(Newbie)What brand motherboard do I have?

[Guest]

Hello, I'm new to this forum and have a simple question to ask. What do I have to do to update my bios? I wasnt sure what brand motherboard it was so I checked on the board itself. It said VIA in white letters on a black chip. So what next? I have Norton utilities installed on my system and it says "Phoenix Technologies 01/19/01" for the BIOS information(i'm not sure what this means but just in case I need to know it)
my system:

1.1ghz Anthlon HP Pavilion 9800
128mb memory
NVIDIA Geforce 2 32mb GTS
Windows ME

I read somewhere that updating the BIOS can help AGP performance. Will this allow me to use 4x AGP? How do I know what it is set on now? Thanks for putting up with another newbie question.

 

[tartarhus]

First of all, if you mess this up you can just as well kiss your board goodbye, so be damn sure before you flash! Second, at boot up record all the information concerning the bios version. Many times this is the best indicator of the board you have, just do a google search on that version and see what you come up with. Compare pictures, features, etc when you find what you believe is your motherboard. YOU CAN NEVER BE TOO OVERCAUTIOUS. Then use the appropriate utility provided by the manufacture of your motherboard. If during a flash, you get a warning that you maybe using the wrong bios, trust it before doubting it, though sometimes it's not always correct. Also, many mobo have a white model number on the board somewhere, OEM's (gateway, dell, compaq) provide their own bios flash utilities. If you have an OEM, use the company's flash setup and bios version, not the retail. Buy all means before flashing, ask questions! Lots of questions! Be sure about everything. Also, make sure you will not loose power during a flash, if you do you can kiss that board goodbye.

-- tartarhus

Only hasbro has the right to a monopoly.

 

[yoda271828]

Have you tried going to the HP site and seeing if they list a BIOS update for your model? I wouldn't expect a new BIOS though since it's only 3 months old. Big companies like HP usually take a long time with BIOS updates if they ever even release one.

 

[uncoando]

A BIOS flash isn't a big deal, even if you muck it up. A second CMOS chip archives the original .bin image and if your flash is corrupt, a simple jumper switch returns it to its nascent state.
Rule of thumb is not to flash if your system is running properly.
SIsoft Sandra will give you all kinds of info on your system. It's shareware available at zdnet.com.


<b><font color=blue>Brainy Sturgeon</b></font color=blue>