how to tell the motherboard manufacturer in windows 2000

  • Thread starter Thread starter Matt
  • Start date Start date
M

Matt

My machine doesn't have any brand name. The OS is Windows 2000, and I
want to know the motherboard manufacturer of my machine.

In device manager, when I scan for hardware changes, there are two
items marked with "?" under other devices category:

Multimedia Audio Controller
PCI Device

I guess I have sound card installed but need to install audio driver,
is that correct? But I have no idea what audio driver to install. I
tried many searches in the web and downloaded different ones, but still
not working.

any suggestions what can I do now?
Please advise. thanks!!
 
My machine doesn't have any brand name. The OS is Windows 2000, and I
want to know the motherboard manufacturer of my machine.

In device manager, when I scan for hardware changes, there are two
items marked with "?" under other devices category:

Multimedia Audio Controller
PCI Device

I guess I have sound card installed but need to install audio driver,
is that correct? But I have no idea what audio driver to install. I
tried many searches in the web and downloaded different ones, but still
not working.

any suggestions what can I do now?
Please advise. thanks!!
Click to expand...

Take the case off and it will be printed on there the make and model
of motherboard. Or download Everest Home edition instead and it should
tell you everything you need to know about your PC.

http://www.lavalys.com/products.php?lang=en
 
Matt said:
My machine doesn't have any brand name. The OS is Windows 2000, and I
want to know the motherboard manufacturer of my machine.

In device manager, when I scan for hardware changes, there are two
items marked with "?" under other devices category:

Multimedia Audio Controller
PCI Device

I guess I have sound card installed but need to install audio driver,
is that correct? But I have no idea what audio driver to install. I
tried many searches in the web and downloaded different ones, but still
not working.

any suggestions what can I do now?
Please advise. thanks!!
Click to expand...
 
Any of the following programs shall show you what's your motherboard
manufacturer and it's name:
3DMark (any version)
Aida32
Sandra
You'll also get a lot of other information about your computer, so I
recommend you to download at least Aida32. You can find all of these
programs at http://www.download.com
When you find your motherboard name, go to manufacturer's website,
search for it, and you'll get information about integrated sound card.

Also, if there is unknown PCI Device detected, you have a PCI card
which is not installed! I can't imagine how can it be that you don't
know what you have inside your computer! So, open your case and check
for PCI cards!

Regards, Kolja
(e-mail address removed)
http://www.nixart.co.nr
 
You can try going to start\programs\accessories\system tools\system
information

check to see if it tells you:
the system manufacture: ? (your motherboard manufacturer)
and the system model: ? (the model of your motherboard)

So you don't have any sound?
Check in start\control panel\system\device manager and look in: sound...
Any audio devices?

You can always check inside your computer case to see if there is an audio
card taking up space in one of the pci slots in your motherboard.
But make sure you unplug the computer and ground yourself by touching the
metal case of your computer.
 
Also some motherboards have onboard sound sythensis chips -- the cheap
alternative to a sound card. If you are not using this go ahead and
disable this along with a whole host of other motherboard devices
(modem/midi synthesizer/etc.) Only way to tell if you are not using
them is to ensure that you have the equivalent hardware in an ISA or
PCI slot.
 
Watch the BIOS screen. At the bottom is a string of letters and
numbers. Put them into Google, and you will find who builds the
motherboard. Has worked everytime for me.
 
Matt said:
My machine doesn't have any brand name. The OS is Windows 2000, and I
want to know the motherboard manufacturer of my machine.

In device manager, when I scan for hardware changes, there are two
items marked with "?" under other devices category:

Multimedia Audio Controller
PCI Device

I guess I have sound card installed but need to install audio driver,
is that correct? But I have no idea what audio driver to install. I
tried many searches in the web and downloaded different ones, but still
not working.

any suggestions what can I do now?
Please advise. thanks!!
Click to expand...
download program "Everest home edition". it is for free. it will tell
You all about Your hardware and software details.
 
My machine doesn't have any brand name. The OS is Windows 2000, and I
want to know the motherboard manufacturer of my machine.

In device manager, when I scan for hardware changes, there are two
items marked with "?" under other devices category:

Multimedia Audio Controller
PCI Device

I guess I have sound card installed but need to install audio driver,
is that correct? But I have no idea what audio driver to install. I
tried many searches in the web and downloaded different ones, but still
not working.

any suggestions what can I do now?
Please advise. thanks!!
Click to expand...

I don't know how to do the same in Win2K, but in Win9x you can use the
DOS debug command to dump your BIOS. The following dump shows my M571
motherboard's BIOS ID, "51-0421-001437-00101111-071595-M571", and the
version, "Release 04/21/1999S".

====================================================================
debug

-s f000:0000,ffff "AMIBIOS"
F000:F400
F000:F500

-d f000:f400 f5ff

F400 41 4D 49 42 49 4F 53 20-30 36 32 36 30 30 20 20 AMIBIOS 062600
F410 30 37 2F 31 35 2F 39 35-28 43 29 31 39 39 36 20 07/15/95(C)1996
F420 41 6D 65 72 69 63 61 6E-20 4D 65 67 61 74 72 65 American Megatre
F430 6E 64 73 20 49 6E 63 2E-2C 20 41 6C 6C 20 52 69 nds Inc., All Ri
F440 67 68 74 73 20 52 65 73-65 72 76 65 64 00 00 00 ghts Reserved...
F450 28 43 29 31 39 39 36 20-41 6D 65 72 69 63 61 6E (C)1996 American
F460 20 4D 65 67 61 74 72 65-6E 64 73 20 49 6E 63 2E Megatrends Inc.
F470 2C 00 00 00 00 00 00 00-35 31 2D 30 34 32 31 2D ,.......51-0421-
F480 30 30 31 34 33 37 2D 30-30 31 30 31 31 31 31 2D 001437-00101111-
F490 30 37 31 35 39 35 2D 4D-35 37 31 00 00 00 00 00 071595-M571.....
F4A0 30 30 30 2D 30 2D 30 30-30 30 2D 30 30 2D 30 30 000-0-0000-00-00
F4B0 2D 30 30 30 30 2D 30 30-2D 30 30 2D 30 30 30 00 -0000-00-00-000.
F4C0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00-30 30 30 2D 30 2D 30 30 ........000-0-00
F4D0 30 30 2D 30 30 2D 30 30-2D 30 30 30 30 2D 30 30 00-00-00-0000-00
F4E0 2D 30 30 2D 30 30 2D 30-00 00 00 00 5F 54 47 5F -00-00-0...._TG_
F4F0 30 30 37 5F 36 36 5F 4D-35 37 31 00 00 00 00 00 007_66_M571.....
F500 41 4D 49 42 49 4F 53 20-28 43 29 31 39 39 36 20 AMIBIOS (C)1996
F510 41 6D 65 72 69 63 61 6E-20 4D 65 67 61 74 72 65 American Megatre
F520 6E 64 73 20 49 6E 63 2E-2C 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 nds Inc.,
F530 0D 0A 52 65 6C 65 61 73-65 20 30 34 2F 32 31 2F ..Release 04/21/
F540 31 39 39 39 53 20 20 20-20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 1999S

....

-q
====================================================================


- Franc Zabkar
 
I don't know how to do the same in Win2K, but in Win9x you can use the
DOS debug command to dump your BIOS. The following dump shows my M571
motherboard's BIOS ID, "51-0421-001437-00101111-071595-M571", and the
version, "Release 04/21/1999S".

====================================================================
debug
Click to expand...

I just tried from a command prompt in XP and you type debug then you
get - and type D for a dump but it shows nothing about my mb.
 
I just tried from a command prompt in XP and you type debug then you
get - and type D for a dump but it shows nothing about my mb.
Click to expand...

I get the same kind of info for an L7S7A2 board running AMIBIOS.
Perhaps yours is an Award BIOS???

Here is a way to copy your video BIOS (vbios.bin) and motherboard BIOS
(mbios.bin) into files. Note that these files will contain only a
portion of the actual BIOS code in your motherboard's EEPROM, and a
decompressed version at that (because it is shadowed in RAM). The
motherboard BIOS is saved as two chunks which are later merged
(because I'm not a proficient user of debug, so I don't know how to
circumvent the 64KB limit). The "edit" commands allow you to view and
search these files in read-only mode. In my case, vbios.bin contains a
string which identifies the onboard graphics (SiS 5597), and mbios.bin
identifies the M571.


CD %temp%

C:\WIN98SE\TEMP>debug
-n vbios.bin
-m c800:0000 7fff 100
-r cx
CX 0000
:8000
-w
Writing 08000 bytes

-n mbiosa.bin
-m f000:0 feff 100
-r cx
CX 8000
:ff00
-w
Writing 0FF00 bytes

-n mbiosb.bin
-m f000:ff00 ffff 100
-r cx
CX FF00
:100
-w
Writing 00100 bytes
-q

C:\WIN98SE\TEMP>copy /b mbiosa.bin + mbiosb.bin mbios.bin
mbiosa.bin
mbiosb.bin
1 file(s) copied

C:\WIN98SE\TEMP>edit /r /64 vbios.bin
C:\WIN98SE\TEMP>edit /r /64 mbios.bin


- Franc Zabkar
 
I just tried from a command prompt in XP and you type debug then you
get - and type D for a dump but it shows nothing about my mb.
Click to expand...

But did you specify an address range? Note that Frank did a search first
in the BIOS address range and then having got a match on "AMIBIOS", he
dumped the addresses in the correct range.
 
I get the same kind of info for an L7S7A2 board running AMIBIOS.
Perhaps yours is an Award BIOS???
Click to expand...

Yes, Award BIOS.
Here is a way to copy your video BIOS (vbios.bin) and motherboard BIOS
(mbios.bin) into files. Note that these files will contain only a
portion of the actual BIOS code in your motherboard's EEPROM, and a
decompressed version at that (because it is shadowed in RAM). The
motherboard BIOS is saved as two chunks which are later merged
(because I'm not a proficient user of debug, so I don't know how to
circumvent the 64KB limit). The "edit" commands allow you to view and
search these files in read-only mode. In my case, vbios.bin contains a
string which identifies the onboard graphics (SiS 5597), and mbios.bin
identifies the M571.
Click to expand...

Thanks for all that info but I'm too lazy to do that when I can just
run PC Wizard 2004, Sisoft Sandra or Everest and get the mb bios info.
:-)
 
But did you specify an address range? Note that Frank did a search first
in the BIOS address range and then having got a match on "AMIBIOS", he
dumped the addresses in the correct range.
Click to expand...

Um, no, I didn't do that. Oh well, I don't need to anyway as I have
progs that show me all that info.
 
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