Trying to power up a Megatouch motherboard

[gio_aus]

So if one were to take a hard drive and change the HWID to "MERIT", then it would work?

[ed12]

well i am a bit lost for advice here..
i would take the key #,and find matching harddrive with the o/s on it
and see if it fix's it

ed

[lilshawn]

So if one were to take a hard drive and change the HWID to "MERIT", then it would work?

well, yes and no.

it not exactly like just taking some firmware and dumping it on there (since every drive is different). there is a lot more going on there. but in a nutshell, yes. the tools and software are not exactly available to the average Joe. very few places have access to it... IE: data recovery and the manufacturer.

start.racist{statement}

This is (basically) to keep the Chinese from buying cheap hard drives, editing them to show up as more expensive larger capacity drives from better manufacturers.

IE:

buy 80gb factory refurb HDD for 5 bucks each.

edit firmware with Western Digital branding and 1tb capacity

sell on ebay as brand new for $120 and you think your getting an awesome deal.

[mahkeymike]

So if one were to take a hard drive and change the HWID to "MERIT", then it would work?

A normal firmware upgrade does not contain the id of the hard drive. Theres a chip on the hard drive controller that contains it. That chip needs to be connected to a programmer and dumped, edited, and reflashed. There may be software out there for specific drives to do this, but i have not researched doing this. For me it would be much easier to patch the software to not look for that special "merit" id.

[gio_aus]

does anyone reckon this kernal panic error could be down to a failure on the motherboard? Is there some sort of motherboard repair software I can try to fix this?

[mahkeymike]

does anyone reckon this kernal panic error could be down to a failure on the motherboard? Is there some sort of motherboard repair software I can try to fix this?

No. That loading linux screen means its booting off the hard drive. I suggest you download an old linux live cd and run it off a cd/dvd drive. Then you will know its not the mobo.

[gio_aus]

mike know anywhere I can dl it? I'm not very familiar with linux

[mahkeymike]

mike know anywhere I can dl it? I'm not very familiar with linux

I would use Wary puppy linux. Its better for really old computer hardware. Just download and burn the ISO to CD.
http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/wary-5.5/wary-5.5.iso

[gio_aus]

tried to load wary puppy linux and it halted on the screen attached. Any other suggestions?

[ed12]

ok i am going on a limb here
did u load ths to a normal ide drive ?
or are u loading it to the flash ?

ed

[gio_aus]

normal IDE drive in primary, and the cdrom in secondary

[ed12]

ok i want u to try it this way
burn to iso which u did  correct ?
if so then
write to hard drive  OUT OF THE MERIT BOX
so u are placing a linuix drive in the box >OLNY<
go to bios make sure the hd is #1
then place the new harddrive with linuix in..
it should boot to linuix..if this is confusioning to u ?
then snag a windows xp drive any drive with the full os on it
98 is better but xp will get u there >as long as it boot's<
and put it in the merit box >ide<
u should get windows up..
it will >xp< error on u >normal as it will want a wack of driver's<
but it is the acid test,to tell u the board is working
thus your board test's are over

ed

[gio_aus]

i tried the windows method, no luck. Windows XP would crash and reboot when it was loading disk.sys, I also tried to install from scratch and the furthest I got was loading windows setup files. I tried another old drive which I think had Windows 98 from it, but that wouldn't load either.

[mahkeymike]

I am not sure the problem but the fact that you got as far as you have leads me to think this is not a mobo problem. Old hardware does not play nice with newer hardware. Good example is I have a i810 chipset mobo that will not boot off a CF card with a CF to IDE adapter but boots fine off a old IDE hard drive. I have another i810 chipset mobo that boots off the CF card with no problem. You are probably having hardware conflicts somewhere. I would make sure you have nothing but a cd drive connected to the primary IDE and try loading the wary linux cd again with just a keyboard. It might be a good idea to try another linux live cd version aswell.

[gio_aus]

mike u got a link for another linux live cd version?

[gio_aus]

mike tried connecting just a cdrom & keyboard and loading linux, still getting the same screen. Just a thought, but what are the chances of the IDE ports/controller on the motherboard being damaged and causing this issue?

[mahkeymike]

Did some digging, and another possible cause could be bad ram. I would try removing, and reseating the ram. If you have any spare ram, try swapping it out aswell. Its worth a try atleast. I would also try to get into the bios and reset to default settings.

[gio_aus]

yeah I tried that but didn't have any luck either. I also ran memtest86+ and no errors came up. I'm running a 64mb stick, would that be an issue at all?

[mahkeymike]

64mb should be more then enough for maxx software, and that wary linux cd. Im pretty sure it can run on even as low as 4mb. Im thinking you should try the process of elimination. Try one stick at a time, try swapping as many as you have. One at a time. If none of them get past this issue, then I honestly dont know besides CMOS settings, or an issue with the cd drive your using. For what its worth, i have had a cdrom drive not load a force install disc. It goes back yo what i was saying about old hardware not playing nice with newer hardware.

[ed12]

64 is more then enough for maxx..
u still did not answer my question from last night.? or i missed the answer,
are u trying this on a hardrive or the flash/ssd drive ?
as we want the flash out of the box and a normal ide drive hooked up..
then u will go to bios
first boot cdrom
second hard drive
third disabled

and see if it will load over to the hd..
if it dose then,once done,shut down reboot go to bios
disable cdrom,so it see's the hd olny
and see if it boot's

ed

[gio_aus]

ed I've got a 8GB WD IDE connected to the Primary IDE and a LG DVD Multi IDE connected to the Secondary IDE. Under Boot Options theres Removable Device, ATAPI CD-Rom, Hard Drive & Network Boot. I cannot set any to disabled just order them from 1 to 4

[ed12]

8gig is a good range..bios can handle that with room..

u should beable to high light your boot order..

also once the linux is loaded
just unhook the cdrom from the ide port and or unhook its power
the bios will skip it.

all we are looking for is for u to get by the kernel kill
which should allow u to get to a set of other errors..but that is ok..
atleast we got by the kernel kill

there is how ever another test that will tell u if the mobo is working
remove the raiser card
plug in a keyboard/mouse
remove cdrom and hard drive
boot the board bare bones
if it come back and tell's u disk boot failure,insert system disk
its a good bet the mobo is ok..
u then try a test i do
which is to keep the raiser out
and run a smal hd with winxp on it
it should boot with the ram u have
if it dose but bitchs?,no worrie's u are olny do a proff that the port's are indeed working
then u work backward's
ie riser card with no key so it is dumb
but the same harddrive in
this tell's u the riser is working
next is to insert key
windows will not even see it..same test as above but tell's u key is ok
then u have perty much put it down to the os on the ssd/flash..
wish u had posted me the key# as i can tell u if it is canada/uk/usa sw u are running
if canada i have all maxx disk's..for usa i have 0 disks..same with uk

ed

[gio_aus]

I'm currently just running a motherboard with a keyboard, cdrom and hard drive. this kernal error comes up with or without the riser and merit i/o board. Without the hard drive and cdrom plugged in i get "Operating System Not Found". I tried hooking up a hard drive which I think had Win 98 on it, but came up with the Hardware Configuration error and wouldn't load.

[ed12]

oh lord thk-u
man now we can get to it

>I'm currently just running a motherboard with a keyboard, cdrom and hard drive. this kernal error comes up with or without the riser and merit i/o board. Without the hard drive and cdrom plugged in i get "Operating System Not Found". I tried hooking up a hard drive which I think had Win 98 on it, but came up with the Hardware Configuration error and wouldn't load.<

now what we do,follow along please
i want to know a few thing's

remove the cdrom and hd
keep key board hooked up
and reboot the unit >unplug the power< plug back in
tell me what the first screen say's to u..very first screen..

ed

[gio_aus]

Sorry bit blurry

Bios 10.83 27 November 1998
Phoenix BIOS 4.0 Release 6.0

[ed12]

ok that proves your board is running..
now what i want u to do
is follow the on screen to get it to the bios >setup menu<,
u may need to rember what key to hit.?
then power unit off and keep hitting that key until u get the setup menu..
btw the esc key takes u to the boot order screen as i spoke about..but leave that for now,
as i am looking for a few more answer's here

ed

[gio_aus]

ok i got bad news and good news. the bad news is that King Spec drive blew up and also destroyed the motherboard. CPU, ram and power supply are all fine coz they work on another board. The monitor light just keeps flashing and the screen is blank, tried removing the battery for over 15 minutes but didnt do anything.

good news is i have another motherboard with a problem
i cannot get it to boot a cd or hard drive, just a blank screen. ive noticed it takes ages to get into BIOS when it eventually decides to make it there but no idea what causes this

[mahkeymike]

I think you should just throw in the towel at this point, before you waist any more time and money on these old parts. They are just not worth it. Get yourself a i810/e chipset mobo (force) or a nForce2 mobo (ion) and i'll help you get it running. You can get sec keys way newer then any maxx version for cheap.

[gio_aus]

yeah I guess I have no choice, but I would to know why this other board will not get past bios and load a hard drive or cdrom

[mahkeymike]

yeah I guess I have no choice, but I would to know why this other board will not get past bios and load a hard drive or cdrom

Thats usually a sign of the mobo going. Could be Capacitors, regulators, Southbridge, Northbridge. I have a few of the same i810 mobo's and two of them boot quick. Another one takes over a minute to get past post (bios) and finally boot linux from the hard drive. The bios chips are socketed so it was easy to swap the chips, but makes no change, so it isnt the bios chip.

Like i said, just give up m8. If you want to get a megatouch working, i could help you with that as long as you have a mobo with a i810/e/i815 or nForce2/4 chipset. Im working on a patch to get 3m SMT-3 touch controller working on force/ion. So you can even reuse a XL/Maxx cabinet without replacing the crt/touch glass/controller.

[gio_aus]

are you talking about a Merit nForce2 mobo or any nForce 2?

[mahkeymike]

Any nForce2 or nForce4. Maybe even nForce3 but havent tested one yet.

[gio_aus]

http://www.gigabyte.com.au/products/product-page.aspx?pid=1847#ov

I have one of these with an AMD Athlon XP 3200+ CPU, no onboard video though

[mahkeymike]

It would probably work but you would need a gforce video card.

[gio_aus]

I have a GeForce 2MX400 32mb, is that too old or would it be alright?

[mahkeymike]

I have a GeForce 2MX400 32mb, is that too old or would it be alright?

Might work. As long as its supported in the drivers/module that gets loaded.

You will need a ion key though. Also, is the maxx IO board a ISA, pci, or usb? Or do you have force/GT/ION IO board?

[gio_aus]

max i/o board is ISA

[mahkeymike]

max i/o board is ISA

Thats not gonna work. You need atleast a classic force IO board. Any IO board that is usb will work. I seen some classic force IO boards on ebay for cheap. Think it was $15usd for 2 of em.

[mahkeymike]

We could still test your mobo and video card to see if it gets to the no IO board watchdog screen.

[gio_aus]

im looking at about $55 including postage, unless someone wants to donate...