nice but old fashion kind of PC I've ran into a classic problem: the box won't boot ?

System:

Chieftec Dragon chassis
ASUS MB, DUAL CPU, P2B-DS
2 x PIII 450MHz

///Actually I've got 3 CPU's in total but it has not helped me out so far..I wonder if the CPU origin/production model could be a problem for my configuration ? All 3 CPU's are made from 3 different factories (Costa Rica, Ireland & Phillippines). The 2 of them have similar descriptions on the CPU package, 98 SL35D, the third one got another description, 97 SL358.

Matrox PCI /ASUS AGP graphics (have tried both)
ATX PSU 350W (P4 PSU)
Quantum 9,1 Ultra2 SCSI drive
Logitech cordless mouse & keyboard (if this matters..)

Everything is connected, all jumpers set (mult. = 4.5x, Bus F. = 100MHz). When I turn on the power then the harddisk boots and the PSU fan starts to spin - that's it ! Not a single sound from the MB - only a blinking green light coming from the front of the chassis (System power led) makes the box seems alive...In the manual this signal is decoded as to be the message for the MB's sleep mode ? Mhh, but how do I wake the system up ?

Any help would be appreciated. I'm quite new to dual configurations so I might have done simple mistakes setting up the MB.

Best regards
Thomas, Denmark

 

[AWS]

I had the same motherboard and had the same problem. There is a jumper to clear cmos. Set the pins like you would to clear cmos, if I remember it was pins 2-3. Boot the box with the pins in that position. It should boot. As soon as it shows the cpu type and memory info move the pins back to normal position. There seems to be a quirk with some of those boards that cause the problem. Once you boot it by doing this it should work normal.

 

[Thomas]

Hi Bob,

Thx. for your reply!

I have managed to find out something about how to clear CMOS but I am not sure about what the text means (it's probably because I'm not a native English speaking person..)
Here's the text from the manual:

The CMOS RAM is powered by the onboard button cell battery. To clear RTC data: (1) Turn off your computer and unplug its AC power, (2) Short the two solder points labelled CLRTC, (3) Turn on your computer, (4) Hold down <Delete> during bootup and enter BIOS setup to re-enter user preferences.

My problem is to understand step (2) ? There are no pins to set regarding the CMOS as far as I can see...mhh and that fact makes me a bit confused ??

 

[Thomas]

I had a conversation with a friend of mine and I managed to get to know what to do about step 2 in the process of clearing my CMOS. Have now tried to hold 2 screwdrivers at the solder points. It does not get me any further ?
Moreover I tried 4 new pieces of RAM just to make sure it's not the RAM which is the problem.
I also tried an AGP 3dfx graphics card and and AGP-V6800DDR with 64 MB's of RAM. By the way, the fan cooling down the graphic CPU is spinning if that could indicate something ?Moreover, the power-on led is not flashing anymore. Instead the light is on static. Another thing a tried was to set up and down the FSB speed. Again no progress.
I was noticed by another friend about the chance that the CPU's might not be dual-capable ? Does anybody have experience with this problem and how do I find out if my CPU's are compatible - not only with the MB but also with one another ?

Regards, Thomas

 

[AWS]

If the cpu are not dual capable the system would still boot. Only one cpu would be seen and used.
Take everything out except for vid card one stick of ram and cpu. Try to boot. It could be one of the sticks of ram is bad. If that doesn't work try a pci vid card. Could be the agp slot is dead.
If you have access to a single cpu motherboard then try booting it with the cpu you have. It is possible that one or both are dead.

 

[Thomas]

I have now tried with 4 different agp cards and one pci vid card. Moreover, I took out the batteri for 8 hours and replaced it just to make sure that the CMOS has been completely deleted.
Unfortunately nothing brought me any further ?
Next step is now to get all my ram, vid cards and cpu's tested individually. That will happen next week - I hope. One of my friends got an old MB slot 1 that we can use for testing. I guess that would settle the uncertainty about if the components are working or not ? I'll get back as soon as I have the results from the test.

Regards, Thomas