All of my results like this were that RAM was not really there. It is copying the C code to ram, which isn't there, and then jumping to garbage, which on many mobos results in a reboot eventually.
Crap. :-(
Could be the ram is in the wrong slot. Did you try all RAM sockets? Some bridge implementations in LinuxBios expect a particular socket (#1 if it is numbered).
There is only the one slot. This particular system would only accept EDO before, but it's a 430TX chipset which should work with either. I tried both EDO and SDRAM SODIMMs without success.
Time to unsolder the part. I think I'm going to install a DIP socket and officially declare this particular motherboard my sacrificial system. :-)
Regards, Andrew