A7A266 and Ali M1647 Updates?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Neil Turkenkopf
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Neil Turkenkopf

Hi folks!

I'm still running my original A7A266 (1.2 GHz, XP Pro, 1GB Crucial DDR) and
am happy to say with no problems. After reading several posts here
recently, I've learned that this mobo has the Ali M1647 chipset, and I've
never updated the drivers. Although I'm almost ashamed to admit it, I really
don't understand what the update process will actually accomplish! <g>

Even though I'm usually in the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" camp, I'd
like to take advantage of any improvements here - if I just understood it
all a little better. There are two separate Driver Update downloads from
Ali: "AGP Utility" and "Integrated", but I really don't understand what
they'll do for me or even which one to do first! I couldn't find any answers
in their FAQ's, so I'd appreciate *any* advice and/or comments from anyone
here.

Thanks in advance!
 
Neil Turkenkopf said:
Hi folks!

I'm still running my original A7A266 (1.2 GHz, XP Pro, 1GB Crucial DDR) and
am happy to say with no problems. After reading several posts here
recently, I've learned that this mobo has the Ali M1647 chipset, and I've
never updated the drivers. Although I'm almost ashamed to admit it, I really
don't understand what the update process will actually accomplish! <g>

Even though I'm usually in the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" camp, I'd
like to take advantage of any improvements here - if I just understood it
all a little better. There are two separate Driver Update downloads from
Ali: "AGP Utility" and "Integrated", but I really don't understand what
they'll do for me or even which one to do first! I couldn't find any answers
in their FAQ's, so I'd appreciate *any* advice and/or comments from anyone
here.

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

There are two components to the chipset drivers - AGP and UDMA/disk caching.
If the disk caching isn't working then the thing runs like a dead dog. Note
that these drivers only work in Windows not at the DOS level. Linux, I don't
know. If you have WinXP then the drivers are included in the XP distribution
and you don't need to do anything. The A7A is old enough for XP to most
likely have the latest. Updates tend to fix problems with the AGP port and
certain graphics cards, not performance.

That's all I know.

Billh
 
Neil said:
Even though I'm usually in the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" camp, I'd
like to take advantage of any improvements here
Click to expand...

If your system runs stable, and you don't have any performance problems
(ie all drives running in DMA mode, and your vid-card's performance is
on par) then I'd say it ain't broke, and the only fix you will get is
one you get in - meaning it can only cause trouble. I've done
mobo-driver updates on this A7A that screwed up my IDE, which were only
solved by reinstalling windows from scratch.

Best leave it alone if all works as it should. Later drivers add support
for new hardware - which I'm guessing you didn't buy recently, or to
provide bugfixes for bugs I'm also guessing you don't have.
 
If you have WinXP then the drivers are included in the XP distribution
and you don't need to do anything.
Click to expand...

The latest version of the integrated drivers (v2.05) includes a
mini-IDE drivers that will give a noticeable boost in disk
performance...well worth applying.

Cheers,

Guy

** I may not be perfect, but I'm
** English, and that's the next best thing!
 
The integrated 2.05 driver will add Windows XP support for Mode 6 (ATA133)
hard drives. You need to have the latest BIOS installed for it to work.

Be careful though, some users have reported that you can screw up the system
if the drivers aren't installed correctly (uninstall the older drivers
first). For me, though, it worked fine and was a good improvement.

Keithm
 
Thanks Billh!
Think I'm gonna let things stay as they are.
--
Neil ¦¬D


Neil Turkenkopf said:
Hi folks!

I'm still running my original A7A266 (1.2 GHz, XP Pro, 1GB Crucial DDR) and
am happy to say with no problems. After reading several posts here
recently, I've learned that this mobo has the Ali M1647 chipset, and I've
never updated the drivers. Although I'm almost ashamed to admit it, I really
don't understand what the update process will actually accomplish! <g>

Even though I'm usually in the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" camp, I'd
like to take advantage of any improvements here - if I just understood it
all a little better. There are two separate Driver Update downloads from
Ali: "AGP Utility" and "Integrated", but I really don't understand what
they'll do for me or even which one to do first! I couldn't find any answers
in their FAQ's, so I'd appreciate *any* advice and/or comments from anyone
here.

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

There are two components to the chipset drivers - AGP and UDMA/disk caching.
If the disk caching isn't working then the thing runs like a dead dog. Note
that these drivers only work in Windows not at the DOS level. Linux, I don't
know. If you have WinXP then the drivers are included in the XP distribution
and you don't need to do anything. The A7A is old enough for XP to most
likely have the latest. Updates tend to fix problems with the AGP port and
certain graphics cards, not performance.

That's all I know.

Billh
 
Thanks RJT!
That's just what I needed to hear.

--
Neil ¦¬D



Neil said:
Even though I'm usually in the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" camp, I'd
like to take advantage of any improvements here
Click to expand...

If your system runs stable, and you don't have any performance problems
(ie all drives running in DMA mode, and your vid-card's performance is
on par) then I'd say it ain't broke, and the only fix you will get is
one you get in - meaning it can only cause trouble. I've done
mobo-driver updates on this A7A that screwed up my IDE, which were only
solved by reinstalling windows from scratch.

Best leave it alone if all works as it should. Later drivers add support
for new hardware - which I'm guessing you didn't buy recently, or to
provide bugfixes for bugs I'm also guessing you don't have.
 
Thanks Guy!
I think I'll keep things as they are for a while.

--
Neil ¦¬D

If you have WinXP then the drivers are included in the XP distribution
and you don't need to do anything.
Click to expand...

The latest version of the integrated drivers (v2.05) includes a
mini-IDE drivers that will give a noticeable boost in disk
performance...well worth applying.

Cheers,

Guy

** I may not be perfect, but I'm
** English, and that's the next best thing!
 
Thanks Keithm!
Looks like I'm gonna keep things the way they are for now.

I appreciate all of you who took the time to reply!

--
Neil ¦¬D

The integrated 2.05 driver will add Windows XP support for Mode 6 (ATA133)
hard drives. You need to have the latest BIOS installed for it to work.

Be careful though, some users have reported that you can screw up the system
if the drivers aren't installed correctly (uninstall the older drivers
first). For me, though, it worked fine and was a good improvement.

Keithm
 
Neil said:
I appreciate all of you who took the time to reply!
Click to expand...

No problem. By the way, please reply at the bottom of the previous post,
and you don't have to reply to everyone. One post would have done the job :)
 
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