[SOLVED] Looking For Bios For Compaq Machine

[flynempire]

Good Evening,

I have an older COMPAQ machine that I am planning to give to a friend. Below is the info on the machine.

Narra6 6.01 (Motherboard)

BIOS 5.11

AY03AA-ABA CQ5320F

Product# AY030AA#ABA

Serial# 4CE9470YWN

I have taken parts from elsewhere and upgraded for example the HD to an SSD, 16 GB Memory from 4 GB, Power Supply, etc. I know this may be overkill but it is working and the machine im actually writing this from.

The issue is the CPU. I have a AMD Phenom II X4 9xx series that I added but the machine turns on and boots to a black screen nothing else. So, I had to go back to the AMD Athlon II X2 240 that came with the machine. The HP site: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01949110 shows that the Phenom is compatible.

I assume I need a new BIOS version for this to work but I cannot find anywhere on HP a link to a newer BIOS. Would anyone know of where I can find a BIOS verion higher than 5.11 that works with this MOBO? I would like to install it and then try the Phenom again. Hopeully it would work as thats all the machine needs.

Thanks in advance for any help anyone can provide.

 

[DSzymborski]

What is the exact Phenom II CPU you're trying to install? There are 125W versions that the motherboard isn't equipped for and there are Phenom II X4 CPUs that are not in the compatibility list on HP's site.

As for updating the BIOS, if HP isn't offering it any more -- it's over a decade old -- your only bet is to to find someone that's hosted the update, in a Google search, with comes with its own set of risks.

 

[flynempire]

AMD Phenom II X4 960T 95W

 

[DSzymborski]

AMD Phenom II X4 960T 95W

Yup, that's what I feared when I asked the question. This is not one of the supported CPUs. This was one of the Zosma CPUs released later, not one of the Deneb CPUs available in retail. HP's site does not list this as compatible and it's unlikely that it was ever made compatible in a later version of BIOS; this was an OEM-only CPU they wouldn't expect anyone with this PC to reasonably get their hands on.

 

[flynempire]

OK well thanks for your help. Now I know.