On Fri, Oct 19, 2001 at 08:04:04AM +0930, Berndt Josef Wulf wrote:
> kpneal@pobox.com wrote
> >  
> > > Once you're sure that the power supply is operational, you may want to
> > > measure the output voltage of the regulator that supplies the CPU. I
> > > don't know what voltage is expected at the output, but it should be
> > > substantially lower that +5V (appr. 3V). You may find some information
> > > on the Internet.
> > 
> > And I would measure this across the two terminals on the backside of
> > the motherboard where the regulator comes out?
> 
> No, measure it with reference to power Ground found on the power supply
> connector Pin 5,6,7 or 8. You can use any other ground terminal, however,
> this makes sure that you do the right thing... ;-)

Ok, done. I've got a minimal serial port wired up and connected. I
get nothing across it on either serial port. 

My power supply looks fine, all the voltages are within .3 volts of
what they are supposed to be. 

My regulator's three pins measure at a voltage of 5, 3.3, and 2 volts.

Jumpering the board to use either diagnostic console (with or without
Bcache) gives me nothing. Jumpering the board to boot from the fail-safe
floppy gives nothing (yes, I hooked up a floppy drive). 

Connecting a wire from the supposed-to-be-grounded parts of the board
to the case changes nothing.

Underclocking changes nothing.

My room is a disaster, with tools, papers, cables, parts of cases,
more cables, and a variety of broken motherboards about. My back is killing
me. 

Can anyone suggest a way in which the board isn't broken even after
all these tests? Is there a way to see if the problem is the board
or the processor without trying a working processor in a potentially
dead board? Safely?

*sigh*

Thanks for the help, even if these things are dead.
-- 
Kevin P. Neal                                http://www.pobox.com/~kpn/

"Nonbelievers found it difficult to defend their position in \ 
    the presense of a working computer." -- a DEC Jensen paper