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Asta CuFlag for United States of America

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Pentium I430VX-2A59HT5BC-00 Win98

My brother has a Pentium, which at boot shows Award Modular BIOS v.4.51 PG, and then the chipset, at boot appears to be the I430VX-2A59HT5BC-00 chipset.  I've researched this, and the only hit I found said this chipset is illegal.  Never heard of such a thing.  He doesn't want to invest yet more dollars for a motherboard, since Pentium serves his needs, but I'd like to know if anyone knows of this and what options exist?  Chipset upgrade?  The AmiBios 4.51 is the same AmiBios I have on both a Pentium and Pentium II, I'm confused.  If you were in his shoes, would you upgrade motherboards, or is there an upgrade to this and what are the options for this specific setup?

He's running at 133Mhz, and 32MB RAM, but we want to add components, but not spend $s on motherboard replacements if we can fix this one.

Any ideas that prove fruitful?  I could post my research to date, but that may help add confusion, since I'm unclear as to the validity of the source found so far.  Baffled and hopeful that we can circumvent yet another motherboard upgrade until all the technological dust settles and we find a real solution worth the investment.

Avatar of rmarotta
rmarotta

astaec,
I've seen that BIOS ID string before, and there are a number of manufacturers that use it. (PC-Chips, Eurone, & Amptron are some)

They say there is a module (VRM) used for upgrading, though I don't know where you'll find one.

Check the board for the presence of two heatsinks near the CPU.  This might indicate a dual power supply needed to run an MMX chip.  Perhaps the voltage-changing header pins are silk-screened with their values on the board.

Upgrades, such as SDRAM, larger HDD and faster CDROM & video can later be used when you upgrade the board & CPU.

I hope this helps.
regards,
Ralph
Avatar of dew_associates
Astaec:

I'm not sure what your using for a search engine for the Bios data, but I'll post what the Bios code means as well as a few sources to confirm the data for your future reference. Indeed, while the Bios data would commonly point to a Tyan Board, the board data you have provided is pirated or blackmarket. Here's some info from Award for you.

What it should mean:
===================
Bios Data: 2A59HT5BC-00
2A59H: Intel Triton VX chipset (Socket 7 based m/b)
T5: Tyan Motherboard


Thank you for your interest in a bios upgrade by Award Software/Unicore Software. Unfortunately your motherboard manufacturer is using an illegal copy of Award Software bios which we can not provide support nor any information on.

2A59Ht5BC-00: PCCHIPS Manufacturing Limited (Fugutech) M520 or M525 or Elpina - Amptron PM7900 orMG Microgram (model:??) or PM-8815A VX-PCI Board or ALTON Aries + or Elpina Topsearch TS-M-8VOC or ASEAGATE VXor Amptron PM-8800 or Concord COA-520 or Pine PT-7502 or EL-J19 or Eurone EM-5100V or Amptron PM8900
You don't know which one to choose ? Then take this advice: Go to all the companies websites and compare specs, pictures, manuals with your board. It is possible that some of the above models are the SAME board but I can't guarantuee you that a BIOS from another brand will work on your board.

2A59HT5BC-00: Amptron ? Model: PM-8800A VX-PCI or ASEAGATE VX
2A59Ht5BC-0G: Amptron PM-8815A VX-PCI Board

Note: Normally T5 should correspond to a Tyan board, but it does not (bad BIOS encoding).

References:

http://www.ping.be/bios/numbers.shtml

http://www.motherboards.org/

I'd concentrate on getting rid of the motherboard and then worry about add-ons. If you know who sold you the motherboard or the system with that motherboard, Award may prove helpful if handle correctly to get a replacement or refund.
Dennis
astaec & Dennis,
FYI,  I had a number of no-name boards using that BIOS ID that I bought at an out-of-business auction in Miami.  These used a built-in dual regulator, and when I flashed the BIOS to a late 1997 date (if I recall) they all worked fine. (Lucky, I guess)
I put 233Mhz P-55s on them, and they're still doing well, running OSR2 w/busmaster UDMA drives.
Regards,
Ralph
I see nothing wrong with giving that a shot Ralph, but as a builder, you knew what you were buying. It appears that Astaec did not.
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ASKER

Thanks for the valued input,I'll review with my brother.  I personally haven't seen this board, but also found the information that Dennis found and posted about this being an illegal setup.  That's the reason I posted this question, to obtain more insight and recommendations.

Hopefully this weekend, I'll have a chance to check it all out.
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ASKER

In answer to some questions, until I can physically check the PC further:  This pursuit began after adding a new Sylvania F72 monitor and in Windows 98 having problems getting Power Management to work.  The Bios information posted was jotted down when the system booted/paused.  The date of the Bios is 1996.  There is Power Management support in the BIOS, we've tried different settings, and downloaded the most recent INF files for the new monitor.  Within Win98, tried to update the PM driver, but after Win98 searches, leaves existing version.  When we checked the power management info in control panel, only hard drive was there, yet when we check details on the monitor, says energy compliant, and on the monitor's power management energy savings settings, state 15 minutes.  It looks like an on-board Western Digital display adapter (based on Win98 info), with 16-bit color depth supported and high resolution settings.  

At boot and reboot, see a small blue screen pop up saying DPMS MODE OFF -- huh?

Perhaps something here will help until we can physically check for information requested.  Baffled.
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ASKER

Oh yes, the organization who sold this motherboard in early '97 says all perfectly legitimate, but don't have details or help for us, based on the age and warranty .... blah blah.
Does the monitor have any switches anywhere to invoke DPMS?
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ASKER

None that they could find, but I'll check the manual and front control panel this weekend.  I can't imagine that they'd ship a new monitor like this without PM support by default, but then, who knows.  Thanks, more asap.
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ASKER

No switches in the monitor settings that pertain to DPMS or any power management.  About to check the motherboard out.
Okay, I'll wait on you!
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ASKER

Wish I had looked at the computer prior to this posting.  But that being as it were.... this motherboard is a disaster, there are more problems that I can count.  When the computer was off, and ReIPLd, clock was off - battery problem and CMOS problems.

Ralph, there was only one heat sink/ one fan, no real identifications could be extracted or read, all chips said Intel.
The sounds are awful, fan slows, speeds, hdd sounds, all around bad news.  The date when BIOS loads is 1996S, motherboard was purchased 2Q'97, and a clunker not worth fiddling with.  It has an on-board WD Graphics Adapter (WD90C31, Ddraw support for version 1.0, SW for 4.0, driver is DXWD.INF).  I suspect this old clunker doesn't support the current version of APM (in Win98), and with all the problems noted, just not worthy of anything but upgrade/replacement.

I was also amazed at how many old files existed in the windows directory, I suspect lots of old 3.1 and W95 support was trying to be retained/forced, adding to application interface problems.

Power Management continues to only reflect support for the HDD, nothing for the Monitor, which is brand new.

I suspect that whatever settings I've tried to load, are irrelevant with the power and/or battery problem, can't imagine that anything I set is retained with these intermittent failures.



REPLACEMENT TIME!
Sounds grim.......

Burial at sea huh?
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ASKER

It truly does sound grim, and burial at sea feels so right.

I'd like to award you both with points, unclear how to dole them out (appreciate you hanging in there with me).  Would a customer service message work? Having posted a number of them, but never received a response, unclear this will work.

.... remaining Q:  Read somewhere that if initial installation created problems, relative to setup and APM, that Win98 may need to be reinstalled, after the MB upgrade, think so?  My brother doesn't want to 'give up' anything when he upgrades, which is why I believe he forced so much of the old stuff into the new Win98 directory via abornmal routines, noticing '90 and older, not to mention a '95 version of Norton Protect, and old Win95 stuff.  

Are there limits to the number of files that a windows directory can support?  

Well, back to nursing my back, thanks for the efforts.


astaec,
Tell him it's time to "Bite the bullet", and start over.

You sure don't want that to contend with that mess on a new set of hardware.

You can go to Customer Service (Experts-Exchange on the home page) and post a zero-points question there asking for help with what you want to do.

Regards,
Ralph
>  "Are there limits to the number of files that a windows directory can support?"

Only limit is the size of the hard drive! (until it won't hold any more)

Ralph
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ASKER

Agree, thanks for the responsiveness, have posted request for help.

Appreciate all, but am curious, is there a number limit on directory size not only in Root, but Windows directory?
Astaec, don't worry about me, award the points to Ralph!
asteac, there are no limits as to the number of files in any given directory except for font registration. Moving to a new MB though using the existing setup is more commonly referred to as inviting acid reflux, heart burn, chest pains, loss of breath and other acute symptoms.
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ASKER

Thank you all.

Ralph, please post an answer for point flow.

Thanks

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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rmarotta

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I'll add points to astaec's account so he can post a question for dew_associates as well.  Thanks for the cooperation.  Great job!

Linda Gardner
Customer Service @ Experts Exchange
Sorry but I could not add points to astaec's account.  So many things I can't do since the new code was put up.  I keep finding me things that I can't do now :-(

I'll try and post a question for dew_associates.  Hopefully that will work.

Linda
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ASKER

Linda, thank you for your help, after Dennis had indicated approval for the point flow as it was processed, commented on the other question to close.

Thank you.  Appreciate everyone's help. Points have already moved to Ralph.