Jetway V266B worth the recap?

[pentium]

I need to seriously look into a new system to run linux on now that I have managed to get Steam to run on Ubuntu.
The first thing I pulled from the pile was a Jetway V266B. First off, the caps suck.
Only three brands of caps, Evercon, GSC and OST. To make it a little less appealing, both the north and south chipsets are VIA however it will happily support my Athlon 2000+ (at a speed of 1.66Ghz) AND it also permits you to use either Sdram or DDR ram and supports up to a whopping 2Gb of memory!

Now for the problems.
If I insert a registered DDR stick it will beep a memory error (go figure, nothing wants to use that crap) but if you try to use Sdram the system is silent (no beeps or POST) when you turn it on. Looking at haw badly built this board is and adding into consideration that it will be used on a Linux system, is it worth recapping it? This is the last board I own that has a speed faster than 233Mhz and I won't be able to get more boards until the scrap pile at the landfill thaws out a bit more.

[pentium]

Re: Jetway V266B worth the recap?

Here are photos. I forgot to post them earlier.

[stevo1210]

Re: Jetway V266B worth the recap?

I have the same motherboard and I'd have to agree with you that some features of this board are badly designed. Have a look at the USB header.... no standard bracket connector will fit....

I think you may have to check what BOM version your board is.... some BOM revisions does not support certain Athlon CPUs.

You can have a look here to find the BOM version: https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=3861

[pentium]

Re: Jetway V266B worth the recap?

Speaking of the back plate, It's the exact same one in my Dimension 4100. It's entirely possible that it would fit which would be really cool since I don't have any spare ATX cases right now.

[zandrax]

Re: Jetway V266B worth the recap?

It may be worth unless you can get a working board for a few bucks.
A friend of mine had a same looking board (maybe a rebranded Jetway, I don't remember): he replaced it with a brand new Asrock K7S41GX, the only board he could find in a few days. Price around 45 euro, or $ 60.

Zandrax

[pentium]

Re: Jetway V266B worth the recap?

I don't foresee any better motherboards becoming available for at least a few months and that is assuming I can find something good at the landfill. I am still wondering where I put that darn 2.4Ghz Celeron D board.

[zandrax]

Re: Jetway V266B worth the recap?

I am still wondering where I put that darn 2.4Ghz Celeron D board.

Inside your toaster: P4's run really hot, so your toasts will smell fragrant and tasty

By Alternative Use: 'cause your pc isn't meant to catch only viruses.

Zandrax

[pentium]

Re: Jetway V266B worth the recap?

Anyways, so is this board really worth a recap or should I just give it a toss and hope something better comes along?

a) Yes, recap it and use it.

b) No, find and use something else.

[gonzo0815]

Re: Jetway V266B worth the recap?

I am not convinced, that recapping may solve the problem this board has. So i would test it by resetting CMOS by jumper, may be you can solder just a few caps over the most bad ones to try it out (ghetto style recap)
If you can not manage it to boot it up properly, toss it.
Otherwise it should be a fairly stable Linux platform, kt266 should be ok especially when recaped.

[pentium]

Re: Jetway V266B worth the recap?

I reset the CMOS and tried again with a stick of PC133 Sdram and we got a post!
It can see the processor as an Athlon 2000+ (at 1.66Ghz) and I didn't have any lockups in the bios.
One thing I did note was the CPU warmed up pretty fast and the CAPS and the FET's started to get pretty warm as well.

[shadow]

Re: Jetway V266B worth the recap?

I am running an Athlon 2000+ at the moment on my current PC and I can tell you that Athlon CPU's at that time were hot. Very hot! If you are using the standard AMD heatsink with fan, then expect it to heat up quite a bit.

Here in Australia during the summer months, my PC used to reboot from overheating when the temperature was around 35 degrees Celsius (as in the weather) when I was using the standard AMD heatsink. Of course once I moved on to an after market cooler, it all went away.

[pentium]

Re: Jetway V266B worth the recap?

I think I am using the old heatsink but the fan is completely new. (see the photos)
If it is going into the old Dimension I will be blessed with a rear fan and direction shroud that fits over the heatsink PERFECTLY!
Speaking of that, I did a test fit and I'm surprised that this board is fitting so well. Everything lines up and aside from a few adjustments to make the front panel work, all I need to do is swap out the PSU and knock out the second serial port on the rear plate and we are ready to go (after a recap of course).
I have never seen such a hardware compatible dell. It's creepy.

[zandrax]

Re: Jetway V266B worth the recap?

Check the heat sink: the cpu side may be too rough, as it was quite common for stock or low end products. You may drop a 1-3 °C at load by lapping it; good quality termal compound helps a lot too: it helped on my dual Pentium 3, it should do more for your Athlon.
BTW, your motherboard isn't really stable unless you fully recap it.

Zandrax

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: Jetway V266B worth the recap?

If you can complete a Windows installation, get and run Prime95!

That's a tough test. Prime95 can fail even when the PC looks OK.

[pentium]

Re: Jetway V266B worth the recap?

I don't think I'll be doing this soon.
My job at the pub went up in flames.
Now I got to save all the money I can until I find a new job.

[zandrax]

Re: Jetway V266B worth the recap?

I don't think I'll be doing this soon.
My job at the pub went up in flames.
Now I got to save all the money I can until I find a new job.

Sorry to read that, pentium.
I hope you'll find soon a job.

Zandrax

[krcko]

Re: Jetway V266B worth the recap?

I don't think I'll be doing this soon.
My job at the pub went up in flames.
Now I got to save all the money I can until I find a new job.

aargh .... hope you didnt forget a kitchen mop inside a toaster

anyway i read this 'cause a board. that's an old althlon mobo isn't it. but capacitors seems clean (not leaked and very shiny afaict). how old is that system what uP is in it tbird/palomino, and is that an old volcano 6 on the uP?

well i'd try for first to clean up the uP and socket and put the new thermal grease on it (nothing fancy) and if you have some hotty beneath that cooler maybe to go for another one (but only after you resolve that sys is ok) something with copper pad or maybe just some more powerful fan @2,5-3krpms.

[krcko]

Re: Jetway V266B worth the recap?

and i know that you can go for x2 or celeron e1xxx and only spending as little bucks you'd spent on repairing/upgrading the old sys, and have new sys for only 240$ (x2 4400 + ga-ma69g-s3h onb graphics $98.46 + at least 2GB ddr2-800) well i see you have some fancy stuff there (x2 4200 65nm 79.73CAD, OCZ Gold XTC PC2-6400 2GB 62.44CAD) ... yes and the new psu definitely .... only bad thing is that i cant see there's real ADO4200DOBOX on official site just DDBOX so maybe you can buy it and reclaim money if that ain't "the real" DO and buy 4800DOBOX for 108$. and better way to go is Mushkin HP PC2-6400 for 50CAD same price as the somewhat weird but good patriot PDC22G6400LLK