Damaged power cable?

[arjepsen]

Oh - old MB....
Will have to look at the documents

[Y-my-R]

Most of the time, removing the battery for a few hours has the same effect as clearing the CMOS via a jumper, so you can just try that first. I don't remember where the jumper to clear the CMOS is, but the mainboard manual says it. Just search for "Amptron PM-9800". I think that's the "old board"... and if so, it's Jumper 1 (SP1... looks like it's next to the ISA slots, on the side towards the processor.

Other than that, and after you tried removing the battery, a standard troubleshooting sequence is what I'd do (which is similar, no matter what the type of computer):

1: Do the fans spin up if you turn it on?
No: Power supply issue (or connections to power supply, fuse inside the power supply, etc.)
Yes: Move to the next step.

2. If you have one of those tiny PC speakers for mainboard "beeps" connect it (J7 - SPK. That's the long single row of pins next to the bottom ISA slot. It's the 4 pins on the right side (should say SPK). What kinds of beeps do you hear when you power on the computer?
1. Short "bleep": Memory likely OK
2. Long "beeeeeeeep - beeeeeep - beeeeep" memory likely bad

3. Move the video card to a different PCI slot and turn on again. Do you see the RAM counting up now, etc?
Yes: Clean the video card contacts and the PCI slot. Or just leave the video card in the other PCI slot. You might have to make IRQ setting changes in he BIOS to avoid issues, though.
No. Move on to the next step.

4. Do you have a PCI video card lying around (doesn't matter what brand/model)? If so, install it and turn on. Do you see the RAM counting up now, etc.?
Yes: The original video card was the problem and you need a replacement (a random different one won't let you boot fully).
No: There's still a different problem (might be RAM or the mainboard).

5. Remove all the cards from the mainboard, except for the video card. Disconnect everything else, except for the video card/monitor, computer keyboard and power. Turn on again. Does the RAM count up now?

...... etc. etc.

You see where I'm going with this. Just a systematic process of elimination. Of course you need some spare parts to be able to do this (RAM... which you have now, PCI video card, maybe one of those little computer speakers that connects to the pins of the mainboard, etc.). I have all that stuff, and that's why I was offering to help. But the above is what I'd do... maybe followed by cleaning up all the contacts on the mainboard, while looking for burned looking components... and if nothing looks odd, I'd try to swap the processor next, or the entire mainboard (depending on what spares you have, or how much you're willing to spend on spares).

Anyway... all you need to understand for troubleshooting stuff like that, is the "process of elimination", and a little bit of signal flow understanding (not just for audio, but also how electricity travels between components). Then you should be able to pin it down...

Good luck.

[Muzicpro]

Thanks for all the awesome ideas!! Much appreciated. Currently I think I somehow “killed” my board as I’m not even getting the red led error message readout. I just have one single red might in the board. This happened after I did a few things, one of which was reseating the bios chip. The CPU’s fan is still spinning but the now lack of any real life on the board is discouraging. I have new ram and also acquired another pci video card. I had tried these things before the board died. I’ll keep at it a little longer but I’m close to throwing in the digital towel.

[arjepsen]

Don't give up - there's help to get.
If the bios chip is bad, you could get a new one - "Funk" in here makes them for the HDR, which is the same motherboard, so I think he could make a chip for the d8b too.

[Y-my-R]

If you think the BIOS got fried, I still have a spare "old type" board (that has the keyboard chip burnt out), and it still has its BIOS chip. The board's still installed in the rack case, though.

I might have pulled and re-seated that BIOS chip when I was troubleshooting that computer, and before I noticed that the keyboard chip had burn marks around it. But the BIOS is probably still OK. I think I tried it again, after I put the BIOS back on the board. It still counted up the memory, but (like before the BIOS reseat) I got a checksum error, and couldn't bypass it because the keyboard chip burnt out (so there's no "F1" I could press to skip).

That BIOS in your board would probably work, though...

But a new one from Funk would be the better choice, as long as the HDR chips work in the d8b (or Funk has a d8b BIOS chip image for the old board, to burn onto the new chip).

[Muzicpro]

Here’s today’s exciting update:

I’m took the cpu to a local computer shop and had it repaired. They replaced 2 blown caps on the MB, did Some powered supply fix and put in a new cpu fan. Total cost $250. I now have my board back....kind of.

I don’t have any red led readout on the board at all. Could that be related to the db25 cable being bad? Also, the huge issue of not having the 12 digit authorization code. I don’t care about the led readout (but it would be nice). I can’t use the board without the auth code. That’s what started this whole mess!

I’m also trying to access the bios on boot but can’t. I hold down the delete key (not backspace) right after or before I turn on the cpu and getting no boot up at all. Is this another clue to something else being wrong?

I can see the finish line so it would be great to get this baby back up and running.

[Y-my-R]

I'd just install OS 5.1 and do the hack @munkustrap made possible in this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1634&hilit=hack&start=30

That's what I'm running on my d8b's. It also unlocks all the plug-ins... so if you didn't have all of them, that's even an upgrade

By red LED readout, you meant the SMPTE Display? I think that turns off, if you have HUI mode enabled. There's a setting somewhere in the GUI (I can look it up if you can't find it).

Not sure about the delete key not working for accessing the BIOS. Can you boot up all the way, run in demo mode (without the authorization code), and try something that uses the delete key? Like, saving a session, typing a name and deleting characters? Does the keyboard react to anything at all when you do this, or is just the delete key not working? (Depending on the answer, your keyboard has a bad key, or the whole keyboard is not recognized... which could be another component on the mainboard).

[Y-my-R]

...I just looked. The HUI mode setting is in the "Options" menu - all the way down. If there's a checkmark next to it, that's what caused the SMPTE display to turn off.

[Muzicpro]

Thanks! I’ll try all these ideas later today.

[Muzicpro]

[quote="Y-my-R"
By red LED readout, you meant the SMPTE Display? I think that turns off, if you have HUI mode enabled. There's a setting somewhere in the GUI (I can look it up if you can't find it).
[/quote]

It's not the SMPTE Display, it's the top upper right corner above the EQ, compressor knobs that's now "turned off". I have yet to check my DB25 cable (does that affect that screen?). I can run the board in demo mode and checked the delete key as per your suggestion and that works. Still don't know how to get into the bios as the board won't boot while I hold the delete key down. Is there another way to get into the bios or is something wonky with my bios chip? Anywho, still plugging along. Will weed through the long 5.1 crack thread to see if I can figure out how to get the thing working again.