1237a56efd5b
tech



Hello Jim - 

CA>> How do we determine what 'chipset' we have, assuming we
CA>> get this stuff used with no schematics etc. to go by? Are
CA>> there markings on the chips themselves, a utility that
CA>> will report this information, or ??? 

JH> I see RJT has already written about Intel FX and VX
JH> chipsets - markings on those chips are usually painted
JH> white. 

If Roy did, I missed it or am having memory leaks here. 

JH> The HX and TX chipsets are much harder to read - small
JH> letters just engraved into top of the black material of the
JH> top of the chip. Same with the Intel chipsets for Celeron,
JH> PII and PIII boards - very hard to read, and even with a
JH> bare board, I have to use a mag glass and hold the board at
JH> just the right angle in the light in order to read them. 

With my eyesight I think I can rule out reading those then. 

JH> For a board which gets video but won't boot, there is
JH> usually a clue in the "Bios String" which appears onscreen
JH> during POST. There is info on reading those in websites
JH> like WimsBIOS page. I hardly ever use that method. 

JH> For a board which will boot, the freeware utility
JH> CTBIOS.EXE will report back on the chipset. For example, it
JH> tells me that this machine I'm using now has an ALADDIN5
JH> chipset. That's the utility I use the most for
JH> "unidentified" mainboards, since it usually will tell who
JH> made the board, and often even suggests a manufacturer's
JH> URL to go to for starting to look up manuals, jumper info,
JH> drivers and etc. 

Sounds fun. I already have CTBIOS.EXE but didn't notice the
info on chipsets. 

>
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>      o/      Charles_Angelich  - DOS Ghost       \o       ,
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