Alix 2c2 no LEDs - corrupted BIOS?

awm1 · Dec 2, 2011, 7:18 PM

Hello everybody,

I've got Alix 2c2 which doesn't do anything after connecting to power source - none of 3 on-board leds doesn't light, there isn't any output on the serial console. Only LEDs of ethernet ports lights. Unfortunatelly, I don't know the history of my board. It isn't visually damaged, so I guess the tinyBIOS is corrupted.

Does anyone have any experience with this fault? What could cause my problem? Will any LPC module with tinyBIOS help me? Of course, I can provide some another description of the board if necessary.

Thank you for responses. AWM

(I apologize for my bad English.)

joako · Dec 5, 2011, 2:40 AM

Have you contacted PC Engines? My experience is their service is great.

awm1 · Dec 6, 2011, 7:33 PM

@joako:

Have you contacted PC Engines? My experience is their service is great.

Yes, I had, however, they didn't give me any hint, only recommended me to buy post5a card for better diagnostics and offered the repair of the board. However, I live in European Union and PC Engines are located in Switzerland, which equals duty fees and expensive postage.

I've asked on large local ISP forums, but nobody answered me. Is there any company in the country next to Czech Republic (Germany, Austria, Polland, Slovakia) which could repair this board? I think it could be less expensive than buying a new one or sending it to Switzerland.

stephenw10 · Dec 6, 2011, 8:34 PM

Test the power supply.
It's harder to do but you must test it when its connected to the board. I have had PSUs that tested OK when unconnected but the voltage dropped too low when plugged in.

Steve

awm1 · Dec 8, 2011, 10:31 AM

@stephenw10:

Test the power supply.
It's harder to do but you must test it when its connected to the board. I have had PSUs that tested OK when unconnected but the voltage dropped too low when plugged in.

Steve

Thank you for your advice. I've tested my PSU, however, there was no significant drop of voltage or current while the board was connected. Then I tried another PSU, but the problem still remains.

awm1 · May 29, 2012, 10:12 PM

Finally, I've sent my Alix to an electronics repair shop. They just told me that one of the VT6105M NICs was dead. This fault caused my problem - after removing the NIC, my board boots again. However, I'm neither able to find this NIC in any shop in our country nor as a part of a used motherboard or a PCI card (people from the repair shop offered me a new NIC chip, however, it was very expensive).

I know that the NIC can be bought in China, but I still have a (possibly stupid) question - can be this VIA chip replaced by another "similar" one with same pinout from VIA Rhine series? Can it be replaced by a chip from another manufacturer?

Thanks for your responses. AWM