Here is a video of the tower's current status. yes, it's a mess, and i'm sorry about the refresh flickering on the CRT. (Be aware if you're epileptic!)
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/E-TrzvvFWs8

I see from your video that at least it POSTs...

Do you have a floppy drive? - if yes, worth connecting and seeing if it seeks etc.

USER HD type geomety should be settable somewhere - perhaps when you select USER?

Is the CMOS battery good (I'm assuming so as it would otherwise tell you on powerup) - try clearing the CMOPS,
if no option in BIOS, an you can't find a CMOS-CLEAR jumper, remove battery and short battery holder on mainboard
for 20 seconds (with power OFF)

I'm guessing mainboard is IDE and SSD is SATA ... do you have another system with IDE
thar you can try the combintion in? If no, does the SSD work in another system, you should
be able to figure out it's geometry there as well as confirm it works.

Does BIOS have "auto" drive detect option? If so, what does it say?

Do you have an actual SATA hard drive to try? - I've had some trouble with some SSDs
not being recognized by older systems/convertors.

Is your CD IDE? does it recognize it? (make sure Primary/Secondary jumpers are set correctly)
try jumpering CD as Primary and remove convertor/SSD

Does the mainboard have USB - is it new enough to recognize a USB drive?

OpenMaw wrote on 2025-09-23, 12:26:

Here is a video of the tower's current status. yes, it's a mess, and i'm sorry about the refresh flickering on the CRT. (Be aware if you're epileptic!)
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/E-TrzvvFWs8

Motherboard looks like one of these... https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/?page=1& … name=Florida-TG ...so doubt either is going to support a 256GB drive due to LBA size limits.

PC Hoarder Patrol wrote on 2025-09-23, 19:36:

OpenMaw wrote on 2025-09-23, 12:26:

Here is a video of the tower's current status. yes, it's a mess, and i'm sorry about the refresh flickering on the CRT. (Be aware if you're epileptic!)
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/E-TrzvvFWs8

Motherboard looks like one of these... https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/?page=1& … name=Florida-TG ...so doubt either is going to support a 256GB drive due to LBA size limits.

So you're telling me the AI lied to me? 😀 Man... Any recommendations on a SSD that would work?

Unfortunately this may have died on the vine. I was installing the new CPU, and it has those stupid retention clips that are always a PITA to work with. I managed to seat the CPU, or so I thought, but when I tried to boot the system it only spun up the fans. The board won't post now. I'm trying to ascertain the cause. I even put the original CPU back into the board, but it still won't post at all, now.

🙁

Which spec new cpu were you trying to run (being better than the celeron 433)? Check cpu pins and board socket for damage. Far as hdd goes you might be better off considering a CF card & adapter over an SSD (remembering that the original hdd was only 4.3 GB)

https://web.archive.org/web/20180108020846id_ … b-4-3-gb/specs/

This is the CPU:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/134547323345

I've checked the board closely with a flash light to see if maybe I nicked something, all the pins appear straight on both CPUs, there doesn't seem to be any visible damage. Google searches indicated it could be a short somewhere, like a screw came loose and was touching the board, but I have it stripped down to just the ram, and the CPU. I'm almost thinking I damaged the actual CPU housing when trying to get the tetention clip for the fan back into place... I've dealt with a half dozen computers, but I never updated by original emachine with new hardware. I had no idea how bad stiff those things can be.

OpenMaw wrote on 2025-09-23, 22:00:

This is the CPU:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/134547323345

I've checked the board closely with a flash light to see if maybe I nicked something, all the pins appear straight on both CPUs, there doesn't seem to be any visible damage. Google searches indicated it could be a short somewhere, like a screw came loose and was touching the board, but I have it stripped down to just the ram, and the CPU. I'm almost thinking I damaged the actual CPU housing when trying to get the tetention clip for the fan back into place... I've dealt with a half dozen computers, but I never updated by original emachine with new hardware. I had no idea how bad stiff those things can be.

Motherboard doesn't support that class of cpu (100MHz fsb socket 370 coppermine)...you're limited to 66MHz fsb celeron ppga cpus, so probably maxes out at 466 or maybe 533MHz celerons

PC Hoarder Patrol wrote on 2025-09-23, 22:14:

OpenMaw wrote on 2025-09-23, 22:00:

This is the CPU:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/134547323345

I've checked the board closely with a flash light to see if maybe I nicked something, all the pins appear straight on both CPUs, there doesn't seem to be any visible damage. Google searches indicated it could be a short somewhere, like a screw came loose and was touching the board, but I have it stripped down to just the ram, and the CPU. I'm almost thinking I damaged the actual CPU housing when trying to get the tetention clip for the fan back into place... I've dealt with a half dozen computers, but I never updated by original emachine with new hardware. I had no idea how bad stiff those things can be.

Motherboard doesn't support that class of cpu (100MHz fsb socket 370 coppermine)...you're limited to 66MHz fsb celeron ppga cpus, so probably maxes out at 466 or maybe 533MHz celerons

Really? Dang. Grok and Google were lying to me heavily. I sourced that one specifically because I was told it was basically two steps down from the best (the 1100mhz Coppermine 100Hmz CPU) because they fit the 810 socket board, and it does fit. The pins match, but I guess we're talking more the board itself doesn't have compatibility.

So i'm down an SSD and a CPU so far.

I bought a Geforce 6200 and two sticks of 128GBRAM to upgrade those, along with a sound blaster sound card. Hopefully those will work.

I've decided to return this tower to the seller as what he sent me was already badly damaged in transit, and take an offer from another seller on Ebay for a better 566i2 emachine. I'll put the RAM and Geforce into that one. I believe it has a similar board, I wonder if the coppermine CPU would work in that one?

The 566i2 was a Celeron based machine so it's likely that you'll run into the same roadblock...at the end of the day eMachines are great for childhood nostalgia but aren't so great for the kind of tinkering and upgrading it seems like you're wanting to do. If you were wanting to keep things as is, I'd say go for the 566i2 but since you've already gathered a CPU, the GeForce, and RAM I think it'd be a better investment finding a tower with a board that provides more flexibility.

sunkindly wrote on Yesterday, 04:24:

The 566i2 was a Celeron based machine so it's likely that you'll run into the same roadblock...at the end of the day eMachines are great for childhood nostalgia but aren't so great for the kind of tinkering and upgrading it seems like you're wanting to do. If you were wanting to keep things as is, I'd say go for the 566i2 but since you've already gathered a CPU, the GeForce, and RAM I think it'd be a better investment finding a tower with a board that provides more flexibility.

I was trying to ascertain which specific model of board the 566i2 uses, as it's not listed on the Florida TG page here:
https://www.ascendtech.com/products/emachines … mb3emacflrd1017

Google says its this one, but there is no specific model number "1017" associated with. So i'm assuming it's a minor revision, but essentially the same thing:
https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/trigem-florida-tg

As long as the RAM, and video card will work, which they should as they are era appropriate. The card is a PCI card, and the RAM is a perfect match to the slots and matches the all the numbers for this boards requirements (I even asked the seller directly if he could verify that it will work and he said yes.) As long as those and the PSU will work i'm okay keeping the CPU at 566. It's modest, but this was never meant to be a sports car. I just wanted to play some old games and get away from the internet on an old machine.

PC Hoarder Patrol wrote on 2025-09-23, 21:35:

Which spec new cpu were you trying to run (being better than the celeron 433)? Check cpu pins and board socket for damage. Far as hdd goes you might be better off considering a CF card & adapter over an SSD (remembering that the original hdd was only 4.3 GB)

https://web.archive.org/web/20180108020846id_ … b-4-3-gb/specs/

If it's not too much trouble could you recommend a good CF card and adapter?

OpenMaw wrote on Yesterday, 04:52:

I was trying to ascertain which specific model of board the 566i2 uses, as it's not listed on the Florida TG page here: https:// […]
Show full quote

sunkindly wrote on Yesterday, 04:24:

The 566i2 was a Celeron based machine so it's likely that you'll run into the same roadblock...at the end of the day eMachines are great for childhood nostalgia but aren't so great for the kind of tinkering and upgrading it seems like you're wanting to do. If you were wanting to keep things as is, I'd say go for the 566i2 but since you've already gathered a CPU, the GeForce, and RAM I think it'd be a better investment finding a tower with a board that provides more flexibility.

I was trying to ascertain which specific model of board the 566i2 uses, as it's not listed on the Florida TG page here:
https://www.ascendtech.com/products/emachines … mb3emacflrd1017

Google says its this one, but there is no specific model number "1017" associated with. So i'm assuming it's a minor revision, but essentially the same thing:
https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/trigem-florida-tg

As long as the RAM, and video card will work, which they should as they are era appropriate. The card is a PCI card, and the RAM is a perfect match to the slots and matches the all the numbers for this boards requirements (I even asked the seller directly if he could verify that it will work and he said yes.) As long as those and the PSU will work i'm okay keeping the CPU at 566. It's modest, but this was never meant to be a sports car. I just wanted to play some old games and get away from the internet on an old machine.

Gotcha, just curious, which games are you wanting to play? Just cause I was thinking about it and even if you're happy keeping the CPU at 566 it's a Celeron with 128kb L2 cache...you got a GeForce 6200 so while the machine isn't meant to be a sports car, you won't really be utilizing much of its potential. Just something to consider!

sunkindly wrote on Yesterday, 05:03:

Gotcha, just curious, which games are you wanting to play? Just cause I was thinking about it and even if you're happy keeping the CPU at 566 it's a Celeron with 128kb L2 cache...you got a GeForce 6200 so while the machine isn't meant to be a sports car, you won't really be utilizing much of its potential. Just something to consider!

Quake 1-2-3, Duke 3D, Command and Conquer Tiberian Sun, Soldier of Fortune, Half-Life, Unreal, Unreal Tournament, the original Tomb Raider, some of my low budget games that I used to play back in the day like "Vietnam Black Ops."

You mean I won't be utilizing much of the 6200s power because of the CPU/MB bottle neck?

OpenMaw wrote on Yesterday, 04:52:

I was trying to ascertain which specific model of board the 566i2 uses, as it's not listed on the Florida TG page here: https:// […]
Show full quote

sunkindly wrote on Yesterday, 04:24:

The 566i2 was a Celeron based machine so it's likely that you'll run into the same roadblock...at the end of the day eMachines are great for childhood nostalgia but aren't so great for the kind of tinkering and upgrading it seems like you're wanting to do. If you were wanting to keep things as is, I'd say go for the 566i2 but since you've already gathered a CPU, the GeForce, and RAM I think it'd be a better investment finding a tower with a board that provides more flexibility.

I was trying to ascertain which specific model of board the 566i2 uses, as it's not listed on the Florida TG page here:
https://www.ascendtech.com/products/emachines … mb3emacflrd1017

Google says its this one, but there is no specific model number "1017" associated with. So i'm assuming it's a minor revision, but essentially the same thing:
https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/trigem-florida-tg

As long as the RAM, and video card will work, which they should as they are era appropriate. The card is a PCI card, and the RAM is a perfect match to the slots and matches the all the numbers for this boards requirements (I even asked the seller directly if he could verify that it will work and he said yes.) As long as those and the PSU will work i'm okay keeping the CPU at 566. It's modest, but this was never meant to be a sports car. I just wanted to play some old games and get away from the internet on an old machine.

PC Hoarder Patrol wrote on 2025-09-23, 21:35:

Which spec new cpu were you trying to run (being better than the celeron 433)? Check cpu pins and board socket for damage. Far as hdd goes you might be better off considering a CF card & adapter over an SSD (remembering that the original hdd was only 4.3 GB)

https://web.archive.org/web/20180108020846id_ … b-4-3-gb/specs/

If it's not too much trouble could you recommend a good CF card and adapter?

Far as I can tell from the eMachines BIOS string (31511.EM.0000.D.0007052014) it's a TriGem Cognac 2.x board... https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/trigem-cognac-2.x ...which may well support the ssd

Also, see https://wiki.preterhuman.net/EMachines_eTower_566i2#

RE: The CF card/adapter route to update the HD.

I was looking at this:
https://www.amazon.com/Ximimark-Compact-Boota … cs%2C145&sr=1-5

I have no idea if it would work, but that would be a nice way to eliminate a ribbon cable out of the machine to just have a card that plugs right into the IDE slot like that. I figure a 64 or 128 gb CF card like this:
https://www.amazon.com/HSANYIUR-CompactFlash- … WxfdGhlbWF0aWM=

Also, an alternate way to plug in the CF would be to use one of the back ports with something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Syba-Connects-3-5-Inch … 145&sr=1-6&th=1

I could use up one of those worthless ISA expansion slots and easily be able to access the CF card by ejecting it out the back this way.

I'd appreciate any direct feedback on what the best course would be for a CF card and adapter for a system like this as i'm shooting in the dark. Both for stability, likelihood it will work, and best bang for the buck.

It was a learning experience going through all of this. I clearly can't trust Google or Grok to give honest answers at all. Even when I feed them as much information as possible.

PC Hoarder Patrol wrote on Yesterday, 05:14:

Far as I can tell from the eMachines BIOS string (31511.EM.0000.D.0007052014) it's a TriGem Cognac 2.x board... https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/trigem-cognac-2.x

Also, see https://wiki.preterhuman.net/EMachines_eTower_566i2#

The attachment 566I2.zip is no longer available

Oh, thank you! That'll help a lot.

OpenMaw wrote on Yesterday, 05:08:

sunkindly wrote on Yesterday, 05:03:

Gotcha, just curious, which games are you wanting to play? Just cause I was thinking about it and even if you're happy keeping the CPU at 566 it's a Celeron with 128kb L2 cache...you got a GeForce 6200 so while the machine isn't meant to be a sports car, you won't really be utilizing much of its potential. Just something to consider!

Quake 1-2-3, Duke 3D, Command and Conquer Tiberian Sun, Soldier of Fortune, Half-Life, Unreal, Unreal Tournament, the original Tomb Raider, some of my low budget games that I used to play back in the day like "Vietnam Black Ops."

You mean I won't be utilizing much of the 6200s power because of the CPU/MB bottle neck?

Duke, Tomb Raider, and C&C will run great on the Celeron. As you get into 1998 and above, that's where it'll start struggling and unnecessarily since you have the 6200. Unless you *want* to run Unreal below 30fps at 640x480 for nostalgia's sake haha. Not trying to steer you away from the eMachine, I just don't want you to end up being disappointed after putting all this effort into it.

sunkindly wrote on Yesterday, 05:34:

OpenMaw wrote on Yesterday, 05:08:

sunkindly wrote on Yesterday, 05:03:

Gotcha, just curious, which games are you wanting to play? Just cause I was thinking about it and even if you're happy keeping the CPU at 566 it's a Celeron with 128kb L2 cache...you got a GeForce 6200 so while the machine isn't meant to be a sports car, you won't really be utilizing much of its potential. Just something to consider!

Quake 1-2-3, Duke 3D, Command and Conquer Tiberian Sun, Soldier of Fortune, Half-Life, Unreal, Unreal Tournament, the original Tomb Raider, some of my low budget games that I used to play back in the day like "Vietnam Black Ops."

You mean I won't be utilizing much of the 6200s power because of the CPU/MB bottle neck?

Duke, Tomb Raider, and C&C will run great on the Celeron. As you get into 1998 and above, that's where it'll start struggling and unnecessarily since you have the 6200. Unless you *want* to run Unreal below 30fps at 640x480 for nostalgia's sake haha. Not trying to steer you away from the eMachine, I just don't want you to end up being disappointed after putting all this effort into it.

No, no I totally appreciate the concern and the feedback. If I was going for a general retro-build you would be 100% right on the money. This is... This is about the stupid never obsolete sticker, and relieving that 25 year vintage nostalgia, because this was my first computer. I used to play Counter-Strike, offline, with bots, on this thing.

RE the CPU, Google says the following, but i'm dubious:
"The best Celeron processor you can install in an eTower 566i2 is a Celeron 766 MHz, based on the Coppermine-128 core. Any higher-speed Celeron with a 100 MHz Front Side Bus (FSB) is incompatible with the system's motherboard, which uses the Intel 810 chipset.
Why a Celeron 766 MHz is the best option
Socket and core compatibility: The eTower 566i2 comes with a 566 MHz Celeron based on the Coppermine-128 core and uses a Socket 370. The Celeron 766 MHz shares the same core and socket type, making it a drop-in replacement.
66 MHz Front Side Bus (FSB): The original Celeron 566 MHz uses a 66 MHz FSB. The Coppermine-128 Celerons from 533 MHz to 766 MHz also use this 66 MHz FSB, which is what the Intel 810 chipset on the motherboard supports.
Voltage compatibility: The Coppermine-128 Celerons run on a compatible voltage of 1.7V (or 1.75V).
Why faster Celerons will not work
100 MHz FSB: While some Socket 370 Celerons were faster, such as the 800 MHz and 900 MHz models, they used a 100 MHz FSB. The Intel 810 chipset in your eTower is limited to a 66 MHz FSB and does not officially support the 100 MHz FSB, making faster Celerons incompatible.
Chipset limitations: Upgrading to a motherboard with the Intel 810E or 810E2 chipset was required to support the 100 MHz FSB. This is not an option for the eTower 566i2, which is limited by its stock hardware. "

If that's true, it does sound like I have a tad bit more room to upgrade, and I can push the RAM up to 512 based on the board's specs shown here:

OpenMaw wrote on Yesterday, 05:46:

If that's true, it does sound like I have a tad bit more room to upgrade, and I can push the RAM up to 512 based on the board's specs shown here:

I tried doing research and reading of my own and I can't really find anything specifically eMachines related as far as dropping a 766 into a 566 even if they're both Coppermine-128 and 66fsb. What Google gave you isn't *wrong* and there's an Overclockers thread of someone running a 766MHz Celeron on a Trigem Cognac board but on an HP machine. What I'm concerned about though is that no BIOS is the same between these OEM manufacturers who like to imprint their own flavor (and limitations) into these PCs and apparently the BIOS will need to support a multipler of 11.5 for the 766MHz to work. Without BIOS update logs or something to indicate more support, I think it's a risk (but worth it if it works). Maybe some more digging will reveal some more definite answers.

OpenMaw wrote on 2025-09-23, 12:04:

Hey guys! […]
Show full quote

Hey guys!

This is my first time posting here.

So I wanted to relieve the glory days of my first personal computer, and I bought a 433i etower off ebay without an HDD, and I also bought some additional pieces that'll contend with once I get the system up and running.

I bought a Kingston SSD and a SATA-TO-IDE.

Right now i'm getting a red light on the adapter, and having tremendous difficulty trying to get it up and running. I took just about everything out of the case, put in a brand new power supply (in case the problem was the old PSU going bad). Made sure everything was seated. Still nothing.

This is the adapter i'm working with:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/256905342709

This is the SSD I have:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/186662042203

I have some new ribbon cables on the way, along with a StarTech.com IDE to SATA HD Adapter:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EOJNGC2?ref=ppx_ … _fed_asin_title

Just in case it's the adapter.

If anyone has experience with this... Knowledge, wisdom, war stories, anything to help a poor soul who is starting to pull his hair out... I'd really appreciate the hand here.

Don't really have anything to add other than enjoy your build and have fun with it. One of my more enjoyable restores (more of a clean-up really) was an eMachine Celeron 400 system (model 400i3) I rescued from a recycling center sitting in a dark corner. Updated the bios to the last & latest which allowed me to use up to 128GB HDDs. Finally sold it due to space constraints and travel, but hey... another one saved from the meat grinder.