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Suggestions for POST Diagnostic Cards?

Posted by Cliff on from the determining-your-computer's-health dept.

antis0c asks: "I have a number of PC's of mine, and family that have stopped working, or caused other odd unknown failures such as 4 different harddrives, different brands, all becoming physically damaged in the same computer. General fixing is as easy as removing some hardware until the problem goes away, then putting it back until it comes back, thus narrowing down to the single problem hardware. However more tricky problems require a POST Card. I've never purchased one before and I think I could get more use out of older hardware if I did, and I was wondering if the Slashdot community had any suggestions and comments on the various brands out there such as POSTmortem, MSD PostCodeMaster, and PC Engines. Thanks."

10 of 37 comments (clear)

  1. The single biggest cause of problems... by Futurepower(R) · · Score: 2, Informative


    The single biggest cause of problems in a computer system that was once stable is bad connections. Just open up the case, pull out all connectors and adapter cards a few millimeters, and push them back. That cleans the contacts.

  2. Done business w/ PC Engines by ComputerSlicer23 · · Score: 4, Informative
    I've done business w/ PC Engines before, nice guys. He has since left the US (last I read the web site he had), so it might be a bit tricker now. They shipped me good equipment (Flash->IDE converter). Because he didn't keep stock of parts, I had to wait a couple of days to get them fabb'ed, but at least I know they weren't RMA's. To be honest, I'm getting ready to pick up a POST card from him.

    That said, I have no idea how well it works, or what the delay is now that he's moved. But I'd vouch for his good guy status, and he's shipped other high quality parts to me.

    The actual part is so deathly simple, it should just read I/O port 80 and put it on an LED, so I can't imagine there is a bunch of difference in quality, but that's just me. Last time I needed one, the hardware engineer in the cubie next to me just hooked up his logic analyzer and 2 minutes later I had the post code.

    Kirby

  3. POST Code Master by ez76 · · Score: 5, Informative

    I have had good experience with the POST Code Master.

    A nice touch is that the card will monitor voltage rails and test its own LED segments.

    I also had the opportunity to meet the developer of the card - a nice guy.

    1. Re:POST Code Master by ez76 · · Score: 5, Informative

      I forgot to mention that the PCI POST Code Master can often be had for less than the $65 retail price quoted on MSD's site. Check out this eBay seller.

      (I am not the seller - this is how I bought mine).

  4. Did the poster google? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

    http://www.google.com/search?num=50&hl=en&ie=ISO-8 859-1&q=diagnostic+POST+cards+

  5. Do It Yourself by Tux2000 · · Score: 5, Informative

    The famous german c't Magazine has instructions how to build a very simple ISA-based POST card, using only two GALs, a two-digit seven segment LED display, and 15 resistors. You can buy the programmed GALs at eMedia (order code 9503314PAL, 9,50 EUR, roughly the same in US$). The full article is available online for 0,40 EUR. (If you create a new account, you will get 1,00 EUR to play with. So basically, it is free.)

    I built one POST card myself, and I never leave home without it. ;-)

    --
    Denken hilft.
  6. Landmark's Kickstart IRQ by Crash+Gordon · · Score: 2, Informative

    I've got this card, and it's great -- monitors bus voltages, and also has latching LEDs for each IRQ and DMA channel. Has a BIOS extension on it that includes a bunch of diagnostics (including par/ser loopback, drive and RAM exercising, etc.) so you can do quite a bit of testing without (or despite :-) an OS.

    Of course, just a few months after I bought the card the manufacturer dried up and blew away. Now I need a PCI equivalent and haven't seen one out there.

  7. heat by (startx) · · Score: 3, Informative

    4 drives in the same machine? damnit man, put a fan on them. Heat causes the early demise of most harddrives. You'd think after the first couple you'd have figured that out...

  8. Re:Video Card by tomhudson · · Score: 2, Informative
    -- or the power supply, or ram, but I agree, that's pretty much it. Just keep a spare bare-bones box, and swpa parts in/out of it, to see what's bad. Simple, and with all the legacy hardware people are throwing out, you should be able to build one for $0.00 :-)

    Mind you, it's not worth fixing the old stuff anymore - not when whole systems cost less than a game console.

  9. POST Cards by cook9540 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Power ON Self Tests are what the BIOS conduct automatically to check the buss traffic and see if there are any tie ups. Also known as BEEP Codes, they cause the computer to beep the first time it is started up. If the computer has a working speaker you can use this function of the BIOS. It requires that you know who made the BIOS and what their BEEP Codes are. SEEN HERE: http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm