[bruce]

I'm helping a friend build a new system, and cost is a big factor, so I found him a Kit that included a Shuttle 133A board, Duron 750, 250W ps, and a case ($170). We used the cards from his old PC and old CD-Roms and got a new harddrive(Samsung 30G 5400) and Industry Standard PC-133 Ram (256M). At first boot everything was fine, then it would hang consistently after it rebooted (Fdisked the HD and had to reboot). Ocasionally it would test the Ram and allow me in the bios, were I set everything to fail-safe defaults, and no-luck! I pulled some Ram from my PC (Iwill KK266-IndStand. PC-150) and still no luck (I also tried different slots and sizes ect...), so I started thinking power, unplugged the CD-Roms, only the proc, 2 cards, mobo, Harddrive, and Floppy to power and still no go! changed cables (IDE and power) No luck! checked all my connections, ram seated ok, keyboard plugged ok, all IDE and power connections ok, and still no luck, every once in a while it would work but it was like 1 in 10-20 boots no matter what I did! Also suspected heat, pulled the side off the case and set a floor fan next to it, temps dropped a little when I got to the Bios one time but still no luck! I'm rackin my brain with this one and I still got no ideas, I told him to go scream at tech support for a while, while I ask you guys for help. I know you guys can help us, his system is:

Shuttle 133A mobo,
Duron 750 proc,
Samsung 30G 5400 ide HD,
256M IndStand. PC-133,
Mitsumi 24X CD-Rom,
HP Burner 8x4x32,
Trident Graphics card (pulled from old PC),
Daimond Monster 3D (voodoo 1 accelerator card, also a pull),
Generic case w/ 250 w power supply.

I'm thinking either a bad board, or a card conflict, using on board sound (no sound card involved), I need ideas here, I've built lots of PCs but I've never run into this before...Thanks!

[n2]

At first boot everything was fine, then it would hang consistently after it rebooted (Fdisked the HD and had to reboot). Ocasionally it would test the Ram and allow me in the bios, were I set everything to fail-safe defaults, and no-luck
Shuttle 133A mobo,
Duron 750 proc,
Samsung 30G 5400 ide HD,
256M IndStand. PC-133,
Mitsumi 24X CD-Rom,
Trident Graphics card (pulled from old PC)
Generic case w/ 250 w power supply.
this here is all you should have to start with, in this box.
fail-safe bios settings huh.... uh-uh
if you've built boxes, you should understand the bios... set it up properly.
and assure the vcore for the duron is at least 1.65v
check the jumpers, if there are any? i'm not familiar with shuttle at all.
clear the cmos by removing the battery for a few minutes.
clear all the extra crap out of the box!!! the CD, FDD, HDD, and 1 vid card only! and the RAM from your box, as you KNOW it works!!!
use your cables too, i've seen that be the culprit.
use as much "known good" stuff as you can!

now, boot and use the Maxtor's utility to reformat the HDD, in other words, boot to the maxtor floppy, after that's complete, you'll have to reboot.
now boot to a windoze floppy and install windoze clean.
obvious things, check master jumper on HDD, and CD is selected.
disable onboard sound for now. is the bios POST'ing? if so, is there any visible discrepancy? such as the cpu speed or primary HDD being displayed incorrectly?

i hope it works, let us know
and good luck!

if this fails, and knowing your components are good, i'd try another mobo.
then RMA that shuttle back for another. i'd say it's the board, but you need to try another to be sure. anyplace local should have a mobo for under $150 you can buy right quick, then just save it for the next box you build, after the replacement shuttle comes in.

[bruce]

Already checked the jumpers on the devices, not very eager to check the mobo jumpers... Also the proc. in posting every time and at the right speed, it usually hangs after that, or if it doesn't (occasionally) I can get in the Bios where it will freeze, or sometimes the screen will go to schmutz after it detects the devices (again if it posts which is rare). If I'm lucky enough to get past the test screen and it starts going, everything seems fine, I even got Me installed one time, but got screwed on the reboot. I'm really thinking it's his video- old Trident card (pulled from his old PC) and a Diamond Monster, I hope my suspicions are correct, but I'm going to try another Video card later...Thanks!!!

[bruce]

FYI I got back from my vacation and called my buddy up and gave the system another once over. I threw in an old Diamond Stealth 2000 card I had lying around and VOILA !! it worked beautifully, no problems after that! I remembered reading in the forum's before about someone who had problems with a trident card and that's what tipped me off. Thanks to all who tried to help, thanks N2, and to any of you working on these old crappy systems for friends like I do, watch out for Trident boards and VIA chipsets, they're kinda like water and acid. BTW I did suggest that he upgrade his video card as soon as funds permitted, again thanks all...