PCI/ISA POST Diagnostic Card (AKA Port 80 card) $8.99 Shipped

[statik213]

My machine crashed on me on Sat. and nothing I didt could coax it out of its rebellion. I had do some voodoo dances around it and sell my soul to the devil to bring it back up. It just wouldn't get thru the BIOS POST (power-on self test) screen.
Finally, unplugging everything but 1 stick of RAM, CPU and Vid. Card and leaving it on for abt 15 mins. magically fixed the problems.... Now one of these cards may have saved me a lot of time and aggravation (I wasted abt 5 solid hrs trying to bring the machine back up - it was acting like a rotten little child).

So, everything is working on machine now and I have no idea what was wrong and am scared shitless that it will happen again. So I went ahead and ordered the card which cost only $0.99 + $8 shipped (LOL)... I orderd Sat. morning and the card was here Today (Wed). The seller has good feedback as well.

Plugged it in and works like it ought to. The display is nice and bright -- impressed by the quality considering how cheap it is. I haven't had the opportunity to use it to troubleshoot a problem yet.

The card basically has a bunch of LEDs that tells you if the plugged in PCI Slot is Functional, if it detects a MOBO clock singal, if the +12,-12,+5,-5,3.3V Rails are powered correctly and a few other LEDs for various stuff. But most imporantly has a two (hex) digit LED display that changes during POST. If POST hangs you will see the two digit code corresponding to where it failed, you then look at your manual and figure out what those codes mean (eg: mem. test failed, IDE device detection failed, and a gazillion others).

The manual is extremely entertaining; it's an el-cheapo chinese product and the english is baad. Anywayz the manual is pretty comprehensive, goes thru about 10 pages of Failure codes and beep codes specific to PHOENIX,AMI & Award BIOSs.

One other neat thing about the card is that it can be rotated 90-degrees and plugged into an ISA-slot. It's not gonna be useful 'cos no one uses ISA nowadays but still it's there....

Compare to:

SOYO PCI Diagnostic Card @ Newegg for $33 + 3 shipped

Now, for the flamers 'cos it's one ebay,
I dare you to find a better deal on a similiar card off-ebay.....

 

[Nick5324]

Originally posted by: statik213
Now, for the flamers 'cos it's one ebay,
I dare you to find a better deal on a similiar card off-ebay.....

Eh, it's not so much about denying it's a good price or even hating ebay; ripped from the HD forum rules "No links to auction sites. We do not consider auctions to be Hot Deals." I guess it's a little different since it's "buy it now", but it's still an auction site. Regardless, looks like a good deal if you are looking for one of these, but asking to not be flammed for posting something that is specificly listed to not be posted usually doesn't work out. :beer:

 

[statik213]

Originally posted by: Nick5324

Originally posted by: statik213
Now, for the flamers 'cos it's one ebay,
I dare you to find a better deal on a similiar card off-ebay.....

Eh, it's not so much about denying it's a good price or even hating ebay; ripped from the HD forum rules "No links to auction sites. We do not consider auctions to be Hot Deals." I guess it's a little different since it's "buy it now", but it's still an auction site. Regardless, looks like a good deal if you are looking for one of these, but asking to not be flammed for posting something that is specificly listed to not be posted usually doesn't work out. :beer:

Well the disclaimer was for all those trigger happy people who jump on the word ebay. Besides, if auction sites were completely out wouldn't that include overstock.com, compusa.com and many more regular hot deals sites ?

Well let's just hope this thread doesn't turn into a flamewar....

 

[mscdex0]

Originally posted by: statik213

Originally posted by: Nick5324

Originally posted by: statik213
Now, for the flamers 'cos it's one ebay,
I dare you to find a better deal on a similiar card off-ebay.....

Eh, it's not so much about denying it's a good price or even hating ebay; ripped from the HD forum rules "No links to auction sites. We do not consider auctions to be Hot Deals." I guess it's a little different since it's "buy it now", but it's still an auction site. Regardless, looks like a good deal if you are looking for one of these, but asking to not be flammed for posting something that is specificly listed to not be posted usually doesn't work out. :beer:

Well the disclaimer was for all those trigger happy people who jump on the word ebay. Besides, if auction sites were completely out wouldn't that include overstock.com, compusa.com and many more regular hot deals sites ?

Well let's just hope this thread doesn't turn into a flamewar....

Overstock.com, Compusa.com, and many more regular hot deals sites are in no way auction sites. They're businesses selling products at a particular price.

And don't say eBay stores are excluded because it's still eBay and as it was said earlier, links to auction sites are unallowed.


Just my $2

 

[ttown]

Originally posted by: statik213
...
One other neat thing about the card is that it can be rotated 90-degrees and plugged into an ISA-slot. It's not gonna be useful 'cos no one uses ISA nowadays but still it's there....
...

I just bought an (E)ISA card yesterday.
...for $0.50

 

[mikeford]

When did people switch from ISA? Does that mean I need an upgrade?

 

[statik213]

Originally posted by: mikeford
When did people switch from ISA? Does that mean I need an upgrade?

 

[mscdex0]

Originally posted by: mikeford
When did people switch from ISA? Does that mean I need an upgrade?

Would've been funnier if you would have said "switch to ISA"

 

[thunderroller]

thanks i really didn't knew about such card. well i think i should get one

 

[SoulAssassin]

Does it do anything for dell/hp/compaq/gateway/whoever bios's?

 

[superHARD]

Originally posted by: SoulAssassin
Does it do anything for dell/hp/compaq/gateway/whoever bios's?

It has nothing to do with the bios. It detects problems and reports them...

 

[superHARD]

Originally posted by: mikeford
When did people switch from ISA? Does that mean I need an upgrade?

DO NOT UPGRADE! It is a scam, your ISA slot is just as good as these so called PCI-X slots these big compaines are tring to get you to buy...

 

[statik213]

Originally posted by: superHARD

Originally posted by: SoulAssassin
Does it do anything for dell/hp/compaq/gateway/whoever bios's?

It has nothing to do with the bios. It detects problems and reports them...

But the error codes mean different things in each BIOS.

 

[Bagger]

My understanding is that the error codes that this card will display are independant from the BIOS on the motherboard. This package I believe also includes a sheet that will list what the different BIOS error codes mean.

 

[htne]

All of the BIOSes out there are patterned after the original IBM PC/XT/AT bios. There is no guarantee, but you can probably use this card and make some sense out of the codes even though you have a propietary bios.

And a big "Thank You" to the OP (original poster) on this one. I have been looking for a good deal on just such a device.

 

[statik213]

Originally posted by: Bagger
My understanding is that the error codes that this card will display are independant from the BIOS on the motherboard. This package I believe also includes a sheet that will list what the different BIOS error codes mean.

Well, the booklet I have has codes for Award, AMI and Phoenix and they are all quite different. So it might be difficult to guess what each code might mean on different BIOSs

 

[jamautosound]

Originally posted by: htne
And a big "Thank You" to the OP (original poster) on this one. I have been looking for a good deal on just such a device.

Same here.

 

[tcsenter]

Now, for the flamers 'cos it's one ebay,
I dare you to find a better deal on a similiar card off-ebay...

$.99 + $8.00 shipping for a generic no-name PCI & ISA POST diagnostic card = $8.99 (sales tax in CA)

Elston Systems PCI & ISA POST diagnostic card with dual LED display (remote and on-board) = $20.00 shipped with Academic Discount, or $25.00 shipped without (sales tax in IN). Not quite as cheap, but you get what you pay for.

This POST card is quite a bargain, considering it is the exact same POST card sold by some companies for over $170. :Q

A PC diagnostic card is a good investment for anyone who frequently builds or services computers that pays for itself in time and frazzled-nerves. I personally wouldn't waste money on a Cheapo no-name debug card. The Soyo TechAID card is a good product, but there are more comprehensive products available....at a price:

Ultra-X QuickPOST PCI

Ultra-X PC Inspector

Ultra-X P.H.D. PCI-II

 

[pyro451]

Nice idea. Similar to the basic POST code LED bracket supplied by MSI with some of their motherboards. I moved the LEDs to the front of the case in an unused 3.5" bay and they provide a nice light show during boot.

Hopefully I NEVER need to interpret their meaning

 

[BurntCpu]

not being a smartass; but what happens if there is a problem with the pci slots?

 

[slothman]

Well if there's a problem with the pci slots, you know right there already that the mobo has got serious problems. If its still in warranty you could RMA it. If not, toss it or set it to the side for (repair? parts? etc?) later.

Also I don't particularly like the payment options for that pci card, only paypal *shudder* or bidpay, which charges exorbitant fees for money orders. :disgust: Hopefully a better deal will come along.

 

[blueribb]

I own 2 different post cards.

An old ISA version from about 9 years ago and the Soyo TechAid. In my opinion, the only thing they're good for is monitoring the PS lines. The digital readout almost never accurately diagnoses the real problem. Most of the time you'll get an "OO" or "FF" or a code not listed in the manual. There are times when you'll get a different code each time you attempt to boot the MB.

To diagnose a "no-boot" situation, you need good spare parts to substitute.

To boot a motherboard, all you need is:

A good CPU
A good stick of compatible memory
A good power supply
A good video card (or on-board video)

Nothing else needs to be connected. You can place the motherboard on a table outside the case to eliminate case shorting issues. To start the boot, just short across the pwr-switch terminals on the motherboard with a screwdriver blade for a second.

 

[superHARD]

Originally posted by: statik213

Originally posted by: Bagger
My understanding is that the error codes that this card will display are independant from the BIOS on the motherboard. This package I believe also includes a sheet that will list what the different BIOS error codes mean.

Well, the booklet I have has codes for Award, AMI and Phoenix and they are all quite different. So it might be difficult to guess what each code might mean on different BIOSs

Even though it has a compaq or dell or whatever bios on it. it is still a Award, AMI or Phoenix bios. It is just not the same one that the board first had on it.

 

[statik213]

Originally posted by: BurntCpu
not being a smartass; but what happens if there is a problem with the pci slots?

use the ISA port

 

[BigEdMuustaffa]

Gee, I wonder if these "$.99" diagnostic cards are as good as the pro models for $1,000?