HELP! Where do I get drivers for Vectra VL/8 PIII 600?

I bought one of these from ebay - didn't come with an install disk.
And...I can't seem to find it on the HP site. I see references to
VL/i8, but no obvious source for a driver package.

TIA for any help!

~AE

As with many other HP computers which are all patheticly supported on the HP web
site, the fallback position is always to determine first which chipsets are on
the motherboard and the add-in cards. Next, go to the web sites of the various
chipset manufacturers and download the drivers for your favorite operating
system. As a rule, a more recent version of Linux will do all the necessary
figuring out of the chipsets and required drivers for the hardware. Windows is
more brain-damaged, because there is no guarantee that the drivers for your
system are built into the Windows install CD. Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

.... Ben Myers

On Thu, 20 May 2004 08:38:17 -0500, Adrien Wild <> wrote:

>
>
>I bought one of these from ebay - didn't come with an install disk.
>And...I can't seem to find it on the HP site. I see references to
>VL/i8, but no obvious source for a driver package.
>
>TIA for any help!
>
>~AE

On Thu, 20 May 2004 14:19:04 GMT, in comp.sys.hp.hardware you wrote:

> the fallback position is always to determine first which chipsets are on the motherboard

How?? I'm trying to install win98 on it, and there's no indication of
what the chipsets are.

doesn't anyone out there know what drivers i should look for?

~ae

Adrien,

If I had a Vectra VL/8 P3 600 to look at, I could help you. But I don't. I'm
just recommending the generic procedure I follow when a computer ends up in my
hands for service. To elaborate further, you need to examine the major
(largest) chips on the motherboard and/or add-in cards. Write down the names of
the chip manufacturer and the other chip markings and post this info back.

Odds are good that HP used Intel chips, as HP has long been an OEM customer for
Intel motherboard chips in the BETTER HP product lines. If the CPU is a Slot 1,
chances are the main chipset is Intel 440BX. If the CPU is Socket 370, the
chipset is probably 810 or 815. If the video is integrated on the motherboard,
the chipset is likely 810 or 815E. Drivers for these chipsets are readily
available on the Intel web site.

HP is not the only company that does not provide drivers or detailed
specifications on line for its computers, but it is one of the worst in this
regard. It is ironic that its best business-class computer, the Vectra, has the
worst info of all. Even the lowly consumer-oriented Pavilion has detailed info
about its chipsets on the HP web site. Go figure... Ben Myers

On Thu, 20 May 2004 18:20:29 -0500, Adrien Wild <> wrote:

>On Thu, 20 May 2004 14:19:04 GMT, in comp.sys.hp.hardware you wrote:
>
>> the fallback position is always to determine first which chipsets are on the motherboard
>
>How?? I'm trying to install win98 on it, and there's no indication of
>what the chipsets are.
>
>doesn't anyone out there know what drivers i should look for?
>
>~ae

ben_myers_spam_me_not wrote:
[deleted]
> HP is not the only company that does not provide drivers or detailed
> specifications on line for its computers, but it is one of the worst
> in this regard. It is ironic that its best business-class computer,
> the Vectra, has the worst info of all. Even the lowly consumer-
> oriented Pavilion has detailed info about its chipsets on the HP web
> site. Go figure... Ben Myers

You are sounding more and more like a broken record, in more than one
meaning of the term "broken". See my other response in this thread for
an example of how broken your record is. (And no, this is not the only
example, but just one example of many.)

Adrien Wild <> wrote:
> On Thu, 20 May 2004 14:19:04 GMT, in comp.sys.hp.hardware you wrote:
>
> > the fallback position is always to determine first which chipsets are on the motherboard
>
> How?? I'm trying to install win98 on it, and there's no indication of
> what the chipsets are.
>
> doesn't anyone out there know what drivers i should look for?

Try

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport...esId=32861#860

I got there by searching for "Vectra VL/i8 drivers" (i.e. using the
product name in your OP. That search gave some results with the top one
being "Support for your HP Vectra". Clicking that gave a list of
(hardware products). Clicking on "HP Vectra VLi8" gave the "technical
support -HP Vectra VLi8" page with "I would like to download drivers
and software". Clicking that gave a "specify operating system - HP
Vectra VLi8". Clicking "Microsoft Windows 98" (which you failed to
mention in your OP and hence made that meaningless) gave the above
mentioned page which contains all kinds of driver software.

Now, that wasn't too hard, now was it?

Well, yes, you're right. There are some drivers there. However, I do not see
on the referenced web page any drivers for the motherboard chipset. (If
motherboard drivers are there, they are well hidden by the descriptions.) This
implies that the motherboard drivers are built in and standard in Windows 98.
Given that the a P3-600 uses probably an Intel 440BX or 810/815 chipset, I know
for a fact that neither is on the Windows 98SE CD from Microsoft. Both Intel's
440BX/ZX and 810/815 chipsets became available on computers after the Windows 98
release was frozen. Same with the competing VIA, SiS, and ALi chipsets of this
era. Most name brand vendors compensated for this by providing CDs with
supplementary drivers.

Next, why is it that one cannot find this driver page by clicking on the
support/drivers icon on the HP home page and drilling down by model? I'll play
my broken record again and claim that the HP web site is damned hard to navigate
if and when the drivers really are there. And I'll claim once again that HP's
driver support is incomplete. I play this broken record regularly in the futile
hope that some major decision maker at HP reads these threads and may actually
make a decision to bring up the level of HP's web site to that of its
competition, namely Gateway-eMachines, Dell and IBM. Improving the web site
means both making it easier to use and putting more drivers out there.

The fact remains that the best and most accurate way to determine the
motherboard drivers is the hard way, by reading the chip identification info
directly from the chips themselves. I have to do this all the time, servicing
lots of wayward and broken down computers that show up here. It's no fun, but
it works... Ben Myers

On 22 May 2004 08:44:27 GMT, Frank Slootweg <> wrote:

>Adrien Wild <> wrote:
>> On Thu, 20 May 2004 14:19:04 GMT, in comp.sys.hp.hardware you wrote:
>>
>> > the fallback position is always to determine first which chipsets are on the motherboard
>>
>> How?? I'm trying to install win98 on it, and there's no indication of
>> what the chipsets are.
>>
>> doesn't anyone out there know what drivers i should look for?
>
> Try
>
>http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport...esId=32861#860
>
> I got there by searching for "Vectra VL/i8 drivers" (i.e. using the
>product name in your OP. That search gave some results with the top one
>being "Support for your HP Vectra". Clicking that gave a list of
>(hardware products). Clicking on "HP Vectra VLi8" gave the "technical
>support -HP Vectra VLi8" page with "I would like to download drivers
>and software". Clicking that gave a "specify operating system - HP
>Vectra VLi8". Clicking "Microsoft Windows 98" (which you failed to
>mention in your OP and hence made that meaningless) gave the above
>mentioned page which contains all kinds of driver software.
>
> Now, that wasn't too hard, now was it?

<ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers)> wrote in message
news:...
>
> The fact remains that the best and most accurate way to determine the
> motherboard drivers is the hard way, by reading the chip identification
info
> directly from the chips themselves. I have to do this all the time,
servicing
> lots of wayward and broken down computers that show up here. It's no fun,
but
> it works... Ben Myers
>
>

Ben,
Have you ever tried booting a live Linux CD to see what hardware is present?
Just let Linux find all the devices it can. It may not work for all cards,
but most of the basic motherboard components will probably be detected.

craigm

Craig,

Yes, I've booted Linux which is darn impressive in its ability to autodetect
devices compared to brain-damaged Windows. Only rarely does Linux have trouble
with a device, usually with something so brand new that Linux drivers have not
been written yet.

The sad thing here is that PCI, AGP, and motherboard devices all have known
vendors and device types. They are assigned that way via the PCISIG consortium.
Microsoft's products never bother to decode this information into
human-recognizable form. As a result, you see "Unknown Device", or, if you're
lucky, "Ethernet Card" when installing Windows.

There are also a few DOS mode command prompt utilities that do a good job of
identifying vendors, devices and chips. They are mostly shareware or freeware,
and the writers don't keep them up to date.

It is easier for me to simply open up the chassis of a computer and read the
information on the chips. Been doing this for many years after doing a lot of
contract lab and product evaluation work back in the days when computer
magazines had telephone book thickness... Ben Myers

On Sat, 22 May 2004 13:54:44 -0500, "craigm" <> wrote:

>
><ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers)> wrote in message
>news:...
>>
>> The fact remains that the best and most accurate way to determine the
>> motherboard drivers is the hard way, by reading the chip identification
>info
>> directly from the chips themselves. I have to do this all the time,
>servicing
>> lots of wayward and broken down computers that show up here. It's no fun,
>but
>> it works... Ben Myers
>>
>>
>
>Ben,
>Have you ever tried booting a live Linux CD to see what hardware is present?
>Just let Linux find all the devices it can. It may not work for all cards,
>but most of the basic motherboard components will probably be detected.
>
>craigm
>
>

ben_myers_spam_me_not wrote:
[deleted]
> Next, why is it that one cannot find this driver page by clicking on
> the support/drivers icon on the HP home page and drilling down by
> model?

I don't know. Because you (apparently) don't know how to use a web
site?

*I* *can* "find this driver page by clicking on the support/drivers
icon on the HP home page and drilling down by model" and *very easily*:

Method 1, browse then search:

- Main page (<http://www.hp.com/>) -> Support & Drivers -> * Download
drivers and software for product: VLi8 (brings you to the "technical
support -HP Vectra VLi8" page, see my OP).

Method 2, only browsing:

- Main page (<http://www.hp.com/>) -> Support & Drivers -> Desktops &
Workstations -> Desktop PCs -> HP Vectra PCs -> HP Vectra VL Series ->
HP Vectra VLi8 (brings you to the same "technical support -HP Vectra
VLi8" page, see my OP).

Like I said before:

Now, that wasn't too hard, now was it?

> I'll play my broken record again and claim that the HP web site is
> damned hard to navigate if and when the drivers really are there.

Which will make you look quite silly, see above.

> And I'll claim once again that HP's driver support is incomplete.

Which you support by exactly which evidence? (I.e. be *specific*.)

> I play this broken record regularly in the futile hope that some major
> decision maker at HP reads these threads and may actually make a
> decision to bring up the level of HP's web site to that of its
> competition, namely Gateway-eMachines, Dell and IBM. Improving the
> web site means both making it easier to use and putting more drivers
> out there.

Well, I'm sure that HP appreciates constructive and substantiated
feedback. Perhaps you should try to give some of that instead of playing
your broken broken record.

[deleted]