old pentium question

[tdean]

ive got a packard bell legend 822cdt here my buddy wants me to "try" to upgrade. i found a lot of info, but nothing that says how large a hard drive it will recognize. i am flashing the bios to version 1.20 from 1.07. the read me file doesnt say what the upgrade will do. the mobo model is pb600. anyone know what size hd i can put in this thing?

....the birds seemed to be calling him, thought caw....

 

[arsend]

considering that packard bell went out of business some time ago, you are proably limited to 6 GB per HD. This computer in my professional opinion is to old to upgrade, I recommend that you find a nice thrift store or other charity group and buy a new one.

If it works for you then don't fix it.

 

[girish]

the best option is to replace the processor, motherboard, chassis, the power supply and if the need be, the hard disk.

Wait! arent you just getting a new computer?

girish

<font color=red>Nothing is fool-proof. Fools are Ingenious!</font color=red>

 

[jlanka]

Even if the board doesn't support large drives, most drive manufacturers have utilities which allow you to use drives larger than the BIOS will support. I've done it before, it's not rocket science and it works just fine.

<i>It's always the one thing you never suspected.</i>

 

[tdean]

lol..... well if it was mine..... unfortunately he just wants to keep this one.

....the birds seemed to be calling him, thought caw....

 

[girish]

well, I doubt that motherboard supports 100 MHz FSB, max I guess would be 83 MHz if at all it has jumpers on it to set. You could get a AMD K6-II 450/500 processor and set the FSB to 83 MHz and the multiplier to 2x (which is translated by the processor to 6x) to get a 500 MHz processor. It however, needs a core voltage of 2.2V which the board may not support, set it to as low as possible and use a decent cooler. Otherwise, you can easily get a Cyrix M-II PR333/366 processor which runs on 2.9V (if I remember correctly, or maybe a bit lesser) and the stock 75/83 MHz FSB.

You can downlaod the DDO (Dynamic Drive Overlay) software from the seagate website (or you might get it with your new disk) so that the system can support larger than 8.4 or even 32 GB disks regardless the BIOS does it or not.

as for rest of the stuff, it should be fine with what you have!

girish

<font color=red>Nothing is fool-proof. Fools are Ingenious!</font color=red>

 

[tdean]

yeah, i think im just gonna throw an ibm drive in there so i can use the diskmgr 2000 software. that works with any ibm drive, correct? heres a NEW PROBLEM though... when i put a pci modem in, the system doesnt boot. when i take it out, it does..... damn these old systems. any clues?

....the birds seemed to be calling him, thought caw....

 

[Crashman]

I'll let you in on a little secret-the board was made by BCM(if I remember correctly) and with the BCM BIOS can support all the way up to 5.5x multipliers and 83MHz FSB. Also, AMD does the 2x=6x conversion, at 6x83.3 you get 500! The BCM BIOS is more stable, but the onboard video is NOT stable and will probably give you some problems no matter what you do. The board will go to 500 but is still garbage.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[tdean]

ok.... im a bit confused now. so,you are saying that this board, with a different bios, will support an amd chip up to 500 mhz? oh,and if so, where do i get the bmc bios? it has a pentium right now that i oc'd to 133. the chipset is cirrus logic. are you sure its the same board? any idea about the pci problem im having now?

....the birds seemed to be calling him, thought caw....

 

[siliconjon]

Please do not consider upgrading a packard bell. In belongs in the garbage.

If I don't get my 90THz AMD Quadraplex system soon, I'm afraid I may just combust right here.

 

[tdean]

oh believe me, i know..... it isnt mine and all im doin is putting in a new hd. he can dump the rest of the system and keep the drive when he gets more cash.

....the birds seemed to be calling him, thought caw....

 

[girish]

Its a routine IRQ problem I guess. try switching the slot for the modem, or swap the modem itself. best option - get a external modem if you have to have one!

<font color=red>Nothing is fool-proof. Fools are Ingenious!</font color=red>

 

[tdean]

yeah, thats what i though so i tried all three pci slots. no deal.

....the birds seemed to be calling him, thought caw....

 

[girish]

then swap the modem, what else! ;-)


<font color=red>Nothing is fool-proof. Fools are Ingenious!</font color=red>

 

[Crashman]

I found out that information when I owned one. Wait...Ah, here it is, the old BIOS update floppy, now it says the board is actually an IN5598 model...searching..here you are, <A HREF="http://www.bcmcom.com/tech/in5598/IN5598.htm" target="_new">http://www.bcmcom.com/tech/in5598/IN5598.htm</A>. A good pic of the board so you can make sure it's the right one, and a link to the latest BIOS for that board, are on this page. If you look at the jumper settings page you'll only see up to 75MHz FSB, you'll want to check the board for the 83MHz setting, because otherwize your highest speed is 450MHz, using the 2x multipier (converted to 6x by the CPU).

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[tdean]

aaahh... tha ones different. mine (his) has a large expansion? card that all the pci and isa cards get set in. also, mine has a cirrus logic chipset. thanks for the link, i will save it.... i seem to run into many of these old old packard bells....

....the birds seemed to be calling him, thought caw....

 

[Crashman]

OMG, you poor soul, you have an LPX (center slot) or NLX (edge connector) motherboard, sorry.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[tdean]

"is that "real" tomato ketchup eddie? nuthin but the best!!!" heheh, yup, its a pos, but at least its out of here tomorrow... lol.

....the birds seemed to be calling him, thought caw....