Mobo recommendations

[Charles Steinkuehler]

Rusty wrote:

> I don't know if its too old for warranty, but without a sales receipt,
> etc. I doubt that's an option (its an IWill XP333-R board, only about a
> year and a half old, purchased online).  And trying to hassle with
> sending it back to the factory, etc. might just be more trouble than
> its worth, cuz I'm sure there would be a charge, plus shipping, etc...
> might be close to what a newer board would cost.

I had to RMA an Asus A7N8X that just 'died'.  Ran fine one minute, the 
next minute, the entire system froze (video display stayed up but was 
static).  I figured windows crashed, but reboots and power cycles 
wouldn't even bring up beep codes from the MoBo.

Once I found the right folks to talk to at Asus, the return process was 
fairly painless, although it wasn't exactly speedy (ditto for an AMD 
2.4+ GHz Athlon that decided to die).  In general, the manufacturer 
technical support is less concerned with exactly where/when you bought 
your hardware as verifying the fact that it's got a legit serial number, 
and isn't grey market or OEM (neither of which come with support from 
the manufacturer direct to the end user).

> As for reprogramming the BIOS chip in a stand-alone programmer I can
> only say "Huh?". I certainly don't have that kind of equipment or
> expertise! :o)

Well, you might not, but someone on the list probably does.  I have a 
programmer, and IIRC I've got a 32-pin PLCC->DIP adaptor burried in a 
box since my last office move, but I'm in Topeka.  I'd be willing to 
help if you can't find anyone in KC with a programmer and are willing to 
drive over (or could mail me the chip or something...in suitable 
anti-static packaging, of course!).

Of course, if your motherboard's flash chip is soldered directly to the 
board or a TSOP or something, you'll probably be better off just getting 
a new MoBo.

-- 
Charles Steinkuehler
charles at steinkuehler.net