Putting together new 98-compatible box, won't boot

[delaford]

I'm running an old Dell Dimension 4300, with the following changes:

• new RAM (came with 128 MB)
  
• new AGP (came with Rage ATI 12 MB)
  
• new soundcard (came with onboard sound)
  
• new HDDs (came with 80 GB)
  
• no idea about the processor or MBO - sorry; it's whatever came with the system (processor is 1.6 GHz)
  

When I upgraded my HDDs 2 years ago, I had an awful time with my 320 GB (corrupted data, lots and lots) until I found out about the 128/137 GB limitation (after I RMAed the drive once, not knowing until the same thing happened to the replacement drive as well). I installed the MSFN patch and have never had a problem since. The 320 (312 GiB) was partitioned into three partitions. I am almost certain that each was less than 128 GiB, if that matters (not sure).

About a month ago, I was rewriting the tags on some archived music when the memory ran very low - the system was mostly out of memory. But this isn't rare for me, after doing memory-intensive work on an old boot, with only 256 MB of RAM and 1.6 GHz in my 7-year-old machine.

When I closed ZoomPlayer 2.90, I got a (memory?) error and the program didn't close correctly (as I found out later; playlist wasn't saved).

I started a reboot and got a system error. I manually powered off the system using the power button.

When I rebooted, I got "No OS found."

Upon booting from a DOS CD, I saw that the names of directories in C:\ had been badly corrupted: names beginning with tilde or space and so forth. None were accessible. It looked like the same situation I got before I had the large HDD patch installed.

But the patch was installed, so I thought the HDD must have gone bad.

I moved it over to my brother's XP machine, next door (my wife and I live next to the rest of my family), and could see everything on my hard disk, except the bad directories. I believe XP "salvaged" those as .CHK or .REC files, which I've saved.

I backed up all files on all partitions of all hard disks (I have two: 120 GB and 320 GB) and assumed the 320 GB drive (the boot drive) had gone bad.

I ordered a new 320 GB WD (same as before) from NewEgg. When it came in, I checked the whole drive at level 2 (preventative maintenance) with SpinRite 6.0, which I bought specifically to address (and prevent) situations such as this from now on. After a day of scanning, SpinRite reported no errors found, so I partitioned the drive into a 2.5 GB partition and a 310 GB partition.

With only the 120 GB drive in, I installed Windows 98SE, which I've run ever after throwing away the Me installation that came with my machine, and installed the 48-bit LBA lard HDD patch. Everything ran fine. I put the 320 GB in, and everything continued to run fine. I didn't install any other updates, because I decided I'd do some thinking beforehand and create the perfect installation, and then just back it up to use again without having to go through reinstallations in years to come. I began going through the updates, sorting them with reference to the list here in the forum. I backed up my whole installation immediately after it succeeded. Then I backed it up again with the large HDD patch installed.

With a job I can't stand and a baby coming and a garden to take care of and a theology lesson to write each week, it's pretty busy around here, so I slowly went through all updates and programs saved on our machine to locate the most current version of each. Using cannie's guide to making a secondary boot partition of 98, I backed up my installation thus far (only 48-bit LBA update, plus Windows settings) to elsewhere for future recourse and then set it up in my d:\ drive with all c:\windows references changed to d:\windows. I put alternate (redirect to d and d:\windows) config.sys, msdos.sys, io.sys in my c:\ drive - not replacing the ones needed to boot into c:\ but renamed so that using a boot CD I can swap files back and forth to boot into either c:\ or d:\ with no hassle. This worked fine.

Even though I was still doing setup and planning my perfect install, it's nice to have the computer usable, so I installed the essentials (sound, AGP, modem, DirectX, Microsoft Word 2000, MSFN shell32 fix for hangs after involved file operations) on what was now a temporary installation for use only until I had finished planning out the final install, at which point I would revert to the nearly-clean install (that having only large HDD support and Windows settings changes) and build the final install from there. Because my wife and I e-mail each other when I'm at work during the day, I installed Juno (we don't have Internet access, although we'll be getting it as soon as I get the machine up and running and finish going through all the updates to get the machine in the most optimum state; instead, Juno dials up to a central server long enough to deposit and retrieve e-mails). I got all the most current updates from MSFN, but as I say, I had yet to install any except pretty much just those noted.

During the next couple weeks, I sorted through stuff, and we just used our computer as usual. My wife missed a few of the shortcuts I had put in before the computer died; I missed them all, and was completely out of my environment. With my computer running the way I want it to, it's not much less than an extension of myself, with everything right at my fingertips, only a keypress away.

Then, after a hard week typing that week's lesson, I burned all last Saturday forcing myself to write out something. It took me quite a while, but it was worth it. We got back from my youngest brother's and sister's graduation party, and my lesson was still up. Instead of finishing it, I put off the last little bit and played Deus Ex until 2:00. When I shut the game down, I picked up the last little bit of the lesson to finish it. I made a change to my Word document and, when I paused for a moment to think, told it to save, but I got a (paraphrasing here) "Saved failed due to file permission error." I figured the computer's RAM had run so low that I needed to reboot, so I just closed it and figured I'd open it right back up. When I closed it, however, a retrieved version of the document was up behind it, so I closed that, and when it asked whether I wanted to save, I saved again, only to get the same error. At this point, I should have copied the contents of the entire document to the clipboard, but that didn't occur to me. I closed the unsavable document without saving and tried to open it right back up. But the document was gone. In fact, the folder it was in was entirely empty of all the other things in it, including the RARed backup of the lessons I had made that afternoon. I searched the computer for the file and got nothing, and then searched it for the *.tmp files and got nothing, either.

Because I had just had all my files on my brother's computer, I had all the lessons up through what I'd just written that week. I wasn't happy to lose what I'd slaved all week on, but everything else was saved. But the computer's doing it again? And with the drive I checked out with SpinRite (not that that's a cloak of armor, or anything, but hey)?

We hadn't changed or added a lot of files from what was (is) backed up on my brother's computer, so I started looking for what we had in an attempt to save it before it was lost in a future losing moment. So what was new? What was irreplaceable? Three weeks' worth of e-mails downloaded to our computer and sent from it, as well as - get this - the RAR backup I'd made of our Juno folder three days before.

As it turns out, I also lost the Deus Ex savegame I'd just created. Thankfully the second most recent save (not very long before, somewhere in UNATCO holding rather than stepping out of MJ-12 Hong Kong into Wan Chai market) is (I think) okay.

Numerous other files (none new, and so okay to lose) were lost. I found many of them (I presume) moved into a "nearby" folder, all with unprintable and illegal characters in their names, with folders inaccessible and files "totaling" (in that location alone) 4.32 TB.

So was it the new hard drive? I wondered, but after thinking I thought not. It looks as if the FAT is bad, but TestDisk says it looks okay. It looks like the same as sort of corruption I got when I didn't have the 48-bit LBA patch installed, but I checked, and it was. Furthermore, I can see the rest of the computer's contents fine - no "MS-DOS virtual compatibility mode" or whatever it says when a drive exceeds the old ESDI_506 barrier.

And I have continued to see it fine. All new or changed files I could retrieve are now backed up with the earlier backups on my brother's computer, and I'm trying to sort things out. By the way, I got the lesson back a couple days ago, after I taught it from memory the day after the second crash. I didn't get back the Word file proper, but I got into the document and both *.tmp files. None of them could be retrieved as complete and undamaged Word files, but I was able to access and copy the text of my additions, which I can easily add back into the earlier good copy of my document that is missing only those changes. Numerous other new files I (think I) was able to retrieve; at least, I successfully copied them from the bad drive to the second partition on the master drive (the 120, this time around).

Our Juno installation, unfortunately, I was not able to retrieve. Neither was I able to retrieve the most recent Juno RAR backup. My one best friend who e-mails me I can have re-send me all his and my e-mails, but I can't get back the ones I sent my wife from work, or the ones she sent me from home. I wish I could; our first anniversary is tomorrow but I would like to have them forever. But three weeks isn't terrible, in a broader view of things.

I should point out that the program I used to get my files back was CONVAR's freeware PC File Inspector. It has an awful interface (modal boxes can even get lost, and the application lose focus irretrievably until after a restart, in which case you've lost all the "lost" files you searched the drive for), but it works. I left it searching all HDD space for "lost" files for 19 hours and then (after I had to kill the program when it became unfocused) found my lessons in the "deleted" files section, which doesn't require any searching.

So I'm wondering: is the motherboard bad? perhaps the RAM? I have two sticks of RAM, both 256 (the MBO has two slots, but one slot is damaged and won't hold a stick), but I'd rather not try running one and then the other until I am able to successfully replicate my loss of all my important material.

But there's another possibility, although I can't understand it.

I think I remember running Diskeeper Lite briefly while rewriting tags on that archived music right (moments) before the first crash. And I know I did run Diskeeper Lite earlier during the day when I wrote the lesson, played Deus Ex, and lost everything that counted. The computer was on all day; no reboots. Both times, I stopped Diskeeper partway through, because it was slowing down what I was doing. It makes sense to me that this could be what caused file corruption that appears like the corruption caused when trying to use a large hard drive without that capability installed. And it certainly explains why the newer (newest) files were the ones that were corrupted - I presume that they were the ones first accessed by Diskeeper. At the very least the relation of their chronological characteristics makes this a very suspect case of corruption, I think.

But I've run Diskeeper many, many times before, always on this machine and on the old install I had used for years until it crashed at the end of last month. If Diskeeper, why this time? I've stopped Diskeeper partway through on numerous occasions and have never had anything like this happen.

But I thought perhaps it's time to upgrade my hardware, though not my OS. Actually, I thought this a year-and-a-half ago, and here's what I got back then from NewEgg, based on Rjecina's list of modern motherboards compatible with 98SE:

• ASRock 775i65G LGA 775 Intel 865G Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
  
• Intel Pentium 4 641 Cedar Mill 3.2GHz 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 EM64T Processor
  
• http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811156074
  
• WINTEC AMPO 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Desktop Memory
  

When the parts came, I tried putting them together. I see now, reading descriptions on the net, that I should have built them on a table first before trying them in the case. I didn't. The power supply worked, and then very soon after didn't, and wouldn't. I figured I'd need to get a new one but put it off. Consequently I put off getting the rest of the parts working. I should point out that even when all the parts were working, briefly, the computer wouldn't actually run.

Now I'm trying to get those same parts running, and I'm having better luck. I pulled them out again about a month-and-a-half ago to take a look, because I want them to work. The computer will be more than twice as good as it is now, at everything (well, I need a new AGP card), if I get them running. (In fact, it was after moving some of the hardware to the newer computer that the drive went bad a month ago. Note that the second drive failure (on the new drive I RMAed yesterday, just in case) was, however, on my old hardware.)

When I set the parts up again, it ran. Then it wouldn't. Clearly the power supply wasn't dead dead, so I nudged stuff, and then it worked again. By "work", I mean "fans and HDDs will power up, but nothing more". I discovered that if it wasn't working, and even when the power strip was disconnected, if I put pressure on the MBO in certain places, some "lost" power would be released and the fans would kick on for a moment. I wondered whether things might be too tight, so I loosened one of the screws holding the MBO to the case, and everything worked fine and has since. I since found that too tight a connection to the case can cause a short that keeps things from powering up.

Last night, after backing up all new stuff I could and playing the Diablo 2 demo to psyche myself up (finally rediscovered it after a friend introduced me to it years ago and am looking forward to getting the battle chest), I tried to get my new parts working. I put the power supply and motherboard on a wooden tabletop, connected. I put my monitor (CRT) on a chair beside, connected. And the same thing happened as the month before, and the year before: fans power on, HDD (if I had had one installed last night) power on, but nothing else. No monitor static, no monitor display, no beeps, no nothing.

I took out the RAM; still no beeps. It wasn't a video card problem - I was using onboard video for starters. But AGP didn't work when I tried that. I took out the processor, even. No beeps. The motherboard supports powering everything on, but won't POST, and I don't know why. I reseated the processor, same results.

I'm inclined to think that the motherboard is the problem. Does this seem a supportable assumption? That means I just bought a new 320 GB HDD (to supplement my other 320, which doesn't seem to have itself been bad after all) for nothing, but at least I'll have ... um, a lot of space.

I'd try the parts in my old MBO, but it won't handle the RAM or the processor, so no go there. The monitor works fine in my old hardware.

I am for certain switching to new hardware. I would very much like to keep the processor, because it cost more than the ASRock MBO I bought.

I notice in Rjecina's 98SE-compatible motherboards post that the 775i65G is listed as

MBO ASRock 775i65G R2.0, intel865, DDR I, SATA I

What does "intel865" mean? Does it mean that my "Intel Pentium 4 641 Cedar Mill 3.2GHz 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 EM64T Processor" won't work? The processor box says "Processor 641+" on the box, but I'm not sure what that means and I checked very carefully on Intel's site to get a processor I thought I was certain would work with the motherboard. Will this processor work with any motherboard that is compatible with 98SE?

Here's basically what I'm trying to do:

• I'm still going to run 98SE.
  
• I'd like to keep my processor, because it cost a lot.
  
• I'd like to keep my IDE drives (especially since I just bought a new one for $70!), although I'd like to have SATA capability, too, if possible, as my new (and bad?) current ASRock has.
  
• I'm not tied to AGP; if there's a PCIE video card that works with 98SE, I'll get it.
  
• I'd like to keep my "WINTEC AMPO 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Desktop Memory", if possible. After all, I bought it.
  

So my questions, for my old computer parts:

1. What do the hard drive corruption problems sound like? Diskeeper? Motherboard? RAM? Processor? Drives themselves?
   

And my questions, for my new computer parts:

1. Does this seem like a motherboard problem? If not, what?
   
2. Does my processor support 98SE?
   
3. If so, what motherboard can I buy that is compatible with (a) 98SE, (b) my processor, © my RAM, and (d) my IDE HDDs. It would be nice if it supported PCIE (if there are any good PCIE cards for 98SE; at present I have a 64 MB GeForce Ti4200, AGP) and SATA.
   
4. Any general advice for getting the computer up and running with the new parts (processor, RAM)?
   

I don't know quite enough about hardware to know exactly what my hardware should be doing, and how compatible it is, or why it might not be. I just tried to find stuff that I thought said were compatible with each other.

By the way, on the box of my processor, it says:

LGA775

Intel

Pentium 4 processor

Supporting hyper-threading technology

With an Intel Express chipset delivers great performance

• Intel EM64T supporting 64-bit computing
  
• Intel hyperthreading technology
  
• Pulse width modulation (PWM) for fan speed control
  

Pentium 4 HT inside

The sticker on the box says:

Intel Pentium 4 processor 641+

Supporting hyperthreading technology

3.20 GHz

800 MHz FSB

2 MB L2 cache

Is support for "64-bit computing" bad?

I'm looking forward to trying to put at least a gig of RAM in, myself - I've wistfully watched the guides here on the forum for some time - but I'd just like to get this stuff running first. As I said, it will be more than twice as good, in every way, as the stuff I'm using now.

On the bright side, I got both Fallouts and both Baldur's Gates (with expansions) in the mail yesterday and today, so when things are back in order, I'll be having some fun. It looks as if fans have fixed almost everything left to be fixed with those games. And we'll be getting the net at home, at long last, so things are looking good. It's just this small bit of the present that is somewhat frustrating.

I'm grateful to have these forums. It's rare to find a place where people know so much about a specialized situation (98SE in today's age) and don't merely advise OS upgrades.

I don't always have great Internet access (I have to go next door to use it, now), so if you have any suggestions, I'm available at my username, at my e-mail provider specified above. But I'll be checking these forums, too.

Grateful for MSFN,

Jonathan

[rloew]

I ordered a new 320 GB WD (same as before) from NewEgg. When it came in, I checked the whole drive at level 2 (preventative maintenance) with SpinRite 6.0, which I bought specifically to address (and prevent) situations such as this from now on. After a day of scanning, SpinRite reported no errors found, so I partitioned the drive into a 2.5 GB partition and a 310 GB partition.

There are a number of possible problems that would cause corruption.

1. Your BIOS may not support Hard Drives larger than 137GB. Does the BIOS report the true size of your Hard Drive? Windows uses the BIOS until it switches to the ESDI_506.PDR Driver. It also uses the BIOS in Safe Mode or Compatability Mode. If your BIOS does not support Large Hard Drives, you will need a DDO such as my BOOTMAN Package to provide the needed support. You can download the Demo version of it or my High Capacity Disk Patch and use the 48BITLBA.EXE test program from DOS to test your Computer. Go to http://rloew1.no-ip.com to get the Demo Files.

2. Diskeeper is flawed. I tested a trial version a while back. It corrupted my test Partition when I exceeded approximately 190GB of data. Your Partition is 310GB, so you could have exceeded that limit. I brought the problem to the attention of Diskeeper but they didn't care.

3. The 137GB Patch you installed could have been overwritten if any update you used replaced the ESDI_506.PDR file. I added a Verify feature to my High Capacity Disk Patch to detect this problem before any corruption could occur. The LLXX Patch on MSFN does not have this feature.

4. Though not applicable to you, another cause are bad USB drivers in Windows 98FE and possibly Windows 95 that can corrupt files when transferring data between internal Drives and USB Drives.

Edited August 30, 2009 by rloew

[delaford]

Thanks for the quick reply:

1. Your BIOS may not support Hard Drives larger than 137GB. Does the BIOS report the true size of your Hard Drive? Windows uses the BIOS until it switches to the ESDI_506.PDR Driver. It also uses the BIOS in Safe Mode or Compatability Mode. If your BIOS does not support Large Hard Drives, you will need a DDO such as my BOOTMAN Package to provide the needed support. You can download the Demo version of it or my High Capacity Disk Patch and use the 48BITLBA.EXE test program from DOS to test your Computer. Go to http://rloew1.no-ip.com to get the Demo Files.

I've been running the MSFN 48-bit LBA patch for two years now with no problems, and before that I tested my system using your 48BITLBA, which found no problem, so I think this one is out.

2. Diskeeper is flawed. I tested a trial version a while back. It corrupted my test Partition when I exceeded approximately 190GB of data. Your Partition is 310GB, so you could have exceeded that limit. I brought the problem to the attention of Diskeeper but they didn't care.

Hmm ... that's good to know about Diskeeper. That answers my question about the cause of this, then. I'm very curious how I managed to go two years without this happening, then ...

3. The 137GB Patch you installed could have been overwritten if any update you used replaced the ESDI_506.PDR file. I added a Verify feature to my High Capacity Disk Patch to detect this problem before any corruption could occur. The LLXX Patch on MSFN does not have this feature.

I did verify the presence of the correct version of ESDI_506 at the time of this most recent instance of data corruption, and it was also present at the time of the corruption a month ago - the error occurred during normal operation, and after it crashed it simply wouldn't reboot.

So now I'm simply wondering the things that I asked about my new computer parts:

1. Does the situation with my new computer parts seem like a motherboard problem? If not, what?
   
2. Does my processor support 98SE?
   
3. If so, what motherboard can I buy that is compatible with (a) 98SE, (b) my processor, (c) my RAM, and (d) my IDE HDDs? It would be nice if it supported PCIE (if there are any good PCIE cards for 98SE; at present I have a 64 MB GeForce Ti4200, AGP) and SATA.
   
4. Any general advice for getting the computer up and running with the new parts (processor, RAM)?
   

Ta and thanks (particularly to rloew for the Diskeeper alert),

Jonathan

[Drugwash]

I've had issues with Diskeeper myself and ditched it before having anything corrupt.

Regarding hardware, it's no simple task to explain how to assembly/check a computer as I don't know your hardware knowledge level. First thing to do is to make sure the BIOS battery is in good shape. It should yield ~3V on measurement, if you have a multimeter. But safest thing would probably be to buy and install a new one - if you're lucky, the system may "light up".

But, if you say you had mechanical issues when mobo was mounted in the case, it's possible a short-circuit might have damaged part of it. The PSU outputs many voltages (-5V, -12V, +3.3V, +5V, +12V) so the fans may start spinning but something else (like chipset, CPU voltage regulator or even CPU itself - god forbid!) may be damaged.

Modern boards may have a buzzer directly attached to them or an external one connected through a four-pin connector. If you are sure there is one and it's correctly connected, a working mobo should produce one or more sounds, indicating either succesful boot (one short beep) or hardware malfunctioning (a long beep or a series of assorted beeps). Your board does not produce any sound whatsoever so the BIOS does not initialize at all (unless the speaker/buzzer is not properly connected).

Best piece of advice if all the above fails, is to thoroughly check all wiring and seating against the manual, make sure jumpers/switches are in correct position (if any) and that there is no visible damage to the board or other parts (like a twisted pin in the CPU socket, for example) - use a magnifying glass, if needed.

Also, if possible, check the PSU output voltage while disconnected from the mobo; you'll have to strap the PowerOn pin (usually Green, near the key) to one of the Ground (Black) pins to turn it on and then use a multimeter to check all voltages. Please refer to the manual for the PSU pin layout or take it to a hardware technician if unsure. I used to be an electronics hobbyist for about 25 years so I kinda know what I'm talking about but will not be taken responsible for any liabilties resulted as a use or misuse of this information.

Anyhow, good luck and hopefully you'll manage to get the stubborn guy up and running!

[delaford]

I've had issues with Diskeeper myself and ditched it before having anything corrupt.

Wow, I don't know how I missed the word about Diskeeper. Again, I count myself fortunate to have not had problems with it until now, after years of use.

Does anyone know a good disk defragmenter for use in 98SE that has a good track record?

Regarding hardware, it's no simple task to explain how to assembly/check a computer as I don't know your hardware knowledge level. First thing to do is to make sure the BIOS battery is in good shape. It should yield ~3V on measurement, if you have a multimeter. But safest thing would probably be to buy and install a new one - if you're lucky, the system may "light up".

Is the BIOS battery the same as the CMOS battery? If so, I can put the one from my present (old) computer into the new one and see whether it works at all.

Modern boards may have a buzzer directly attached to them or an external one connected through a four-pin connector. If you are sure there is one and it's correctly connected, a working mobo should produce one or more sounds, indicating either succesful boot (one short beep) or hardware malfunctioning (a long beep or a series of assorted beeps). Your board does not produce any sound whatsoever so the BIOS does not initialize at all (unless the speaker/buzzer is not properly connected).

Best piece of advice if all the above fails, is to thoroughly check all wiring and seating against the manual, make sure jumpers/switches are in correct position (if any) and that there is no visible damage to the board or other parts (like a twisted pin in the CPU socket, for example) - use a magnifying glass, if needed.

I'll look carefully again, but I've checked all the connectors and they all look correct; I don't remember any indication of a speaker on the layout diagram in the manual. I sure would like to hear something out of it, though. I'll take my dome magnifier to the CPU socket and take a look in case I missed something when I looked last.

I have wondered about a short; after years of reseating and swapping parts I've never had one but that doesn't mean it's not one now ...

Also, if possible, check the PSU output voltage while disconnected from the mobo; you'll have to strap the PowerOn pin (usually Green, near the key) to one of the Ground (Black) pins to turn it on and then use a multimeter to check all voltages. Please refer to the manual for the PSU pin layout or take it to a hardware technician if unsure. I used to be an electronics hobbyist for about 25 years so I kinda know what I'm talking about but will not be taken responsible for any liabilties resulted as a use or misuse of this information.

Having two computers can be kind of handy. I don't have a multimeter, but I can try my new power supply at running my old parts. Now, it could run those but fail to run the new ones, but I'll at least see whether it can even run the old ones.

If none of what I try works, anyone have any idea of a good motherboard supporting 98SE, IDE, PCIE, DDR 400, and the processor I described?

[rloew]

Does anyone know a good disk defragmenter for use in 98SE that has a good track record?

Is the BIOS battery the same as the CMOS battery? If so, I can put the one from my present (old) computer into the new one and see whether it works at all.

I don't remember any indication of a speaker on the layout diagram in the manual. I sure would like to hear something out of it, though.

The Windows ME defragmenter will defrag up to 1TB Partitions. It isn't fast but I haven't seen it cause corruption.

There is no BIOS battery only the CMOS Battery.

Check the header on the motherboard for the case connections such as Power, Reset, Disk Activity etc. If there are speaker pins, you will need to connect tehm to a speaker. If not, there probably is a small buzzer somewhere on the motherboard that should make the beeps.

Plug in the CPU and REMOVE ALL of the RAM. You should get some beeps. Swap the CMOS battery to be sure. If you don't get any beeps then the CPU is not running.

[Drugwash]

Is the BIOS battery the same as the CMOS battery?

Yes. However, I wouldn't recommend you taking the battery out of your working machine since that would completely erase any changes made to the BIOS settings and could cause current system to malfunction or at best change settings for certain devices (usually IRQs, DMAs and such).

I don't remember any indication of a speaker [...]

That would be quite odd since that's the only way of indicating the board initializes or not. Well actually MSI used to have a 4 LED indicator system to the back of the case but that's just a particular situation. Please refer to page 9 of the manual, you'll notice item 15 as Chassis Speaker Header (SPEAKER 1) - that one is supposed to connect to a case speaker through a 4 pin conector just as I mentioned in my previous post (the connectors are mostly standardized).

I can try my new power supply at running my old parts.

Again something I wouldn't recommend; in case the new PSU is damaged, it could theoretically damage your working machine. Instead, use the old PSU on the new board. If anything, the old PSU will fry, but that's easily replaceable at low cost as opposed to having a whole working computer fried by a bad PSU.

Unfortunately I can't recommend any new hardware since I'm strongly convinced old hardware is much more solid and enduring; moreover, I don't have access to such hardware due to financial problems but that's off-topic. Hopefully other members here could recommend alternatives but try not to give up hope until you run out of options.

EDIT: just to make sure: look at jumper 17, there should be no cap on it. If there is any, remove it (that one is for CMOS clear and should be OPEN for normal operation). May sound childish but I actually stumbled upon this situation once and had no idea until I found a manual for that board.

EDIT2: Also make sure you connected the additional 4-pin power plug to connector 2 (refer to same page 9 for details).

Edited May 25, 2009 by Drugwash