Re: Can't reboot net6501-70 even from the BIOS monitor., (Eivind Eide)

I was also one of the first to order the net6501, but the first models 
were the -50 and the subject model is a -70 (not released until many 
months later).  My -50 has been going strong since day one and I've been 
very happy with it. I've had to update the flash several times, and I do 
pay attention to the list.  Thus I have a theory about the small heat 
sink: The early BIOS had programmed the Atom for a very slow clock 
rate.  I don't recall the exact rate, but it was far less than the 1 GHz 
advertised.  It's possible that Soren did his thermal analysis and 
determination of which heat sink to use based upon the slower clock 
rate.  When the clock rate was increased by the subsequent BIOS update, 
the smaller heat sink eventually proved to be inadequate in some cases.  
(Mine is just fine, but it is not heavily loaded.)  Again, this is all 
speculation and I harbor no ill will toward Soren.  I've been using his 
products for well over 10 years and have just about everything he's ever 
made except for the net 5501.

Jeff

On 04/13/2015 03:00 AM, [email protected] wrote:
> Re: Can't reboot net6501-70 even from the BIOS monitor.
>        (Eivind Eide)
> I was one of those who reported similar problem on the list autumn
> 2013. I bought my original board october 2011 (one of those with a
> small black heatsink) and two years later it wouldn't boot anymore. It
> ended with me returning the board and I got a new one (one with a
> larger heatsink) without further problem. However I got no explanation
> to the nature of the problem. As far as I can tell from this list
> those who ran into the same problem seems to have had a board from
> these early batches. They have all returned their board and got a new
> one from Soekris, but no explanation given.