There are many ways to tell.
1, open it up and eyeball the cards.
2, the post screen may show hardware ids. Some OEM BIOS may not display that info, however.
3, use hwinfo or some other tools.
4, just install 98, luckily it will recognize the parts, otherwise you can resort to the hardware ids of the question marked items in device manager.

Go to http://www.gateway.com and using your serial number get the drivers.

If you're not accustomed to installing win98, there's lots of information out there. My typical order of operations is:

Assuming you're working with a blank hard drive:
1) insert boot disk floppy, if you have one
2) insert win98 CD rom
3) turn on computer. If you have an operating system on your existing hard drive, you may need to tell the Bios to boot from CDrom first.
4) go into bios, change boot sequence to boot from floppy or CDrom. Some of the less old motherboards actually allow you to boot from CDrom and recognize it without the need for a floppy disk, but some need the floppy before you can use the CDrom.
5) restart and let computer boot from cd rom.
6) The Windows 98 setup should start automatically. Follow on-screen instructions.

If you need to format your drive, win98 setup should be able to do that. Make sure your data is backed up first.

Once you've gotten it installed, you may need to do some trial and error in downloading and installing the correct drivers, but you should be able to find them.

Good luck!

I've had most of my luck identifying the video/sound cards by taking pictures, writing down whatever brand/model numbers I can find on each card, and google image searching. EBAY actually has returned the most matches for me, and from there I can get the full model name & number, which I then take and go on my search for drivers.

I now know the video card and sound card for this laptop: it has a Silicon Motion LynxEM 4mb video card and a ESS Maestro 2E PCI sound card, i googled them and downloaded the correct versions, i now just need to know how to get the DOS compatibility for the Maestro 2e to work.

Windows9566 wrote on 2017-08-26, 04:36:

I now know the video card and sound card for this laptop: it has a Silicon Motion LynxEM 4mb video card and a ESS Maestro 2E PCI sound card, i googled them and downloaded the correct versions, i now just need to know how to get the DOS compatibility for the Maestro 2e to work.

I know it's been years, but did you ever find all the drivers you needed? The gateway site stops short of this model and I'm having the hardest time finding drivers.

I picked up this machine at a Goodwill for $20 and while it works it has no OS. I would love to install win98se on it since it has a floppy drive, a CD drive and USB ports. it could be my base of operations when making bootdisks and setting up other vintage PCs.

Shishkebarbarian wrote on 2020-08-24, 14:36:

Windows9566 wrote on 2017-08-26, 04:36:

I now know the video card and sound card for this laptop: it has a Silicon Motion LynxEM 4mb video card and a ESS Maestro 2E PCI sound card, i googled them and downloaded the correct versions, i now just need to know how to get the DOS compatibility for the Maestro 2e to work.

I know it's been years, but did you ever find all the drivers you needed? The gateway site stops short of this model and I'm having the hardest time finding drivers.

I picked up this machine at a Goodwill for $20 and while it works it has no OS. I would love to install win98se on it since it has a floppy drive, a CD drive and USB ports. it could be my base of operations when making bootdisks and setting up other vintage PCs.

These archived links should point you in the general direction of the correct drivers

Main Solo 2550 Support Page - https://web.archive.org/web/20011207192715/ht … able/2550.shtml

Drivers Downloads Page - https://web.archive.org/web/20011208021507/ht … e/2550drv.shtml

The files themselves (on the old Gateway ftp support site) weren't archived, but with the filenames you can search the web for other site which may have them.

I have a Solo 2550 with Win2k on it. The only driver install file I have is for the display.

It really shouldn't be necessary to have the original drivers though.

As mentioned before:
Video is Silicon Motion LynxEM
Sound is ESS Maestro2E PCI

Everything else is just standard stuff.

There is a driver CD available on Archive.org which may have the needed drivers though it doesn't specifically cover the 2550:
https://archive.org/details/gw2k_drv
(Audio should be the same as the 9300)

I'm not seeing the video driver on that CD though.

I did find a copy of the driver for that video chipset on driverguide though:

And here is the user manual:

I kind of have an interest in the old Gateway SOLO laptops because I have the fancy dock that has PCI and ISA slots.

PC Hoarder Patrol wrote on 2020-08-24, 22:24:

These archived links should point you in the general direction of the correct drivers […]
Show full quote

These archived links should point you in the general direction of the correct drivers

Main Solo 2550 Support Page - https://web.archive.org/web/20011207192715/ht … able/2550.shtml

Drivers Downloads Page - https://web.archive.org/web/20011208021507/ht … e/2550drv.shtml

The files themselves (on the old Gateway ftp support site) weren't archived, but with the filenames you can search the web for other site which may have them.

Thank you for that. I had the same idea late last night. I managed to track down every driver on that page save for the modem. Of course I dont care about the modem but I still want to have a clear Device Manager =D

cyclone3d wrote on 2020-08-25, 06:02:

I have a Solo 2550 with Win2k on it. The only driver install file I have is for the display. […]
Show full quote

I have a Solo 2550 with Win2k on it. The only driver install file I have is for the display.

It really shouldn't be necessary to have the original drivers though.

As mentioned before:
Video is Silicon Motion LynxEM
Sound is ESS Maestro2E PCI

Everything else is just standard stuff.

There is a driver CD available on Archive.org which may have the needed drivers though it doesn't specifically cover the 2550:
https://archive.org/details/gw2k_drv
(Audio should be the same as the 9300)

I'm not seeing the video driver on that CD though.

I did find a copy of the driver for that video chipset on driverguide though:
silicon_motion_lynx_family_driver_win9x_nt_2000_me.zip

And here is the user manual:
2550.zip

I kind of have an interest in the old Gateway SOLO laptops because I have the fancy dock that has PCI and ISA slots.

Thank you for that. I had already dumbed my way around to finding everything using that archive.org download list. The only yellow error I still have in my Device Manager is the PCI Communication Device which I'm guessing is the modem. I'll try that drivers CD and a win2k CD.

Cheers

Shishkebarbarian wrote on 2020-08-26, 22:46:

Thank you for that. I had the same idea late last night. I managed to track down every driver on that page save for the modem. O […]
Show full quote

PC Hoarder Patrol wrote on 2020-08-24, 22:24:

These archived links should point you in the general direction of the correct drivers […]
Show full quote

These archived links should point you in the general direction of the correct drivers

Main Solo 2550 Support Page - https://web.archive.org/web/20011207192715/ht … able/2550.shtml

Drivers Downloads Page - https://web.archive.org/web/20011208021507/ht … e/2550drv.shtml

The files themselves (on the old Gateway ftp support site) weren't archived, but with the filenames you can search the web for other site which may have them.

Thank you for that. I had the same idea late last night. I managed to track down every driver on that page save for the modem. Of course I dont care about the modem but I still want to have a clear Device Manager =D

cyclone3d wrote on 2020-08-25, 06:02:

I have a Solo 2550 with Win2k on it. The only driver install file I have is for the display. […]
Show full quote

I have a Solo 2550 with Win2k on it. The only driver install file I have is for the display.

It really shouldn't be necessary to have the original drivers though.

As mentioned before:
Video is Silicon Motion LynxEM
Sound is ESS Maestro2E PCI

Everything else is just standard stuff.

There is a driver CD available on Archive.org which may have the needed drivers though it doesn't specifically cover the 2550:
https://archive.org/details/gw2k_drv
(Audio should be the same as the 9300)

I'm not seeing the video driver on that CD though.

I did find a copy of the driver for that video chipset on driverguide though:
silicon_motion_lynx_family_driver_win9x_nt_2000_me.zip

And here is the user manual:
2550.zip

I kind of have an interest in the old Gateway SOLO laptops because I have the fancy dock that has PCI and ISA slots.

Thank you for that. I had already dumbed my way around to finding everything using that archive.org download list. The only yellow error I still have in my Device Manager is the PCI Communication Device which I'm guessing is the modem. I'll try that drivers CD and a win2k CD.

Cheers

Here's a driver archive (v5.55 from December 1999) for the modem - 7507260.exe for Windows 95 / Windows 98 & 7505715.exe for Windows NT

PC Hoarder Patrol wrote on 2020-08-27, 00:43:

Shishkebarbarian wrote on 2020-08-26, 22:46:

Thank you for that. I had the same idea late last night. I managed to track down every driver on that page save for the modem. O […]
Show full quote

PC Hoarder Patrol wrote on 2020-08-24, 22:24:

These archived links should point you in the general direction of the correct drivers […]
Show full quote

These archived links should point you in the general direction of the correct drivers

Main Solo 2550 Support Page - https://web.archive.org/web/20011207192715/ht … able/2550.shtml

Drivers Downloads Page - https://web.archive.org/web/20011208021507/ht … e/2550drv.shtml

The files themselves (on the old Gateway ftp support site) weren't archived, but with the filenames you can search the web for other site which may have them.

Thank you for that. I had the same idea late last night. I managed to track down every driver on that page save for the modem. Of course I dont care about the modem but I still want to have a clear Device Manager =D

cyclone3d wrote on 2020-08-25, 06:02:

I have a Solo 2550 with Win2k on it. The only driver install file I have is for the display. […]
Show full quote

I have a Solo 2550 with Win2k on it. The only driver install file I have is for the display.

It really shouldn't be necessary to have the original drivers though.

As mentioned before:
Video is Silicon Motion LynxEM
Sound is ESS Maestro2E PCI

Everything else is just standard stuff.

There is a driver CD available on Archive.org which may have the needed drivers though it doesn't specifically cover the 2550:
https://archive.org/details/gw2k_drv
(Audio should be the same as the 9300)

I'm not seeing the video driver on that CD though.

I did find a copy of the driver for that video chipset on driverguide though:
silicon_motion_lynx_family_driver_win9x_nt_2000_me.zip

And here is the user manual:
2550.zip

I kind of have an interest in the old Gateway SOLO laptops because I have the fancy dock that has PCI and ISA slots.

Thank you for that. I had already dumbed my way around to finding everything using that archive.org download list. The only yellow error I still have in my Device Manager is the PCI Communication Device which I'm guessing is the modem. I'll try that drivers CD and a win2k CD.

Cheers

Here's a driver archive (v5.55 from December 1999) for the modem - 7507260.exe for Windows 95 / Windows 98 & 7505715.exe for Windows NT

Gateway Solo 2550 - Modem Drivers.zip

Thank you SO much. I spent a couple hours looking for this, how/where ever did you find this??

Shishkebarbarian wrote on 2020-08-28, 00:45:

Thank you SO much. I spent a couple hours looking for this, how/where ever did you find this??

Sorry, that was a problem of my own making - on the driver download page I listed earlier I omitted to check all the sub-links actually went somewhere useful and in this case the modem link wasn't archived on Wayback. Fix was easy though - I just checked back through the other 7 older archived modem links till I found one with filenames then tracked them down online.

PC Hoarder Patrol wrote on 2020-08-28, 04:49:

Shishkebarbarian wrote on 2020-08-28, 00:45:

Thank you SO much. I spent a couple hours looking for this, how/where ever did you find this??

Sorry, that was a problem of my own making - on the driver download page I listed earlier I omitted to check all the sub-links actually went somewhere useful and in this case the modem link wasn't archived on Wayback. Fix was easy though - I just checked back through the other 7 older archived modem links till I found one with filenames then tracked them down online.

no no, i did the same, but that modem file eluded me entirely. maybe you know a site i don't for finding files/drivers? 😉

Strange, as once I had the filenames it only took 5 minutes to track them down online (10 minutes all told) - maybe my Google Fu was strong that day 😀 , but at least you got it sorted.