SonOfSmawg,
I'll let you know when Soundscape 32 is in stock!

Thanks

Doooowd!,
I have two K7S5A builds under my belt, so you got
FREE tech support if you need it.Very fast, stable and compatible bargain board of the year. The first thing I can tell ya is, the board may have come shipped with the CMOS jumper in the "clear" position. Check the manual for the normal position of that jumper.It was a real bitch for guys like me that are too confident to read a silly manual.( I do read them now) :o
Can you say "f'ked up rebooting" three times fast? LOL,I was chanting it. ;)

Tommy P.

Well, the UPS guy finally showed-up, and the case is a friggin MONSTER! It kinda resembles one of those little hotel refridgerators ... lol. So, I checked here to see if anyone had posted, and figured I'd keep you posted on getting my PC building proverbial cherry busted. The good news is that I'm not bleeding ... yet. I have the CPU on the mobo, and I just installed the damn heatsink clip backward. I imagine this is the first in a long line of SNAFUs I'm about to experience.
Anyway ... back to the PC ... fingers crossed.

So if there's a huge blast in Nevada we can assume(making an ASS ouf U and ME)that it was caused by you SOS? LMAO!!
Congrats and keep us posted to how it goes...

things to watch out for are driver jumper settings..In order for my hard drive to be recognized on the primary with the CDROM in the chain as well I had to put my Hard drive in Master mode or Single Drive and also put my CDROM in Cable Select mode....interesting eh?

Video card and memory are fully seated..

Jumpers on mainboard are all set correctly..This got me with Jetoney's system..he had it tested at Mwave(When I told him not to....shame shame shame) and the company put the board in jumper mode....why? no idea...So I set it up to overclock yet wouldnt let me..finally I realized they messed with it and so I had to flash the COMS! oh well..

BIOS revisions..make sure you have the latest version

Otherwise...that's it!

Opus

Okidoki, I've got the heatsink and fan mounted properly on the mobo, and also installed the memory. Now I have to put the mobo in the case ... sort of like throwing a rock in the Grand Canyon. Here goes ... I'll keep posting ...
OHHH ... and Bert ... no rush on that ... not unless you're giving them away ... lol. I gotta save a LOT more money still.

Is that toast burning? No,its just my new AMD chip!LOL!

Those Thermalright SK6 heatsinks are a bitch. Large heavy copper slugs just waiting to crush your CPU core. Don't push too hard angled to the core. Read that big fold out glossy AMD installation brochure. Here is the only critical part if the build. The rest is cake. THE FULCRUM POINT OF THE CLIP MUST REST DIRECTLY ABOVE THE CENTER OF THE CPU CORE. Or your heatsink will be cocked to one side by uneven tension, causing toast in about 20 seconds. Way before you realize to pull the plug.
Unfortunately AMD boards don't all throttle down on temperature rise.
And just a smidgin of thermal grease applied evenly, not with your finger(oils and contaminants cause breakdown of the thermal properties).

Didn't scare ya did I ;)

Tommy P.

Tom, you're a day late and a dollar short ... the sucker is already installed. As far as I know, everything is Ok. It wasn't easy putting that SK6 on, though. I used the funky little pad-thingy that came with the heatsink instead of thermal goop.
I'm doing the build right next to my Mac station, so I'm leaving this post up, and refreshing every so often.
I just took out the metal template that came on my case and replaced it with the nicer one that came with the mobo. I moved all of the P/S wires out of the way, and I'm looking at this bag of screws wondering if there's some special way I'm supposed to attach the mobo to the case. So, here I go, back to it again ... cigarette break is over.
Anyone who feels like hanging around here while I do this is welcome. If nothing else, it's cheaper than going to the comedy club...

Okay, mobo is installed in the case. Nice fit, all the holes lined-up right with no problems. Hmmm...now where do all these wires go?

Way to go! I've got nothing better to do (except piss off a bunch of little shits over at Anandtech) so I'll hang! :cool:

Kewl! I'm still trying to figure out where all the wires go. MY GOD, there's a ton of them! The ECS manual isn't the greatest, and my eyesight isn't so hot for trying to read the little letters on the mobo, but I'm getting there. The new case didn't come with a speaker, so I ripped the speaker out of my old PC and jury-rigged it in there. I plugged in the AGP thingy off of the P/S, and now I'm trying to see where to plug-in all the front panel LEDs. Next step is to physically install the CDROM, Floppy drive, harddrive, and video card. I read on the AMD site to install "the basics" first, to get it up and running, then add-in a piece at a time ... to avoid conflicts.
Tom, do you know much about Winblows 2000? I've only used 98SE and XPhome before. Is 2000 pretty similar? Will it be good to use 2000 on this new machine?

Win2000 will be the easiest thing you ever did. Format fat32, not NTFS. What else you wanna do?

I got the LEDs all set on their proper little pins. Now I have to install and plug-in the drives. Will W2000 have most generic drivers to get this sucker started? What happens when you have it all assembled and you're ready to fire it up? Is there a special procedure to perform for the initial start-up and set-up? When do you load the OS, drivers, and so-forth? I purposely didn't do anything to the harddrive before I took it out of the old PC ... it still has W98SE on it. Wheh should I format it and install W2000?

Oh, and there are 5 sets of leads coming from the front of the case. The red & white pair is for the HDD LED, the green & black pair is for the power switch, the black & white pair is for the reset switch, and the green & white pair is for the power LED. Do you know what the yellow & black pair is for? I have no idea...

You don't need anything on the old drive, right? Just checking. I usually boot-up tapping the Del key to get into the bios. We can check everything and choose the right settings.

Do you know what the yellow & black pair is for?

Is it the speaker?

Oh yeah, you said you already hooked up the speaker. Do you have a tamper switch on that case?

Nope, the case didn't come with a speaker in it. I transfered the speaker over from my old PC and plugged it in. I was thinking that perhaps the yellow and black pair go to the P/S (?). I really have no clew. I may have to take the whole front of the case apart to see where the hell they go ... hope not.
I don't need to save anything on the harddrive. Ideally, I'd just like to erase and partition it, install W2000 and drivers, and be a happy little camper.

Tamper switch??? :confused:
It has a locking door on the front. The two top drive bays, where my FDD and my CDROM are, are not inside the door, but the door covers the rest of the front. I've never read that it has anything but the cheapo lock as far as tamper resistance.

Looks like you've got things well in hand. Almost 2am in NY, gotta get up early to cook pancakes for the little ones. ;)

Thanx for hangin with me. It's after 11 here, and I may just hang it up for tonight and finish up tomorrow. It's looking really sweet ... I just can't wait to see how it performs! Have a good sleep...

Chocolate chip pancakes are always a big hit :p The wife will be back soon with bagels, smoked salmon and some low fat cream cheese. Mmmm.

I gotta rip apart 4 computers, and put together my new rig, so I'll be offline for a while.

Did you consider partitioning the OS/app drive into two partitions and installing Win98SE/Win2000 as a dual boot machine? Maybe Opus would know if there are any benefits for a DAW.

OMG Tom! That's what you're having for breakfast? Ummm ... can I come over? *Please pass the Lox and bagels* ... :D
As for the HD and the dual boot ... I thought about that, basically for game's sake.
See, I'm going to be using my G4-400 for my DAW for quite a while still (digi 001), because I need to save about $10k before I can do the SS32 thang. I'm hoping to reach that goal by the end of the year. Until then, this PC is going to be for internet, games, graphics design, and building web pages.
This PC is sort-of a Frankenstein Monster. I had put a new FDD, CDROM, graphics card, and modem in my old PC within the last 6 months, so I yanked them for the new PC. I also bought the keyboard, trackball, and monitor last year, so I'm using those, too. The sound card is VERY old, but it's probably better than the built-in audio on the mobo, so I'm going to use it for the time being. The audio is just going into the subwoofer and stereo speakers that are built into the monitor, so I don't need anything fancy. Surprisingly, the built-in speakers on this monitor sound DAMN GOOD!
The HD I'm putting in this new PC is the one that came in my Mac when I bought it, which was promptly yanked and has been sitting in a box. It's only a 10Gb Quantum, ATA66. Would it be ok to put W98SE and W2000 on the same HD? Or would I be asking for problems? Would I have to have two separate sets of drivers? I had read somewhere on RO that putting two OSs on the same HD is a bad idea.
The reason that I've been asking about putting W2000 on here instead of W98SE, is that I've read so much about the stability of W2000, but I'm not sure about driver issues and the availability of W2000 versions of software. I really hate W98SE ... it crashes more than a drunken old lady on a freeway ... so if drivers won't be an issue, and most PC games will run on it, I really would rather use W2000 if I have to choose one OS for this system.
I'm still not sure what the yellow/black lead coming from the front of the case is for, but I'm guessing at this point that it's for 12v power. Can anyone confirm this?
Where I'm at with the case build:
*The CPU/heatsink/fan is mounted on the mobo
*Memory is installed
*Mobo is installed in case
*Jumpers are set
*The 2 massive case fans are connected to the PS
*The ATX thang is connected from the PS to mobo
*The case switches & LEDs are connected to FP1
*The FDD is installed and connected to the MOBO & PS
*The CDROM is installed and connected to IDE2, PS, & CD_IN2
*The HD is installed & connected to IDE1 & PS
The next things that I must consider are my PCI slots/cards. My graphics card, sound card, and modem are all PCI. I NEED HELP HERE! Which PCI slot should I put each card on?
According to the AMD info, I'm not supposed to put the modem and sound card in until after the system is up and running. So, for right now, I'm only going to install the graphics card, but I need to know which PCI slot to put it in. I REALLY NEED ABSOLUTE POSITIVE HELP HERE! PLEASE!

BUMP ... PLEASE HELP!!!

SOS....check your email..I sent you a private message....
Opus

I'm back, argg. Power lines down in right in front of my house! Tree fire, ect ect. No power till a.m.. Long Island got hammered!

How's the build going?

Graphics card in slot 1.
Audio card slot 3.
Modem slot 4.

Hopefully the bios will see the PCI vid card on boot-up, I know there's a setting in there for boot preference of AGP or PCI vid card.

Nice server case on wheels, any idea what those wires were?

Welll ... I got some phone support from Opus testerday, and he basically steered me in the right direction. Unfortunately, I must have made a wrong turn somewhere and crashed horribly down a steep mountain cliff. The build is not, and has not gone well. I am now at wits' end and ready to chuck the fucking thing out a window. The whole situation has just kept getting worse and worse ... now I can't even get a video signal. I never dreamt that this would be such a nightmare.

No problem. Remove the little CMOS battery, leave the CMOS jumper in the shorted position with the power unplugged from the back of the power supply. It will have to remain this way for fifteen minutes. Its been well documented, so trust me on this. Every major configuration error will require this if you need to clear CMOS. I've been using two of these boards since they were first introduced, and I know the issues very well. You should be able get your video back, and then we can get you up and running from there. I'll PM you in about five minutes(I'm a two finger typist LOL)

So?!!!! What's the status SOS? Any luck yet? Had to go and deal with the system that was being borrowed..had to install a second RME 9652 card to get 16 tracks of 24/96 going.
Let me know..I'm curious..
Opus

Sorry guys ... didn't mean to leave you in the dark, but I've been busy with other stuff.
I'll go ahead and try your tip, Tom, and then I'll post the result. I really appreciate all of the help that you've given me. A big "THANK YOU" to Opus, too, for all of the help, support, and now even telephone support! You guys fucking ROCK!!! :cool:

Okay, the battery is out, gotta wait 5 more minutes. Thought I'd clarify where I'm at...
The PC is assembled as previously described a few posts back, plus the video card is in the 1st PCI slot. The HDD is on IDE1, with its' jumper set to *master*. The CDROM is on IDE2, with its' jumper set to *slave*. Both the HDD and CDROM are connected using the ends of the IDE cables.
I managed to partition the HDD, but couldn't format because the FDD wouldn't read anything, and of course, formatting requires the floppy boot disk.
I have a boot disk that is good for W98, 2000, and XP, so if I can get this sucker back up, I'm ready for W2000 now!
Ok, time is up ... BRB with the verdict ...

SHIT ... same, nothing changed. I left JP4 short, pins 2-3. Tommy, did you mean for me to short pins 1&2 before removing the battery? I don't know ... I'm SO bumbed!
Actually, I'm thinking that this is probably a DOA mobo. I never could get the CDROM or the FDD to work, and I kept getting a monitor error message "OUT OF SCAN RANGE", then I was getting a jumbled image on the monitor, then I finally lost video altogether. I'm hoping it didn't fry my Appian graphics card ... then I'll be fucking PISSED!
I've been searching for a different mobo for about an hour before I came on RO. I ran into a couple of BB forums about how bad these mobos suck, and all of the problems that guys have with them.
If anyone has any other suggestions on how to see if it's possible to make this work, I'll keep checking back here periodically thru the day. If I can't get it up and running today, I guess I'll find out how good Newegg is with their DOA return policy...
Any suggestions on an alternate, inexpensive mobo? I'm thinking iWill KD266 or Asus A7A133...

*SOS sitting-by patiently hoping someone can help*

SOS

I'm tearing my hair out reading this thread. Good Godamighty I feel bad for you. Unfortunately I can't help much as I'm new to this game myself. One thing I can say is that I'm happy with the Iwill KK266. If I had read all the forums BEFORE I bought the bits I may not have gone that route as everybody seems deathly scared of the Via chipset. Not without good reason evidently. But so far mine is working fine. All my other components are different from what you have so your mileage may vary...Good Luck man.
lou

Man, this site loads slooooow. Try it again, remove battery, AC plug and short JP4, then take the jumper out completely, and wait 10 minutes. Then put the battery back, the jumper in the normal position, the power cord back in, in that order. Make sure all cards are removed, except the vid card for now. Then boot up and lets see what we've got. ;)

Thanks Tom, I'll try it. I'll let you know as soon as I'm done.

Nope, still the same, no video signal to the monitor. Now, question ... when you say to short JP4, do you mean to to move the jumper onto pins 1&2? To clear/reset the CMOS? That's what I did this time.
I gotta go run a quick errand, but will be back in 45 minutes. I'll post as soon as I'm back.

Yep, that's what I meant, short pins 1+2 remove battery and AC and wait for the capacitors to drain. Usually does the trick to get it to boot back up to defaults. Try it one more time, this time leave the jumper shorting the CMOS between pins 1+2 for ten minutes with battery and AC unplugged from back of P/S. After this, I'd say RMA that sucker to newegg. An AGP vid card would be interesting to try, just to be able to see if its a BIOS setting for PCI/AGP boot preference.

Also, I know we never went over this stuff. A single stick of ram goes in slot1(closest to the CPU). Pull the vid card out and put it back pushing it in for a secure seat(do it 3 times out and then in again to clean contacts), make tight connections to the card and monitor. You've probably done all this already.....

I just read this. Hold the power button and the reset button at the same time. Then release the power button and wait 2 seconds before releasing the reset button.