Anyone have answers for a non-profit?

[CA1131361]

Hello,

I have a Prosignia 740 that was donated to a non-profit group that is then placing it into a local PAL (Police Athletic League) facility where it will run Rad Hat and serve a LAN for kids' edutainment, Office, etc.

The server came without hard drives and RAM. It has one PII350 w/ a VRM in place. There is the on-board video and NIC but no add-in cards.

When powered on the fans spin up and a couple of little lights on the motherboard light green, the NIC link flashes once, the display status light goes into green which means it is getting some kind of signal, but the machine does nothing.

No POST, no beeps, no video at all. I've switched the #1 on SW1 on&off a couple of times. All other dips at SW1 & SW2 are in factory default settings.

I've put a pc-100 64mb SDRAM in, then 2, then a pc-133 256. All other cables and riser card are in tight.

So, does anyone have any idea why this wouldn't at least beep or post or try to access the floppy, other than maybe it is just smoked?

Thanks,
-Steve

[CA1036363]

Steve,

In my experience when there is no beep or other response it is due to incompatible memory modules.

It also looks like you got a mix of PC-100 and PC-133 memeory. If they are from different manufacturers, you can expect it not to work.

If you want to save some headaches, while still keeping it low cost, buy some kingston memory (KTC3614/256). This is the part for a 256MB module and there should be 4 banks. The max is 1GB. If this does not work, you can always return the memory.

Let me know how it works out :)

[CA923120]

Let me know how it works out :)


I never had a combination of different speed RAM in the machine at the same time. I tried the 100 then removed it and tried the 133.

I gave up on the box after the second, identical one, did the exact same thing. They came from the DoD so they might have been jimmied with prior to us getting it.

I ended up using a third, Proliant model, that works fine.

-Steve

[Stuart Markowitz]

I'm not sure what kind of ram yours takes, but I have a hp netserver lh pro and it only takes ECC registered ram. I was trying to put regular ram in it and getting fustrated wondering why it wouldn't boot. I went to kahlon.com,and I picked my system out of the list, and it said exactly what kind it took, and they had the best price.

Funny you mention it, because I got my server second hand, and it has a 2MB pci video in it, because there was something wrong with the integrated.

[Richard Woodman]

I am having the same problem with my Prosignia 740 6/500. I inherited it with dual PIII 500, and an 18 GB SCSI drive (but no cable). I added 1 GB ECC PC100 (4 banks of 256 MB) and the cable / terminator...same results: no POST, no beeps, no video. I tried disaster recovery (SW 1, 4-6 ON) and I get two long beeps but the server won't read from the floppy. Tried two different floppy drives and two different cables but nothing. Any ideas? If the system board needs to be replaced, what board? I searched for what I thought was the part number and ended up with a hit on a Proliant 1850R but the surplus company I called states that it isn't the correct part and won't work. My question is even if the boards are not the same, does it fit the Prosignia chassis? The reason is the 1850R board ~ $80 and the "correct" board ~ $280.

[Richard Raaf]

I have a Prosignia 720/350, had a similar problem when adding 128 MB/PC 100 DIMM's. After trial and error (and reading the fine print in the manual) I found that 4 chip DIMM's won't work in this machine, the DIMM's must have 8 chips. Many "sale" or "rebate" DIMM's are of the 4 chip variety, but also "8's" are sold under the same UPC code, you just have to peek in the back of the package. Unfortunately, the 720 still has a 384 MB ceiling on installed memory, bummer!! Hope this helps.

[Richard Woodman]

Thanks, I'll go home tonight and check the number of chips on the DIMMs. Certainly didn't see THAT in the manual but I only have a PDF copy that another user on TEK-TIPS sent me and it is for the 740 but references the PII rather than the PIII I have. If this turns out to be the problem it will make me VERY happy to finally get this server up and operational.
Richard

[Richard Woodman]

I went home and checked the memory. It has 9 chips on each side plus 2 small ones at the bottom (see photo). Not sure if this memory is correct but the advertisement for it stated it was for the Prosignia / Proliant. Any ideas?
Richard