Motherboard Identification

As an aside VIA offers a list of drivers :

http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=2&OSID=1&CatID=1160

but no way to match aDID with them as far as I can make out:(

Ooooppps - looks like the VIA item is a an IEEE-1394 Firewire card....best start checking the other SIS DIDs:(

DID 0650 - Host bridge chipset.

"Note that there is no SiS 6325. 0x6325 is the PCI ID of the graphics part of the SiS 650, 651, M650 and 740"....

http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/GRAPHICS-BOARD/SIS/SiS-740-65x-Onboard-VGA-Driver-211-for-Win2K-XP.shtml





NB - Would still like a site to cross reference these horrible DIDs.

Do you have the serial number for that computer.

Do iether of these motherboards look familiard
Intel CPU-->  http://support.packardbell.com/uk/item/index.php?i=spec_columbia&pi=platform_clipper_imediaVL

Socket A CPU-->  http://support.packardbell.com/uk/item/index.php?i=spec_explorer&pi=platform_clipper_imediaVL

try using Everest Free Edition for hardware identification:    http://www.majorgeeks.com/search.php

Hi pjedmond,
the following was the accepted answer in this question: Q_10140577
"tho the above possibilites allow you to find it... i have a way for you to without a doubt find who manufactured the motherboard. Open up your computer case and search the motherboard for a FCC ID# all electronic components in the United States have such ID #'s...

then go to: http://www.fcc.gov/oet/fccid/
enter the ID# and you will get the manufacturer information and model that was submitted to the FCC for approval. At that point if you need more information contact the manufacturer at the contact information on the search."

AZ-Administrator

pjedmond,
are there any bios identification numbers on the bottom of the screen right after you startup/reboot? may look something like this: 4/2/2003-KT400-8235-6A6LYA1AC-DN
these identify the motherboard manufacturer

AZ-Administrator

This post won't be helpfull....:-)   I would rather mail a check to your friend to buy a new computer than spend the time it would take to explain how to identify and download all the driver software necessary to restore that PackardBell to working order.  hahah.  Seriously though, Microsoft has a hardware compatibily list and I seriously doubt that the motherboard and system devices on it are on that list.  Addiditonally, I doubt that the hardware manufacturers of the devices on that mother board have created drivers compatible with WIndows XP, since PB has been out of business 5 years prior to XP.  

have you tried EVEREST Home Edition? Although it is discontinued you can still find the old version and install it.

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Info/Everest-Home-Edition.shtml
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

it should be able to tell you what motherboard you have and might even tell you what those PCI devices are.
you can search for generic drives by searching for "chipname drivers" ex. "sis7012 drivers".

If I were you, i would borrow the computer and fix it, then return it.  These days I will rarely do a major repair on a computer without having internet access. I will borrow it, bring to my house, fix it before returning it.

Your video and audio also might have IRQ conflicts with other devices installed, so better remove them and just return after you get your video and audio working properly.

In order to facilitate finding the right motherboard, could you give me some more info on these components
CPU- AMD or Intel and speed
bios string from the post message

Your part #P700404601 as you have found is for the Imedia VL model 5067, but there were 2 different boards for this model. One was AMD based socket 462 with VIA KM133A, including the VIA VT8365A Northbridge controller. VIA VT 686B Southbridge controller
and the other was an intel based socket MPGA 478B with SiS 650 IGUI HMAC 3D Graphic SDR/DDR, SiS 961 MuTIOL Media I/O
They also supported different type rams from one board to the other.
One thing they seem to have in comman is the sound chip. It was the Sigmatel STAC9756T

I forhot to mention, we need to find out which board as there are 2 different drivers and are board specific.

There is no serial number on the outside of the case. Just above the part number, there is the text "Ser No:" with a blank space after it.

I cannot access the box again until I next fly out to visit, and I'd ideally like to fix it on that occassion.

Based on the VID / DID information, this is an SIS based motherboard, which I guess makes it closer to the:

"intel based socket MPGA 478B with SiS 650 IGUI HMAC 3D Graphic SDR/DDR, SiS 961 MuTIOL Media I/O"

**BUT** this motherboard **DOES NOT** match the PCI information provided. Therefore it is some wierd revision or a completely different board.

I agree that ideally I would always take the PC away, however this is a remote island, with no scheduled flights, and trying to get me (or anyone else on the resupply flight) is difficult enough!...and I'm not sure that they'd be happy with the PC not being available for a month!...plus, I've no intention of waiting between flights (2 weeks+)! I ideally want to be able to install the correct drivers whilst the helicopter pilot has a coffee and biscuits and then return same day. This gives me about a 1 hour window.

Sparkmaker - looks closer to:

http://support.packardbell.com/uk/item/index.php?i=spec_columbia&pi=platform_clipper_imediaVL

...but the DIDs do not seem to match.

Problem I've had with the software packages that 'auto identify' parts is that they require an internet connection in order to identify the part concerned, hence getting the VID/DID numbers which uniquely identify each chipset. There is no telephone, and communication is by radio, so no ability to 'easily' do that.

As for contacting the 'manufacturer', I've emailed SiS, but got no response, and Packard Bell was pathetic, providign me with a link to the PB drivers web site. Entering the known part number gives enough details to get certain devices working, but not the ones I was after. The ommission of sound and video drivers on their website does suggest to me that there may have been variations in the board used which require different drivers despite having the same part number - as has already been noted by sparkmaker highlighting 2 different motherboards.

drawlin - The PC concerned was shipped with XP Home (for shipping with a Packard Bell PC only) stamped on the XP home disc and licence, so PB existed at least until the start of XP.

I guess what I'm really after is the ability to confirm that I've got all the necessary drivers by being able to cross reference the VID/DID values from the values I obtained on my last visit.

AZ-Administrator - There are no BIOS identification numbers during the boot - It comes up with a PB splash screen, or even if that is disabled, you still get a PB banner, followed by checks being done. Nothing that looks directly helpful other than identifying it as a 1.8GHz Intel P4, and SiS chipset - the SiS chipset being apparent from the DIDs, and the System devices information in the control panel.

Sometimes the problem with using PCI info and getting DID information is that it will tell you the manufacturer of the chip in question but they may have sold that chip to a secondary manufacturer such as sigmatel, or even the motherboard manufacturer, in this case GIGABYTE http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Spec.aspx?ProductID=1335

But the story seldom ends there as the computer manufacturer may make amendments to the motherboard components as well. Packard Bell models of late have been notoriously hard to research.
If you are sure this is the Columbia board then you should be OK with those drivers I posted.

Thankyou sparkmaster - Those links look extremely promising. I'm not sure that it is the 'Columbia' board, hence, I'm taking as many 'possible' drivers with me. As those links are the 'official' PB driver links, I think that the chances of them being correct are extremely high, and probably deserve a significant proportion of the points, as they are the primary drivers that are causing problems.

With respect to the DID information, that information is used by windows XP to determine the correctness of the drivers, so it seems sensible to use it when locating an appropriate driver.

Due to the unusual access situation, I still wish to be able to generally confirm the identity of the various PCI chip sets and drivers against DID information, so I can be certain that all the necessary drivers are present.

Looks like I'm comfortable with this now - Thankyou for your input.
Majority of points to sparkmaker for his pointers to the official PB driver links, and remainder for dlangr for the link to the unknown hardware identification website.

Many thanks.

Just to be sure here is the download page for all the versions of the IMedia VL that were available ( there are actually 5 versions of the columbia board) Fill your boots with the drivers so you won't have to make the second trip.
http://support.packardbell.com/uk/item/index.php?i=platform_clipper_imediaVL&t=2007

If you want a simple program that can find lots of info on the board when you get there, try CPUz  http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php
It will identify CPU, mainboard, memory brands and timings. The EVEREST that was linked earlier by achchee is stand alone and you can burn it to a disk to take with you. Run it, for a more in depth look at the hardware.
Good Luck.