Gateway 2000 GP5-200 Computer

Sure, it's only a P5-200, but I couldn't resist for $5. That small form
factor is really pretty nice. Here's the deal...

I used it over a weekend to run DBAN on countless hard drives. It worked
without missing a beat.

At the end of the weekend, I took it back inside, installed a 6GB hard drive
(that I believe to be in excellent working order) and did a fresh
installation of Windows 2000 Professional (SP0/Gold release).

It was at this point that the system started to lock up hard. Nothing short
of cycling the power would bring it back.

Now for the strange part...I have let it sit at a DOS prompt, run
Memtest86+, and even booted from a Knoppix CD. Under all of those systems, I
couldn't make the thing fail. It just ran and ran. But if I dared head back
to Windows...it would lock up hard once again. I did notice the VRM heatsink
on the board (which is HUGE) happens to get very hot, but the motherboard
says "HOT!" in screen print with an arrow pointing to the sink. I even tried
opening the case and turning a desk fan on it, but that made no difference.

Any ideas?

William

Try loading Windows 98 (even if only as a test).

There might be something about the hardware that is incompatible with Win2K.


William R. Walsh wrote:
> Sure, it's only a P5-200, but I couldn't resist for $5. That small form
> factor is really pretty nice. Here's the deal...
>
> I used it over a weekend to run DBAN on countless hard drives. It worked
> without missing a beat.
>
> At the end of the weekend, I took it back inside, installed a 6GB hard drive
> (that I believe to be in excellent working order) and did a fresh
> installation of Windows 2000 Professional (SP0/Gold release).
>
> It was at this point that the system started to lock up hard. Nothing short
> of cycling the power would bring it back.
>
> Now for the strange part...I have let it sit at a DOS prompt, run
> Memtest86+, and even booted from a Knoppix CD. Under all of those systems, I
> couldn't make the thing fail. It just ran and ran. But if I dared head back
> to Windows...it would lock up hard once again. I did notice the VRM heatsink
> on the board (which is HUGE) happens to get very hot, but the motherboard
> says "HOT!" in screen print with an arrow pointing to the sink. I even tried
> opening the case and turning a desk fan on it, but that made no difference.
>
> Any ideas?
>
> William
>
>

Hi!

> Try loading Windows 98 (even if only as a test).
>
> There might be something about the hardware that is incompatible with
> Win2K.

That was my next idea...at your suggestion I will try it. I just have to
find a Windows 98 install set...

Or maybe I'll just break down and install Linux.

William

Windows 2000 Professional (SP0/Gold release) may also have some hardware issues
that were corrected with the retail product. Or maybe the system does not have
enough memory to install/run Windows 2000? The system would be absolutely
perfect for running NT 4.0 with the max of 128MB memory... Ben Myers

On Fri, 21 Sep 2007 10:30:33 -0400, Barry Watzman <>
wrote:

>Try loading Windows 98 (even if only as a test).
>
>There might be something about the hardware that is incompatible with Win2K.
>
>
>William R. Walsh wrote:
>> Sure, it's only a P5-200, but I couldn't resist for $5. That small form
>> factor is really pretty nice. Here's the deal...
>>
>> I used it over a weekend to run DBAN on countless hard drives. It worked
>> without missing a beat.
>>
>> At the end of the weekend, I took it back inside, installed a 6GB hard drive
>> (that I believe to be in excellent working order) and did a fresh
>> installation of Windows 2000 Professional (SP0/Gold release).
>>
>> It was at this point that the system started to lock up hard. Nothing short
>> of cycling the power would bring it back.
>>
>> Now for the strange part...I have let it sit at a DOS prompt, run
>> Memtest86+, and even booted from a Knoppix CD. Under all of those systems, I
>> couldn't make the thing fail. It just ran and ran. But if I dared head back
>> to Windows...it would lock up hard once again. I did notice the VRM heatsink
>> on the board (which is HUGE) happens to get very hot, but the motherboard
>> says "HOT!" in screen print with an arrow pointing to the sink. I even tried
>> opening the case and turning a desk fan on it, but that made no difference.
>>
>> Any ideas?
>>
>> William
>>
>>

Hi!

> Windows 2000 Professional (SP0/Gold release) may also
> have some hardware issues that were corrected with the
> retail product.

SP0 or Gold is the retail product per my understanding.

> Or maybe the system does not have enough memory
> to install/run Windows 2000?

I suppose it is possible, but I've run Windows 2000 Pro in 64 and
96MB. It's not pretty, but it does run. An HP Vectra P5/233 desktop
that I also have is running it without issue on 128MB RAM.

> with the max of 128MB memory...

It will actually take up to 512MB (2x256MB). I haven't yet raided my
memory box to see if I can do that.

William

Are you sure about the 512MB? If it uses an Intel chipset, ALL the Pentium
Triton chipsets were limited to 128MB, IIRC, so as to avoid making the Pentium
Pro price/performance look bad. The earlier Neptune 430NX chipset supports
512MB. Some non-Intel Pentium chipsets were not so limited... Ben Myers

On Fri, 21 Sep 2007 13:46:44 -0700, wrote:

>Hi!
>
>> Windows 2000 Professional (SP0/Gold release) may also
>> have some hardware issues that were corrected with the
>> retail product.
>
>SP0 or Gold is the retail product per my understanding.
>
>> Or maybe the system does not have enough memory
>> to install/run Windows 2000?
>
>I suppose it is possible, but I've run Windows 2000 Pro in 64 and
>96MB. It's not pretty, but it does run. An HP Vectra P5/233 desktop
>that I also have is running it without issue on 128MB RAM.
>
>> with the max of 128MB memory...
>
>It will actually take up to 512MB (2x256MB). I haven't yet raided my
>memory box to see if I can do that.
>
>William

Hi!

> Are you sure about the 512MB?

I can now say that I'm sure. I managed to scare up only one 256MB DIMM at
first, but then I finally found another and the system recognized all 512MB
of it. I tried two 512MB DIMMs, but my luck didn't hold as they only showed
up at half their rated capacity. I guess I hoped for too much... :-)

The chipset is from Intel...not sure which one, but the machine does have
USB onboard and--interestingly enough--support for AMD K6 CPUs. There is a
rather unique DIP switch that doubles the already configured clock
multiplier for AMD CPUs.

It's a curious mix--an AMI BIOS copyrighted in 1995, 2x DIMM sockets, USB,
ACPI support (or at least an option to enable and disable it) and a Windows
98 COA on the side of the case.

William

That's your basic transitional platypus system. Caught in the transition from
72-pin SIMMs to 168-pin DIMMs, designed in the timeframe when Pentium II systems
were being built and when USB was slowly becoming a reality. There were some
strange P-II Intel motherboards, too. The PD440FX has 72-pin SIMMs and support
for CPUs all the way up to 333Mhz.

I stand corrected. The 430HX PCIset supports up to 512MB according to an old
spreadsheet of Intel info I dug up. The 430HX was Intel's last chipset for
Socket 7 CPUs. For sure, if the motherboard supports AMD K6 CPUs, it was not
designed and built by Intel. Probably Anigma, whoever they are/were. Gateway
occasionally used motherboards designed by Anigma, but nobody could ever figure
out where the company was located. May well have been some in-house engineers
Gateway turned loose now and then... Ben Myers


On Sat, 22 Sep 2007 04:12:31 GMT, "William R. Walsh"
< m> wrote:

>Hi!
>
>> Are you sure about the 512MB?
>
>I can now say that I'm sure. I managed to scare up only one 256MB DIMM at
>first, but then I finally found another and the system recognized all 512MB
>of it. I tried two 512MB DIMMs, but my luck didn't hold as they only showed
>up at half their rated capacity. I guess I hoped for too much... :-)
>
>The chipset is from Intel...not sure which one, but the machine does have
>USB onboard and--interestingly enough--support for AMD K6 CPUs. There is a
>rather unique DIP switch that doubles the already configured clock
>multiplier for AMD CPUs.
>
>It's a curious mix--an AMI BIOS copyrighted in 1995, 2x DIMM sockets, USB,
>ACPI support (or at least an option to enable and disable it) and a Windows
>98 COA on the side of the case.
>
>William
>

Info for the motherboard in your system may well be somewhere on this web page:

http://support.gateway.com/support/s...dt_mot001.html

.... Ben

On Sat, 22 Sep 2007 04:12:31 GMT, "William R. Walsh"
< m> wrote:

>Hi!
>
>> Are you sure about the 512MB?
>
>I can now say that I'm sure. I managed to scare up only one 256MB DIMM at
>first, but then I finally found another and the system recognized all 512MB
>of it. I tried two 512MB DIMMs, but my luck didn't hold as they only showed
>up at half their rated capacity. I guess I hoped for too much... :-)
>
>The chipset is from Intel...not sure which one, but the machine does have
>USB onboard and--interestingly enough--support for AMD K6 CPUs. There is a
>rather unique DIP switch that doubles the already configured clock
>multiplier for AMD CPUs.
>
>It's a curious mix--an AMI BIOS copyrighted in 1995, 2x DIMM sockets, USB,
>ACPI support (or at least an option to enable and disable it) and a Windows
>98 COA on the side of the case.
>
>William
>

Hi!

> That's your basic transitional platypus system. Caught in the transition
> from 72-pin SIMMs to 168-pin DIMMs, designed in the timeframe
> when Pentium II systems were being built and when USB was slowly
> becoming a reality.

Absolutely agreed. It's an interesting beast, and one I haven't seen too
many of at that. Many of the ones I have seen were built around generally
available motherboards. Many implemented the USB, but they also had SIMM
slots and required a breakout riser to make use of the USB support.

> Probably Anigma, whoever they are/were. Gateway occasionally
> used motherboards designed by Anigma, but nobody could ever
> figure out where the company was located.

The MAC address on the built in Ethernet points to Gateway, at least when
they were headquartered in Sioux City, SD. Prior to flashing the BIOS with
the latest available release, the machine started up with the "old" Gateway
2000 "G" logo and the "You've got a friend in the business" tag line.
Afterward it booted with an ALR logo. (!!!) Makes me wonder which BIOS was
really newer...the one I applied definitely had a higher version number and
later date.

Anyway...it's an interesting box and a nice form factor. I think I'll hang
onto it and try putting together an SP4 slipstream disc (the files are here
some place, along with an ISO image I put together) and see how that goes.

William