Alrighty, I ordered a Jetway J9F2-KHDE and a T5500 processor (Socket M) with 1Gb of DDR2.
Well, put it together and nothing. No beeps, no post, no turning on the video card. Nothing.
So I thought defective CPU or mobo, but no way to test. So I ordered another CPU and made sure it was Socket M by ordering a Core Duo rather than a Core 2 Duo. I ordered a new T2050. Put it in, nothing. Same deal, no post, no beeps, no nothing.
So I thought defective mobo. I asked for a replacement and when it arrived, put it together, using the T5500 and nothing again. So then I put in the T2050 and nothing again.
I called Jetway and was told I need to use low density RAM 64x8 which is not in the documentation anywhere. But the stick of Kingston memory was low density and 64x8. But I figured it was the only other thing that could be wrong. So I went to Circuit City, paid $80 for a stick of 512, plugged it in, nothing. Went back to Circuit City, returned it. Ordered a 1Gb stick from their online store for $30 (pretty messed up), picked up in the store a half hour later and tried it, nothing. So I ordered 2 1Gb sticks of 533 instead of 677 this time when they came put them in nothing.
Still no beeps, no post, no even turning the monitor out of power save mode. So I searched and searched, found a thread on here and someone used Geil memory, posted a model number of the RAM even, so I ordered the exact same RAM. They came today, I put them in, nothing again.
I then tried the old T2050 in it, and nothing. Tried the old board with both processors again and the new RAM and nothing.
It seems as if this is the pickiest absolute most horrible board I have ever had the displeasure of buying. The "supported RAM" list is very short, and even then it seems to be a crap shoot.
Even if it isn't the RAM, 2 D.O.A. boards in a row is a pretty unacceptable failure rate. Both CPUs are fully supported and even the not-so-helpful Jetway phone-tech confirmed that the processor model numbers (SL9USH and SL9BN) are fully compatible.
So the only option is the motherboard. I have tried the RAM in a different computer and they all work fine. The CPUs were not new, but working OEM pulls. And I am fairly certain it wasn't a P.E.B.C.A.K. error either.
So long and short of it:
x2 Motherboards
x7 Sticks of RAM
x2 CPU's
x2 Power Supplies
x4 FedEx Overnight shipping
and that equals no working Core 2 Duo CarPC and a hefty bank breaker.
God I might just go back to a HU...
j/k
Even after all this, I dont think I can ever take a HU again. But it does suck to be CarPC-less, and have to continually transfer my laptop to the car. Considering I am in my car about 6.5 hours a day this means laptop with the screen off, so I am limited to random shuffling of my music and basic volume control only... No GPS, No Sirius, no USB peripherals.
