PC Chips M571 Mother Board woes ;-(

[TangleWeb]

I am working on a clone system that has the PC Chips M571 Mother Board. It is having shut down problems. (Windows 98SE clean install, 128 MB RAM, Cyrix MII300 Proc.) The PC Chips web site (http://www.pcchips.com.tw/)
mentions this problem in its Q&A page. It has links to patch files that are broken (no workie) Does anyone know where else to get these patch files? Also I went to the VIA web site & downloaded the 4-in-1 VIA driver file for the IRQ Routing, etc. & it said there was a registry error & I should re-boot. I did this and it still wouldn't load. I have disabled the on-board video to install a graphics blaster 4 mb PCI video card. Could this affect the other motherboard resources? In addition, the last time I booted, the CD ROM drive disappeared! I have re-booted several times & it's still gone. Any thoughts on this issue would sure be welcome!


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Dave Sparks,
Systems Support Analyst

[shawnMt]

The alternate download site is http://www.pcwave.com/support.html and there is a shutdown patch at the top of the page. Pcwave and Pcchips are same mobo (thanks to Ruslan for that tip.)

As for the cdrom, boot to safe mode and remove any cdroms from device manager and reboot. 98 should pick it up. Of course make sure the cables are plugged in snug.

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Cannot find REALITY.SYS. Universe halted

Paint your old laptop!

[TangleWeb]

Thanks ShawnMT!

I am starting over at this point as I had a failed attempt at installing an IDE Driver. I hadn't loaded any apps yet, just Win 98SE. Clean install. I'll do the shutdown patch 1st. The only thing that confuses me is that the patch relates to the on-board video. I have disabled this using the jumper on the MoBo provided for this purpose. It now has a Graphics Blaster 4 MB PCI card. So, I'm not sure if this patch will "take" since the on-board video is disabled?


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Dave Sparks,
Systems Support Analyst

[shawnMt]

The patch I was referring to is at the top of the "download area" page and is for the onboard sound - not video. 98 is famous for it's shutdown issues.

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Cannot find REALITY.SYS. Universe halted

Paint your old laptop!

[TangleWeb]

Again, thanks for your help ShawnMT!

The patch you mentioned for the sound is for users who have the driver CD ver 2.2 or older. I have version 3.9, so this is not the problem. Their Tech Note talks about a patch to upgrade the SIS chip. It is from the following Web Site: http://www.pcchips.com.tw/q&a.html I quote the relevant section; "By using the Windows 98 SE ( Second Edition ) version, why my computer frozen at the Windows Logo screen while shutdown ?

Only SiS main board will cause the problem, and you need a driver update.
For those users who got the driver CD with V5.1 or early versions, please follow the next few steps below to solved the problem :
Download the patch file from our web site, copy it to your hard disk and unzip it. (For SiS 530 chipset, you need Pach530.zip, for SiS 620 chipset, use Patch620.zip )
If your board use SiS 530 chipset, you need to install the VGA driver form driver CD first, then executed the Setup file within the patch to complete the update.
If your board use SiS 620 chipset, put your driver CD into the CD-ROM drive, simply executed the Setup file within the patch, and gives the path while program is asking for the VGA driver, follow the instructions to complete the update.
If LAN chip is also built in, you need to update the LAN driver (Win9x.exe) for Windows 98 SE versions as well.
Enter the BIOS Setup, enables the feature "Assign IRQ for VGA ".

The links on the site do not work & I have tried other sites mentioned in the PC Chips Company Forum but have been unable to find the patches. Also I do not know which chipset I have 530 or 620 as the chip is covered by a heat sink. Again, I have disabled the on-board video with the jumper provide on the MoBo for this purpose to install a Graphics Blaster 4 mb PCI video card.

I'm sorry for the lengthy post, but wanted you to have all the necessary information. I am really stumped by this one & need to resolve it soon. Thanks very much for your help.

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Dave Sparks,
Systems Support Analyst

[Ruslan]

I'm agree with ShawnMT.
Problem with shutdown is only Windows 98SE problem. I have met this problem a lot, but always with WIN98SE. With another versions of Win98 all worked fine.
The patch you mentioned for the sound and video try to find on another site http://www.pcchips.com/driver_2.html
(main corporation site for PCChips)
But I'd recommend You reinstall WIN98, and it would be better if it will be another version.

[This message has been edited by Ruslan (edited July 16, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by Ruslan (edited July 16, 2000).]

[melgold]

has anyone thought about the windows 98 se shutdown supplement from microsoft ??

[pcshark]

The one that was just released in May dealt only with networked PCs that had mapped drives to network resources. I have found this patch to work every time I have used it, I kid you not. However, I've only used it on 98SE systems that were networked and which had mapped drives.

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R. Bret Walker, CNE

Wondering what videos to rent this weekend? Check out The People's Reviews, movie reviews written for the people and by the people.

[This message has been edited by pcshark (edited July 17, 2000).]

[RGK01]

Well, the shutdown patch worked on my system too, however, I do not have it on a network, and no mapped drives.

[TangleWeb]

Thank you all for your input! I can't help but think that if it's a known issue with 98SE & the Mfg (PC Chips)has a patch for it, then I should apply that patch. I just need another source for it as the link to it on their pathetic website does not work. I will take the advice that several of you gave regarding the shutdown patch from Microsoft. Perhaps this will solve it. Aother point is that when I loaded what I thought were the correct sound drivers from the latter version of the driver CD that PC Chips supplies with the Motherboard (M571 Motherboard, CMI 8330 Sound)it completely locked up the system! Re-booting led to an illegal operation error message & any Windows explorer operation (like browsing to find the offending INF files, for example, would lead to a "Not responding" condition for Windows Explorer. I am SO TOTALLY OVER PC CHIPS Motherboards I could spit! I will use the older version of the sound drivers as I know they work, but what about the IDE driver? Which should I use? Sorry for the rant, but I have re-loaded 98SE 3 times on this system & still no definitive solution! Specifically I would like to know if anyone has a link for the Patch530.zip or the Patch620.zip for the SIS 530 & SIS 620 chip respectively. Also does anyone know how to tell which chip is on this Motherboard (The chip is covered by a heatsink)

I REALLY appreciate evrybodies help on this one!

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Dave Sparks,
Systems Support Analyst

[RGK01]

OK, it sounds like you need a bios update to me. I had a lot of problems with the 500 series PcChips boards until I started doing their bios updates, then everything seemed to start working right. First are you sure it is the m571 motherboard and not the m571LMR board (it's important they use different bios updates). Go to www.pcchips.nl/support/biosupdates/biosupdates.htm (it is a lot faster than the main site). The flashing utilities and bios updates are there, if your not sure how to flash a bios read the readme files. After flashing with the correct update, load Win98 fresh and things should start working right.

[Elric]

First of all the M571 is a TXpro2 chipset SiS 5597/5598 Chipset to be exact. The M598 is the SiS SuperSocket7 PC100 board and has nothing similar to M571 other than the sound on board being from C-Media. You mentioned that you downloaded and installed Via IRQ routing table Patches from VIA? That is only for Mobo's with Via chipsets. Registry errors abound. The only Patch that should even be installed with the M571 should come directly from WWW.SiS.com.tw. SiS designed the chipset and offer full upgraded software on the websight. The best sound drivers are found at WWW.C-media.com.tw. They have all updated drivers for all Pcchips boards with imbedded sound and have fixed alot of errors with the new driver releases. Hope this helps.

[Elric]

WWW.cmedia.com.tw

[MickeyMouse]

Download and install the Windows 98se shutdown supplement that is your shutdown problem. As for an IDE driver I would use the one that 98 installed if it gives you DMA support. Most other ide drivers will cause problems under Win98.

[Bohemian]

MM is right. With Win98 you should just use the default Windows drivers. As for the shutdown issue, this patch has worked on every machine I've had the problem with:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows98/d...SE/Default.asp