Well, I read the M$ links you posted, but they say that what I need is an updated BIOS or a manufacturer provided hardware disk which contains its set of ACPI drivers. Since my BIOS is already the latest, and considering the fact that this company doesn't exist anymore, it would seem that there's nothing more to do... I really should replace the battery on the board, only it's holiday now so I'll have to wait for the shops to open tomorrow. About the USB, I was referring to the onboard ports, not the additional ones (which I don't have by the way). USB is turned on in the BIOS and when connecting a device Windows says it has found new hardware, but nothing else happens. The mouse's optical light doesn't even turn on, so I guess the USB ports are actually dead... For some reason, by default, the board sets the CPU frequency to 600MHz, where in fact it should recognize it as 800MHz. When entering the BIOS I have to set the clock speed to 1066MHz to get the board to run the CPU at 800MHz... Very strange. There's probably something wrong with the internal clock generator or the multiplier or something else that causes this strange behavior. Maybe the BIOS is older then the CPU. I have also now discovered that the HD is dying - I will replace it soon, but this board is really getting on my nerves! Regards, Erez.

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"USB is turned on in the BIOS and when connecting a device Windows says it has found new hardware, but nothing else happens." See the first paragraph response 5 - you must install chipset drivers, assign an IRQ if that's in the bios. Also see response 6. If it doesn't work no big loss. USB 2.0 cards are cheap these days and have 1.1 support as well. Get one with a NEC chipset, or other than a Via chipset, if you can, for greater compatabilty with devices. "The mouse's optical light doesn't even turn on, so I guess the USB ports are actually dead..." Try it by itself, or try some other USB device, or if the mouse is a "combo" one and can also be used in a PS/2 port, try it in the PS/2 port. I have a Logitech "combo" optical mouse that doesn't always work on some computers in USB mode when some other USB devices are plugged in. "For some reason, by default, the board sets the CPU frequency to 600MHz, where in fact it should recognize it as 800MHz." Some bioses auto find the correct fsb speed for the cpu, some default to the lower fsb speed and you must set the higher fsb speed manually. OR the fsb speed may be determined by a mboard jumper. The bios usually finds the correct multiplier automatically, and you may or may not be able to change that in the bios (you can't in any case if it is locked on the cpu) OR you may have to set the multiplier via a jumper on the mboard. Your ram speed often must be the same or faster than the higher fsb speed in order for you to use the higher fsb speed. In your case 6 x 100mhz = 600mhz If your ram supports 133mhz, make sure the ram speed is right in the bios, or a jumper is set right on the mboard, and change the fsb speed to 133mhz, in the bios, or via a jumper on the mboard. 6 x 133(.33)mhz = 800 mhz.

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As you said about the USB ports, it's not critical so I won't waste my time on them - I was going to buy a USB PCI card anyway to get USB 2.0. About the CPU speed, the funny thing is that the result of the FSB speed [times] the multiplier is incorrect. Whatever setting I set, the result is wrong. The BIOS displays the correct result, but at POST and at OS the incorrect speed is shown. I try to set the RAM and FSB speed to 100MHz to get a 1:1 ratio and to keep things at a reasonably stable level, but the result is still wrong. I'll change the HD tomorrow and I'll see next week if I can get a better board. I've really had it... Also, ACPI support is something I'm not willing to live without. Thanks, Erez.

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1. You have no mboard multiplier or fsb jumper settings, so the detection of the cpu is completely dependant on whether your bios version can correctly identify the cpu. 2. Your cpu must be one of the ones the bios can detect properly. One of the three files I pointed to on the mobokive mirror site has a list of supported cpus. 3. Your ram probably must be 133mhz ram. If it is less than that, if your cpu was designed to run at a core speed of 133mhz, if you try setting the speed manually to 133mhz, the bios will probably auto detect your ram won't run that fast and will force the speed back to 100mhz, regardless of your manual settings. In your bios: 4. Load Optimal Settings If you bios has ever been flashed, bios defaults must be loaded after the flash to clear out the old cmos settings and set them to those for the new bios version - if that was not done the settings in the bios cmos (Setup) will probably not work properly. Since you have no way of knowing whether they were loaded or not, go to Load Optimal Settings and either Load Optimal Settings, or if you are sure the ram is 133mhz, Load Best Performance Settings. 5. Advanced Setup Dram Frequency control There appears to be a misprint in the manual and the description is the same for this selection and the next one. If you can set this setting to 133mhz or Dram clock, do that. 6. CPU PNP Setup What does it say when CPU Type is set to Auto? If it's 6X, or whatever, you may not be able to make a manually set multiplier other than 6X, or whatever, stick if the cpu multiplier is locked on the cpu - the bios will auto revert to the locked multiplier setting. If you can select 133mhz manually and your ram is 133mhz, try that, but again, if the cpu has a locked core speed setting, it will not stick - the bios will auto revert to the locked core speed setting, but in that case the multiplier may not be locked. 7. Features Setup - if you have a parallel printer or scanner, set the Parallel Port mode to EPP or ECP/EPP or ECP - usually EPP is fine - ECP requires a DMA channel be available.

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Thanks for your help, but I don't think I'm gonna mess with the BIOS anymore, since I don't have to. I replaced the HD and the computer FINALLY works with no stability problems. Only thing left to do is to replace the battery, because every time I unplug the computer the BIOS resets. I also set the BIOS to APM and to my pleasant surprise the board is able to shut itself down! Before that I set Power Management to "Disabled", so maybe that's why it couldn't shut down by itself. I have two RAM sticks, one 100MHz and the other 133MHz, so I guess that leaves me at 100MHz. The CPU PnP setup menu doesn't offer "Auto" at all. The Multiplier and FSB are set manually and the result is displayed at the top. As for the Features Setup, I've disabled the parallel and serial ports completely. I have no use in them. Let's just pray to God that the two measly PCI slots actually work :-) They're my last hope...

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"When entering the BIOS I have to set the clock speed to 1066MHz to get the board to run the CPU at 800MHz..." "I have two RAM sticks, one 100MHz and the other 133MHz, so I guess that leaves me at 100MHz." 1066 divided by 133 ~= 8 Since you have a 100mhz module, the bios would auto revert to 100mhz fsb. 8 x 100 = 800mhz "...every time I unplug the computer the BIOS resets." If it's the original battery it's probably too weak or dead. Pay attention to it's polarity - usually + is up - if it's in upside down the bios will behave as if it's dead. Some dollar stores have them. Once you have replaced the battery, if you were to remove the AC power to the case and take out the 100mhz ram module, restore AC power, boot the computer. the bios will probably will let the cpu run at 800mhz no problem, but you may have to manually change a setting in CPU PNP. If taking out the 100mhz ram module leaves you with 256mb, XP will still run quite reasonably. Randomly trying another 133mhz ram module may or may not be successful, because the ram module has to be compatible with the mboard chipset. It is unlikely there would be a listing for your mboard model at a ram manufacturer's or distributor's web site to find ram that will work for sure in your mboard, but there are other mboards that use the same chipset you could look up which ram modules work for sure, and they will work in your mboard. If you need help with that, I can explore that further.

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Correction: Both RAM sticks run at 133MHz. The BIOS is now configured as follows: FSB = 133 RAM = 133 Multi. = x8 The resulting CPU speed should be 1066MHz, but it is 800MHz. So I'm guessing there's some sort of an incompatibility issue there, because no matter what I set (even with the lowest values) the result is ALWAYS wrong. But that's OK! I don't want to mess with the settings anymore, since the computer is working properly. Thanks for the tips and all your great help, Erez.

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"The resulting CPU speed should be 1066MHz, but it is 800MHz." If the cpu is locked to 6X (by a physical connection bridge on or within the cpu, or by bios code cpu recognition mandatory settings) that would be auto reverted to by the bios, no matter what one you select manually. It is also possible the bios is auto detecting the cpu will not run at 1066 and is reverting to X6. Good to hear all your ram is 133mhz and the cpu is running at it's rated speed! It would be a good idea to keep a record of your present bios settings so you don't have to do all this fiddling again.

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