From: Digest To: "OS/2GenAu Digest" Date: Tue, 7 Oct 2008 00:00:40 EST-10EDT,10,1,0,7200,4,1,0,7200,3600 Subject: [os2genau_digest] No. 1720 Reply-To: X-List-Unsubscribe: www.os2site.com/list/ ************************************************** Monday 06 October 2008 Number 1720 ************************************************** Subjects for today 1 Re: On board floppy controller failure on ASUS M2V-TVM : Ed Durrant 2 Re: On board floppy controller failure on ASUS M2V-TVM : Ed Durrant 3 Re: On board floppy controller failure on ASUS M2V-TVM : Alan Duval 4 motherboards : Andrew MacIntyre **= Email 1 ==========================** Date: Mon, 06 Oct 2008 07:32:53 +1000 From: Ed Durrant Subject: Re: On board floppy controller failure on ASUS M2V-TVM Mike O'Connor wrote: > Ed Durrant wrote: >> How about >> >> ASUS M2N-MX-SE-PLUS >> >> A$65.95 at http://www.shoppingsquare dot com dot au/p_3526__ASUS_M2NMXSEPLUS >> and until Monday only A$5 post and handling. >> >> But any M2 board from ASUS is now old - They are mainly into M3A >> series now (which supports the 3 and 4 core AMD Phenom processors). >> >> *Specifications:* >> >> Model >> Brand ASUS >> Model M2N-MX SE Plus >> Supported CPU >> CPU Socket Type AM2+/AM2 >> CPU Type Athlon 64 X2 / Athlon 64 FX / Athlon 64 / Sempron >> FSB 1000MHz Hyper Transport (2000 MT/s) >> Chipsets >> North Bridge NVIDIA GeForce 6100 >> South Bridge NVIDIA nForce 430 >> Memory >> Number of Memory Slots 2×240pin >> Memory Standard DDR2 1066 >> Maximum Memory Supported 4GB >> Dual Channel Supported Yes >> Expansion Slots >> PCI Express x16 1 >> PCI Slots 2 >> Storage Devices >> PATA 1 x ATA100 2 Dev. Max >> SATA 3Gb/s 2 >> SATA RAID 0/1 >> Onboard Video >> Onboard Video Chipset NVIDIA GeForce 6100 >> Onboard Audio >> Audio Chipset Realtek ALC662 >> Audio Channels 6 Channels >> Onboard LAN >> Max LAN Speed 10/100Mbps >> Rear Panel Ports >> PS/2 2 >> COM 1 >> LPT 1 >> Video Ports D-Sub >> USB 4 x USB 2.0 >> Audio Ports 3 Ports >> Onboard USB >> Onboard USB 2 x connector supports 4 x USB 2.0 ports >> Physical Spec >> Form Factor Micro ATX >> Dimensions 9.6" x 7.6" >> Features >> Power Pin 24 Pin >> Packaging >> Package Contents M2N-MX SE Plus >> Driver Disk >> User Manual >> Rear I/O Panel Shield >> IDE/PATA Cable >> FDD Cable >> SATA Cable >> 4-pin to SATA Power Cable >> Software Disk >> >> Cheers/2 >> >> Ed. > Hi Ed, Nicholas, > > Ed, you might remember I spent a lot of time chasing all over this > continent trying to get myself an Asus M2V-TVM like yours, without > *any* success - after mistakenly buying ane of the above M2N-MX SE > boards - it's a "popular Windoze" motherboard, IMO useless for eCS - > virtually all the onboard gear - video+sound+LAN *didn't* work with > eCS. I was able to eventually source from Asus (AU) in Brisbane two > (one for my friend in Brisbane who picked them up) M2V-MX motherboards > on which_ everything_ worked out of the box with eCSV2.0RC2 except the > sound (until I updated Uniaud to 1.1.4RC5). I don't have any fancy > speaker system here - just plain stereo, so I'm assuming it works in > 4/6/8 channel too! > > I have 2 x 1GB DDR2-800, using 256MB as Video RAM - so have 1792MB > available at BIOS. > Haven't gotten around to setting up SMP on AM2 4800+ dual core - needs > a bit of switch fiddling. > > Relevant details of working Uniaud as just sent from that system: > > (C) Copyright IBM Corporation 1993-2001 > Signature: at #Netlabs:1.1# at ##1## 17 Feb 2008 21:03:04 > OBIWAN ::::4:: > RC5 at at Universal Audio Driver for OS/2 and eComStation (KEE) > Vendor: Netlabs > Revision: 1.01 > Date/Time: 17 Feb 2008 21:03:04 > Build Machine: OBIWAN > FixPak Version: RC5 > File Version: 1.1.4 > Description: Universal Audio Driver for OS/2 and eComStation (KEE) > > [1792MB USABLE RAM D:\MMOS2]bldlevel uniaud16.sys > Build Level Display Facility Version 6.12.675 Sep 25 2001 > (C) Copyright IBM Corporation 1993-2001 > Signature: at #Netlabs:1.1# at ##1## 17 Feb 2008 21:41:16 > OBIWAN ::::4:: > RC5 at at Universal Audio MMPM/2 Driver for eComStation > Vendor: Netlabs > Revision: 1.01 > Date/Time: 17 Feb 2008 21:41:16 > Build Machine: OBIWAN > FixPak Version: RC5 > File Version: 1.1.4 > Description: Universal Audio MMPM/2 Driver for eComStation > > [1792MB USABLE RAM D:\MMOS2] > > > Regards, > Mike > For me, I think I will start looking at an M3 board (if I stay with ASUS), the M2 boards are old now and should I find one that works, other s most likely wont be able to find stock. I also think it's only the M3A boards that have expressgate on them. - Something else I'd like to try out. Cheers/2 Ed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **= Email 2 ==========================** Date: Mon, 06 Oct 2008 07:33:58 +1000 From: Ed Durrant Subject: Re: On board floppy controller failure on ASUS M2V-TVM Alan Duval wrote: > Nicholas Lysaght wrote: >> Hi Ed. >> >> You must be really good at reading minds. :-) >> >> I was wandering around the usual computer haunts, trying to keep myself >> updated in case the M2N-TVM gave up for some reason. Well, it looks like >> that may happen to me too. >> >> It appears that the closest thing our local shop (Austin Computers) >> have to >> the TVM, is the M2N-MX, but I cannot find any specs on their website >> about >> what LAN or Soundcard chipsets it uses. It seems to have the 2+1 PCI >> Slots >> though, as well as the PS2 inputs for keyboard and mouse. >> >> Think I might stretch the net a bit further now. >> >> Regards >> >> NICK >> >> On Thu, Apr 10, 2008 at 2:58 PM, Ed Durrant >> wrote: >> >> >>> Hi, >>> >>> It looks like I may have to move to a new motherboard sooner than I >>> thought ! When I boot the system, I get an error "Floppy Controller >>> failure >>> Press F1 to continue" and (of course the floppy drive does not work) >>> - yes I >>> do need the floppy drive from time to time! >>> >>> I've checked the usual culprits,checked cable seating and replaced >>> it with >>> a known good cable. Replaced the floppy drive itself with a known good >>> drive. >>> >>> I've cleared the CMOS to check this wasn't a corrupted CMOS memory >>> issue - >>> no change. >>> >>> I have also back-leveled the BIOS as that was a recent change to the >>> system. >>> >>> All of the above has not helped. >>> >>> I have one free PCI slot in the system, but I cannot find anyone >>> advertising a PCI floppy disk controller, I suspect if I did find >>> one, it >>> would cost more than the motherboard in any case! >>> >>> The board is (of course) out of warrenty and I can't think any company >>> would repair a faulty on board floppy disk controller any more. >>> >>> So I'll be searching to see what I can find, that is fairly current >>> and can >>> take the components from this board. I could simply buy the same >>> board again >>> but that's not a challenge! >>> >>> Cheers/2 >>> >>> Ed. >>> > As I mentioned before, you can get an M2N-TVM motherboard from USA. > Go to the following URL: > > http://cgi.ebay dot com/ASUS-M2V-TVM-SOCKET-AM2-Micro-ATX-Motherboard-New_W0QQitemZ350096746941QQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116 > > > I bought mine from them and have purchased another just in case. > > I wouldn't advise the ASUS M3A as I purchased on and haven't been > able to get ACPI and SMP working on it nor will it recognize the > onboard sound and I had to get a special card to attach my parallel > port printer. > > Regards, > > Alan Duval Hmm, obviously still some work to be done on the M3A boards as far as eCS is concerned. Cheers/2 Ed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **= Email 3 ==========================** Date: Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:34:50 +1100 From: Alan Duval Subject: Re: On board floppy controller failure on ASUS M2V-TVM Ed Durrant wrote: > Alan Duval wrote: >> Nicholas Lysaght wrote: >>> Hi Ed. >>> >>> You must be really good at reading minds. :-) >>> >>> I was wandering around the usual computer haunts, trying to keep myself >>> updated in case the M2N-TVM gave up for some reason. Well, it looks >>> like >>> that may happen to me too. >>> >>> It appears that the closest thing our local shop (Austin Computers) >>> have to >>> the TVM, is the M2N-MX, but I cannot find any specs on their website >>> about >>> what LAN or Soundcard chipsets it uses. It seems to have the 2+1 PCI >>> Slots >>> though, as well as the PS2 inputs for keyboard and mouse. >>> >>> Think I might stretch the net a bit further now. >>> >>> Regards >>> >>> NICK >>> >>> On Thu, Apr 10, 2008 at 2:58 PM, Ed Durrant >>> wrote: >>> >>> >>>> Hi, >>>> >>>> It looks like I may have to move to a new motherboard sooner than I >>>> thought ! When I boot the system, I get an error "Floppy Controller >>>> failure >>>> Press F1 to continue" and (of course the floppy drive does not >>>> work) - yes I >>>> do need the floppy drive from time to time! >>>> >>>> I've checked the usual culprits,checked cable seating and replaced >>>> it with >>>> a known good cable. Replaced the floppy drive itself with a known good >>>> drive. >>>> >>>> I've cleared the CMOS to check this wasn't a corrupted CMOS memory >>>> issue - >>>> no change. >>>> >>>> I have also back-leveled the BIOS as that was a recent change to the >>>> system. >>>> >>>> All of the above has not helped. >>>> >>>> I have one free PCI slot in the system, but I cannot find anyone >>>> advertising a PCI floppy disk controller, I suspect if I did find >>>> one, it >>>> would cost more than the motherboard in any case! >>>> >>>> The board is (of course) out of warrenty and I can't think any company >>>> would repair a faulty on board floppy disk controller any more. >>>> >>>> So I'll be searching to see what I can find, that is fairly current >>>> and can >>>> take the components from this board. I could simply buy the same >>>> board again >>>> but that's not a challenge! >>>> >>>> Cheers/2 >>>> >>>> Ed. >>>> >> As I mentioned before, you can get an M2N-TVM motherboard from USA. >> Go to the following URL: >> >> http://cgi.ebay dot com/ASUS-M2V-TVM-SOCKET-AM2-Micro-ATX-Motherboard-New_W0QQitemZ350096746941QQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116 >> >> >> I bought mine from them and have purchased another just in case. >> >> I wouldn't advise the ASUS M3A as I purchased on and haven't been >> able to get ACPI and SMP working on it nor will it recognize the >> onboard sound and I had to get a special card to attach my parallel >> port printer. >> >> Regards, >> >> Alan Duval > > Hmm, obviously still some work to be done on the M3A boards as far as > eCS is concerned. > > Cheers/2 > > Ed. It seems to me that it's better at this stage to buy motherboards with intel processors as ones with AMD processors seem to have many more problems. I haven't tried the latest versions of ACPI so they may work but my ASUS M3A box is sitting doing nothing as I can't devote the time to try to get SMP working. Nor have I the inclination to buy sound cards in the hope they will work. I think the lack of a parallel port is stupid. Regards, Alan ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **= Email 4 ==========================** Date: Mon, 06 Oct 2008 19:41:38 +1100 From: Andrew MacIntyre Subject: motherboards For those looking for a motherboard and prepared to settle for a system with only modest CPU horsepower, one of these might be useful: http://cgi.ebay dot com dot au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110294571578 I have one (not purchased from the above source) running eCS 1.1, with an SiS305 PCI graphics card. The LAN works fine, though I got the drivers from somewhere other than the eCS installation. The audio might work too, but I never tried to get it running. An indication of performance: Python's pystone CPU benchmark is about 17k on this system, compared to the ~36k I get on my Athlon XP 2500+ system. The only complaint I have with it is that the CPU fan is crap (went noisy after relatively little runtime), but I've replaced it with a better quality one. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Andrew I MacIntyre "These thoughts are mine alone..." E-mail: andymac at bullseye.apana dot org dot au (pref) | Snail: PO Box 370 andymac at pcug dot org dot au (alt) | Belconnen ACT 2616 Web: http://www.andymac dot org/ | Australia ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------