Freetech P5F93 (old pentium system)

[Telexen]

I'm trying to setup a 233mhz Pentium MMX system in a Freetech P5F93.

I have all the switches and jumpers set right for the voltage, clock multipler, and clock bus speed (according to the manual)...but the system still won't post.

I have two of the processors. With the first one I tried, the system would immediately begin beeping once turned on. The second processor, though (known to be good)...takes about 30 seconds turned on before the system starts beeping.

Also, there's a JP2 jumper for Overdrive processors, and it's noted in the manual that it may need to be shunt for the system to work...I've tried with a jumper on and off this...same result.

The board supports both SDRAM and SIMM memory..I've tried both....and both an AGP and PCI video card...all other cards in the system are out.

Does anyone have any idea why it's taking 30 seconds for the system to beep? It doesn't make since to me.

[Nighthawk]

Normally it'll check the system RAM before beeping once to let you know everything's OK. That could easily take 30 seconds on a system like that (My PPro can take longer than that).

Have you tried looking up the beeps? Usually if there's a problem the board will emit a pattern of beeps.

[Telexen]

I've tried both SDRAM and EDO ram...neither the website nor manual say anything about beepcodes though.

[Target]

In this case, I too would immediately look to RAM first as the probable cause.

What kind of RAM are you using, and in what configurations?

For instance, if the SDRAM you are using is PC133, don't expect it to be able to work at PC66 speeds. PC100 it would probably drop down to, but not PC66. Also, some of those older motherboards are only able to utilize single sided SDRAM.

As for the EDO RAM, you need to be sure that the motherboard supports EDO, and that you install it (SIMMS) in pairs of the exact same size.

So, if you could provide some specifics about the RAM modules you are using, and the configurations you are using to set them up, that would be great.

[Telexen]

I'm using SIMM EDO modules...all 4 sticks have chips on only the single side of the stick...and all were 4mb. I took those sticks out to see if it would accept double sided modules...it wouldn't even post...so I stuck the old SIMMs back in...and now it locks up where it's supposed to show what slots RAM is installed in (second post screen)...I've tried all 4 sticks in...and every combination of just two in now...it still locks up.

[Target]

According to the manual, the motherboard will support several different varieties of RAM, including double sided. It does say though that EDO RAM must have timings of 70ns or faster, so that might be something else you need to look at.

If you are able to get it to begin POST, and it then locks up, I'd say your battle may be half won. Instead of allowing it to continue POST at bootup, interrupt it and go into the BIOS to make sure that your RAM speed and timings are set correctly to match the RAM specifications.