GA-7N400 Pro2 (rev 2) preinstall questions

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte (More info?)

Hello,

I recently purchased a Ga-7N400 Pro2 motherboard and two sticks of
512Mb PC3200 DDR and an Athlon XP2500. On my first attempt to set up
this motherboard, the install of W2K kept bombing. In retrospect I
have learned a few things. For one, the chipset drivers are WAY out of
date. I didn't write down the BIOS version, but I suspect that it is
old also because it identified the CPU as "AMD AthlonXP 1900+" and set
the FSB to 400. The XP2500 is only available with 333 FSB speed.
Setting the FSB too high certainly could have caused problems.

I have downloaded all the latest drivers and the FI, FJ, and FK
versions of the BIOS. The version of W2K I'll be installing is SP2.

First, do you think I should flash the new BIOS, and, if so, any
suggestions as to which version?

Second, in order to be certain that the FSB is set to 333, am I
correct in assuming that I must set the clock multiplier switches to
the correct multiplier instead of auto and then set the memory
frequency in the Advanced Chipset Features menu of the BIOS setup?

Any other tips, suggestions, known issues are welcome.
Thanks!
Daryl

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte (More info?)

To get your chip to run at 333, your FSB needs to be 166. I have a 2500+
running like a dream in my board (same as yours), and when it booted up it
was reported as a 3200+ (FSB 200, instead of 166). So, i let it ride. no
problems at all so far.

You may have a locked chip. Just make sure that the chip setup is on AUTO,
or be sure that your multiplier is set to 11 (dont forget the CTRL+F1 trick
to get the advanced settings in the bios). Your memory can certainly handle
the speed.

- NuTs


"Daryl Ward" <wdaryl@nyc.rr.com> wrote in message
news:kpsl41l3ugnkjca55u69i9t6gv78mvh5lj@4ax.com...
> Hello,
>
> I recently purchased a Ga-7N400 Pro2 motherboard and two sticks of
> 512Mb PC3200 DDR and an Athlon XP2500. On my first attempt to set up
> this motherboard, the install of W2K kept bombing. In retrospect I
> have learned a few things. For one, the chipset drivers are WAY out of
> date. I didn't write down the BIOS version, but I suspect that it is
> old also because it identified the CPU as "AMD AthlonXP 1900+" and set
> the FSB to 400. The XP2500 is only available with 333 FSB speed.
> Setting the FSB too high certainly could have caused problems.
>
> I have downloaded all the latest drivers and the FI, FJ, and FK
> versions of the BIOS. The version of W2K I'll be installing is SP2.
>
> First, do you think I should flash the new BIOS, and, if so, any
> suggestions as to which version?
>
> Second, in order to be certain that the FSB is set to 333, am I
> correct in assuming that I must set the clock multiplier switches to
> the correct multiplier instead of auto and then set the memory
> frequency in the Advanced Chipset Features menu of the BIOS setup?
>
> Any other tips, suggestions, known issues are welcome.
> Thanks!
> Daryl

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte (More info?)

I am certain that it is not a locked chip.

On the motherboard, the clk_SW must be set to AUTO and the CLK_RATIO
switches to 11x. Correct?
There is no AUTO setting in the BIOS: the choices are Normal, Turbo,
and Manual. Normal (the default) dows not let you set the FSB or the
Memory Frequency. I assume I should choose Manual and set the FSB to
166 and the Memory Frequency to 200%. Sound right?
Thanks.
Daryl

"NuTCrAcKeR" <nutcracker@internationalhacker.org> wrote:

>To get your chip to run at 333, your FSB needs to be 166. I have a 2500+
>running like a dream in my board (same as yours), and when it booted up it
>was reported as a 3200+ (FSB 200, instead of 166). So, i let it ride. no
>problems at all so far.
>
>You may have a locked chip. Just make sure that the chip setup is on AUTO,
>or be sure that your multiplier is set to 11 (dont forget the CTRL+F1 trick
>to get the advanced settings in the bios). Your memory can certainly handle
>the speed.
>
>- NuTs
>
>
>"Daryl Ward" <wdaryl@nyc.rr.com> wrote in message
>news:kpsl41l3ugnkjca55u69i9t6gv78mvh5lj@4ax.com...
>> Hello,
>>
>> I recently purchased a Ga-7N400 Pro2 motherboard and two sticks of
>> 512Mb PC3200 DDR and an Athlon XP2500. On my first attempt to set up
>> this motherboard, the install of W2K kept bombing. In retrospect I
>> have learned a few things. For one, the chipset drivers are WAY out of
>> date. I didn't write down the BIOS version, but I suspect that it is
>> old also because it identified the CPU as "AMD AthlonXP 1900+" and set
>> the FSB to 400. The XP2500 is only available with 333 FSB speed.
>> Setting the FSB too high certainly could have caused problems.
>>
>> I have downloaded all the latest drivers and the FI, FJ, and FK
>> versions of the BIOS. The version of W2K I'll be installing is SP2.
>>
>> First, do you think I should flash the new BIOS, and, if so, any
>> suggestions as to which version?
>>
>> Second, in order to be certain that the FSB is set to 333, am I
>> correct in assuming that I must set the clock multiplier switches to
>> the correct multiplier instead of auto and then set the memory
>> frequency in the Advanced Chipset Features menu of the BIOS setup?
>>
>> Any other tips, suggestions, known issues are welcome.
>> Thanks!
>> Daryl
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte (More info?)

I cant reply and check my bios settings at the same time ... But in my rev
of the bios, there is an EXPERT setting that allows me to set the mulitplier
and clock ratio.

but I can say that if you set the memory to 200%, it will be running at 333.
If you let the memory timing be set by SPD and you should be good and it
will be running at 400Mhz

- NuTs

"Daryl Ward" <wdaryl@nyc.rr.com> wrote in message
news:ar3m41d0uq6eu8fl2k8t5tife58jes658l@4ax.com...
>I am certain that it is not a locked chip.
>
> On the motherboard, the clk_SW must be set to AUTO and the CLK_RATIO
> switches to 11x. Correct?
> There is no AUTO setting in the BIOS: the choices are Normal, Turbo,
> and Manual. Normal (the default) dows not let you set the FSB or the
> Memory Frequency. I assume I should choose Manual and set the FSB to
> 166 and the Memory Frequency to 200%. Sound right?
> Thanks.
> Daryl
>
> "NuTCrAcKeR" <nutcracker@internationalhacker.org> wrote:
>
>>To get your chip to run at 333, your FSB needs to be 166. I have a 2500+
>>running like a dream in my board (same as yours), and when it booted up it
>>was reported as a 3200+ (FSB 200, instead of 166). So, i let it ride. no
>>problems at all so far.
>>
>>You may have a locked chip. Just make sure that the chip setup is on AUTO,
>>or be sure that your multiplier is set to 11 (dont forget the CTRL+F1
>>trick
>>to get the advanced settings in the bios). Your memory can certainly
>>handle
>>the speed.
>>
>>- NuTs
>>
>>
>>"Daryl Ward" <wdaryl@nyc.rr.com> wrote in message
>>news:kpsl41l3ugnkjca55u69i9t6gv78mvh5lj@4ax.com...
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> I recently purchased a Ga-7N400 Pro2 motherboard and two sticks of
>>> 512Mb PC3200 DDR and an Athlon XP2500. On my first attempt to set up
>>> this motherboard, the install of W2K kept bombing. In retrospect I
>>> have learned a few things. For one, the chipset drivers are WAY out of
>>> date. I didn't write down the BIOS version, but I suspect that it is
>>> old also because it identified the CPU as "AMD AthlonXP 1900+" and set
>>> the FSB to 400. The XP2500 is only available with 333 FSB speed.
>>> Setting the FSB too high certainly could have caused problems.
>>>
>>> I have downloaded all the latest drivers and the FI, FJ, and FK
>>> versions of the BIOS. The version of W2K I'll be installing is SP2.
>>>
>>> First, do you think I should flash the new BIOS, and, if so, any
>>> suggestions as to which version?
>>>
>>> Second, in order to be certain that the FSB is set to 333, am I
>>> correct in assuming that I must set the clock multiplier switches to
>>> the correct multiplier instead of auto and then set the memory
>>> frequency in the Advanced Chipset Features menu of the BIOS setup?
>>>
>>> Any other tips, suggestions, known issues are welcome.
>>> Thanks!
>>> Daryl
>>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte (More info?)

Thanks. I'll look for that setting when I flash the new BIOS.
Daryl

"NuTCrAcKeR" <nutcracker@internationalhacker.org> wrote:

>I cant reply and check my bios settings at the same time ... But in my rev
>of the bios, there is an EXPERT setting that allows me to set the mulitplier
>and clock ratio.
>
>but I can say that if you set the memory to 200%, it will be running at 333.
>If you let the memory timing be set by SPD and you should be good and it
>will be running at 400Mhz
>
>- NuTs
>
>"Daryl Ward" <wdaryl@nyc.rr.com> wrote in message
>news:ar3m41d0uq6eu8fl2k8t5tife58jes658l@4ax.com...
>>I am certain that it is not a locked chip.
>>
>> On the motherboard, the clk_SW must be set to AUTO and the CLK_RATIO
>> switches to 11x. Correct?
>> There is no AUTO setting in the BIOS: the choices are Normal, Turbo,
>> and Manual. Normal (the default) dows not let you set the FSB or the
>> Memory Frequency. I assume I should choose Manual and set the FSB to
>> 166 and the Memory Frequency to 200%. Sound right?
>> Thanks.
>> Daryl
>>
>> "NuTCrAcKeR" <nutcracker@internationalhacker.org> wrote:
>>
>>>To get your chip to run at 333, your FSB needs to be 166. I have a 2500+
>>>running like a dream in my board (same as yours), and when it booted up it
>>>was reported as a 3200+ (FSB 200, instead of 166). So, i let it ride. no
>>>problems at all so far.
>>>
>>>You may have a locked chip. Just make sure that the chip setup is on AUTO,
>>>or be sure that your multiplier is set to 11 (dont forget the CTRL+F1
>>>trick
>>>to get the advanced settings in the bios). Your memory can certainly
>>>handle
>>>the speed.
>>>
>>>- NuTs
>>>
>>>
>>>"Daryl Ward" <wdaryl@nyc.rr.com> wrote in message
>>>news:kpsl41l3ugnkjca55u69i9t6gv78mvh5lj@4ax.com...
>>>> Hello,
>>>>
>>>> I recently purchased a Ga-7N400 Pro2 motherboard and two sticks of
>>>> 512Mb PC3200 DDR and an Athlon XP2500. On my first attempt to set up
>>>> this motherboard, the install of W2K kept bombing. In retrospect I
>>>> have learned a few things. For one, the chipset drivers are WAY out of
>>>> date. I didn't write down the BIOS version, but I suspect that it is
>>>> old also because it identified the CPU as "AMD AthlonXP 1900+" and set
>>>> the FSB to 400. The XP2500 is only available with 333 FSB speed.
>>>> Setting the FSB too high certainly could have caused problems.
>>>>
>>>> I have downloaded all the latest drivers and the FI, FJ, and FK
>>>> versions of the BIOS. The version of W2K I'll be installing is SP2.
>>>>
>>>> First, do you think I should flash the new BIOS, and, if so, any
>>>> suggestions as to which version?
>>>>
>>>> Second, in order to be certain that the FSB is set to 333, am I
>>>> correct in assuming that I must set the clock multiplier switches to
>>>> the correct multiplier instead of auto and then set the memory
>>>> frequency in the Advanced Chipset Features menu of the BIOS setup?
>>>>
>>>> Any other tips, suggestions, known issues are welcome.
>>>> Thanks!
>>>> Daryl
>>>
>>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte (More info?)

After a long and very frustrating weekend, I am back on the old
hardware. I started by copying the old BIOS to a floppy and flashing
the two newest versions of the BIOS to the main and backup chips. Upon
rebooting, the newest BIOS correctly identified the CPU, but still set
the memory to 400, not the 333 that the CPU supports. I booted DOS and
HIMEM bombed when checking memory. I went back into setup and set the
config to MANUAL (there was no "EXPERT" setting) and adjusted for 166
FSB and 333 memory. DOS then booted fine, with no memory errors.

I set the GigaRAID chip to ATA (no RAID functions) and tried to
install Windows 2000 (sp2). Even after loading the latest driver for
the RAID chip, W2K said it could not format the partition on the first
drive (IDE3). So I tried to install it to a partition on the first
drive (IDE1), where I had done an installation with the old
motherboard. Setup proceeded to almost the middle of "Registering
Components", where I got a BSOD. Rebooting to that partition restarted
Setup (at least I didn't have to go through the slow process of
reading the 4 floppies). I did this about a dozen times. Each time
Setup bombed at about the same place, sometimes a bit earlier,
sometimes a bit later. Each time a different BSOD, one time just a
simple freeze with no BSOD.
I have no real clue as to what was going wrong - especially since it
happened at slightly different points each time. But I finally gave up
and reinstalled all the old hardware.
If anyone has any concrete suggestions as to what I should do, I'd be
willing to take one more try at getting this motherboard up and
running. But at this point I'm clueless as to what went wrong.
Daryl

"NuTCrAcKeR" <nutcracker@internationalhacker.org> wrote:

>I cant reply and check my bios settings at the same time ... But in my rev
>of the bios, there is an EXPERT setting that allows me to set the mulitplier
>and clock ratio.
>
>but I can say that if you set the memory to 200%, it will be running at 333.
>If you let the memory timing be set by SPD and you should be good and it
>will be running at 400Mhz
>
>- NuTs
>
>"Daryl Ward" <wdaryl@nyc.rr.com> wrote in message
>news:ar3m41d0uq6eu8fl2k8t5tife58jes658l@4ax.com...
>>I am certain that it is not a locked chip.
>>
>> On the motherboard, the clk_SW must be set to AUTO and the CLK_RATIO
>> switches to 11x. Correct?
>> There is no AUTO setting in the BIOS: the choices are Normal, Turbo,
>> and Manual. Normal (the default) dows not let you set the FSB or the
>> Memory Frequency. I assume I should choose Manual and set the FSB to
>> 166 and the Memory Frequency to 200%. Sound right?
>> Thanks.
>> Daryl
>>
>> "NuTCrAcKeR" <nutcracker@internationalhacker.org> wrote:
>>
>>>To get your chip to run at 333, your FSB needs to be 166. I have a 2500+
>>>running like a dream in my board (same as yours), and when it booted up it
>>>was reported as a 3200+ (FSB 200, instead of 166). So, i let it ride. no
>>>problems at all so far.
>>>
>>>You may have a locked chip. Just make sure that the chip setup is on AUTO,
>>>or be sure that your multiplier is set to 11 (dont forget the CTRL+F1
>>>trick
>>>to get the advanced settings in the bios). Your memory can certainly
>>>handle
>>>the speed.
>>>
>>>- NuTs
>>>
>>>
>>>"Daryl Ward" <wdaryl@nyc.rr.com> wrote in message
>>>news:kpsl41l3ugnkjca55u69i9t6gv78mvh5lj@4ax.com...
>>>> Hello,
>>>>
>>>> I recently purchased a Ga-7N400 Pro2 motherboard and two sticks of
>>>> 512Mb PC3200 DDR and an Athlon XP2500. On my first attempt to set up
>>>> this motherboard, the install of W2K kept bombing. In retrospect I
>>>> have learned a few things. For one, the chipset drivers are WAY out of
>>>> date. I didn't write down the BIOS version, but I suspect that it is
>>>> old also because it identified the CPU as "AMD AthlonXP 1900+" and set
>>>> the FSB to 400. The XP2500 is only available with 333 FSB speed.
>>>> Setting the FSB too high certainly could have caused problems.
>>>>
>>>> I have downloaded all the latest drivers and the FI, FJ, and FK
>>>> versions of the BIOS. The version of W2K I'll be installing is SP2.
>>>>
>>>> First, do you think I should flash the new BIOS, and, if so, any
>>>> suggestions as to which version?
>>>>
>>>> Second, in order to be certain that the FSB is set to 333, am I
>>>> correct in assuming that I must set the clock multiplier switches to
>>>> the correct multiplier instead of auto and then set the memory
>>>> frequency in the Advanced Chipset Features menu of the BIOS setup?
>>>>
>>>> Any other tips, suggestions, known issues are welcome.
>>>> Thanks!
>>>> Daryl
>>>
>>
>