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Thread: Need help identifying a Chaintech mobo

  1. #1
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    Need help identifying a Chaintech mobo

    I recently bought a used Super Socket 7 mobo and want to update the BIOS but I'm having a hard time figuring out exactly which board this is.

    motherboards.org id'ed it simply as a Chaintech/VIA MVP3 board with no other details so...

    I downloaded the manuals for all Chaintech SS7 VIA MVP3 boards and narrowed it down and as far as I can tell it's a 5AGM2 but from the specs of the 5AGM3 it could be that one also. They have the exact same chipset, slots, features, etc.

    Chaintech's directions for id'ing one of their boards is a little confusing. They claim, "Most Chaintech Pentium mainboards can be identified by their PCB number, which is written between the PCI slots on the mainboard".

    http://www.chaintech.dk/BIOS/Bios.ht...0exact%20model

    Well, I've poured over this board with a magnifying glass (both sides) and can't find anything that indicates whether this is the 5AGM2 or 5AGM3. On the side of DIMM slot 01 there is a sticker with the S/N: M9906019477 but this doesn't correspond to anything as far as I can tell.

    There is no FCC ID number, no model number either printed or stickered anywhere, nothing except that S/N. Perhaps it was removed somewhere in it's history?

    Does anyone know of a sure-fire way to tell the difference between these two very similar boards?


    Thanks for reading if you got this far

  2. #2
    Ultimate Member SPEEDO's Avatar
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    Hello JohnE and welcome to sysopt.

    When you first turn on the machine a screen with a bios number will be the first screen you will see.
    there will be a long string of numbers down the bottom left hand side of the screen.

    It will start with 2A59 or 51-XXXX or something in that nature.
    Copy down that number exactly the way it is written and post it here!

    SPEEDO

  3. #3
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    Doh! Should'a included that in the first post.

    03/25/1999-MVP3-586-8661-2A5LEC39C-00

    I used the above bios string at motherboards.org.

    The mobo id tool only needed the C3 from the string to determine that it was a Chaintech board but that was all it told me... no model number just the manufacturer and chipset.

    Are there other id tools that utilize the whole string?
    But, it goes to 11

  4. #4
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    I've been to the link you provided for Chaintech. It seems the number on the motherboard between the PCI slots won't be 5AGM2 or 5AGM3. It will apparently have a PCB version number which then tells you which update to use. Seems like an inconvenient round about way of doings things to me.


    The info below is copied from their webpage. The model number is on the left, the number I think you would find printed on the motherboard is the middle column, and the update to use is on the right.

    Model PCB version Use update for
    5IFM M101 or M102 5IFM0
    5IFM M201 or M202 5IFM1
    5VGM M101 or M102 5VGM0
    5VGM M201 or M202 5VGM1
    5IGM M101 or M102 5IGM0
    5IGM1 M101 or M102 5IGM1

    Your problem now seems to be finding a chart as above on their website that lists the 5AGM series.

    I did find a page for the 5AGM http://www.chaintech.dk/PRODUCTI/mai...cket7/5AGM.htm
    It has a VIA Apollo VP3 chipset, 2 168 pin memory slots and 2 72 pin slots

    The 5AGM2
    http://www.chaintech.dk/PRODUCTI/mai...ket7/5AGM2.htm
    has a VIA Apollo MVP3 chipset and 3 168 pin memory slots, no 72 pin. So, if your board has the MVP3 chipset and 3 memory slots it must be a 5AGM2, except for the following:

    I couldn't find any photos and info for a 5AGM3 as I did for the two above, but this link http://www.chaintech.dk/BIOS/BIOSUPD8.htm does show a 5AGM3 near the bottom of the page, left column, under VIA chipset boards. Go figure! I've been all over the site, with a cable modem which is pretty quick, and only found the one reference to the 5AGM3 so my guess is your board is a 5AGM2.

    Good luck, one of the more difficult websites I've been through.

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    "difficult website"... you got that right, lol

    Thanks for the effort

    As far as I can tell they made 4 Socket 7 boards with the VIA chipset:

    5AGM
    5AGM2
    5AGM3
    5ATA0

    I ruled out the 5AGM and 5ATA0 based on the features listed in the respective manuals but I can find no difference between the 5AGM2 or 5AGM3 in the manuals or product specs on the website.

    It's definetly one of those 2 though as my board has 1 AGP, 3 DIMM, 3 PCI and 3 ISA. Both boards have the same features, slots and chipset.

    My guess would be the 5AGM2 as well but when it comes to a bios update I can't afford to guess, lol.

    I guess my next step is to e-mail Chaintech and ask them for help (oh joy, joy)


    Oops, just checked out this page:

    Product Info

    Seems there's a difference in the amount of installable RAM...

    Hmm... I don't have 768 MB RAM to see if this mobo supports it (if it did that would make it the 5AGM3)

    I'll look over the specs more closely and try to find the Mxxx number on the board again. Maybe there's a utility that can determine the max installable RAM on a mobo?

    Hope I can nail this soon, been eating into my brain for a week.
    But, it goes to 11

  6. #6
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    May have a clue for you. If you take a look at the link you provided http://www.chaintech.dk/PRODUCTI/Socket7F.HTM and then click on the link for the two motherboards you'll see their photos. They are different enough to identify your board.

    The 5AGM3 has 5 capacitors in a straight line above (in the picture) the CPU socket and lined up with the middle ISA slot. Also the AT power supply connectors are closer to the keyboard plug than the memory slots.

    The 5AGM2 has capacitors around the CPU socket but sort of randomly placed with only 3 in a straight line. It has it's AT power supply connectors very close to the edge of the memory slots.

    Also, the CPU sockets are at right angles to each other form board to board.

    Although they are AT boards, they both have ATX power supply connectors on them as well. The 5AGM3 has 3 capacitors next to this connector, the 5AGM2 has only 1.

    The 5AGM3 has it's last ISA slot right up against the edge of the board while the 5AGM2 has what appears to be about a 1/2" gap between the edge of the board and the slot. The 5AGM2 appears to have some numbers in the gap but blowing up the picture doesn't make them readable. The picture just isn't of high enough quality to blow it up and read them.

    Hope this helps narrow things down for you.

  7. #7
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    One other thing I noticed as a result of your mentioning installable RAM. The two boards use different chips for the chipset. The chip numbers for each board are specified and you should (will) be able to read them off the two chips. They're both marked Via and will have those numbers on them.

  8. #8
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    Thanks Explorer,

    I checked the board again with the new info and it is the 5AGM3.

    Dang, there seems to be less documentation for the AGM3 than the AGM2. Oh well, at least I know what I'm dealing with now.

    Will have to e-mail Chaintech to confirm some features as there is some discrepancy between those listed in the few documents I could find.

    Thanks again


    JohnE.
    But, it goes to 11

  9. #9
    Ultimate Member SPEEDO's Avatar
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    JohnE

    I downloaded the manual for the 5AGM3

    If you want it I can send it to you!

    SPEEDO

  10. #10
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    Thanks Speedo,

    I did download the manual for the 5AGM3 but the file I got only has the Introduction and the first 2 Chapters. I've downloaded this like 6 times and it's always the same.

    The manual for the 5AGM2 is complete and as the BIOS setup info is the same for both boards I can probly make do with what I can gleen from both manuals.


    JohnE.
    But, it goes to 11

  11. #11
    Ultimate Member SPEEDO's Avatar
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    The manual I got was in the form of three PDF files of assorted sizes.
    1=117 KB
    2=662 KB
    3=458 KB

    Is this the same as yours?

    SPEEDO

  12. #12
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    Yep, I got the same results.

    According to the Table of Contents there should be 43+ pages but obviously there isn't.

    Kinda odd but I'm pretty sure the missing chapters cover basic BIOS Setup and other generic stuff that is covered in the AGM2 manual which I already have.

    Thanks for the effort


    JohnE.
    But, it goes to 11

  13. #13
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    Hi there, I actually have sold the 5AGM3 board but currently am out of stock, but I do have the 5AGM2 board which is an excellent super 7 socket board. They are almost the same board, I called Chaintech Excel in the USA and they told me the 5AGM2 was manufactured in Taiwan, and the 5AGM3 was made in China. There are slight differences in the PCboard layout like the person above said.

    However a quick way is to look for the CN6 connector right next to the CN5 case header connector. The 5AGM3 removed this connector, but the 5AGM2 had it. I believe it has to do with their smart FAN78 connector which can be found at:

    http://www.chaintech.dk/PRODUCTI/FAN78.htm

    Right now what I am trying to find is a source for the dual USB, PS2 mouse, and IR connector cable. It looks functionally the same as the ASUS/PCCHIPS one except the pins are much narrower, and thus a smaller connector. Again I checked with Chaintech USA and Taiwan and they are all sold out of this item. If anyone has any please let me know.

    I also have the original full 5AGM3 and 5AGM2 manuals which has the BIOS setup sections which can't unfortunately be downloaded from their website, which just went under reconstruction so you can't download them anymore!!

    Thanks! George
    www.interwb.com

  14. #14
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    Thanks for the updated info George.

    It is indeed the 5AGM3 board, unfortunatly, the BIOS update didn't work. After flashing I lost the floppy drive so had to go back to the previous BIOS.

    This is an excerpt from one of the replies I got from Chaintech:

    "That board came out of a system made by a company named Proteva. The even more unfortunate circumstance is that Proteva is out of business.

    None of our bios updates will work properly on boards that were built for Proteva, every person except 1 who has used a Chaintech bios update on a Proteva model matching our commercial line has ruined their board.

    I am very sorry that we can't support this model. It's OEM and we don't support it."


    I don't know how accurate that is as the case badge is from a local Canadian company called Proxcel, not an American home-shopping network company. I didn't ruin the board but the BIOS flash didn't work properly either.

    If you'll pardon the expression... I'd give my left nut for one of those integrated USB, PS2 mouse, and IR connector plates, lol.


    Cheers,

    JohnE.
    But, it goes to 11

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