Abit Kv7-v

[Hondaman]

Hello,

Recently my PC wouldn't start. It is an ABIT KV7-V. KT600 north bridge, VIA 8237 south bridge. 20-pin ATX power connector, two IDE channels, two SATAs. I'm running the Athlon 2900 (TigerDirect). After trying several power supplies (PC P&C 350, CoolerMaster 430, PC P&C 500), checking the ATX power button with an ohmmeter, and getting a second KV7-V off of eBay and repeating these tests, I'm still having the same problems:

It will randomly fail to start for 7-10 days at a time. If the lights and fans come on, they'll stay on for 0.1 to 0.2 seconds before going dead. At some point, it will resume booting and working as if nothing was ever wrong. Until the next time. Looks like both boards are acting the same.

Looks like Rubycons were used, no bulging, nothing burned.

The board (and CPU) are the only things common in all of this (assuming no shorts in the case). Even trying to boot with and without the UPS doesn't seem to affect things. Never overclock, set timing, etc. to automatic in BIOS. It *_should_* work.

I ended up getting a new system (64-bit) to "buy my way out of the problem" (XP Pro 64-bit can be thought of as a $139 splash screen, since I already paid for, and had the benefits of, XP Home on the Abit).

I'm at or near the final BIOS release on both boards. Any ideas what could be wrong? Capacitors that did not *_visibly_* fail?

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Abit Kv7-v

OST and Chemicon KZG will fail without any visual indication.
Others too, just not as often.

Case grounds happen.
Try building the system out of the case and see if the problem still exists or goes away. (Put motherboard on cardboard or a board.)

.

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Abit Kv7-v

OH! - Tayeh fail without any visual indication too.
They were popular on AMD boards for a while.

[Hondaman]

Finally, a solution (I think)

Hi guys (and gals),

I think I fixed it (though the 64-bit is now my main box). One of the front USB plugs on my case (bend down to insert USB memory stick, they're at the bottom) was causing a short. At some point, I bent a contact, it was touching a part connected to ground.

I put my 64-bit ASUS board in my case and, when booting, the screen displayed a message like "WARNING: USB overcurrent detected. Remove the USB device and restart". Even before I get to the Energy Star logo, device enumeration (IDE HD etc), or dual-boot screen (64-bit XP/64-bit linux). Then it would display a countdown from 8 seconds to zero, and shut down. Even when no USB devices were plugged in. (That's why I got down on the floor and then I found the short.) The case was the problem the whole time.

The times when the 32-bit Abit did/did not start probably co-incide with the times I re-adjusted the bent piece of the USB plug that I could see without bending down. I just never realized.

Obviously the 64-bit ASUS was programmed to give a warning like that. And the BIOS on the 32-bit Abit (and the second identical Abit from eBay) was set to shut down immediately and not give me any clues. Unplug the front USB cable from whatever mobo is in that case, and everything works fine. Problem solved.

I returned the PC P&C Silencer 500, and got a PC P&C Silencer 750 that was DOA. But the replacement 750 works fine. So after 7 weeks of diagnostic work and $450 in parts, I've got more hardware than I can use (but it WORKS). Maybe I'll try Folding@Home or something.


Thanks guys!!!

[Scenic]

Re: Abit Kv7-v

lol

it's the small things that can drive you crazy
had the same problem on a customer's system..
i don't know how, but they managed to break the plastic thing in the front-USB connector (where the contacts usually lie on) out..
so the loose pins caused a short to ground.
luckily the board didn't burn out because of that short, but it would randomly just turn off..

took me hours to find that out..

XP Pro 64-bit can be thought of as a $139 splash screen

XP x64 Edition is actually Windows Server 2003 64Bit (a.k.a. NT 5.2, while XP is NT5.1 and Win2k is NT5.0)

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Abit Kv7-v

I remember the start up of a NUC plant being delayed by almost two days because of a SHORTED light bulb. Was a tiny indicator lamp. Every time it was supposed to light up it sent the auctioneered power supplies to the indicators into a frenzy shifting loads and all the lights on all the panels started to flicker and blink in random patterns like Christmas lights. Took forever to figure it out and find it. Something over 1000 light bulbs involved and most mounted in water tight enclosures.

[i4004]

Re: Abit Kv7-v

water tight?
was it a nuke submarine?
hehe...

i wonder about the electronics russians used in chernobyl...
that would be fun to looka t, even though electronics didn't cause the meltdown

[370forlife]

Re: Abit Kv7-v

water tight?
was it a nuke submarine?
hehe...

i wonder about the electronics russians used in chernobyl...
that would be fun to looka t, even though electronics didn't cause the meltdown

Used Teapo's, couldn't handle the load. It wasen't the reactor that exploded, it was the caps

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Abit Kv7-v

Chernobyl wasn't an electronics problem.
Was human error and not following procedures.
Same-same with 3 Mile Island. [TMI]

Not a sub. Just a really really BIG ship.
I think that's about as much detail as I can go into.

Commercial plants aren't built as well as military plants. Military plants have to remain safe and operational after being bombed and hit with missiles and so forth. The backup systems to the backup systems have backups and most of them are redundant. - Even the freakin' light bulbs are all in pairs just in case one burns out.
[Doesn't help when one is SHORTED though.]

.

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: Finally, a solution (I think)

I put my 64-bit ASUS board in my case and, when booting, the screen displayed a message like "WARNING: USB overcurrent detected. Remove the USB device and restart". Even before I get to the Energy Star logo, device enumeration (IDE HD etc), or dual-boot screen (64-bit XP/64-bit linux). Then it would display a countdown from 8 seconds to zero, and shut down.

Why does it give a shut down timer instead of shutting down immediately?
Reminds me of Windows when a service crashes.