PII G6 266 MHz - newest BIOS version allows use of 'modern..

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.gateway2000 (More info?)

Okay, two days ago I upgraded an old Gateway Pentium 2 G6 266 MHz
system with 64 Mb of RAM.

I gave it a couple of older components coming from my old AMD Duron PC
(which died after an MB failure):
- a new videocard (Asus NVidia TNT2 M64 with 32 Megs of RAM).
- a 128 Mb 133 MHz SDRAM module.

Before doing the upgrade, I upgraded the machine's BIOS to the latest
version - from version P08 to version P18 (note about this upgrade: the
COMMAND.COM file included with the BIOS download from Gateway's site
appears to be *corrupted* - I had to use Win98SE's COMMAND.COM file).

The memory module had been tried in the G6 before the BIOS upgrade, and
wasn't recognised back then. It didn't work at all in combination with
the original 64 Mb memory module. Not surprising, seeing it is a
single-sided 8-chip module (I think), and according to all sources I've
read it shouldn't work with this motherboard.

After the BIOS upgrade, it got RECOGNISED. It also shows up in Windows,
and the machine is super stable. No problems using it in combination
with the old memory module.

So the verdict: always perform a BIOS upgrade before upgrading a PC.

I can now run my games properly... ^_^

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.gateway2000 (More info?)

Thank you. This IS interesting and useful information. I'm mildly surprised,
because the rule of thumb has been that older PC66 motherboards would have a
hard time working with PC133 memory.

I don't think I would upgrade the BIOS unless I suspected that an older BIOS was
getting in the way of a successful upgrade. Now, to make doubly sure, download
and run MEMTEST-86, a free memory disgnostic test, one of the most comprehensive
ones. It should verify what you've already seen, that the memory upgrade
worked... Ben Myers

On 11 Apr 2005 06:03:42 -0700, hamann_td@yahoo.com wrote:

>Okay, two days ago I upgraded an old Gateway Pentium 2 G6 266 MHz
>system with 64 Mb of RAM.
>
>I gave it a couple of older components coming from my old AMD Duron PC
>(which died after an MB failure):
>- a new videocard (Asus NVidia TNT2 M64 with 32 Megs of RAM).
>- a 128 Mb 133 MHz SDRAM module.
>
>Before doing the upgrade, I upgraded the machine's BIOS to the latest
>version - from version P08 to version P18 (note about this upgrade: the
>COMMAND.COM file included with the BIOS download from Gateway's site
>appears to be *corrupted* - I had to use Win98SE's COMMAND.COM file).
>
>The memory module had been tried in the G6 before the BIOS upgrade, and
>wasn't recognised back then. It didn't work at all in combination with
>the original 64 Mb memory module. Not surprising, seeing it is a
>single-sided 8-chip module (I think), and according to all sources I've
>read it shouldn't work with this motherboard.
>
>After the BIOS upgrade, it got RECOGNISED. It also shows up in Windows,
>and the machine is super stable. No problems using it in combination
>with the old memory module.
>
>So the verdict: always perform a BIOS upgrade before upgrading a PC.
>
>I can now run my games properly... ^_^
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.gateway2000 (More info?)

But the real question is: What games couldn't you run before, that you can
now run on an old PII-266?

--
"Hurricane" Andrew
Milford, DE


<ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers)> wrote in message
news:425a869d.6522258@nntp.charter.net...
> Thank you. This IS interesting and useful information. I'm mildly
> surprised,
> because the rule of thumb has been that older PC66 motherboards would have
> a
> hard time working with PC133 memory.
>
> I don't think I would upgrade the BIOS unless I suspected that an older
> BIOS was
> getting in the way of a successful upgrade. Now, to make doubly sure,
> download
> and run MEMTEST-86, a free memory disgnostic test, one of the most
> comprehensive
> ones. It should verify what you've already seen, that the memory upgrade
> worked... Ben Myers
>
> On 11 Apr 2005 06:03:42 -0700, hamann_td@yahoo.com wrote:
>
>>Okay, two days ago I upgraded an old Gateway Pentium 2 G6 266 MHz
>>system with 64 Mb of RAM.
>>
>>I gave it a couple of older components coming from my old AMD Duron PC
>>(which died after an MB failure):
>>- a new videocard (Asus NVidia TNT2 M64 with 32 Megs of RAM).
>>- a 128 Mb 133 MHz SDRAM module.
>>
>>Before doing the upgrade, I upgraded the machine's BIOS to the latest
>>version - from version P08 to version P18 (note about this upgrade: the
>>COMMAND.COM file included with the BIOS download from Gateway's site
>>appears to be *corrupted* - I had to use Win98SE's COMMAND.COM file).
>>
>>The memory module had been tried in the G6 before the BIOS upgrade, and
>>wasn't recognised back then. It didn't work at all in combination with
>>the original 64 Mb memory module. Not surprising, seeing it is a
>>single-sided 8-chip module (I think), and according to all sources I've
>>read it shouldn't work with this motherboard.
>>
>>After the BIOS upgrade, it got RECOGNISED. It also shows up in Windows,
>>and the machine is super stable. No problems using it in combination
>>with the old memory module.
>>
>>So the verdict: always perform a BIOS upgrade before upgrading a PC.
>>
>>I can now run my games properly... ^_^
>>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.gateway2000 (More info?)

This is not suprising. The modules that would not work at all are the ones
with 256mbit chips, eg. 4 chips for 128mb, these are the new PC133 only
modules. It is confusing, but these modules will work at PC100 speeds, but
only with chipsets that support the high density modules. Also, a machine
that requires PC133 modules would not necessarily work with the high density
modules. A good, widespread example is the Intel i810e chipet. It supports
133Mhz fsb Pentium III processors, but will not support the high density,
PC133 only modules. It has been my experience (in general) that the
PC100/133 low density modules will work in just about any board as long as
the module capacity is supported (128 or 256mb modules).

<hamann_td@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1113224622.503946.144860@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> Okay, two days ago I upgraded an old Gateway Pentium 2 G6 266 MHz
> system with 64 Mb of RAM.
>
> I gave it a couple of older components coming from my old AMD Duron PC
> (which died after an MB failure):
> - a new videocard (Asus NVidia TNT2 M64 with 32 Megs of RAM).
> - a 128 Mb 133 MHz SDRAM module.
>
> Before doing the upgrade, I upgraded the machine's BIOS to the latest
> version - from version P08 to version P18 (note about this upgrade: the
> COMMAND.COM file included with the BIOS download from Gateway's site
> appears to be *corrupted* - I had to use Win98SE's COMMAND.COM file).
>
> The memory module had been tried in the G6 before the BIOS upgrade, and
> wasn't recognised back then. It didn't work at all in combination with
> the original 64 Mb memory module. Not surprising, seeing it is a
> single-sided 8-chip module (I think), and according to all sources I've
> read it shouldn't work with this motherboard.
>
> After the BIOS upgrade, it got RECOGNISED. It also shows up in Windows,
> and the machine is super stable. No problems using it in combination
> with the old memory module.
>
> So the verdict: always perform a BIOS upgrade before upgrading a PC.
>
> I can now run my games properly... ^_^
>