SFF S370 Motherboard + WORKING!! IR Keyboard $30 @ Package2You

[tedinde1]

.

I ordered their asus 1ghz max asus/tnt2 CUA board also, im much happier with it. But i got the sff board working in a small IBM client case, In with my TV, below my VCR, on my network. So im up and running.

Good luck to the rest of you.

 

[fxsts]

Has anyone gotten the IrDA keyboard to work?

 

[kami333]

tedinde1: can you comment on the s-video quality?

 

[sativen]

Well, I just sent a long email to Package2You with links to pictures of what I was doing, to ensure that we are both on the same page. Yesterday I recieved the same sketch that is already up. I asked what OS they were using, and if there were drivers or something else we needed to be doing to get this to work. I will let you guys know any reply I get.

Also, someone said they had the TV out working. How did you get it working in Windows?? I can get an S-Video signal in the bootup, but once it hits Windows, I get no signal. I'm using Win2K Pro, SP3 if this makes any difference, and I d/l the latest driver from ECS.

 

[fxsts]

Originally posted by: sativen
Well, I just sent a long email to Package2You with links to pictures of what I was doing, to ensure that we are both on the same page. Yesterday I recieved the same sketch that is already up. I asked what OS they were using, and if there were drivers or something else we needed to be doing to get this to work. I will let you guys know any reply I get.

Also, someone said they had the TV out working. How did you get it working in Windows?? I can get an S-Video signal in the bootup, but once it hits Windows, I get no signal. I'm using Win2K Pro, SP3 if this makes any difference, and I d/l the latest driver from ECS.

Thank you for your effort trying to get more info on IrDA from Package2you.

Regarding TV out, I never used S-video, but composit-out worked w/ Windows XP when I chose 640 x 480 resolution. You need to choose it Control Panel => Display => Settings => Advanced => Adaptor => List All Modes instead of just going to Display => Settings and change the Screen Area in which you can not find resolutions lower than 800 x 600 in WinXP. However, still, the 640 x 480 resolution does not quite fit the normal TV resolution. I could not see the Task Bar on TV.

I did some looking around and found that the older driver used to have TV out setting and you could change the screen size through the driver on Windows so that you could make it fit to TV. However, the new Windows XP driver is missing the feature. I did not try it with Win 2k, but it could be the same. I was going try it with Windows 98 or ME, but I have been busy with work lately.

 

[sativen]

Here's the latest and greatest from Package2You, my original message at the end:


Good afternoon...

I had another customer who couldn't get this connector installed correctly. After he plugged the connector in just like you and I have, it worked. He was using WinXP, though. Also, the connector ribbon cable does not match up with the holes in the connector, but, the wires inside do match the holes correctly. Please let me know if any of this helps. Thanks!

Regards,

Wayne

support@package2you.com
(903)-962-7504

NOTE -- In *ALL* replies, please include *ALL* previous email
messages -- if these are not included, we will not be able to
properly help you; also please do not include any
attachments as they are automatically deleted.

-----Original Message-----
From: Steven [mailto:llewelly[AT]purdue[DOT]edu]
Sent: Tuesday, November 19, 2002 11:27 AM
To: support@package2you.com
Subject: RE: Question #P2U-34669


Jeff or Wayne,

I really think that I am hooking this up correctly, I have built many a system over the years, and this is the hardest thing I have ever come across to get working.
This is pin 1 on the connector: http://expert.cc.purdue.edu/~llewelly/pic/irda/irda1.jpg , correct ? (Pin 1 labeled with the green line in all these pics.)

This is how I am connecting it to the board, pin 1 of the ribbon cable to pin 1 of the motherboard IR connector:
http://expert.cc.purdue.edu/~llewelly/pic/irda/irda2.jpg
http://expert.cc.purdue.edu/~llewelly/pic/irda/irda3.jpg
It isn't plugged on top on the jumpers. I don't know how this would work correctly, since only two of the pins will actually connect with the transceiver. (Two of them will be hitting a point in the plug that has no ribbon cable to it.) As far as I can tell, we are going to need at least three pins (power, ground, and a signal).

Is this the same receiver you are using?
http://expert.cc.purdue.edu/~llewelly/pic/irda/irda4.jpg

Also, what OS are you using? I am using Win2K Pro, (tried w/ SP1, and then with SP3) and it doesn't even recognize the IR on board? Am I doing something wrong here ? Are there drivers I need?

I don't mean this email to sound arrogant or smart-assy in any way, I just want to be able to use the IR keyboard, or this board really does me no good.
I originally heard about board on this newsgroup: http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=40&threadid=903604 where there has been much discussion about the boards, but no one has been able to get the IR to work. If one of us can get it working, it will be posted to the board for everyone to see.

Thank you for your time,
Steven

 

[alm99]

Originally posted by: sativen
Here's the latest and greatest from Package2You, my original message at the end:


Good afternoon...

I had another customer who couldn't get this connector installed correctly. After he plugged the connector in just like you and I have, it worked. He was using WinXP, though. Also, the connector ribbon cable does not match up with the holes in the connector, but, the wires inside do match the holes correctly. Please let me know if any of this helps. Thanks!

Regards,

Wayne

support@package2you.com
(903)-962-7504

NOTE -- In *ALL* replies, please include *ALL* previous email
messages -- if these are not included, we will not be able to
properly help you; also please do not include any
attachments as they are automatically deleted.

WTH does this mean??

 

[tedinde1]

The Svideo quality is about as good as you can expect from any say GF2 mx with tv- out. My 9700 pro looks great, but there are a lot of adjustments you can do with it.

At least it boots to the TV when pluged in and not using a monitor.

 

[kami333]

Could you adjust the tv-out resolution with powerstrip?

 

[alm99]

Do you actually NEED a USB keyboard for this? I have yet to set mine up, I am waiting on a ATX extension cable for teh netvista case

 

[lungster]

Just noticed that ECS removed their web page for this motherboard. You can still download the manual and BIOS through the "Download" menu, but the main page with the product description and picture are gone. Weird.

 

[mindless1]

Originally posted by: lungster
Just noticed that ECS removed their web page for this motherboard. You can still download the manual and BIOS through the "Download" menu, but the main page with the product description and picture are gone. Weird.

That is odd. Hmmmmmm......
You can find it for a limited time, complements of Google's cache (gosh i love Google), here:

ECS P6STP-FN Product Page Backup

 

[sativen]

Originally posted by: tedinde1
Im using XP and it had drivers.

I ordered their asus 1ghz max asus/tnt2 CUA board also, im much happier with it. But i got the sff board working in a small IBM client case, In with my TV, below my VCR, on my network. So im up and running.

Good luck to the rest of you.

How in the @#$% did you get this to work??? I loaded XP last night (the OS that I am morally opposed to), and it couldn't find an IR device. So I loaded the driver for a Standard IR through serial (or something like that, not at home right now). Well, it didn't like it. But when I rebooted it said found new device, infrared, and tried to load the drivers, but couldn't find the right ones. What is the driver that XP loaded for you?? (a standard device, or a specific manufacturer), and is there any software you had to load once it found the IR to get the keyboard working?

This is really starting to be a pain. I have the thing plugged in exactly as P2You says, and even loaded XP for the damn thing, but have no luck. I would be a little more confident if more than one person had it working. Maybe I'll take a trip down to Texas over break and tell them to get the thing working for me.

On a positive note, I can get video in XP through S-Video, haven't tried the composite. The video looks ok, nothing spectacular, but I did watch a ....errr.... divx video on my 36" and it looked pretty nice. Will powerstrip adjust the tv-out too, or just the VGA ??

 

[alm99]

I will be hooking mine up this coming weekend. I was going to take apart another computer to use the parts, but I didn't want to go through the hassle. I will be getting my hsf and extension cable friday. I will either put it together that night or saturday and let you know my results.

On another note, my picture of the infared cable looked different from fxsts's. I wonder if they sent two different cables?

Mine:
IRDA Link to MB
IRDA link to MB 2


fxsts pic

 

[rramjet]

Can anyone comment on how quiet the power supply fan is on the IBM NetVista case (from eBay)???

 

[cliftonite]

How good would the sff with a P3 be for running some game servers on my schools LAN. Id just use it to run a dedicated CS server for now and other games as they come along.

 

[lungster]

Originally posted by: mindless1

Originally posted by: lungster
Just noticed that ECS removed their web page for this motherboard. You can still download the manual and BIOS through the "Download" menu, but the main page with the product description and picture are gone. Weird.

That is odd. Hmmmmmm......
You can find it for a limited time, complements of Google's cache (gosh i love Google), here:

ECS P6STP-FN Product Page Backup

Thanks ! I wanted a summary of the product without having to dig in the PDF manuals !

 

[koulouty]

Can anyone look and see if there is a "Boot from USB Devices" option in the BIOS for this board?


EDIT: Well, after checking out the manual, here it seems like USB device booting isn't a option.... I was hoping to boot from an embedded XP image on a compact flash drive.

Has anyone booted from a compact flash -> IDE adapter?

 

[fxsts]

Originally posted by: alm99
I will be hooking mine up this coming weekend. I was going to take apart another computer to use the parts, but I didn't want to go through the hassle. I will be getting my hsf and extension cable friday. I will either put it together that night or saturday and let you know my results.

On another note, my picture of the infared cable looked different from fxsts's. I wonder if they sent two different cables?

Mine:
IRDA Link to MB
IRDA link to MB 2


fxsts pic

The picture I linked was not really the one I got from this deal. Rather I linked it saying mine was something similar to it (I was not home at the time I was posting it). I found the picture while I was searching for some info on on board IrDA connector. Mine is indeed just like yours. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[mindless1]

Received Package2Me today, made a few scans of the bits, note filesize if on dialup connection...

Infrared Receiver (low-res 111K)
Infrared Receiver (hi-res 497K)

Motherboard (hi-res 1696K)
Motherboard (med-res 667K)
Motherboard (low-res 199K)

 

[kami333]

Originally posted by: koulouty
Can anyone look and see if there is a "Boot from USB Devices" option in the BIOS for this board?


EDIT: Well, after checking out the manual, here it seems like USB device booting isn't a option.... I was hoping to boot from an embedded XP image on a compact flash drive.

Has anyone booted from a compact flash -> IDE adapter?

Yup, there are CF -> IDE adapters and you can boot from them. The adapters go for around $20-30, I'll see if I can find my links.

 

[MamBo]

So, anyone got it working ? if so, I have few questions:
1. do systems boots with IR keybord ? (no need for USB keybord for boot first time) ?
2. what OS/drivers are U using ?

 

[Allegro]

fxsts:

I got this MB working under XP, via TV composite @ a max 800x600. Resolution, screen sizing & re-centering and V&H phasing are all controlable through SIS630 Utilities, available from the SIS website here! you should use the "FULL PACKAGE" which is the one with the utilities. Once downloaded, your XP display property dialog box will have an additional SIS tab. Quality is good, 800x600 is nice for DVD, but too small to read in a browser setting even with the largest XP fonts. But then, we should be using some kind of Media Box add-ons for such tasks.

everybody:

Keyboard/mouse... Good luck, I don't have one of those since I got this MB at EBay a while ago. Mine is working fine with a Logitech wireless desktop of course via USB. (Make sure you enable USB keyboard support at BIOS)

Audio... I hooked it up via USB SoundBox (Additional USB port through a cheapo 5v-powered USB hub) the optical connection goes straight to the Yamaha TSS. Quality is excellent!

Somebody asked how noisy was the PS fan in the Netvista case. The PS fan is not noisy at all, I got mine in a Netvista and instead you should concentrate in a quiet heatsink+fan solution. I got mine working with a 900 Celeron, yes it works! The OEM heatsink was too wide for this MB, but if you use something like this (only $3 shipped) or power tool your heatsink to angle its corners you will be set.

Good luck to y'all!

 

[sativen]

I got to playing yesterday (my rommate is going to kill me, we have a big project for school due soon), and I was changing the settings for the IRDA in the BIOS. I couldn't get anything to work, but I don't think I tried all the combinations. I did find some interesting info about an Asus IRM-100 (the picture that fxsts linked to), which sounds like if you can find one for a decent price, might work well. Here is one pagelink1, and here is another link2 saying that this module should work on any motherboard. I've looked on ebay for one, with no luck, and can't seem to find a decent price anywhere on the net that has it in stock.

 

[lungster]

Has anyone tried overclocking on this mobo ? Is there any BIOS support for OC ?