on converting gateway to msi

[testtubealien]

I'm new here and I'm not sure if I should ask my question in this thread or start a new one.

This gateway oem I've acquired, can it be successfully flashed with either AMI or AWARD bios from MSI's site? It has the gateway OAAVWP13 flash on it right now, but I'm not impressed with the very limited menu. I want more control over it, especially when it comes to settings or updating or simply installing vga, via and nvidia drivers. I think if I stick with gateways mobo flash, I won't be able to use any others, particularly msi's.
I don't want to chance flashing with the msi flash bios until I've heard from someone who knows whether it will work or leave me with a mobo that can't be restored. So, has anyone done this with their kt133 chipset (K7T pro)?

Particulars of my oem from Gateway support site:

Jabil Ahlon Motherboard - 950MHz
ms-6330 ver 2.1 (oxnard)

Specifications:

BIOS AMI BIOS
RAM Capacity Three 168-pin DIMM sockets
Support for 32 megabytes (MB) to 1.5 gigabytes (GB) of 133-MHz ECC or non-ECC unbuffered SDRAM using 256-megabit technology
Support for SPD and non-SPD DIMMs
AGP Slot Meets AGP 1x, 2x, and 4x specifications
Processor and Host Bus Speed AMD Athlon processor in a 462-pin ZIF Socket A
133-MHz host bus speed

Chipset VIA KT133 chipset consisting of:

AMD VT82C686A South Bridge (peripheral controller hub)
AMD VT8363 North Bridge (host controller hub)
USB Ports 1.0 specification compatible
On-Board IDE SMSC LPC47M102 LPC interface super I/O controller
UATA 33/66
Slots Five 32-bit bus master PCI v2.2 slots
Supports 3.3-V to 5-V bus interface
Remote Control Meets ACPI specifications
Power switch connector on-board
Soft power off
Environmental Operating: 0 to 55° C (32 to 133° F)
Non-operating: –40 to +70° C (–40 to +158° F)

Note: An ambient temperature that exceeds the board's maximum operating temperature by 5 to 10° C may cause components to exceed their maximum case temperature.
Reliability MTBF is 293,919 hours, at 55° C (133° F)


Thanks in advance!

[testtubealien]

That's okay. I've got the os covered.
So you're saying it will take the flash fine?

[Ferrit]

I think the bios is manufacturer specific. I doubt it will work and I would expect the board to be dead.
Now after that warning anything is possible i expect. It may work but I am saying your chances of sucess are very very slim

[testtubealien]

Thanks for your response. I had decided not to try it. But it would be good if someone comes up with a proven universal-type flash utility that can be used with msi's award bios for my machine.

[NooNoo]

I will get you an opinion from Ruslan... if it can be done, he will know.

[BOB IROC]

I think the bios is manufacturer specific. I doubt it will work and I would expect the board to be dead.
Now after that warning anything is possible i expect. It may work but I am saying your chances of sucess are very very slim

Yes, I worked for gateway during the era when they sold these PCs and despite the board being an MSI brand flashing it with the MSI BIOS would kill it as there are some differences between that OEM board and Retail version. Now there may be a way if the MSI BIOS is slightly modified but I don't know about that.

[Ruslan]

Yes, I worked for gateway during the era when they sold these PCs and despite the board being an MSI brand flashing it with the MSI BIOS would kill it as there are some differences between that OEM board and Retail version. Now there may be a way if the MSI BIOS is slightly modified but I don't know about that.

I support his opinion. Although the motherboard may still boot (as long as they both have exactly the same chipset), but can be issues with I/O (like FDD controller and Serial/Parallel ports). That OEM board can have different I/O chip, sound chip or some other add-ons (like on-board Ethernet),which retail version doesn't have at all or may be different.
If the BIOS chip soldered in (not in a socket), I wouldn't recommend even to try it.
I've tried it before for MS-6309 (Packard Bell edition), and had to flash it back as some of functions didn't work properly...
Uniflash utility ( http://www.uniflash.org/ ) in Expert mode should be able to flash any BIOS, or at least you can save your current BIOS as backup.

[testtubealien]

Thanks for everyone's replies. I decided not to take a chance killing it. I meant it for my daughter to use and to play Sims2 on. Apparently, it both meets and exceeds the min. req. w/o having to buy a P4 computer. The thing that I'm unsure about is whether Gateway's 32MB-GeForce2 MX video drivers would be adequate for the game. And if not, would nVidia's Forceware drivers do the trick, but foremost be accepted by this Gateway oem.

[NooNoo]

Those drivers are pretty much the same, however, Gateway would have ensured that they had a compatible set of drivers to release. You can try the nVidia's drivers, but don't be surprised if you get odd results. There is a reason why the release numbers are 4 digits