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Soyo SY-6BA+ IV - very good condition / normally doesn't boot at all / FRAME led off

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First post, by Aladim

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Hello folks,
Sometime back in 2023 I grabbed a Soyo SY-6BA+ IV (advertised as working) from Ebay, 100% positive seller.

When I got the board, it did post, got into BIOS, and after a while it frooze. Tried different CPUs (Pentium II, III Katmai and Coppermine), memory sticks, PSUs (which all work with other 440BX boards), reflashed BIOS externally, tried different BIOS chip, etc. I complained and the seller offered to refund the price of the board (but not the shipping) while keeping it , so I ended up accepting with hopes I would fix it eventually.

The motherboard is in very good condition (super clean). I cannot find any physical damage on the board (no scratches, no dents). I did replace capacitors (japanese brands from Digikey), as some of them were not in good shape. I did get the board to post again after doing it, but same as before, it would freeze before getting into DOS. No shorts, all voltages seems to be OK.

As I had other boards and projects to look into it, I put it in storage. Recently I saw a video from Tony359 recovering a Slot 1 motherboard, and he gave me some ideas on what else to look. So I went and checked clock crystall (generating 32.7Mhz), and when I poke the clock IC (W196), all pins seems to have right frequencies (FSO/FS1, PCIs, CPU0/1, Ref clocks, X1/X2, etc). BIOS chip is also receiving clock signal and power from battery (plus VCC).

When I connect a PCI diagnostic card it reads no POST codes at all, however it indicates all the voltages as available, clock led is on, ready off, reset off, and FRAME is off (always). If I hit reset, the led goes on and off as it should. Sometimes after hitting reset, FRAME and READY stays ON, until I try reset again.

The speaker is connected, and produces a continuous sound (very faint), not a beep. Positive Speaker terminal is reading 4.8V continuosly when motherboard is powered, which definitely is not right. Would anyone have any ideas what to look for?

It's not an obssession, I really like the board, and would love to bring it back to live. I did revive some retro stuff by replacing damaged components, repairing traces, etc... it is "easy" to fix things when the damage is visually there, but challenging when everything looks pristine.

Thanks in advance for any advices / suggestions

PS: If I recall correctly, I did check most diodes / inductors / transistors when I got the board, but I can't recall everything and after Tony359's video, next step would be to start checking individual SMDs on the board one by one, which is timing consuming and more a lottery than anything.

Reply 1 of 7, by Aladim

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I managed to boot 2-3 times. The picture above is from one of those times when I could get a picture. The board can work, eg, it 's not beyond hope.

Reply 2 of 7, by Trashbytes

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Check for dry solder joints, possibly one of them isn't making contact till it gets warm, failing that if you have a thermal camera handy you can check to see if anything is getting super hot. Could also use the touch test for this.

Have you cleaned slots and reseated any socketed ICs ?

Might also be a wonky BIOS, either the bios has bit rot or the IC itself may be bad (some are known for doing that over time) wonky BIOS can just be reflashed and bad bios IC will need replacing. Also check the BIOS battery, it may need replacing.

Another thing you should do is check voltages to see if the board is getting a stable voltage and is delivering it to the VRM.

There is more you can check but this starts every now and again fault smells like a bad solder joint somewhere.

Reply 3 of 7, by zami555

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Try to put some pressure on chipset with your fingers and try to boot. If it boots properly then balls under chipset lost contact with PCB pads. This would mean that reballing of chipset is the best way to make it work reliably.

Reply 4 of 7, by tauro

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Here's a wild idea:
Try the BIOS from a SY-6BA+III. The only difference is that this one lacks the HighPoint IDE controller. It also boots much faster because of this.

Reply 5 of 7, by Aladim

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Trashbytes wrote on 2025-02-01, 21:34:
Check for dry solder joints, possibly one of them isn't making contact till it gets warm, failing that if you have a thermal cam […]
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Check for dry solder joints, possibly one of them isn't making contact till it gets warm, failing that if you have a thermal camera handy you can check to see if anything is getting super hot. Could also use the touch test for this.

Have you cleaned slots and reseated any socketed ICs ?

Might also be a wonky BIOS, either the bios has bit rot or the IC itself may be bad (some are known for doing that over time) wonky BIOS can just be reflashed and bad bios IC will need replacing. Also check the BIOS battery, it may need replacing.

Another thing you should do is check voltages to see if the board is getting a stable voltage and is delivering it to the VRM.

There is more you can check but this starts every now and again fault smells like a bad solder joint somewhere.

Thanks for the suggestions. Battery is brand new, bios was externally reflashed (and a new IC also tried). Voltages were checked both at PSU and VRM delivery (5V, 3.3V, 2.5V). Vcore correct at VRM also (tried different CPUs, P3 Katmai read 2.0V, P2 2.8V). The only socketed IC is the BIOS, other ICs (SMDs) were inspected and poked for lose solder (but not reflow).

Eventually I will check every SMD on the board, and in the process I will reflow the joints.

Reply 6 of 7, by Aladim

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zami555 wrote on 2025-02-02, 18:42:

Try to put some pressure on chipset with your fingers and try to boot. If it boots properly then balls under chipset lost contact with PCB pads. This would mean that reballing of chipset is the best way to make it work reliably.

Tried that also, will try again. If that is really the case, I can reball (have the tools), but I don't have much practice with it, and if I kill the chipset in the process, board will be gone for good.

Reply 7 of 7, by Aladim

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tauro wrote on 2025-02-03, 01:56:

Here's a wild idea:
Try the BIOS from a SY-6BA+III. The only difference is that this one lacks the HighPoint IDE controller. It also boots much faster because of this.

I didn't know that, and this is a very good suggestion. I don't care for the Highpoint IDE controller (never used it in the other boards I had when it was relevant), and it is something less to worry about. I will post again when I have the chance to try it.

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