SiS K7S5A Problems

[CBuddy]

I bought the SiS K7S5A mboard & 850 Duron to replace my TMC mboard (2mg Cache on board) & K6-III 450, back in Nov2001 as a cheap but good upgrade from what I had.

The first problem I encountered was with my HDrive, is that it isn't being detected when I start up the computer, forcing me to go in to the BIOS and set it myself everytime. This is a real pain :( leading me to think I must need a BIOS update. My current version is: 07.00T, Date: 02/04/2001 - If anyone could tell me where I can get an update, it would be much appreciatated.

The second problem I've encountered is when I plugged my Encore Dxr3 DVD Decorder in and start the machine up. This only gets as far the memory being counted and seems to just hang, but only with the card in. After much dragging the card in and out of every free PCI slot and reading the manual over and over - I finally check the memory. I had 2 128 SDRAM Modules, one running at 100 and the other running at 133. I swapped them around but this didn't change anything. So I had a spear 64 Mb Module 133 and changed it with the 128 Mb 100 then started up. This fixed the problem.

Changing the memory module from 100 to 133 gave the system a noticeable speed increase in XP. But after reading a few articles on the net about this board being the bees knee, I'd have to say that my last mboard with VIA chipset blow this one's socks off for startup time. :zzz:

- But maybe this will be fixed with a BIOS update.

[Wiggo]

Very strange as I have the same board here with a 1.2g Athy in it and it boots quick and flies with no problems at all but this link http://www.ecsusa.com/ecsusa/www.ecs...nload/bios.htm is where you'll get ya BIOS update. :smokin:
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[Wiggo]

Oh btw I just noticed that ya using SDRAM there go and get a stick of DDR and you'll be better off too. ;)
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[Chihuahua]

:afro:

I have a K7S5A also. I admit it isn't the easiest board to configure for top performance and stability, however once you have tweaked everything they are fast and rock solid stable. I run mine 24 hours a day using Win2K and I have gone 2 or 3 weeks without a reboot. Then only because it was required after a software install. I mutitask it vigourously all day as the box for my Home/office, then I give it a workout in the evenings and night by using it for watching TV/surfing and gaming.

The trick is to get the right bios, and the right settings in the bios.

This is the best place to go for help with the K7S5A:


http://forum.ocworkbench.com/ocwbcgi...ubb=forum&f=27

Of course you would want to check out the ECS site too:


http://www.ecsusa.com/


My Box:

ECSK7S5A
Athlon 1800XP+
512 Crucial DDR 2.5 running at CL2
Radeon AIW
2-40GB IBM 60GXP's
Tekram DC395U SCSI controller
HP 9200i 8x4x32 SCSI
Pioneer 106S 16X DVD
Antec SX1030 (I love that case)
2-front fans below hdd's, 1 -front fan in front of hdd's,
2-rear exhaust fans
Herolchi HEC 350LD 350 watt Power Supply Intake & exhaust fans
Alpha Pal8045 Heatsink with Sanyo Denki 80MM fan
Diamond Monster Sound MX400
SiS 900 onboard PCI fast ethernet adapter
Antec EZ USB front USB ports for 5 1/4" bay


I like my K7S5A so much I ordered another one to replace the kids KT133 based computer (MSI K7T Pro).


Good Luck,

:afro:

[PlasmaBurn]

j0 Cbuddy,

I just downloaded the latest BIOS drivers - they are located at:
http://www.ecs.com.tw/download/k7s5a.htm

Hope this helps,
.::PlasmaBurn::.
The ethereal geek. :geek: