Easy Q's for ABIT gurus -or- adventures of a first-time builder

[Yossarian]

ABIT KT7-RAID
AMD 1 GHz Thunderbird
IBM Deskstar on 1st RAID channel
ASUS 50x CD on IDE Primary Master

Ok I've got the BIOS setup pretty well, HDD formatted, Win 98se installed. I won't belabor my half hour search for the damn shrink wrap that had the authenticity key on it.

1. What's wrong with this picture? ABIT manual talks about running the 4-in-1 update before installing VGA driver. Ok, so I installed version 4.23 from the CD, only the AGP VxD (turbo) and VIA ATAPI updates. The readme says not to do the other 2 if you're using Win98se. All goes well. But when I look on p.A-4 of the manual, bottom left window, I see 4 system device items which I'm guessing is what it's supposed to look like if everything's setup right. The two I don't have are "VIA Tech CPU to AGP Controller" and "VIA Tech Standard CPU to PCI Bridge". What did I do wrong?

2. Is there supposed to be an 800x600 screen resolution available before I install my video card drivers (ASUS V7700)? If so where the devil is the driver for it? My display adapter shows VGA is installed, only 640x480 is avail tho.

3. I wisely downloaded the latest 4-in-1 patch and put it on a floppy. Problem is, my system is a clean slate w/no unzip software. Will it mess up anything if I install this update after loading my video drivers, sound drivers, etc.? Or should I get my cable modem installed and download the patch before messing with more video and sound drivers.

4. Before the Win98se splash screen comes up, it shows Primary Master as my IBM HDD, no other devices on primary or secondary. Any clue why my CD-ROM isn't showing up here?

5. How can I tell if the VIA USB and MS USB patches "took"?

Thanks in advance for any help. I've spent a lot of time researching, but it's a little different when you actually start plugging stuff in and windows are flying everywhere At least I haven't blown anything up yet, CPU is running at a refreshing 29 degrees C.

 

[jaeger66]

Your CDROM isn't showing up because it's not on the Highpoint controller with the IBM. It should show up before the Highpoint BIOS screen appears. As for the 4 in 1's, I'd download the drivers separately from viatech, I've never had the 4 in 1's work quite right. If you install the updates by themselves, it seems to work better. Why does it matter what the standard VGA res is? You won't be looking at it for more than a minute or so.

 

[Pederv]

I've always done VIA's IRQ router at a minimum before loading drivers then the AGP drivers after the video driver installation. Don't worry about the vga resolution before installing the video drivers, the main thing is that you are using the basic vga drivers. If windows see's your cd rom your ok, if it doesn't make sure your bios sees it.

 

[Yossarian]

Really? Are you using Win98SE? The readme for the VIA drivers specifically says not to use the IRQ patch because the OS already implements it. What does this patch actually do, and have you experienced any problems because of it?

Thanks for your responses BTW.