If you're one of the many that have an Iwill DVD266u-RN motherboard, and have encountered some instabilities with it, here's a couple things you can do to improve it.
First of all, this board has ALWAYS been a bit on the 'quirky' side... Once you find its 'sweet spot', it does make a good server or usable system! The biggest creator of instability I've found on this board is graphics issues. ANY All-in-Wonder (whether it be an ATI Radeon, ATI non-radeon, 3dfx, ETC) card I've ever used always had problems on this board. I've used a Radeon 8500 AIW and a standard Radeon 8500... Strangely, using the non-all in wonder 8500 counterpart had no issues, while the 8500AIW was always experiencing freezes and errors of all kinds.
From all the research I've done, this is caused by the AGP being underpowered for some reason, and the added TV tuner of the all in wonder was enough to cause power shortages, resulting in crashes. Unfortunately, Iwill wouldn't even acknowledge this issue or aid in a home remedy for it. I was a regular in Iwill's forum, and they mysteriously removed it about a month ago... I guess too many compaints...
I've also done a few other mods which helped with stability significantly.
The first was to install a REAL heatsink on the northbridge. The cheesy chrome one is a JOKE!! If you remove it and look at the bottom, it is very poorly machined and the contact surface is VERY rough. Iwill used NO heatsink goop on this, and it made virtually NO contact with the actual chip! Thus when the system was loaded, or had been running for a while, it would crash or become flaky. I replaced the crappy one with a Zalman ZM-NB32J heatsink, which is readily available on Ebay and many other outlets. This heatsink can be installed either by using the included hardware to mount it to the holes next to the chip, or it can be installed using thermal epoxy included. On the DVD266u-RN, there's a capacitor RIGHT NEXT to the northbridge, so using their mounting hardware interferes with this cap. I installed it using the epoxy.
Along with the northbridge heatsink, I noticed that the VRM's were unusally hot! Hot enough that you didn't leave your finger on them very long! The problem those presented is the small space they are crunched into... I chewed on this one for a few days, and then payed my local Radio Shack a visit... I went back to their home-builders' area where they keep their individual components, and saw the PERFECT solution to this problem! This came in the form of small aluminum heatsinks designed for a T-220 transistor package. They fit the small space, PERFECTLY covering all 4 VRM's with NO MODIFICATIONS to the heatsinks or the VRMs!! The Radio Shack part# is 276-1368, and they cost $1.59 (US) either at your local Radio Shack, or Online @ www.radioshack.com. I attached them with the remaining thermal epoxy I had from teh Zalman NB32J heatsink.
These mods took my DVD266u-RN from a flaky piece of sh*t to a very reliable server, which has given me NO troubles since!
Here are a couple of pics of the mods:
http://www.kabalsrealm.com/images/dv...orthbridge.png
http://www.kabalsrealm.com/images/dvdurn/dvdurn.png
UPDATED Info and Pics!
Ok, the pics below show a better view of the heatinks attached to the voltage regs. I hope this answers the requests. Also shows a good use for that almost useless chrome heatsink. It fits perfectly on the Highpoint chip!! The heasink has to be modified a little for that. The ears that attach it to the northbridge need to be snipped off with a pair of side cutters, and then ground flush. A Dremel tool works perfect for this! If you don't want to use this heatsink on the Highpoint chip, it is also acceptable for use on the southbridge chip.
http://www.kabalsrealm.com/images/dvdurn/0141.png
http://www.kabalsrealm.com/images/dvdurn/0143.png
http://www.kabalsrealm.com/images/dvdurn/0145.png
http://www.kabalsrealm.com/images/dvdurn/0147.png
First of all, this board has ALWAYS been a bit on the 'quirky' side... Once you find its 'sweet spot', it does make a good server or usable system! The biggest creator of instability I've found on this board is graphics issues. ANY All-in-Wonder (whether it be an ATI Radeon, ATI non-radeon, 3dfx, ETC) card I've ever used always had problems on this board. I've used a Radeon 8500 AIW and a standard Radeon 8500... Strangely, using the non-all in wonder 8500 counterpart had no issues, while the 8500AIW was always experiencing freezes and errors of all kinds.
From all the research I've done, this is caused by the AGP being underpowered for some reason, and the added TV tuner of the all in wonder was enough to cause power shortages, resulting in crashes. Unfortunately, Iwill wouldn't even acknowledge this issue or aid in a home remedy for it. I was a regular in Iwill's forum, and they mysteriously removed it about a month ago... I guess too many compaints...
I've also done a few other mods which helped with stability significantly.
The first was to install a REAL heatsink on the northbridge. The cheesy chrome one is a JOKE!! If you remove it and look at the bottom, it is very poorly machined and the contact surface is VERY rough. Iwill used NO heatsink goop on this, and it made virtually NO contact with the actual chip! Thus when the system was loaded, or had been running for a while, it would crash or become flaky. I replaced the crappy one with a Zalman ZM-NB32J heatsink, which is readily available on Ebay and many other outlets. This heatsink can be installed either by using the included hardware to mount it to the holes next to the chip, or it can be installed using thermal epoxy included. On the DVD266u-RN, there's a capacitor RIGHT NEXT to the northbridge, so using their mounting hardware interferes with this cap. I installed it using the epoxy.
Along with the northbridge heatsink, I noticed that the VRM's were unusally hot! Hot enough that you didn't leave your finger on them very long! The problem those presented is the small space they are crunched into... I chewed on this one for a few days, and then payed my local Radio Shack a visit... I went back to their home-builders' area where they keep their individual components, and saw the PERFECT solution to this problem! This came in the form of small aluminum heatsinks designed for a T-220 transistor package. They fit the small space, PERFECTLY covering all 4 VRM's with NO MODIFICATIONS to the heatsinks or the VRMs!! The Radio Shack part# is 276-1368, and they cost $1.59 (US) either at your local Radio Shack, or Online @ www.radioshack.com. I attached them with the remaining thermal epoxy I had from teh Zalman NB32J heatsink.
These mods took my DVD266u-RN from a flaky piece of sh*t to a very reliable server, which has given me NO troubles since!
Here are a couple of pics of the mods:
http://www.kabalsrealm.com/images/dv...orthbridge.png
http://www.kabalsrealm.com/images/dvdurn/dvdurn.png
UPDATED Info and Pics!
Ok, the pics below show a better view of the heatinks attached to the voltage regs. I hope this answers the requests. Also shows a good use for that almost useless chrome heatsink. It fits perfectly on the Highpoint chip!! The heasink has to be modified a little for that. The ears that attach it to the northbridge need to be snipped off with a pair of side cutters, and then ground flush. A Dremel tool works perfect for this! If you don't want to use this heatsink on the Highpoint chip, it is also acceptable for use on the southbridge chip.
http://www.kabalsrealm.com/images/dvdurn/0141.png
http://www.kabalsrealm.com/images/dvdurn/0143.png
http://www.kabalsrealm.com/images/dvdurn/0145.png
http://www.kabalsrealm.com/images/dvdurn/0147.png
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