braving the cold once more, in pursuit of pakige
with some luck we might be able to boot DOS tonight
the condition of this looks really promising

a couple pages of a magazine as packing material 😭

but nothing is visibly broken. and there are more parts here than i expected

theres a cpu here! and its an Athlon XP 2400+, just like the one i already bought
the 20-pin ATX connector on this board is the type where a 24-pin plug will not fit so it looks i have to get out the knife
before / after
well. no video from the onboard VGA yet. but power LED polarity is consistent now, which is an improvement
also nothing but a tiny click from the onboard PC speaker
manual reading intensifies
they really put the clock speed selection jumpers in the most awkward possible spot
i can NOT get these fuckers out 😭 looking for a tool that is small enough but still has enough grip
i got them swapped but no change
CLR_CMOS pins described in the manual do not exist. great
i am expecting *anything* from this table (have all RAM removed now) but the singular tiny click remains all i get
why are there jumpers on the front panel audio connector.
well im running out of jumpers to toggle and still no actual sounds
asus website says the 2400+ is validated since BIOS version 1004/1006 (depending on the CPU revision i guess). is it possible that if my BIOS isnt up to date, the board doesnt get far enough to even beep?!
the CPU stays ice cold even with the board powered on for a while. for whatever thats worth

this person https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?t=56372 mentions about their build that

"Its not flawless, but given the power situation with Socket 462 and Modern PSUs, I feel this build is running great."

so there is some sort of situation that i should probably be aware of

Socket 462 mATX build: modern, silent, and future proof \ VOGONS

"Unlike modern systems which draw mainly from +12V rails, Socket A systems draw most of their current from the +3V and +5V rails." https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/bl0oup/psu_suggestion_for_socket_a_retro_gaming_pc/

unclear if this should be expected to be an issue at the point where im just trying to get through POST, with no discrete GPU installed

"Make sure your PSU has at least 20A on 5v for Slot A and early Socket A boards." https://www.vogonswiki.com/index.php/Athlon_Motherboards

mine (Corsair CX650) does have exactly 20A

Athlon Motherboards - Vogons Wiki

i plugged in three HDDs just in case putting some load on the 12V might change something. it did not
the most suspicous thing about this to me is the CPUs not warming up
i was talking about this project with a friend on NYE and he asked which socket i was working with. when i said Socket A he was like "oh nooo you really shouldve gone with Intel for this time period" and said there is no end of weird issues with Socket A stuff. he may not have been wrong

i was hoping to come away from this with some clues as to which of my existing parts may or may not be functional. but now i just have more parts and even more uncertainty

not to mention less money

!!

this person tests Socket A CPUs with different PSUs, and finds that high TDP CPUs fail to POST with the newer PSUs which have weaker 3.3V/5V rails. my Athlon XP 2400+s are definitely on the power hungry side so i suspect this is what is happening on my system too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efK7mw8eYiE

Can your PSU handle Athlon or Duron Socket A processors?

YouTube
i found a cheap a Duron 700 on ebay and will be testing that once it arrives
if i had known about this stuff in advance i probably would have looked for socket 754 gear or something lol. but im gonna see this through now
i guess picking possibly the most cursed CPU socket to work with is very on brand for me anyway

we are so back

in goes the Duron 700

so i powered on and got the first signs of life in the history of this project as the pc speaker started doing the "no ram detected" beeps. i powered back down, installed the cpu cooler and... back to nothing at all. did i kill it? 😭
@ahihi did u try another cpu i guess u did if u have one
@sasha yeah its the same with both of my Athlons. but i also saw people online saying a lot of the Athlons sold online are dead from overheating so who knows πŸ˜”
@sasha gonna see if i can get a cheap Duron that is for sure supported by all versions of the mobo BIOS and possibly less likely to be fried
@ahihi those Athlons weren't known for running cool.
@ahihi i doubt it's that
@ahihi Travellers hook and/or seal tools?

@ahihi get some wire or thin string and feed it under the top wire, back up and pull!

That or narrow nose pliers if you have smols

@ahihi bonus points for touching the danger cylinders with a metal object