Packard-Bell Multimedia E153

Questions that don't belong in the other forums.
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rambis
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I am trying to upgrade a neighbor's PB Multimedia E153. It has 32MB of RAM, 1GB hard drive. I want to upgrade both.

However, before I do the hard drive, make sure the BIOS supports a modern hard drive.

BIOS Version is 1.00.08 DN0R which appears to be a PB OEM version of Intel Orlando.

PB does not offer any US support but I did see a patch to 1.00.12 DN0R. No readme file.

How do I verify that the machine has the right MB, the patch says it has a PB680.

Also, would a good tech feel confident in upgrading this BIOS? I will have the neighbor do a complete backup first.

Thank you :D .
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Rainbow
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Both files have DN0R at the end - that means that they're both for the same Intel OEM board. Intel boards usually have recovery jumper.
I think that the RAM upgrade should be without any problems, with the HDD - don't know - some Intel boards have 2GB BIOS limit, but I hope that this is new enough to be better.
Patched and tested BIOSes are at http://wims.rainbow-software.org
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rambis
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Two questions:

First off, short of putting in a large hard drive and seeing if it works, how do I find out if the BIOS takes a large hard drive?

Does this Mbd take SIMMs or DIMMs. Old enough to take either.

Thanks!!!

8)
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Rainbow
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This should be your board
Image
There are 4 SIMM sockets, you currently have either 2x16MB modules or 4x8MB.
edwin should know more about Intel boards.
Patched and tested BIOSes are at http://wims.rainbow-software.org
UniFlash - Flash anything anywhere
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rambis
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Are SIMMS even available any more? Depending on the configuration, I either have to get 32 MB (if the 2 slots have 16MB chips each) or 64 MB (if they have 4 x 8MB). All that to upgrade a 150MHZ PC and it may not be worth it.

If available, where and approximate street rate for 32MB and 64 MB.

Thank you so much!!! :P
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edwin
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128MB max (4 pieces of 32MB):
http://www.uktsupport.co.uk/pb/mb/680.htm

BIOS update + instructions:
http://www.pbnec.nl/support/itemnr/REFBIOS00240700.html

memory prices for 32MB SIMMs:
http://www.pricewatch.com/1/33/4590-1.htm

harddisk drive size suported:
funny, this one was never asked before. There is a list for regular Intel boards, but this board isn't mentioned because it was only made for OEMs. But, if we take a look at the list we see that every pentium 1 board (from the Advanced/ZP (oldest) to the newest with an AMI bios (NX440LX) have a limit of 8.4GB.
http://support.intel.com/support/mother ... d_size.htm

I think it is safe to assume your board falls in that category (up to 8.4GB).
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edwin
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Even Ray's page doesn't have info on harddisk size for the PB680 board, he is considered THE standard:
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/ ... pb680.html
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