Presario 5030 BIOS replacement?

Hi group.

I'm concidering flashing 'up' the BIOS in my Presario 5030 using a non-
compaq one. (YES, I know this is no-no, and immoral etc) But I imagine this
will give me greater control over the PC. However, as you can imagine, I
wonder what motherboard this model has.
What I know: It has an intel 440ex chipset and from what I can tell, an
American Megatrends BIOS chip (I'll get the part number if it's relevant).
It has a PentiumII 300, and two DIMM's. It has two PCI and two ISA slots.
Onboard ATI rage LT pro 2xAGP, onboard ESS 1869(f) sound.

I have read that another 'Presario' had some Gigabyte board, but I can't
find one that resembles this one here. What should I look for? I'm kindof a
newbie when it comes to hardware, any help appreciated.

TIA.

--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

grin that's for sure. Not only is it immoral but in most cases it's
impossible.

A friend of mine recently tried to flash a Presario 5000T (Mitac 6513WU
motherboard) with a Mitac bios and I've never seen a system hosed so
completely in my life. After the flash not even the fan headers worked!
And the damned thing doesn't have a socketed bios chip so he couldn't
even hotflash it. In the dumpster it went.

But if you're a glutton for punishment look through Mitac's line of
motherboards, chances are it's one of those models. They were
Compaq's most frequent OEM.

Rick

"doS" wrote in message ...
Walmart has presario's on sale, you'll need to get a new one...

"Toman" wrote in message
news
Hi group.

I'm concidering flashing 'up' the BIOS in my Presario 5030 using a non-
compaq one. (YES, I know this is no-no, and immoral etc) But I imagine
this
will give me greater control over the PC. However, as you can imagine, I
wonder what motherboard this model has.
What I know: It has an intel 440ex chipset and from what I can tell, an
American Megatrends BIOS chip (I'll get the part number if it's relevant).
It has a PentiumII 300, and two DIMM's. It has two PCI and two ISA slots.
Onboard ATI rage LT pro 2xAGP, onboard ESS 1869(f) sound.

I have read that another 'Presario' had some Gigabyte board, but I can't
find one that resembles this one here. What should I look for? I'm kindof
a
newbie when it comes to hardware, any help appreciated.

TIA.

--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

It might even have a board of Compaq's own design,if it's one of the earlier
Pentium 4 models.
"Rick" wrote in message
...
grin that's for sure. Not only is it immoral but in most cases it's
impossible.

A friend of mine recently tried to flash a Presario 5000T (Mitac 6513WU
motherboard) with a Mitac bios and I've never seen a system hosed so
completely in my life. After the flash not even the fan headers worked!
And the damned thing doesn't have a socketed bios chip so he couldn't
even hotflash it. In the dumpster it went.

But if you're a glutton for punishment look through Mitac's line of
motherboards, chances are it's one of those models. They were
Compaq's most frequent OEM.

Rick

"doS" wrote in message
...
Walmart has presario's on sale, you'll need to get a new one...

"Toman" wrote in message
news
Hi group.

I'm concidering flashing 'up' the BIOS in my Presario 5030 using a
non-
compaq one. (YES, I know this is no-no, and immoral etc) But I imagine
this
will give me greater control over the PC. However, as you can imagine,
I
wonder what motherboard this model has.
What I know: It has an intel 440ex chipset and from what I can tell,
an
American Megatrends BIOS chip (I'll get the part number if it's
relevant).
It has a PentiumII 300, and two DIMM's. It has two PCI and two ISA
slots.
Onboard ATI rage LT pro 2xAGP, onboard ESS 1869(f) sound.

I have read that another 'Presario' had some Gigabyte board, but I
can't
find one that resembles this one here. What should I look for? I'm
kindof
a
newbie when it comes to hardware, any help appreciated.

TIA.

--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client:
http://www.opera.com/m2/

Just because someone like Mitac MADE it, doesn't mean COMPAQ didn't DESIGN
it. In other words, it's not a standard Mitac.

Tom
"Toman" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 18 Aug 2003 02:53:04 GMT, MICHAEL wrote:

It might even have a board of Compaq's own design,if it's one of the
earlier
Pentium 4 models.

Did you read the post?

It says 'Typhoon' on the back, and most (light blue) compaq labels on it
says TPN-(some numbers). Who made boards named typhoon? Is typhoon a
manufacturer?

How on earth can I get info on a mitac board from 1998, btw?

"Rick" wrote in message
...
grin that's for sure. Not only is it immoral but in most cases it's
impossible.

A friend of mine recently tried to flash a Presario 5000T (Mitac 6513WU
motherboard) with a Mitac bios and I've never seen a system hosed so
completely in my life. After the flash not even the fan headers
worked!
And the damned thing doesn't have a socketed bios chip so he couldn't
even hotflash it. In the dumpster it went.

But if you're a glutton for punishment look through Mitac's line of
motherboards, chances are it's one of those models. They were
Compaq's most frequent OEM.
"doS" wrote in message
...
Walmart has presario's on sale, you'll need to get a new one...
"Toman" wrote in message
news Hi group.

I'm concidering flashing 'up' the BIOS in my Presario 5030 using a
non-
compaq one. (YES, I know this is no-no, and immoral etc) But I
imagine
this
will give me greater control over the PC. However, as you can
imagine,
I
wonder what motherboard this model has.
What I know: It has an intel 440ex chipset and from what I can
tell,
an
American Megatrends BIOS chip (I'll get the part number if it's
relevant).
It has a PentiumII 300, and two DIMM's. It has two PCI and two ISA
slots.
Onboard ATI rage LT pro 2xAGP, onboard ESS 1869(f) sound.

I have read that another 'Presario' had some Gigabyte board, but I
can't
find one that resembles this one here. What should I look for? I'm
kindof
a
newbie when it comes to hardware, any help appreciated.


--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

Well, perhaps that is true for Compaq, but not for Dell. The Dell boards are
very Dell specific and outsourced to multiple manufacturers -- all under
VERY strict non-disclosure, I am sure.

Tom
"Rick" wrote in message
...
While possible, it's not likely. A manufacturer such as Compaq
would be in no big rush to give design secrets away to a much
smaller competitor. And the whole point of OEM-ing a board
is to save costs, much of which are design costs.

BUT, vendor-specific changes are common, so it's very possible
a Compaq-branded board will be different to one degree or
another than the OEM original.

Rick

"Tom Scales" wrote in message
...
Just because someone like Mitac MADE it, doesn't mean COMPAQ didn't
DESIGN
it. In other words, it's not a standard Mitac.

Tom
"Toman" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 18 Aug 2003 02:53:04 GMT, MICHAEL
wrote:

It might even have a board of Compaq's own design,if it's one of the
earlier
Pentium 4 models.

Did you read the post?

It says 'Typhoon' on the back, and most (light blue) compaq labels on
it
says TPN-(some numbers). Who made boards named typhoon? Is typhoon a
manufacturer?

How on earth can I get info on a mitac board from 1998, btw?

"Rick" wrote in message
...
grin that's for sure. Not only is it immoral but in most cases
it's
impossible.

A friend of mine recently tried to flash a Presario 5000T (Mitac
6513WU
motherboard) with a Mitac bios and I've never seen a system hosed
so
completely in my life. After the flash not even the fan headers
worked!
And the damned thing doesn't have a socketed bios chip so he
couldn't
even hotflash it. In the dumpster it went.

But if you're a glutton for punishment look through Mitac's line of
motherboards, chances are it's one of those models. They were
Compaq's most frequent OEM.
"doS" wrote in message
...
Walmart has presario's on sale, you'll need to get a new one...
"Toman" wrote in message
news Hi group.

I'm concidering flashing 'up' the BIOS in my Presario 5030
using a
non-
compaq one. (YES, I know this is no-no, and immoral etc) But I
imagine
this
will give me greater control over the PC. However, as you can
imagine,
I
wonder what motherboard this model has.
What I know: It has an intel 440ex chipset and from what I can
tell,
an
American Megatrends BIOS chip (I'll get the part number if it's
relevant).
It has a PentiumII 300, and two DIMM's. It has two PCI and two
ISA
slots.
Onboard ATI rage LT pro 2xAGP, onboard ESS 1869(f) sound.

I have read that another 'Presario' had some Gigabyte board,
but I
can't
find one that resembles this one here. What should I look for?
I'm
kindof
a
newbie when it comes to hardware, any help appreciated.


--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client:
http://www.opera.com/m2/

On Mon, 18 Aug 2003 02:53:04 GMT, MICHAEL wrote:

It might even have a board of Compaq's own design,if it's one of the
earlier
Pentium 4 models.

Did you read the post?

It says 'Typhoon' on the back, and most (light blue) compaq labels on it
says TPN-(some numbers). Who made boards named typhoon? Is typhoon a
manufacturer?

How on earth can I get info on a mitac board from 1998, btw?

"Rick" wrote in message
...
grin that's for sure. Not only is it immoral but in most cases it's
impossible.

A friend of mine recently tried to flash a Presario 5000T (Mitac 6513WU
motherboard) with a Mitac bios and I've never seen a system hosed so
completely in my life. After the flash not even the fan headers worked!
And the damned thing doesn't have a socketed bios chip so he couldn't
even hotflash it. In the dumpster it went.

But if you're a glutton for punishment look through Mitac's line of
motherboards, chances are it's one of those models. They were
Compaq's most frequent OEM.
"doS" wrote in message
...
Walmart has presario's on sale, you'll need to get a new one...
"Toman" wrote in message
news Hi group.

I'm concidering flashing 'up' the BIOS in my Presario 5030 using a
non-
compaq one. (YES, I know this is no-no, and immoral etc) But I
imagine
this
will give me greater control over the PC. However, as you can
imagine,
I
wonder what motherboard this model has.
What I know: It has an intel 440ex chipset and from what I can tell,
an
American Megatrends BIOS chip (I'll get the part number if it's
relevant).
It has a PentiumII 300, and two DIMM's. It has two PCI and two ISA
slots.
Onboard ATI rage LT pro 2xAGP, onboard ESS 1869(f) sound.

I have read that another 'Presario' had some Gigabyte board, but I
can't
find one that resembles this one here. What should I look for? I'm
kindof
a
newbie when it comes to hardware, any help appreciated.


--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

"Toman" wrote in message news
It says 'Typhoon' on the back, and most (light blue) compaq labels on it
says TPN-(some numbers). Who made boards named typhoon? Is typhoon a
manufacturer?

The only 'Typhoon' I'm aware of was made by Tyan (S1452), but it's
definitely not that model. The S1452 was an EISA system.

How on earth can I get info on a mitac board from 1998, btw?

http://www.mitacservice.com/visitor/....asp?SelLang=1

Good luck. Mitac won't be winning any awards for website design.

Rick

"Rick" wrote in message
...
grin that's for sure. Not only is it immoral but in most cases it's
impossible.

A friend of mine recently tried to flash a Presario 5000T (Mitac 6513WU
motherboard) with a Mitac bios and I've never seen a system hosed so
completely in my life. After the flash not even the fan headers worked!
And the damned thing doesn't have a socketed bios chip so he couldn't
even hotflash it. In the dumpster it went.

But if you're a glutton for punishment look through Mitac's line of
motherboards, chances are it's one of those models. They were
Compaq's most frequent OEM.
"doS" wrote in message
...
Walmart has presario's on sale, you'll need to get a new one...
"Toman" wrote in message
news Hi group.

I'm concidering flashing 'up' the BIOS in my Presario 5030 using a
non-
compaq one. (YES, I know this is no-no, and immoral etc) But I
imagine
this
will give me greater control over the PC. However, as you can
imagine,
I
wonder what motherboard this model has.
What I know: It has an intel 440ex chipset and from what I can tell,
an
American Megatrends BIOS chip (I'll get the part number if it's
relevant).
It has a PentiumII 300, and two DIMM's. It has two PCI and two ISA
slots.
Onboard ATI rage LT pro 2xAGP, onboard ESS 1869(f) sound.

I have read that another 'Presario' had some Gigabyte board, but I
can't
find one that resembles this one here. What should I look for? I'm
kindof
a
newbie when it comes to hardware, any help appreciated.


--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

While possible, it's not likely. A manufacturer such as Compaq
would be in no big rush to give design secrets away to a much
smaller competitor. And the whole point of OEM-ing a board
is to save costs, much of which are design costs.

BUT, vendor-specific changes are common, so it's very possible
a Compaq-branded board will be different to one degree or
another than the OEM original.

Rick

"Tom Scales" wrote in message ...
Just because someone like Mitac MADE it, doesn't mean COMPAQ didn't DESIGN
it. In other words, it's not a standard Mitac.

Tom
"Toman" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 18 Aug 2003 02:53:04 GMT, MICHAEL wrote:

It might even have a board of Compaq's own design,if it's one of the
earlier
Pentium 4 models.

Did you read the post?

It says 'Typhoon' on the back, and most (light blue) compaq labels on it
says TPN-(some numbers). Who made boards named typhoon? Is typhoon a
manufacturer?

How on earth can I get info on a mitac board from 1998, btw?

"Rick" wrote in message
...
grin that's for sure. Not only is it immoral but in most cases it's
impossible.

A friend of mine recently tried to flash a Presario 5000T (Mitac 6513WU
motherboard) with a Mitac bios and I've never seen a system hosed so
completely in my life. After the flash not even the fan headers
worked!
And the damned thing doesn't have a socketed bios chip so he couldn't
even hotflash it. In the dumpster it went.

But if you're a glutton for punishment look through Mitac's line of
motherboards, chances are it's one of those models. They were
Compaq's most frequent OEM.
"doS" wrote in message
...
Walmart has presario's on sale, you'll need to get a new one...
"Toman" wrote in message
news Hi group.

I'm concidering flashing 'up' the BIOS in my Presario 5030 using a
non-
compaq one. (YES, I know this is no-no, and immoral etc) But I
imagine
this
will give me greater control over the PC. However, as you can
imagine,
I
wonder what motherboard this model has.
What I know: It has an intel 440ex chipset and from what I can
tell,
an
American Megatrends BIOS chip (I'll get the part number if it's
relevant).
It has a PentiumII 300, and two DIMM's. It has two PCI and two ISA
slots.
Onboard ATI rage LT pro 2xAGP, onboard ESS 1869(f) sound.

I have read that another 'Presario' had some Gigabyte board, but I
can't
find one that resembles this one here. What should I look for? I'm
kindof
a
newbie when it comes to hardware, any help appreciated.


--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

On Mon, 18 Aug 2003 16:25:36 -0700, Rick wrote:

While possible, it's not likely. A manufacturer such as Compaq
would be in no big rush to give design secrets away to a much
smaller competitor. And the whole point of OEM-ing a board
is to save costs, much of which are design costs.

BUT, vendor-specific changes are common, so it's very possible
a Compaq-branded board will be different to one degree or
another than the OEM original.

At least I know of one oddity about it: In the manual it says that one of
the PCI slots 'have some special features'. In this slot the LT Winmodem
(The print is labelled compaq v34) is situated.

The whole reason I asked about this was that no other OS than win98(and
possibly win95) work with this modem(at least not on this PC). win2k and
winXP says it's not getting the required resources from the firmware. From
what I read this is because of differences in how W2k+ and Win98 handle
bios'es.(?) This modem(and LPT1) both have CPQBIOS adresses.
I thought perhaps getting the 'original' BIOS could solve this.

"Tom Scales" wrote in message
...
Just because someone like Mitac MADE it, doesn't mean COMPAQ didn't
DESIGN
it. In other words, it's not a standard Mitac.

--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

On Mon, 18 Aug 2003 15:50:11 -0700, Rick wrote:

"Toman" wrote in message
news
It says 'Typhoon' on the back, and most (light blue) compaq labels on it
says TPN-(some numbers). Who made boards named typhoon? Is typhoon a
manufacturer?

The only 'Typhoon' I'm aware of was made by Tyan (S1452), but it's
definitely not that model. The S1452 was an EISA system.

How on earth can I get info on a mitac board from 1998, btw?

http://www.mitacservice.com/visitor/....asp?SelLang=1

Good luck. Mitac won't be winning any awards for website design.

Thanks, that link is purple here
I spent some one hr before I gave up, the site seem to be aiming at people
who know *exactly* what they're looking for.

--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/