motherboard headaches

[DRF138]

I've got a used Itox G370lF10
P3 733mhz
32mb sdram
300w psu
pick a hard drive I have many...
No pci cards insatlled not necessary (video on board)

Anway here's the headache:
Installed Processor and Ram
Posted fine and memory tested ok
but IDE's wouldn't detect...Frozzen
so I cleared the cmos,
Ide's detected after clearing CMOS
but the processor detected is not the one installed in terms of mhz-
it reads 550mhz still P3
(I don't Have nor had i ever installed a 550mhz)
the memory tests fine,
then ide's are detected and error message
cpu has been changed Defaults loaded adjust settings in CMOS setup...make sure to save before exiting....
f1 to continue del to setup...
Up to this point i expected this much after clearing cmos except
I CANNOT NAVIGATE IN THE SETUP BIOS I GET 9 CLICKS AT BEST AND THEN THE SYSTEM FREEZES...after del is pressed-If I F1 system freezes at dmi pool data verification or right after passing..
This Seems to be a problem with the keyboardsIn my opinion i have been trying I am thinking because they are older (pre-'99) the bios is not accepting input from them as quickly. older keyboards operate at like 12 hz or something like that...sound Familiar? MAybe thats why?
anyhow I have tried everything including updating the bios(form floppy) it doesn't work-disk is in floppy when Powered on makes noise but NADA just noise not like it is working either just general floppy noise at post...
I have all kinds of different sizes of ram and hard drives they all deliver the same results I don't think it's related to any of these,and since there are no cards added and no beep codes-I am absolutely clueless.
Although I could be wrong in regard to the ram becasue after i reset from bios freeze the ram tests at about half of its real size and less of the bios loads, I can't get in setup at all after this the board has to be shut off for some time for memory to test back to it real full capacity...I've seen this happen before too though with other boards when reset before post finishes-don't know If its common but those instances weren't similar in my recollection...
Anyway I am at a loss here as to how to fix this...what have you???

[dafanman]

First thing, from your description that is the piii 550e, and it was overclocked to 733 ( I still have one of those running) when you cleared cmos the proc was set back to its non overclocked state.

To verify you shoud run cpu-z or something similar, and or pull the proc and do a visual inspection

You should try a different keyboard.

Updating the bios will not cure the 550/733 problem, I think that is the least of your problems.

Personally I dont think 32 mb of ram is a good match with that proc, do you have any 128 mb modules?

Since you got this used, maybe you should pull everything out of the case and rebuild, making sure your not having a shorting out problem, as well as reseating everything

[ragtop]

First - you need to set the FSB to 133 mhz in order for the processor to run at 733 (you're apparently at 100 mhz now because you cleared the CMOS & it went back to the default value).

Second, you probably do need more RAM than that. Depending on what the onboard video is set to, you may be using all the memory for video (thats why it doesn't show all the RAM on POST - some of it is reserved for video, so its not available to the system.

Third, you need to remove the board from the case & strip it down to just CPU and RAM. See if it will POST, then add one thing at a time until the problem shows up - then you have the culprit.

If none of that works, you may just have a bad MB.

One other silly question - you do have an adequate head sink on that CPU, right??

[DRF138]

The P3 was never overclocked by me and it reads on the chip 733/256/133/1.7v
I have 128 mb modules I will-I was thinking start with small module and go higher(better to roast 32 than 256 anyday)
I can't set anything to 133 because i can't navigate in the bios-but as previously discussed-this may be a keyboard issue. I wll give your recommendations a try minus the new KB because the storesa are closed now...I let you know what happens thanks for responding I really appreciate it.
David

[ragtop]

It's not common, but a bad keyboard can cause problems occasionally. It would be worth buying (or borrowing) a different keyboard to see if it helps.

[DRF138]

Ok guys i got in, It was the ram, the 32 wasn't enough like you said. There are new issues now. I have tried several hard drives & cdroms but but i get errors with each...
with the wdc 1.6gb the disk failed (it's seen better days and i expected it to fail soon it was getting loud)
with the seagate 40gb
at post i get an error message w/ the seagate it is this: Primary Ide channel no 80 conductor cable installed
at verifying dmi pool data i get invalid system disk
Now with other drives like this old fujitsu 1.75 gb (has had linux on it & has not been dod wiped) Linux tries to load if i don't boot windows 98 from cdrom.
when I boot from cd rom setup begins on the fujitsu fine this much has worked with the seagate at one time but i don't remeber what i did i think it was a Primary slave and i didn't get the above referrence error message-in fact i'm positive it was a PS then..as i was saying setup tries to run it does this initializes scans registry, coppying windows files and then i get an error:
ERROR loading USER.EXE and Sometimes ERROR loading GDI.exe
this disk works fine on other computers but i thought maybe just maybe the was a problem reading from the cd because of a scratch...??? SO, I tried windows Server 2003, same deal boot from cd begins and fails with the following notice
FILESETUPDD.sys couldnot be loaded error code 7...
WIN 2003 works fine on others too...I'm stuck maybe i am overlooking something...excited cause i got into the bios,
Thanks for everything thus far I really appreciate it... Any clues on this issue????

[DRF138]

oh yeah, thanks for mentioning the heat sink...I think that helped too..I had the wrong one on (from a duron processor) They looked alike and i got them confused when i cleaned th thermal paste off all my heat sinks, Somedays are better than others these 60 hour weeks are killing me....I am becoming a drone... any way thanks

[DRF138]

I got a link to the naufacturers web site if any one owabts to check the specs out...
http://www.itox.com/pages/products/m...0/G370if10.cfm

[jesseejames]

just a thought have you tested or changed the cmos battery if its going it can cause all kinds of problems

[DRF138]

I did clear the cmos and i expect it will probably need changed,if for nothing more than good measure...Tahnks for posting any further is certainly appreciated.
David