Description: The Soyo Computer Inc. SY-TECHAID Tech Aid Debug Card retails for around $35.00.  As Soyo states on their website “The purpose of the SOYO TechAID (debug card) is to make the difficult troubleshooting procedure easier and quicker. This debugging card will assist any technicians (from novice to advance users) in accurately and conveniently locating their hardware problems faster, cutting down the troubleshooting time drastically simply by displaying an easy to follow POST (Power On Self Test) code on its display.”

Function: The card functions by inserting it into an available PCI slot.  While the manufacturer claims it will work in “Any motherboard with an open PCI slot”, we found this not to be true.  On the few pre-Pentium 4 motherboards tested, the card prevented the computer from booting.  Once the card is installed, connect a power supply to the motherboard, along with a cpu (and heatsink), ram, keyboard, and a video card.  The card will work in fully assembled systems as well.  Press the power button, or temporarily short the power header pins to begin the boot sequence.  Alphanumeric codes will begin to flash on the 3 displays of the Soyo Card, and a sequence of LED’s will light up.

The LED’s have multiple functions.  The first LED should flash momentarily and then go off.  If it doesn’t, that could mean a bad powersupply, reset switch, or improper grounding of the case to the motherboard.  The other LED’s should stay lit and indicates proper voltage on each voltage rail. If the computer boots successfully, a display of “00” will be shown.  Any other reading indicates an error.  The last POST code displayed is the last function successfully executed.  If the boot fails, you have to look up the code in the included book containing 3 different sections corresponding to your bios type, Award, AMI, or Phoenix.

Test Results: I only had one bad motherboard lying around to test, along with several new motherboards.  The new boards all booted with a proper “00” code.  The one bad motherboard, an Asus P5B premium, became the test subject.  By removing various bits of hardware we were able to produce different failure codes. 

In the case of the Asus board, I knew the issue had to do with the keyboard.  Despite trying both USB and PS/2 connectors, I could not get the computer to boot.  Nor could I hit the delete key to play with the bios settings.  The board ultimately stopped posting with an error code 37, which in AMI BIOS POST Code listings shows “Display mode set”.  Since that is the last graphics card entry, it tells me everything tested before, including the graphics card, was fine.  Looking at Error Code 38, “Different BUSes init (input, IPL, general devices) to start if present”.  Right after that error code is the position where you hit the “DEL” key to enter setup.  So there was the error, input device failure preventing bios from reaching the point where you press the “DEL” key.  Since it wasn’t a keyboard error, it had to be a physical motherboard error or corrupt bios.  Either way the board should be RMA’d.

Conclusion: In practice this card has limited applications where it would be useful.  New systems that won’t boot and field units that have failed are the 2 scenarios that come to mind.  Unfortunately, the only issues that can be fixed are limited to ram, cpu, and graphics card.  At least you will know why your board won’t post, even if you can’t fix it.  If enough failed boards are analyzed, the card can also generate statistics on what is failing.  As soon as you get a known error code that is an issue for that board, you can stop testing. That should make RMA’s easier.  Best use of this card would be for someone that has to check a stack of motherboards to decide if they are good or not.