G6 Pentium II Upgrade Problem - Old School - Longish

I posted this in a couple other groups and got some advise to come here
to the all-knowing Gateway group.

I have an old Gateway G-6 233 system which I am making modest upgrades
on. System is a P2 233-mhz with Intel AL440LX mobo. OS is Win95/ME
Upgrade. I'm setting this machine up for my 4-year old to play games
on. Some of his games require a minimum 300-mhz processor hence the
processor upgrade below. Here's what I have done so far:

1) Upgraded Gateway BIOS from 4A4LL0X0.15A.0013.P10 to most current
Gateway BIOS available (0023.P18).
2) Upgraded SDRAM to 192-mb from original 64-mb. Windows recognized the
additional memory.
3) Upgraded slot 1 P2 processor from P2 233-mhz to a P2 300-mhz. The
original P2 233 processor has a spec #SL2HD (Stepping code C1, non-ECC
memory) and the new P2 300 has a spec #SL28R (Stepping code C0, ECC
memory).

Step 3 is where I ran into a problem. After installing the new 300-mhz
processor, I changed the J8B2 jumper to the 2/3 pin position to get
into the configure mode. Powered up, setup executed after the POST run,
I changed the processor speed from 233 to 300, exited the setup, and
saved the changes. I powered down as instructed, changed the jumper
back to the 1/2 pin position and rebooted. During the boot, the BIOS
displayed my chip speed as 133-mhz. I repeated the procedure several
times, but each time the 133-mhz processor speed was displayed during
boot. I also tried setting the speed to 266-mhz using this procedure
and 133-mhz was again displayed.

I then replaced the new P2 with the original 233-mhz P2 and tried
different speed settings using the configure procedure. All settings
for the original processor resulted in the 133-mhz displayed during
boot EXCEPT the 233-mhz setting resulted in 233-mhz displayed. The
Intel motherboard manual states this board supports all P2 processors
in frequencies of 233, 266, 300, and 333. These four frequency options
are also available when in the configure mode.

I ran a system check with wcpuid.exe to see if the BIOS displayed speed
was incorrect. Sure enough, somehow the new processor speed was 133-mhz
with a multiplier of 5.5 and a bus speed of 24.3. How could this reduce
my effective FSB speed? From what I have read this processor (P2 300)
has a locked (not able to change in configure mode) multiplier of 4.5
for use in a 66-mhz system. When I plugged in the old processor and
configured for 233-mhz wcpuid.exe showed a processor speed of 233-mhz
(multiplier of 3.5 with 66-mhz bus speed).

What gives? Did I do something wrong in my procedure, or do stepping
codes or ECC memory types need to be the same when upgrading
processors? Is the proprietary Gateway supplied BIOS locking me out of
the upgrade - should I try using the latest Intel supplied BIOS
86A.0031.P14 via the BIOS recovery mode? Any other thoughts? Thanks.

 

Something is very much wrong with the jumper that controls system configuration
and/or BIOS recovery. Check the settings again. The system still seems to be
"stuck" in configuration mode. Download Intel's manual for the AL440LX for
exact information, more info than you'll ever really need. Go to www.intel.com

.... Ben Myers

 

I've been using the Intel al440lx manual to make the changes. I think
the modes are working ok. Configure mode gets me into the processor
speed / password setup screen in the BIOS. After making changes in
configure mode, shutting down, changing to Normal mode the system boots
ok.

 

I upgraded a 266 to a 333 a couple years ago and didn't even go through
configure mode. It just recognized the new processor and speed right
away. That was with the latest BIOS.

 

I assume that was with the same board. Were you using the latest
Gateway supplied BIOS or another?

[I upgraded a 266 to a 333 a couple years ago and didn't even go
through
configure mode. It just recognized the new processor and speed right
away. That was with the latest BIOS.]

 

Yes it was with the same board, with the latest BIOS.

 

If you must upgrade such an old machine, be aware that these old Gateway
440LX motherboards also do well with 66 MHz bus speed Celerons up to 500
MHz if you use a slot to socket adapter.

 

I thought about it. You have probably run across Bill Selk's page on
upgrading this board with a couple of the slocket products out there.
Interesting stuff. I was just doing this on the cheap - I got used
upgrades (hdd, cpu, and memory) for the G6 off ebay for $40 total. For
the price of an LX-mobo slocket & cpu upgrade you can get an old GW P3
(600 ~ 800mhz) machine off ebay which is probably more bang for the
upgrade $ considering the faster FSB and ATA transfer rates with the
newer mobos.

Anyway, I tried a couple other ideas but still could not get the new
cpu recognized. I'm giving up - my 4-year old will just have to play
Tonka Town with some slight frame rate issues. Thanks to all for the
help.

Cheers.

 

I have a genuine Intel AL440LX board you can have. There is no setup to go
through on it, it was last used with a 300MHZ PII.

Email if you want it.

 

I have a genuine Intel AL440LX board you can have. There is no setup to go
through on it, it was last used with a 300MHZ PII.

Email if you want it.

 

I have a genuine Intel AL440LX board you can have. There is no setup to go
through on it, it was last used with a 300MHZ PII.

Email if you want it.