keithbraithwaite
asked on
motherboard identification: REV A
Hello
I'm having difficulty identifying a motherboard on which the only indication seems to be the words "REV A"
It seems to be a Micronics board with an M55Hi CPU(?)
I've found BIOS updates but It's the sound and graphics drivers I really need.
Normally speaking I can find motherboard drivers easily - I'm a member of Driverguide - but this time I'm stuck.
Any help gratefully accepted
Keith
I'm having difficulty identifying a motherboard on which the only indication seems to be the words "REV A"
It seems to be a Micronics board with an M55Hi CPU(?)
I've found BIOS updates but It's the sound and graphics drivers I really need.
Normally speaking I can find motherboard drivers easily - I'm a member of Driverguide - but this time I'm stuck.
Any help gratefully accepted
Keith
SOLUTION
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ASKER
I found that mainboard diagram too but the board I'm working on is a Pentium III 1G CPU which has SDRAM.
I've managed to make an ATI RAGE AGP card work on it so I have reasonable graphics but it's frustrating not to be able to persuade the built-in graphics to work properly and that costs us a graphics card which we could sell...
(All this is for a charitable organisation here in France - we rebuild and sell old computers to bring in funds for the resisdents who are mainly guys who have fallen by the wayside. Emmaüs - Abbé Pierre.)
I'll have another look on saturday when I get back to the center - see if there's a bar code
Thansk for getting back to me
Keith
I've managed to make an ATI RAGE AGP card work on it so I have reasonable graphics but it's frustrating not to be able to persuade the built-in graphics to work properly and that costs us a graphics card which we could sell...
(All this is for a charitable organisation here in France - we rebuild and sell old computers to bring in funds for the resisdents who are mainly guys who have fallen by the wayside. Emmaüs - Abbé Pierre.)
I'll have another look on saturday when I get back to the center - see if there's a bar code
Thansk for getting back to me
Keith
Another thing to look for is a chip on the motherboard near the audio connectors that may give a clue. Usually the chip will have identifying information on them.
More info on the CPU socket, Numbers of PCI and ISA slots, Any chip info on the board. A picture would be great.
Where did the M55Hi description come from.
More info on the CPU socket, Numbers of PCI and ISA slots, Any chip info on the board. A picture would be great.
Where did the M55Hi description come from.
Can you download and install System Information for Windows from
http://www.gtopala.com/siw-download.html
After you've run it, in the Hardware section, select Motherboard. The information you need should appear in the right-hand screen.
http://www.gtopala.com/siw-download.html
After you've run it, in the Hardware section, select Motherboard. The information you need should appear in the right-hand screen.
ASKER
I've downloaded the SIW program and I'll try it tomorrow. I already tried a progam I have "Sandra" and that gave no clues... If SIW works I'll buy a technician version for the center.
The M55hi bit came from the only drivers I found with REV A in the name - they were all BIOS upgrades. That gave me the same board plan as you found. It was a blind alley but a strange coincidence.
A good idea to send a picture - I'll borrow a camera. I'm a bit loath to take off the heatsink and fan to see the CPU socket number - with these old boxes I've sometimes had the nasty experience of not being able to get them to work again when I put them back together using the diffuser paste (don't know what that's called in english...)
Many thanks for the continued help. In fact it's not just for this mainboard that I asked the question. I have a great many - probably nearly 100 - of which certainly over half are good for the trash can - but I'm going to try to identify them all so all these tips are going to be very helpful. In addition to that I'll be receiving over 300 old Pentium III's next week... There are bound to be some unidentifyable mainboards in that lot!
The M55hi bit came from the only drivers I found with REV A in the name - they were all BIOS upgrades. That gave me the same board plan as you found. It was a blind alley but a strange coincidence.
A good idea to send a picture - I'll borrow a camera. I'm a bit loath to take off the heatsink and fan to see the CPU socket number - with these old boxes I've sometimes had the nasty experience of not being able to get them to work again when I put them back together using the diffuser paste (don't know what that's called in english...)
Many thanks for the continued help. In fact it's not just for this mainboard that I asked the question. I have a great many - probably nearly 100 - of which certainly over half are good for the trash can - but I'm going to try to identify them all so all these tips are going to be very helpful. In addition to that I'll be receiving over 300 old Pentium III's next week... There are bound to be some unidentifyable mainboards in that lot!
you can upload it to ee-stuff
Don't worry about removing the CPU and heatsink, more than likely its a socket 370 with a 1Ghz CPU.
ASKER
It's a 370 socket as you said - the numbers are just visible next to the heatsink.
There's a bar code on the parallel /serial block with CM33-TC and P/N CM33T1-3 then R.ABO
Then on the sound-game/midi block there's MO502522B on the label.
I'll upload the photo to ee stuff ...
There's a bar code on the parallel /serial block with CM33-TC and P/N CM33T1-3 then R.ABO
Then on the sound-game/midi block there's MO502522B on the label.
I'll upload the photo to ee stuff ...
ASKER
The photo is uplaoded... First experience of ee-stuff...
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ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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I'm curious whether you were able to run SIW, and what it reported.
ASKER
I feel a bit silly for not having thought that the labels on the rear socket blocks could contain the mainboard information... that in itself is a lesson!
Although it's almost midnight here I have just had the pleasure of downloading the setup files unzipping them and installing them successfully - many many thanks.
I'll split the points.
I did run SIW and it's a good tool I'll use along with Everest and others, but it didn't pick up this one.
Here's what the Motherboard gave:
Chipset Vendor VIA Technologies Inc
Chipset Model VT8601 Apollo PLE133 CPU to PCI Bridge
South Bridge 82C686B PCI to ISA Bridge
CPU Intel Pentium III
Cpu Socket Socket 370
Thanks again
Keith
Although it's almost midnight here I have just had the pleasure of downloading the setup files unzipping them and installing them successfully - many many thanks.
I'll split the points.
I did run SIW and it's a good tool I'll use along with Everest and others, but it didn't pick up this one.
Here's what the Motherboard gave:
Chipset Vendor VIA Technologies Inc
Chipset Model VT8601 Apollo PLE133 CPU to PCI Bridge
South Bridge 82C686B PCI to ISA Bridge
CPU Intel Pentium III
Cpu Socket Socket 370
Thanks again
Keith
Glad to help. :-)
As to why your utils didn't catch this one, I imagine the reason is the same as is explained in PC Pitstop's System Management BIOS FAQ:
http://www.pcpitstop.com/faq/smbios.asp
Why does PC Pitstop show incorrect system information?
PC Pitstop's utilities get much of their information from the system BIOS, which keeps tables specifying the processor type and memory configuration. In some cases, this information is not recorded correctly by the BIOS and we cannot determine that the BIOS information is incorrect. Common data problems include:
* System brand or model is incorrect (e.g., "System Manufacturer")
* System type shown as desktop when it's a notebook
* Incorrect number of free or filled memory slots
* Incorrect memory type or maximum module size
PC makers are supposed to use the System Management BIOS (SMBIOS) Specification to provide a way for utilities such as ours to get information about the PC. Older PCs built before about 1998 usually do not implement SMBIOS at all; PCs built before 2000 often have serious inaccuracies in their data. Even brand-new systems can have incorrect SMBIOS data, and it is common with many systems that are not from brand-name manufacturers.
As to why your utils didn't catch this one, I imagine the reason is the same as is explained in PC Pitstop's System Management BIOS FAQ:
http://www.pcpitstop.com/faq/smbios.asp
Why does PC Pitstop show incorrect system information?
PC Pitstop's utilities get much of their information from the system BIOS, which keeps tables specifying the processor type and memory configuration. In some cases, this information is not recorded correctly by the BIOS and we cannot determine that the BIOS information is incorrect. Common data problems include:
* System brand or model is incorrect (e.g., "System Manufacturer")
* System type shown as desktop when it's a notebook
* Incorrect number of free or filled memory slots
* Incorrect memory type or maximum module size
PC makers are supposed to use the System Management BIOS (SMBIOS) Specification to provide a way for utilities such as ours to get information about the PC. Older PCs built before about 1998 usually do not implement SMBIOS at all; PCs built before 2000 often have serious inaccuracies in their data. Even brand-new systems can have incorrect SMBIOS data, and it is common with many systems that are not from brand-name manufacturers.
Actually it should be the CM33-TC not much difference in the CM33-TL and TC models, the only change I see between the two is that the TC supports a Cyrix CPU under its bios.
http://th99.80x86.ru/m/M-O/33513.htm
If so the onboard sound may be the Creative labs vibra 16c