I'm sure this has been discussed before but for those that aren't aware, I
bought a mobo and Sempron processor. Doesn't boot. A quick visit to the
Asus website explains that I need a BIOS upgrade for the mobo to
support/boot with the Sempron.
Fortunately I have an Athlon XP which I can fit temporarily to achieve the
bios upgrade, but if I didn't I'd be a bit stuffed. Just something to
consider before you purchase a Sempron, now that middle XP chips are
becoming harder to find.

Paul H wrote:
>
> I'm sure this has been discussed before but for those that aren't aware, I
> bought a mobo and Sempron processor. Doesn't boot. A quick visit to the
> Asus website explains that I need a BIOS upgrade for the mobo to
> support/boot with the Sempron.
> Fortunately I have an Athlon XP which I can fit temporarily to achieve the
> bios upgrade, but if I didn't I'd be a bit stuffed. Just something to
> consider before you purchase a Sempron, now that middle XP chips are
> becoming harder to find.

Did the motherboard spec include the Sempron?

no but not many do - and regardless you can't buy XPs less than 3000 now
anyway, only Semprons are available. Luckily it does support it, but how
you're supposed to achieve a BIOS upgrade if you only have the Sempron
available I don't know. Lucky I have so many PCs in the house and could
borrow one. It's up & running with the Sempron now, having done a BIOS
update with a borrowed 2.2 XP

You should be able to send the mobo to the manufacturers support dept
for them to change the bios.

Paul H wrote:
> no but not many do - and regardless you can't buy XPs less than 3000 now
> anyway, only Semprons are available. Luckily it does support it, but how
> you're supposed to achieve a BIOS upgrade if you only have the Sempron
> available I don't know. Lucky I have so many PCs in the house and could
> borrow one. It's up & running with the Sempron now, having done a BIOS
> update with a borrowed 2.2 XP
>
>

Paul H wrote:
>
> no but not many do - and regardless you can't buy XPs less than 3000 now
> anyway, only Semprons are available. Luckily it does support it, but how
> you're supposed to achieve a BIOS upgrade if you only have the Sempron
> available I don't know. Lucky I have so many PCs in the house and could
> borrow one. It's up & running with the Sempron now, having done a BIOS
> update with a borrowed 2.2 XP

I looked it up at the ASROCK web site, all their current socket A
motherboards support Sempron. Whether those are the same as you get in
the shops is another question, but I would certainly look at the package.
If it supports Sempron, I'm sure that will be written quite prominently
on the box.

BIOS upgrade is a possibility, but IMO it's a messy way to start your
project. It is easy enough if it works. I have a Gigabyte motherboard for
P4. Tried BIOS upgrade just to get the most recent BIOS, it failed halfway
through installation. Luckily I had saved the old BIOS and could go back.