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HelpPleaseHELP

HelpPleaseHELP

Oct 21, 2020
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Howdy! Was wondering if anyone could confirm that this motherboard from around 1995 matches the box?

It was never used in the 90s (I ended up using a different one) so this is technically new with the packaging but I'm not sure if the box matches or if it is for the other one (long gone).
I have another mid 90s motherboard but can't find at the moment, will post when I do! :D

Pics:
https://ibb.co/FxkFDYc
ibb.co

20201028-153222 hosted at ImgBB

Image 20201028-153222 hosted in ImgBB
ibb.co ibb.co
https://ibb.co/VVNWR0V
 
Eximo

Eximo

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Hmm, tricky to say. Bad handwriting on that box, can't quite figure out the numbers and it might be written wrong: M714 instead of M741

M741LMRT is a chipset that matches the board layout fairly well. But, doesn't look like this board:

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/898404/Houston-M741lmrt.html?page=12#manual

Slot processor, 30pin and 72pin memory, external cache? I recall boards like this during that transition period, just not sure I recall seeing 30pin and 72pin mixed with slot processors. Thought the whole concept of the slot design was a way to get the cache closer to the CPU before it became integrated as well. But I do recall there were cheaper chips that didn't have onboard cache...maybe. A fuzzy era for all concerned.

Based on the box and the part number, it is about the right era, but I found this listing of Houston boards:

https://www.memoryx.com/hoteme.html

But no listing of a 715 motherboard like is written directly on it.

It does have an ATX connector and is the rightish size to be considered MATX, but the screw holes aren't quite right, don't see the little jog that would normally be in the top left. But it has also been a while since I looked closely at an old chassis, that might have been part of the standard back in the day.

Also keyboard only? I see some ports but they are all for cable attachments. I'm thinking some industrial PC or something. May very well be from Houston, but I'm not sure how to identify the exact one.

Looking up Houston Technology is a bit of a hit and miss on its own.
 
A

Asdfggg

Prominent
Oct 16, 2019
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510
I have a question.

I am having trouble on a vintage system.
I have a dual cpu motherboard and I wanted to install windows nt4.0 but I cannot boot from floppy or cd. I have an Msi 694d Pro2 mobo. When I put cd first in sequence, it says in bios "Attempting to boot from cd... Failure." And with floppy it says "non system disk or disk error" I have tested the floppy drive, floppy disk, cd drive, and boot cd in different systems and they worked. I even have win98 Installed on my hdd right now that I want to format, it detects the cd and floppy and the contents. So if anyone can help me, that would be appreciated.
 
Eximo

Eximo

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Detecting a disk and its contents is one thing, did you actually make boot discs? More then just putting the files on the discs.

Needs to be able to load essential drivers for the system and include ATAPI drivers for the optical drive if you then want to boot from CD. You may also need to load the disk controller drivers depending on what you are doing.

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/694D_Pro2#down-driver&Win 2000

Minimum NT 4.0 version
NT40 2.00 Build 15
for the raid driver

Also this to make a quick and easy bootable disk if you have access to Win98/Dos:

to create setup boot disks do this:
To create a set of setup boot disks for Windows NT 4.0, you will need three 3.5" floppy disks and the Windows NT 4.0 CD.

Insert the Windows NT CD into the CD-ROM drive.


From the MS-DOS or DOS window, move to the CD-ROM drive by entering the drive letter followed by a colon (usually d: or e: ).


Change to the bootdisk directory by entering:
cd \i386
Enter the following command:
winnt32 /ox
The program should run and prompt you to insert your floppy diskettes for creating the set.




Plenty of guides out there that are more thorough, just look around.
 
A

Asdfggg

Prominent
Oct 16, 2019
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510
Eximo said:
Detecting a disk and its contents is one thing, did you actually make boot discs? More then just putting the files on the discs.

Needs to be able to load essential drivers for the system and include ATAPI drivers for the optical drive if you then want to boot from CD. You may also need to load the disk controller drivers depending on what you are doing.

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/694D_Pro2#down-driver&Win 2000

Minimum NT 4.0 version
NT40 2.00 Build 15
for the raid driver

Also this to make a quick and easy bootable disk if you have access to Win98/Dos:

to create setup boot disks do this:
To create a set of setup boot disks for Windows NT 4.0, you will need three 3.5" floppy disks and the Windows NT 4.0 CD.

Insert the Windows NT CD into the CD-ROM drive.


From the MS-DOS or DOS window, move to the CD-ROM drive by entering the drive letter followed by a colon (usually d: or e: ).


Change to the bootdisk directory by entering:
cd \i386
Enter the following command:
winnt32 /ox
The program should run and prompt you to insert your floppy diskettes for creating the set.




Plenty of guides out there that are more thorough, just look around.
Click to expand...
I was able to boot from the cd before on the old motherboard, I also did test it on the old motherboard, but it didn't work now. I think the DVD drive broke or something, so I bought a new one. I also got a new boot floppy, and that worked, so if I can just get the cd to work I can install windows 2000. (I changed my mind.) I have tested other drives, but one doesn't detect DVD's, only CDs, and the 2 other I have which are the same model don't work. I have tried booting from the floppy then running the setup from the cd through there, but it had an error. I think the 2 other dvd drive were broken too, just because they didn't open from the push of the button, I needed to open it with a paper clip, and they had the same problem. When I go into windows 98 it detects the drive and shows all it's contents, and when I run setup it runs fine. So it has me reset and boot into the dvd, but it doesn't work. I think I have hard on some forums that there can be problems with drivers in the dvd drive so it can boot from it. But I'll see what happens when I get a new dvd drive.
 
Last edited:
A

Asdfggg

Prominent
Oct 16, 2019
21
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510
Eximo said:
Detecting a disk and its contents is one thing, did you actually make boot discs? More then just putting the files on the discs.

Needs to be able to load essential drivers for the system and include ATAPI drivers for the optical drive if you then want to boot from CD. You may also need to load the disk controller drivers depending on what you are doing.

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/694D_Pro2#down-driver&Win 2000

Minimum NT 4.0 version
NT40 2.00 Build 15
for the raid driver

Also this to make a quick and easy bootable disk if you have access to Win98/Dos:

to create setup boot disks do this:
To create a set of setup boot disks for Windows NT 4.0, you will need three 3.5" floppy disks and the Windows NT 4.0 CD.

Insert the Windows NT CD into the CD-ROM drive.


From the MS-DOS or DOS window, move to the CD-ROM drive by entering the drive letter followed by a colon (usually d: or e: ).


Change to the bootdisk directory by entering:
cd \i386
Enter the following command:
winnt32 /ox
The program should run and prompt you to insert your floppy diskettes for creating the set.




Plenty of guides out there that are more thorough, just look around.
Click to expand...
I used a different dvd drive for formatting and burning my DVD's because I don't have an actual windows 2000 dvd. And it worked, I guess the other wasn't formatting or burning the DVDs correctly so it can boot, because I could look at the files. I am installing windows 2000 right now, so I hope no more errors. Thanks for your help.
 
A

Asdfggg

Prominent
Oct 16, 2019
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Hi, I am having problems with games on windows 2000 SP4. Whenever I play games like HL or Unreal, the games stutter, and when I move the mouse they speed up like if I were to go superspeed. I have tried other games like quake 2, and they have no problem. In the games with the problem, I have also tried different resolutions and API s, but it didn't help. I also had originally had windows 2000 original release, but earlier today I updated to sp4, on both versions it had the problem. I have also tinkered in the bios with some settings, not all of them, but some, and it still had the problem. I also am using the defaults in the Bios right now. Now I have a couple possible solutions but can't try right now. 1. I have pc100 128mb of ram, while my CPU's are 133mhz fsb. In my motherboards manual it says that whatever the cpu fsb is, the ram has to be the same speed to, or it is incompatible. Now I have ordered pc133 ram, but it'll come in a couple days. 2. I have a dual cpu motherboard, but I have 2 different cpu speeds. One is a p3 933/256/133 while the other is a p3 1000/256/133. 3. There are some settings in the bios to try and disable to fix it, but idk.

My motherboard is a MSI 694d Pro2 ver2. Maybe if someone looked in the manual and look in the award bios section, they can tell me what settings to change to try and fix it. (I don't know what Alot of the stuff in this bios does.) Any help would be much appreciated!
 
D

DumbHammerMechanic

Dec 15, 2020
2
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10
im currently trying to resurrect a gaming PC i built in 2006. Asus P4V8X-X with a P4 3.2Ghz and 4G of ram. has a 7600GTX AGP card in it. it ran for three hours, then the MOBO died. i think the CPU shorted out.

oh well.
 
R

Rufusw

Distinguished
Dec 15, 2007
18
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18,515
I started with an MSX, then moved on to Commodore 64.
I had a VIC 20 at one point too.
My first proper PC was a Tandy 286 with TGA graphics, basically a proprietary GPU that was somewhere between CGA and EGA.
It played lemmings and LHX attack chopper!

After that was a cyrix 233 built from second hand bits with an S3 Virge GPU.. After that I built a Duron 900 with a Geforce2 Mx400, then upgraded that to an Athlon XP 2400 still using the Geforce 2.

Following on from the XP was a 939 3800x2 with an AGP X1950pro, my introduction to multi core!.

The next system was my current system, which by today's standards is a bit of a relic, a 1366 i7-920. It's been upgraded to a Xeon X5680 and GTX970 but it's certainly showing its age.

I still have the MSX but I think all the others are gone, I do have an old pc in the loft with windows 95 on it, I forget exactly what chip is in it but I think it's about 450 MHz.
 
A

AdamG

Distinguished
Dec 21, 2013
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uh voodoo2 was a dedicated card? I had voodoo2 back in windows 2000 me millenium pc, but I never remember having a discreet second monitor output connector, nor hooking it up to anything but the motherboard VGA..all these years thinking that was integrated graphics and "never needed a dedicated gpu back in the old days to play any game off the shelf"...i normally played rogue spear, sof2, aoe2:aoc, quake III arena. really didn't buy any other games for pc for a solid 10+ years because they stuck around for quite a while, I didn't build a PC until 2011 for bf3 with a 6850 for 30 fps on a 60 person conquest game. weird, I believe it was a "plug & play monitor" with a unbranded tower from a catalogue my friends dad gave us who worked for atx that had the voodoo2 graphics.

Second system with tnt2 graphics was systemax PC from tiger direct, then had a dell "entertainment system" up until deciding to try my own build like my friend had done years earlier, when I started realizing I couldn't play modern games on old pre-built computers anymore. i dont remember ever checking my frame rates in any old game either, nor resolution or graphics quality. I would still be playing older games if they didn't die out and if I didn't ever install steam. mplayer/gamespy/msn zone were my life for a substantial amount of time.
 
Nemesia

Nemesia

Splendid
Nov 6, 2019
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g-unit1111 said:
Ah, I had the Diamond card! Brings back memories!
Click to expand...

I remember going to the city when I was like 16 with a few hundreds to buy the card from someone who didn't want it anymore because voodoo 3 was out.

I plugged that card and started Quake 2 and it was a new world. Started competitive Quake 2. Played against Thresh a few time and got my ass kicked but all in all it was such a good time.

The Diamond Monster 3D 2. Memories you say! :D
 
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Deleted member 14196

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Voodoo 2 was as far as I went with 3dfx. Then onto Nvidia
 
Eximo

Eximo

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I didn't realize until much later that 3DFX chips were being sold under multiple names. I was always going to computer shows and seeing Diamond, Savage, etc cards. I always had the Voodoo branded cards.

I do enjoy my ebayed Voodoo 5 5500, it keeps my dual Pentium II server company (Poweredge 4200 (not the modern one). Just realized I am going to have to move that again.
 
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