Aopen i945GTm-VHL? Comes with HSF? Compatible with Merom?

Hyphe · Post by **Hyphe** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 1:53 pm

Hmm, typical. Well I hope you get it sorted out with a new cpu...

engelbert · Post by **engelbert** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 7:29 am

Well I have the same problem. t7200 Hangs at the end of the PCI detection. I was thinking about getting another system with the t2400. The Aopen website is having difficulties. Should this work on early bios revisions??

b3nbranch · Post by **b3nbranch** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 1:23 pm

As mentioned earlier in the thread, and listed here,
"support Merom CPU" was a feature of BIOS R1.04
released in August. If you've got an earlier BIOS than
that, as I do, one wouldn't expect it to work. Presumably
a t2400, being a Core Duo (Yonah), wouldn't have a problem
with the BIOS (if that was your question).

Scrooge · Post by **Scrooge** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 5:51 am

So much for myAopen performing a burn-in, obviously, unless they consider the BIOS screen to be a burn-in,,, that is rough. Did you try contacting them and asking them to make it right?

b3nbranch · Post by **b3nbranch** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 6:28 am

Here is myaopen's response to my email:

Code: Select all

To expedite and save customer's money, we do test for free just to avoid any compatibility issues.
 
We need to update our website information.
 
Well, for your case, would you like send it back and have our technician to upgrade BIOS?

The statement that they "need to update our website information" makes
me think that they no longer do BIOS upgrades or extensive testing.

I was impatient and ordered the Core Solo a day before the response
from myaopen. I might have done that anyway considering the hassle
factor of dismounting the motherboard, packing it up, shipping it to
myaopen.com, waiting for them to work on it, and shipping it back.

engelbert · Post by **engelbert** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 6:47 am

Thank you b3nbranch

Thanks for the reply. I saw on the intel spec finder that the t2400 was yonah, but just wanted to make sure before I buy that processor, and ANOTHER motherboard.

Boy, what an excuse to my wife. "Well, Honey, I bought another CPU so I could get yours working! [pause] I didn't want a mobile processor just to lay around, so I bought another motherboard for it!"

P.S. Don't mention unloading it on ebay or craigslist, this excuse might just work!

b3nbranch · Post by **b3nbranch** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 11:33 am

Well, the T1300 allows the computer to continue on to the boot
step, confirming what we thought. However, I've got other
problems

and will be sending this motherboard back to
myaopen.com anyway.

The PATA connector/channel doesn't work. With the T1300, I've
been able to verify that the SATA channels work and the USB
ports (at least a couple of them) work, but even trying three (3)
different cables, a new DVD-RW, an existing CD-RW that works
fine in my current computer, and even the HDD that works fine
in my current computer, the **** motherboard never recognizes
that there's any device connected to the single PATA connector.
That's a deal breaker!

Guess I won't have that new computer by Christmas after all.

b3nbranch · Post by **b3nbranch** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 12:42 pm

I will say that myaopen.com was quick when I replied with my full
tale to their email offer regarding the BIOS. I've got an RMA #
already, so I'm disassembling, and the bundle (they wanted the
mobo, memory, and cpu that they sent) will start on its way back
to them tomorrow.

hmsrolst · Post by **hmsrolst** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 1:49 pm

Sorry to hear about your bad luck. I've found AOPEN boards to be consistently reliable, so you should do better the next time.

BTW, Magnum-PC is selling this board for $136.65 plus shipping through tomorrow. I bought a second one.

https://magnum-pc.com/Products/Overview/?id=M003044549

b3nbranch · Post by **b3nbranch** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 5:44 pm

I got the motherboard back from myaopen on Jan 2. It seems to
be working fine now (same mobo/serial #). Now I have to figure
out how to do RAID-1 in Linux ...

b3nbranch · Post by **b3nbranch** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 12:11 pm

To those who have been following this thread, everything is working
well now

, the new machine is now my main machine,
and I've posted in the General Gallery

quadric · Post by **quadric** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 3:14 pm

I wish I had read this thread before I went out and ordered my AOpen i945GTm-VHL motherboard and Intel Core 2 Duo cpu. I currently have the same problem as b3nbranch. I knew at the time of purchase that I needed bios 1.04 or later to support the cpu. I just didn't realize the machine wouldn't allow me to boot from a floppy and flash the bios with it in. Not wanting to shell out another couple $100 for a Yonah chip I investigated getting just the bios chip flashed. I found this company: http://www.biosman.com and all seemed grand for awhile. I go home at lunch to check what bios chip I have, already to yank it out and ship it off to get flashed. But what dio I find - it is attached directly to the motherboard and not in "holder", so no chance of removal for flashing by this company - grrr

Instead, I have had to bite the bullet and order a Yonah (Intel Core Duo T2300E Yonah) chip and I will probably just be returning it as soon as I have my bios flashed. Will probably cost me upwards of $40 for RMA shipping and re-stocking fees

I just hope that getting this "temporary" chip fixes my problems - cause I really want my HTPC up and running.

Scrooge · Post by **Scrooge** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 6:38 am

Just so no one else has to order an expensive Yonah chip, the Celeron Mobile 410 is based on the Yonah core, costs ~$50, and is quite sufficient for this task...

hmsrolst · Post by **hmsrolst** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 7:55 am

Scrooge wrote:Just so no one else has to order an expensive Yonah chip, the Celeron Mobile 410 is based on the Yonah core, costs ~$50, and is quite sufficient for this task...

Additionally, you can sometimes find these or low-end Core Solos on ebay for even less.

b3nbranch · Post by **b3nbranch** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 8:21 am

Scrooge wrote:Just so no one else has to order an expensive Yonah chip, the Celeron Mobile 410 is based on the Yonah core, costs ~$50, and is quite sufficient for this task...

Has anybody actually tried this? I note that AOpen's BIOS download
web site lists 'Celeron M Support' as a feature of the 12/5/2006 BIOS.

Scrooge · Post by **Scrooge** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 6:28 am

Well that's disappointing if it can't run a 410... I had been intending to build Dad a Linux box using that

hmsrolst · Post by **hmsrolst** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 3:11 am

This might be an opportunity to find a low end Yonah for upgrading BIOS. I have no connection to the seller, but I bought the same kind of chip from another Mini upgrader for a quite modest sum.

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