Javalicious

I have a rare - although not unheard of - problem, at least 4 other cases have been found by googling. However no one has found a solution/reason for the issue as of yet and I was about to give up... Deciding on one more query technique I googled the pcb board number on the LCD screen that is causing the issue an Lo and Behold there may be an answer awaiting Except it is in Russian (I think) and the google translator has only given me a very general idea of what is actually being said. I understand it to be saying that flashing the EDID EEPROM is the solution to the effects caused - effects which sound exactly like my problem - at least as far as google is translating the post anyway lol! The original link: Dell Inspirion 1525 после замены матрицы - темновато and Googles Translation: Dell Inspirion 1525 after replacing the matrix - dark My new screen and I truly thank you for any assistance

am finally back It has DirectX 9.0c via Autopatcher (all my other 98se boxes work fine with it) I don't know if they are final versions though - how to tell? Yup, sticker says PC100 on the one Sandra reads as PC133 - I bought them second hand though so it's probably a previous owner error not manufacturer mislabel. I took out all ram except for 1 stick 128 pc133-333-542 (I chose the 128 because the 64 was the original lone stick it came here with and it had all these problems when I got it). No help. I found an identical stick (reported by Sandra as pc133-333-542 also) and added it for 256 - no change.For info purposes these are everest memory test results with each configuration: orig.312mismatched Read-107 MB/s, Write-48 MB/s, Lat-308.2 ns 128 133 single Read-107 MB/s, Write-48 MB/s, Lat-308 ns 256 133 2x128 Read-107 MB/s, Write-48 MB/s, Lat-307.4 ns I don't know what these mean in real terms but since they were DEAD LAST in the list I assume ridiculously bad If this could be due to timing settings in the BIOS what should I reset to? As I said I just pick "best" or "optimal" because I'm not sure what they should be and I don't want to fry anything - all the settings I posted earlier are adjustable in this bios I just didn't want to change what I didn't understand. Those PSU voltages are way too low, so low that I doubt their accuracy. The answer to "Vcore is 1.68 - what should it be?" is anything from 1.60 volts up to 2.05 volts depending on exactly which processor model and stepping you have. 1.60 volt is usually for FC-PGA and the Slot-1's are more likely to be 2.00 volts, if it actually IS a 500MHz, or 1.65 volts if it actually is 550MHz. What does the string stamped on the top say? The "card" in it is a jack on plate with a little cable that plugs in the middle-ish of the motherboard next to the Davicom chip which I gather is onboard lan while the $2 dirt devil has this great big Dlink card in a PCI slot - will try a swap in the next test round.Everest reports the voltages as wonky as Sandra, it gave the info on stepping you mentioned too: Field Value Sensor Properties Sensor Type National LM78 (ISA 290h) Voltage Values CPU Core 2.06 V Aux 2.03 V +3.3 V 1.06 V +5 V 3.44 V +12 V 10.40 V Debug Info F FF FF 00 Debug Info T 240 00 00 Debug Info V 81 7F 42 80 AB 00 00 (01) Field Value CPU Properties CPU Type Intel Pentium IIIE, 550 MHz (5.5 x 100) CPU Alias Coppermine, CuMine, A80526 CPU Stepping cA2 Instruction Set x86, MMX, SSE Original Clock 550 MHz L1 Code Cache 16 KB L1 Data Cache 16 KB L2 Cache 0 CPU Physical Info Package Type 242 Contact SEC2 Cartridge Package Size 12.70 cm x 6.00 cm x 1.25 cm Transistors 28.1 million Process Technology 6M, 0.18 um, CMOS Die Size 106 mm2 Core Voltage 1.65 V I/O Voltage 3.3 V Typical Power 13 - 24 W (depending on clock speed) Maximum Power 19.8 - 35.5 W (depending on clock speed) The bios reports voltages higher than Everest and Sandra Vcc 5.0V - 5.143 Vcc 3.3V - 3.346 Vcore - 1.680 I did try testing the pins in the molex but not sure I did it right - I set for 12v dc, put the black probe in the ground (black) pinout and the red in the others, in turn - most have no reading, like 0.1 - if the black probe is in the power on (pinout 8) and the red in others they all read 2.86V except for pin 9 which is 5.01v. I tried all manner of combinations and that was the only way I could get any readings at all so I'm hunting for a new power supply - the dirt devil's won't fit and has a different connector. The string on the top of the slot 1 cartridge is : 550/256/100/1.65v S1 10050647-0421 Phillipines i m c '99 SL397 Jumpers are good, as for unusual entries I'm not sure I'd know what was usual or not lol but I will look at them next and zero the logo. I did do the confirm each step thing, it seemed pretty normal except I don't recall seeing these on my other machines: "override standard UDF" override standard VMOUSE override standard VMCPD and repeats for each of these as well CONFIGMG,VPICD,VFAT,NTKERN,VMM,VCOMM it didn't take it long to get by them but it did seem to take extra long at this one ptvcd.vxd, and then moved along. Like Sandra, Everest also insists the AGP is disabled and could be causing performance problems - should I be concerned about this? The graphics are onboard and set to AGP in the bios - I don't know what it wants from me lol! Thanks again everyone, I'm off to look at those .bat and .sys files and try a the Dlink switch

okay I tried a different hdd but nothing changed, except that now it won't connect to the internet (and yes I did remember to install the davicom drivers lol) it still takes forever to boot up. I do note that it took 38 seconds to get past the splash screen before the net card was installed and then 55 to get past it after the net card was installed - so must be something there. But 38 seconds is too long anyway, the dirt devil only takes about 10-12 seconds on average. @ herbalist - no problem devices showing up, in safe mode explorer is nearly as rough. Downloaded from sysinternals but the programs won't run on win98 so I've no extra info as per those. The only software installed is Win98se - Autopatcher - Firefox - Thunderbird - Everest Home - Sisoft Sandra. Autopatcher did critical, hotfixes, recommended updates. No IE, Media Player, Tweak UI etc.. Nada from manual installs. I have used Autopatcher on all my 98 machines without incident, plus as I said this machine was behaving badly before it came to me, hence, before Autopatcher, so it's not likely to blame. I agree this unit should go much faster, I've had waaay older machines that performed much MUCH better, even before they were cleaned up and tweaked. But really all I've ever done to them is a clean/slim installs of Windows, swapping Firefox and Thunderbird in place of IE and OE, updating drivers, bios, standard reg hacks and adding ram - a combination which usually does wonders - this is the first box that didn't respond even a little. I guess I've been lucky frankensteining old systems. Oddly, while acting like a 2 legged centipede it claims 91% resources free... ???? Sandra did say one of the ram sticks is not what it's sticker says - sticker says PC100 and according to Sandra it's PC133. Also reported something about Vcore being high and some voltages that look suspicious. When I read more about Vcore is suggested it was overclocked but in fact I have turned it down from 550mhz to 500mhz thinking maybe it had been overclocked originally. Am posting bits from Sandra in hopes you folks can tell me if they may be part(s) of the problems: Logical/Chipset 1 Memory Banks Bank 0 : 128MB SDRAM 3-4-5-0CL Bank 1 : 128MB SDRAM 3-4-5-0CL Bank 2 : 64MB SDRAM 3-4-5-0CL Speed : 1x 100MHz (100MHz data rate) Multiplier : 1/1x Width : 64-bit Power Save Mode : No Fixed Hole Present : No Memory Module(s) Memory Module 1 : 128MB 16x(8Mx8) SDRAM PC133U-333-542 (CL3 up to 133MHz) (CL2 up to 100MHz) Memory Module 2 : Smart Modular PDC16UV7284B103TS D730C029 64MB 8x(8Mx8) SDRAM PC100-322-622 (CL3 up to 100MHz) (CL2 up to 67MHz) Memory Module 3 : 64MB 8x(8Mx8) SDRAM PC100-222-622 (CL3 up to 100MHz) (CL2 up to 100MHz) Warning 5400 : Low bandwidth efficiency (advanced). Check memory timings and settings. These are the memory BIOS settings: CAS Lat - 3T Ras to Cas delay - 4T Ras Precharge - 5T Ras Active - 7T Ram spd - 8ns Referesh Queue depth 4 These are the "optimal performance" settings as selected by bios. Should they be different? I've tried "best performance" as well, they perform identically under windows. Voltage Sensor(s) CPU Voltage : 2.06V Aux Voltage : 2.03V +3.3V Voltage : 1.06V +5V Voltage : 3.44V +12V Voltage : 9.42V These look terribly off - could it be a power problem? Warning 236: Processor 1 : Vcore higher than rated maximum. Check Vcore setting! Vcore is 1.68 - what should it be? AGP Bus(es) on Hub 1 Version : 2.00 Maximum Data Transfer Rate : 2x Fast-Writes Enabled : No Side Band Enabled : No Side Band Support : Yes Aperture Size : 64MB Tip 2513 : AGP Bus is unused or AGP card not fully AGP compatible. Tip 2525 : Current AGP data rate not optimal. Warning 1209: Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS) SiS530,620 GUI Accelerator+3D : Video card does not have an interrupt assigned. The graphics are onboard, there is no card - plus I can see no where to enable Side Band or set proper data rate in bios? Sandra seems contradictory here: LPC Hub Controller 1 Model : Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS) SiS PCI to ISA Bridge (LPC Bridge) ACPI Power Management Enabled : Yes Random Number Generator Enabled : No Multiplier : 1/4x Speed : 8MHz DMA Multiplier : 1/2x DMA Speed : 4MHz Tip 1107: System does not support ACPI. Check for a BIOS update. BIOS says it is enabled - but system does not support it - update bios... huh?? DirectX Information >>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tip 2212: Primary Display Driver (display) : No hardware stretch support. Error: Game Compatible Device (emulated) (WaveOut 1) : DX-DS E8878000A Error: Voice Modem Wave #00 Line (emulated) (WaveOut 2) : DX-DS E8878000A Error: Voice Modem Wave #00 Handset (emulated) (WaveOut 3) : DX-DS E8878000A Error: Game Compatible Device (emulated) (WaveIn 1) : DX-DS E8878000A I don't know what, or if these errors may have to do with anything but since they are errors and under Direct X I thought I'd post them just in case. Thanks again for eveyone's input

It is set to "auto sense" there is no option for a half duplex these are the option: 100Mbps 100Mbps Full_Duplex 10Mbps 10Mbps Full_Duplex Auto Sense should I change from auto sense? We are on shawcable internet. The cable is definitely 40wire, I currently do not have 80wire in any machine (all my pc are old) should I change udma mode? I can change mode right on hdd with hdat2 program. There is less than 5% of drive used up, I haven't given them any programs because the thing can hardly handle Windows and Firefox at the moment.

thanx all - extra info from the top: @ submix8c - appreciate the links but I have the manuals and all new drivers from pcchips, sis, etc. it was one of the first things I did when I got their PC and brought it home. @cluberti - cheers! I was going to post here but convinced myself that it has to be hardware so thought I better go there. @winn98er - yes there are some connection tweaks - the same ones applied to all my 98se machines including the k2-400 dirt devil (also a "net screamer" like submix8c's 233) I use an assortment from dsl braodband reports, drtcp and mdgx - only this machine is giving me grief for whatever reason arrg. @idb - are the cacheman 5.11 tweaks like the "maxcache/supermax" etc tweaks on the mdgx pages? I have put those mdgx reg tweaks in. - bios says :internal cache on system bios cache on and these from the boot screen which I cannot change: base memory 640kb, external memory w/b cache on, l2 cache type write back. - DMA is on, udma mode 4, drive supports udma4/166 max (according to hdat2) - Sandra says things like get a newer processor, update bios, turn off smooth fonts... (which I've done) - I have the newest bios for this machine (last one released was 2000) and this is the biggest processor the board can have according to mobo manf. - no conflicts in device manager - ran defrag - no change - only using Firefox, IE never opened, no Outlook Express installed, Thunderbird installed but runs as horribly as Firefox and everything else. This thing has problems opening it's own Windows Explorer however surfing itself is only half as slow as surfing the net. possibly of interest??* It takes a ridiculous amount of time to get past the windows splash screen - did and does - it did it originally, before the new ram, the clean install, with or without tweaks - the hdd cables aren't loose or old etc but there is something new about it for me anyway - the hdd is in a removable case that can pull out from the front and has a key lock (gramp bought it from a refurbisher of sorts years ago) The case itself and connections look pristine, i have the key and took it out and checked it over. I will set the swap file as per your suggestion and next try hdd change - I don't have any really fast/new hdds but I will try the fujitsu from the dirt devil to see if it makes any difference. will report back...

Greetings all - I don't really know if this is a hardware thing but I figured this might be a good place to start. Been trying to get more juice out of my grandparents PC for them since the thing is aggravatingly slow. It's a 550mhz processor running a slim win98se so really it ought to be able to surf the net without complaint. I have a rescued $2 garage sale k6-400 loaded down that still manages to outpace it 10 to 1! Initially I blamed the single 64mb ram (8mb shared to onboard video) but since I've upped that to 320mb there's not one iota of performance improvement. The k6-400 does better with 128. I thought maybe someone in the know might recognize something in these specs that could explain the crappy performance (everest benchmarks it barely equal to a 133mhz system). Memtest86 says the ram is ok -still, something is tying a big piano to it's butt... Mobo: PCChips Slot 1/Socket 370 M741lmrt Processor: Slot 1 PIII 550mhz Xcel 2000 chipset (sis 620) 64-bit AGP Graphics accelerator 128 x 128 x 64mb PC100 sdram Davicom 9102/A fast ethernet adapter (connected to cable high speed internet) 8GB samsung hdd Lite-on cd rom LTN403L The internet connection/cables are all good as every other PC surfs fine - I've tried setting "best performance", "optimal settings" etc in Bios but nothing changes. This is with a fully fresh installed/patched Win98se. I've updated the bios and every driver that had one available and still no joy. It's a very annoying - like pulling teeth - waiting for what I'm typing to show up on the screen here is yanking my last nerve LOL! Something ain't right. Anyone have any experience with a similar setup out there? I'd appreciate some troubleshooting guidance here as there's no way my grandparents are going to buy a new PC - this puppy is it! surfing example - just to load this page after clicking "new topic" took 1 minute and 47 seconds!!!! on the other pc it took less than 3 seconds - same hour/same cable modem/ isp etc (but independently - pcs are not networked).