There's still the issue of not seeing any of the HDDs. Updating the BIOS was a Hail-Mary attempt to fix it, I never expected it to work, but it was worth a shot. Also, even if I got another BIOS chip, the system won't boot until the BIOS is actually placed onto the chip. I don't have a way of doing that other than booting up and running flash software, and the cheapest place online that offered that service costs more than the MB is worth ($50+ for both flashing & chip.) I have a replacement board with good reviews headed this way now for $30, and if it doesn't work I have 90 days to return it for a refund 😀 I'll just have to remember to test it immediately and not wait like I did with my first board (the one that will not install Win98.) Also, since the original flash software wasn't available, I was already using Uniflash. This is one of the things that modern boards have over older ones, dual BIOS means if you screw up a flash, you have a backup to boot too.

FeedingDragon wrote:

There's still the issue of not seeing any of the HDDs. Updating the BIOS was a Hail-Mary attempt to fix it, I never expected it to work, but it was worth a shot. Also, even if I got another BIOS chip, the system won't boot until the BIOS is actually placed onto the chip. I don't have a way of doing that other than booting up and running flash software, and the cheapest place online that offered that service costs more than the MB is worth ($50+ for both flashing & chip.) I have a replacement board with good reviews headed this way now for $30, and if it doesn't work I have 90 days to return it for a refund 😀 I'll just have to remember to test it immediately and not wait like I did with my first board (the one that will not install Win98.) Also, since the original flash software wasn't available, I was already using Uniflash. This is one of the things that modern boards have over older ones, dual BIOS means if you screw up a flash, you have a backup to boot too.

DualBIOS is,I admit it,a good feature,but Gigabyte screwed that up.
AOpen's shot at it was better,because AOpen decided to have a soldered BIOS chip and a empty PLCC socket,the latter being used for recovering the BIOS.
Gigabyte,on the other side,relied on software to fix the problem,but what if the second BIOS chip gets corrupted?You'd have a dead board.

OK, got a replacement board in now. Its a P3V133 board, so I have an extra ISA/PCI slot. It's also ATX so a "little bit" more space. Not much, still having to go with a mini-tower so it will fit in the space I have for it, but I can keep most of the airflow clear anyways. Only problem is the MB seems to need the -5V input from the ATX. Just discovered that a lot of recent PSUs don't have that line for some strange reason. Literally, no wire in the spot, just an empty socket.... So, my 500W PSU I was going to use had to be removed. With 3 HDDs, CD-ROM, 2 Floppies, 2 VooDoo IIs, SB AWE32, MPU-401AT w/SCB-55, S3 Savage 4, & 10/100/1000 NIC I figured it might need it. But it won't work with that PSU. So I have to use the only PSU I have that includes the -5V line... It's only 300W. I hope it's enough 😒

Other than that, it works great. PIII 800Mhz w/ 100Mhz FSB. 256MB PC133 RAM (I might upgrade to 133Mhz FSB some day.) It's actually capable of going up to 1.5GB but I'm not planning to go over 386MB. Heck, I don't really plan to go over 256. Not much call for it with Win98 or DOS6.22 (or Win3.1 for that matter.) My next test (once I get audio going,) is to see how it performs with both caches turned off. The only thing I'm really missing is the ability to underclock it in BIOS like my 2 failed MBs could 🙁 Oh well, there are other options for that.

Only thing left is to wait for my audio equipment to come in. It's the 3rd so I was able to order what I needed. Decided to just get a pair of speakers and a simple 4 channel (stereo,) mixer. Since the 2 Amigas, this PC, the MPU-401AT, and the MT-32 are all stereo (and not quadraphonic,) they'll be all that's on the mixer. My modern system will use the 4.1 speakers I have. The MPU, MT32, and eventually the CM32L will go through a basic audio switch box. All that stuff is scheduled (according to Amazon and eBay,) to arrive next Wednesday and Thursday. Getting a mixer, speakers, switch box, and all the necessary cables for only $40 (all with very good reviews.) So I think I'm doing well there 😀 Went ahead and got everything needed to add the CM32 as well, so if/when I find one, all I'll need to do is plug it in.

To be honest, there were several mixers that came soooooo close to being perfect. But every time I'd say, "Ooh, this is just what I need," I'd find a problem. What would be perfect.... 8 stereo inputs (DOS System, SCB-55, MT-32, CM-32L, Amiga 2000, Amiga 4000, Modern System Front, & Modern System Back.) 2 stereo outputs (Front Speakers & Back Speakers.) The ability to set each input to one or both outputs. Best would be both a balance (left-right) and a fade (output 1-output 2) for every channel. What I do "not" need... 5001 special effects dials that I'll never touch. 20 microphone inputs that I'll never use (or will have to "fake" into stereo inputs to get the 8.) ANY mono conversions (really, why do so many "expensive" mixers take stereo input and turn it to mono before sending a stereo output????) Headphone output, (ok, I would probably use it if I had it, but I don't really need it.) Really, it's that stupid (IMHO,) wasteful conversion of stereo to mono that is the primary culprit in ruining otherwise perfect mixers 🙁

If you want to bring back the other board with the bad flash:
If you're careful, you can hot swap flash chips so as to program a chip for another board. This could be an option if you have another board that uses the same style of flash chip as the one you need to program. Although part numbers vary, most DIP flash chips run on 5V and have compatible pinouts. It's a good idea to look up the datasheets to confirm this though.
This is a procedure that must be approached carefully though, and using a board you don't value highly. I used to do this occasionally but I had a ZIF socket to make it easier. Otherwise, you'd want the chip to be as loose in the socket as possible so it's easy to remove after the system POSTs.

Actually, the other board is gone now. There was more than just a ruined BIOS wrong with it. I've sort of settled in to the P3V133 board now. Other than a minor problem (that I can live with,) it's working like a dream 😀 Just made an image of one of my 5.25" disks (which I cannot do at the library.) Don't have a way "yet" of getting it over to my primary system, but that will come later. Once I get a new switch (my last one got fried during a storm,) I'll have my systems networked together again, and can stop going to the library to image my floppies (and can start imaging the 5.25" floppies as well.)

As a suggestion for the future, buy a pack of zip-ties to round off your IDE cables. You can also zip-tie cables together or onto parts of the case to pull them away from the cards. They do wonders for keeping order inside a cramped case.

Get that thing a bigger case, like one of those really tall server cases.

Done anything about those cables at least? Given how difficult it is these days to find good AT tower cases I suggest that you consider modding a ATX case. As for being in Central Texas getting tired of the summer heat >.<

Bonanza is flooded with AT computer towers.
www.bonanza.com

Going ATX is another option. Much better cooling.