How to obtain drivers -How to install drivers for Biostar NF61s AM2SE motherboard

[sofasurfer]

I built a computer using a Biostar NF61s AM2 SE motherboard. I
purchased this on line and it showed up with NO cd or manual.

I downloaded the drivers with my other pc. However, I can not install
them on the new pc until I get an operating system on it. My WindowsXP
is on my old pc and therefore I can not install the same operating
system on my new pc.

I want to run just Linux anyway so I don't care if I can use xp or
not. But I can not get Linux (Ubuntu) to boot on my new machine and I
assume it has to do with the lack of drivers, although I don't
understand why this would be. It boots up to the splash screen, where
you would enter your username but there it freezes up. Ubuntu has
worked great when dual booted with XP on my old pc. What other reason
would there be that Ubuntu will not boot properly?

So, how can I get the motherboard drivers installed? Or, what the heck
is going on?

 

[DonC]

I built a computer using a Biostar NF61s AM2 SE motherboard. I
purchased this on line and it showed up with NO cd or manual.

I downloaded the drivers with my other pc. However, I can not install
them on the new pc until I get an operating system on it. My WindowsXP
is on my old pc and therefore I can not install the same operating
system on my new pc.

Sure you can. You have 30 days to activate Win XP. And I assume you're
running Linux from a separate boot partition so you'll never be booting XP
again after you get the drivers, etc. installed.

 

[Paul]

I built a computer using a Biostar NF61s AM2 SE motherboard. I
purchased this on line and it showed up with NO cd or manual.

I downloaded the drivers with my other pc. However, I can not install
them on the new pc until I get an operating system on it. My WindowsXP
is on my old pc and therefore I can not install the same operating
system on my new pc.

I want to run just Linux anyway so I don't care if I can use xp or
not. But I can not get Linux (Ubuntu) to boot on my new machine and I
assume it has to do with the lack of drivers, although I don't
understand why this would be. It boots up to the splash screen, where
you would enter your username but there it freezes up. Ubuntu has
worked great when dual booted with XP on my old pc. What other reason
would there be that Ubuntu will not boot properly?

So, how can I get the motherboard drivers installed? Or, what the heck
is going on?

When I looked at the board on Newegg, it has a 6100/405 single chip
for the chipset. The Biostar provided heatsink is tiny. The chipset
could be overheating.

If you look in the BIOS screens, is there a hardware monitor screen
showing temperatures and fan speeds ? Does it list a chipset
temperature ?

Maybe pointing a fan at that tiny heatsink will help.

Also, as part of testing a new computer, you want to test that the
RAM works. A program like memtest86+, which can be loaded on a floppy
or burned to a CDROM, can be used for your first hardware test.
Some Linux distros even offer memtest86+ as a boot time option, so
your Linux disk can do the memory test for you.

http://www.memtest.org/

The Biostar manual lists a "Memory Spec Voltage" set to 1.95V. That
may help with memory that needs a little extra voltage to work well.
The manual does not state whether the value is adjustable.

(The manual I looked at.)
http://www.biostar.com.tw/upload/Manual/NF61S Micro AM2 SE_23_manual.exe

The manual also mentions the BIOS has a hardware monitor screen, and
the memory voltage is supposed to be one of the monitored items. So
you may be able to see what it is getting, via the hardware monitor.

DDR2 uses 1.8V according to the standards. Some memory products may
be specified to operate at 2.0V or 2.2V etc. Which means they may
either require more voltage, for error free operation, or may
allow the usage of more voltage, to get stable operation.

Maybe I missed it, but the manual doesn't show a screen for setting
the memory speed or memory timings (CAS etc). So it may be difficult
to "relax" the timing settings, to improve the operation of a cheap
memory.

Once the memory is doing a few passes of memtest86+, without *any*
reported errors, you can go back to booting Ubuntu.

At that point, I'd be pointing a fan at the 6100/405 heatsink,
to try to keep the chipset cool.

Paul