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From: jdalin@devildog.att.com (Jimmy Dalin)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Runaway Motherboard
Message-ID: <1816@devildog.att.com>
Date: 25 Jan 91 14:03:44 GMT
Sender: jdalin@devildog.att.com
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Organization: AT&T IMS - Piscataway, NJ (USA)
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I'm posting this on behalf of my brother, who regrettably does not have
access to the Net.  

He recently purchased a 386-20 motherboard at a computer show.  (Editorial
comment: I'm beginning to think that purchasing AYNTHING at a computer show
is a bad idea.)  It worked just fine for about 6 months.  Now, however, if
he runs a program that displays the time in hours:minutes:seconds format, he
can see that the seconds tick off about three times as fast as real clock
seconds.  To complicate the situation , the problem is sporadic.  Also, the
machine hangs up shortly after the symptoms appear.

Does anyone have any suggestions.  With my limited expertise I suggested
that perhaps the crystal has gone bad.  If so then 1) can he simply purchase
a new one, unplug the old one, and plug in the replacement, and 2) how can
he recognize the crystal on the motherboard?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Jim Dalin
Attmail: !jdalin