New Asus CUSL2-C MB and new Dumb Questions.

[JJordan]

I received my new motherbaord today and reading the manual, it says that you should only hook up ATA 100 devices on the Primary ATA 100 IDE cable (I am going to be using a 20 gig quantum ata 100 drive as my primary master). I acutally have 5 IDE devices: ata 100 Quantum Drive; ata 33 IBM 10 Gig drive; HP CD-RW Drive; Kenwood 52x CD-ROM; and an internal ZIP drive. My question is can I hook up a second IDE device to the ATA 100 cable as the slave and if so, which one should it be (I know I need another connector for the 5th device which I do not have yet).

Also, what is a CNR device and where do you find them (yes I have read the manual and generally know they are for modem/network connections) -- I do need a network connection and a modem (I have both as PCI devices now). Should I be getting something that plugs into the CNR slot instead ? If so, what and where ?

Nice that the MB came with 4 USB connectors (none for the front of the computer I guess-- The extra two fit into an empty slot in the back, but the card and cable came with it). Maybe I could modify the card and screw it to the front of the case after cutting a hole ?

I sure hope after all this my P3 700 will run at 933 (it needs some voltage UPwards adjustment just to boot -- How high can I go safely on voltage ??? -- what cooler should I get for it?

Okay, enough already . Feel free to answer any or all of these (or none). Thanks.

 

[JWMiddleton]

Hi JJordan! Gosh where do I start?



<< ...says that you should only hook up ATA 100 devices on the Primary ATA 100 IDE cable >>



You should not mix other non-ATA 100 devices with the ATA 100 device, which you would want as your primary device. If you do, then they will both be limited by the capability of the other device. Guess you will need to connect two devices to an add-in IDE controller.



<< What is a CNR device and where do you find them >>



You answered your own question as to what it is (modem/network connections). This option is provided for a dealer who wants to provide a cheap system. If you already have PCI cards that serve those function, then use them. They should perform better. I've never seen the ASUS module for sale.



<< ...4 USB connectors...Maybe I could modify the card and screw it to the front of the case after cutting a hole ? >>



Asus has a very nice option that fits into a drive bay and provides front access to USB ports. Plus, it has Temp info. I've seen them at computer shows for about $25.



<< I sure hope after all this my P3 700 will run at 933 (it needs some voltage UPwards adjustment just to boot -- How high can I go safely on voltage ??? -- what cooler should I get for it? >>



I have an Asus CUSL2 with a PIII-700e (cB0 stepping) running at 945 MHz. It runs great! I had a Golden Orb cooler, but replaced it with a Alpha. Didn't have to, but had the opportunity to buy one. The Gorb should be fine. In either case you need a well-ventilated case!! I did increase the voltage, but don't remember how much. You can take it up 10% if needed without worrying, but I don't know what the limit would be. Sorry.

Hope you enjoy the system!!

 

[rkoenn]

I have the same board and have a IBM ATA 100 HDD on the primary port along with a Zip 250. I am running Win2K and when looking at the IDE interface settings in the hardward app, it shows the HDD running at ATA 100 mode even though the Zip is PIO 1 or lower. Don't know how Win9X would handle this. I have heard about two drives on the same cable running at the lowert common denominator but don't think it is true anymore.

Also, you cannot hook more than two devices to each port. If you want to add a fifth device you will have to get a PCI IDE controller card which will actually allow you to have 4 more devices, 8 total. It will require an IRQ though.

Finally, in an earlier post I have mentioned a few quirks I have experienced with my board. Some quirks are applicable to certain versions of the BIOS as well. I have had some difficulty overclocking my P3-866 and also problems with the board running memory at the higher speeds even though I have PC133 memory and run with conservative settings. With the Rev 003 BIOS I can get the memory to run fine and up above 900. With the recent but not latest beta BIOS, I could not get the same memory to run even at its' rated 133 MHz. Had to back down to memory speed of 100 or the system would hang during BIOS checks. Good luck.

 

[percboy]

Have this board also, my concerns are the strange cold boot problem I haven`t figured out. I`m using bios 1003 and if I boot up &quot;cold&quot; this thing will not let me boot my celeron to 100 FSB . If I boot to 66 and load windows,I can then restart , go to bios and boot at 100 FSB and everything`s great, until I shutdown for more 30-40 minutes, then same problems again . Running 1.8v on my celeron and is rock solid when I finally get to boot at 100 , anyone know whats going on here? Thanks.

 

[rkoenn]

I posted a few posts back that I just discovered today that the Asus site in Germany has a brand new beta BIOS for the CUSL2 series. As I stated, I cannot even run PC133 memory at 133 successfully with the previous Beta so am going to give this a try tomorrow. This board is fairly good overall but until they get a really good BIOS coded, it does have its' little problems.