SuperMicro Board Issue

[facecard]

Please move post if necessary.

I have a old PC with a Supermicro P6dgu board. Back in the day it was used as a Netware 4.11 server. It does get power but I don't get any video. I do understand it is old and outdated.

I did try swapping PSU, graphic cards, etc.. but nothing seems to work for very long. If the video comes up it will go through the POST screen then stop because I don't have any HDs connected to it. There is no consistency. I can't seem to narrow it down to anything specific.

For all I know it could be the power supply, board, AGP slot, graphics card....it could be any number of them.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[SMDFlea]

Re: SuperMicro Board Issue

Post some pictures of the board, especially around the capacitors

[facecard]

Re: SuperMicro Board Issue

Attached is pictures of the board.

Again, getting video on the screen is hit or miss. Getting either PS/2 or USB ports to work completely is hit or miss.

Another words getting video up is inconsistent and connecting either mouse and/or keyboard regardless of the port is inconsistent.

Maybe someone can spot something on the board that is related to everything that is going on whether it is a bad CAP or something with the slots or circuitry.

If anyone wants to see a close up of something on the board or a different angle then please let me know.

[brethin]

Re: SuperMicro Board Issue

Hard to help with so little information. No details on CPU GPU or Memory Chips used etc. It's like saying my car won't run and I changed the battery and put new gas in it.

[Topcat]

Re: SuperMicro Board Issue

Replace those six caps marked 'nrsy', they should be 1000uF 10v. They are junk. Yes, we do need to know a little more.... CPU(s)? RAM? GPU? Firmware revision?

I actually still have one of these boards in my retro fleet.

[facecard]

Re: SuperMicro Board Issue

@Topcat- Can you tell where on the board where are these CAPS that you are referring to? Are these CAPS bad? What would be the benefit to upgrade or replace them with 1000uf 10v?

To answer the general questions.

-PSU is a Powerman FSP 300 (I replaced the original PSU which was the same type)
-Two PII CPUs (Original ones)
-One PC100 512 memory (Original one)
-AGP graphic card
-Adaptec 1130 scsi card (Original one)

Back in the late 90s early 2000s, someone had put together (bought all of the parts) for this computer. This computer was used (with all of the original parts stated above) as a Netware 4.11 server. Nothing has been replaced on the board. At the time, my employer was using this computer as a server then decided to decommission it and get rid of it. This computer is 15+ years old.

[Topcat]

Re: SuperMicro Board Issue

@Topcat- Can you tell where on the board where are these CAPS that you are referring to? Are these CAPS bad? What would be the benefit to upgrade or replace them with 1000uf 10v?

They don't need to be 'upgraded', they'll be bad...even without showing it. SM was horrible for using these back in the day. There are 6 of them on your board, the culprits are marked with a red dot...see below:



The remaining lytics on that board are Santo WG or SE series, and won't be problematic.

-PSU is a Powerman FSP 300

Pull that and throw it in the trash before it fries the board. Those PSU's are horrendous junk!

-Adaptec 1130 scsi card (Original one)

Those are neat little controllers utilizing the 'raidport' slot, proprietary to these boards.....just make sure you have the latest firmwares on both the motherboard AND the controller....it'll spare you inventing some new swear words.

[facecard]

Re: SuperMicro Board Issue

How might I go about replacing the bad CAPS? I don't have the knowledge or resources ie... soldering gun or new CAPS.... to perform the replacement.

Since you are not a fan of Powerman PSUs then which PSU would you recommend that works with this type of board?

I am guessing those CAPS are the culprit of my issues with no video and inconsistency?

[facecard]

Re: SuperMicro Board Issue

Without video and use of a keyboard and floppy drive, I can't perform a BIOS or other necessary upgrades.

[Topcat]

Re: SuperMicro Board Issue

How might I go about replacing the bad CAPS? I don't have the knowledge or resources ie... soldering gun or new CAPS.... to perform the replacement.

You'll need to find someone who can then. I can do it if you want to send it, I'd recap the entire board....otherwise you'll have to find someone local. You're just pissing in the wind until this is done.

Since you are not a fan of Powerman PSUs then which PSU would you recommend that works with this type of board?

Disregard about that, I had powmax in my brain for some reason.... Powerman PSU's aren't the greatest, but they're ok. You'll want to check its caps as well. Just to eliminate the PSU as an issue, try another that's known to be good.

I am guessing those CAPS are the culprit of my issues with no video and inconsistency?

Yup. Classic symptom.

[facecard]

Re: SuperMicro Board Issue

So, you have your own business of providing this type of service? What will this cost me to send the board and you perform the labor plus parts? Once you recap everything do you completely test the board to make sure it works?

[Topcat]

Re: SuperMicro Board Issue

https://www.badcaps.net/index.php?pageid=repair_costs

[momaka]

Re: SuperMicro Board Issue

Disregard about that, I had powmax in my brain for some reason.... Powerman PSU's aren't the greatest, but they're ok. You'll want to check its caps as well. Just to eliminate the PSU as an issue, try another that's known to be good.

Yeah, I was just about to post, what you got against FSP PSUs?

Then it crossed my mind perhaps you were thinking of Powmax, which is indeed only trash-worthy

Yep, Powerman / FSP / Sparkle aren't the greatest, but they are usually decent. The older units do indeed use crap caps and often have the tan/brown conductive glue. But once recapped and glue removed, they are pretty reliable PSUs.

BTW, the only thing I could find for Powerman FSP 300 was this:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showth...werman+FSP+300

I see crap cap brands in that one, so I concur with TC: check the PSU first and even test the PC with another one, just to confirm problems are not coming from there.

And regardless of that, it would still be a good idea to get rid of the NRSY caps and replace them. They are classic crap from the bad caps era. Unlike fine whiskey, these caps won't get better with the years.