Multifunction LPC-DEBUG Card PCI PCI-E LPC Motherboard Diagnostic Test LPC-Debug Post card diagnostic test kit Z09 Drop Ship

Pros: Works for me! Supports an amazing number of motherboard configurations Low Price

Cons: No english-language instruction sheet The PCI-E option didn't work for me. Ships from China

Overall Review: Buy one (or more, they're cheap) of these NOW, _before_ you really need one. It ships from China and when you're trying to debug a new computer build, you really don't want to wait 2 or 3 weeks for delivery. I was having problems with a new computer build, and my old P.O.S.T. card that plugged into a PCI slot has become obsolete because mother mobos have elminated that slot. This small card has one edge that can plug into a PCI slot, another edge that can plug into a PCI-E slot, and two sockets that can plug into TPM or LPC headers if your motherboard has those. The PCI-E option didn't work for me. The card lit up, but only displayed "00". Not taking any eggs off for that, since from what I've seen searching the internet, getting POST codes over the PCI-E bus is problematic at best and should only be tried as the last resort. This failure may have been the motherboard's fault and no fault of this card. The only documentation that comes with the card is a single double-sided page written in Chinese, with no translation into English or any other language. I was unable to find an English translation anywhere on the internet, either. However, even without the text, the diagrams are enough to let you identify which type of LPC/TPM header your motherboard has, and how to plug into it. When I plugged this into the TPM header of my mobo and turned on the power, it "just worked" and showed me the POST codes. The more I looked into this, I found that there is no single standard for LPC/TPM headers, and the ones this card supports are not consistent in their pin assignments. Eventually, I realized that what this chip *must* be doing is sensing which pins are getting DC voltage applied (and possibly which pin is getting the bus reset signal), deducing from that what mobo it's plugged into and dynamically connecting LPC bus signals to pins accordingly. Awesome! Yes, this would be better if it came with better documentation, even an English translation of the single sheet would be nice, but I'm so impressed by how much effort has gone into supporting a complete zoo of inconsistent motherboards, that I just have to give this all 5 eggs. (If you have geeky/maker friends or relatives, this would make a great stocking stuffer.)