What is all this stuff on the epox cd? (along with other misc ?'s)

[brett1]

I just got done building my new system (see bottom sig) with an Epox 8K7A. I have a bunch of questions about these specialized drivers that come on the cd, so I'll just list them all here:

What do the VIA 4-in-1 drivers do, and should I install them?
What is the USB filter driver for?
What is the AMD miniport driver for?
Should I install the VIA bus master PCI IDE driver?
What is the HPT370(A) driver for? If it's for raid, then I don't need it because I don't have raid.
What is the AGP VGART driver for, and should I have installed it?
What does Side-band do, and how do I enable it?
Of the drivers listed that I do need to install, where would I get the latest versions of these, and is the BIOS on the Epox site the latest one?

I'm using WinME

It would have been a helluvalot better if Epox would have covered these thing in the manual instead of sticking them on a cd and not explain anything about what they do.

 

[brett1]

bump

 

[brett1]

anyone? i really need help.

 

[brett1]

bump AGAIN

 

[brett1]

C'mon, SOMEONE?

 

[Soccerman]

I can't believe no-one has replied yet..

Via 4-in-1 drivers are the drivers that you should install if you have a totally Via chipset. the Epox 8K7A has a combination AMD and Via chipset.

you need to install PART of the 4 in 1 drivers. don't install the AGP, but you should install the IDE, USB, and I THINK the IRQ stuff.

then install the USB filter driver, as well as the AMD miniport AGP driver (AGP port is handled by the AMD component of the chipset).

the HPT370(A) driver is for boards that have an extra IDE controller onboard (On a seperate chip). if you have the Epox 8K7A+ you need to install that.

remember, don't install any VIA drivers that have to do with AGP.

the rest as far as I know of should be Via drivers.

 

[brett1]

thanks man. I installed the AMD AGP miniport driver, the audio driver (just for the time being) and the GART driver for my asus v8200 geforce 3 (even though don't know whether or not I'm supposed to install the GART driver) btw, how do I enable side band?

 

[Soccerman]

I'm not sure, but here's a bump for you anyway!

 

[Sugadaddy]

the via driver installer should detect and install what's needed. As for sideband, if it's disabled, just leave it like that. It doesn't even give a 1% performance increase, and usually just causes instability.