Introduction Mega 180 user

Hello everyone,
I recently bought the Mega 180 and stumbled upon this forum. Having read most topics about the Mega 180, I thought registering could be beneficial. I consider myself an advanced user in the Windows environment (including Office and Wireless Networking) although systems can sometimes still surprise me.
I'm still in the process of configuring my Mega 180, but so far so good. I hope the VideoMate option to boot, record TV and shutdown the PC as scheduled will work.
Greetings,
Jadi.

Quote
Originally posted by Jadi
I hope the VideoMate option to boot, record TV and shutdown the PC as scheduled will work.
Greetings,
Jadi.
Jadi---What are you speaking of-----I don't have anything called Video/Mate included with my Mega 180----and while you can schedule recordings----the PC has to be on----there is no way to set a schedule for it to boot up on it's own ----at the correct time----and start recording. Is it some type of additional device??----can you give me a link??
Thanks-----John

Similar Messages

MEGA 180 Users - new nForce drivers available!

version 5.10 of the nForce drivers are available from nvidia
http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp
the audio drivers have had a "fix" it would seem

nForce driver set v5.1 did not make any visible harm to my Mega180.
The strange thing though is that VGA driver version did not change after the installation, and I am now 3 levels behind from what MSI offers via Live Update...

MEGA 180: A story of stupidity mixed up with bad product design

This is more for a word of caution to Mega180 users and future owners.
A bit angry as I managed to burn ( physically ) 2 harddrives because of carefulness about 10 mins.
Spend quite some time looking for a SATA to ATI power converter while looking for a solution to CPU temp problem. Could not find one ( and I don't know if any one does it )
As my old HD did not start the OS on Mega180 for some data transfer I was not able to use my USB external HD. So I decided to connect old HD as slave and do a HD to HD transfer. Here comes the bad design, the HD connection cable specifies a slot for a slave HD however there is only one power connector (ATI) for supported IDE HD. and there is a useless SATA power connector,it is useless as MEGA 180 does not support SATA.
Here comes the stupidity, for a min I came up with the bright idea of using the CD drives power connector ( I now remember that I ruled this option earlier, I wish I remembered it all along) As there is always a current on this cable (when there is a power connection - for the HIFI mode to work ) I guess some static electricity effected my HD. Not having realised the HD is already affected, I swapped the cables as the HD connection cable is not long enough to keep 2 HDs in a steady state.
As a result both my HDs are now not working, when I tried the original master HD I was horrified to see a spark and some fume
I wish I never tried to use my old graphics card - which I wanted only for the DVI support. This led to CPU temperatures of average 70 degree celcius and when I ever I tried to use the PC properly I was had to turn it off due to extreme temperatures over 75 degree celcius.
All I was after is a troublefree smooth working nice looking PC, yet I am stuck now... I am both upset for the data I lost as well as hours I spend in trying to put this thing together. I will decide in the morning to return or keep the product. If I keep it the next challenge will be getting my external HD to run an OS as I need to save up again to buy a new HD, I was hoping my next HD would be a SATA one :(
This is definately a bitter lesson. Such a pity that with just a little more effort MSI could have really improved the profuct most are listed here but I want to summarise:
1. before getting the new product out try fitting a new graphics card and a TV card and operate both for 2 hours... That is if you could fit them both in the first reason why you could not is the cables from power supply is unnecessarily long for supplying power to the board and unsuitably located. the best you could do is place them all infront of the cpu fan.
2. It is really great to have detachable ODD and HD yet Floppy drive ( card reader ) bay is static
3. a better location for CPU or card slots would have contributed to airflow far more.
Better close here... I am still not sure if positives of the product companates all the negatives.

Simply, be aware that the power cable for the CDRom is live most all the time that your backpanel power cord is plugged in. Its for the support of CD/MP3 in HI-Fi mode. If you shut down your system, and not unplug the power, and you try to connect or disconnect anything to the IDE cable, and you are using the power cable for the CD, you can cause static/surging on the component you are hooking up....
If you must hookup an alternate drive [slave] for data dumping/imaging etc. use a Y cable from the HDD power cable. It only activates when the PC power switch is utilized....

Who uses his Mega 180 to record TV programs

Hello there,
I just placed my order for the Mega 180.
One feature that interesses me is the recording capabilities in combination with the MSI TV card.
I read somewhere that you can program the mega 180 to start recording a TV program.
Another feature that interesses me is... can you for example browse images/picture with only connected to a TV screen and not a computer monitor?
Thx,
Koen

Hi Koen,
I too have just ordered the MEGA 180, and received the base unit. According to the users manual the MSI media software will allow you to record TV programs, with the optional TV tuner, time shift, ie buffer record for quick review, and also set scheduled events for recording. Goto the msi.com.tw website and download the manual while you are waiting, and do some interesting reading. I hope to use the unit as a PVR [personal video recorder] just like the new Panasonic Digital Video Recorders can do.
As far as the viewing of pictures, the manual on the Media Software indicates that this is possible using the Full Screen option [ viewable from across the room] to play a slide show [with/out music] play media files, even possibly stream them to another workstation. Proof is in the pudding!
If only 1/2 of the claims work out, I'll be happy.....
Regards.....
Larry

System instability with 3000+ and Mega 180

My systems keep restarting in Windows when I change the FSB clock speed to 166 in the BIOS... I have an Athlon XP Barton 3000+ 333 FSB and a Mega 180 computer with 512 MB ram. I suspect the CPU is not getting enough voltage supplied to it, necessitated by the increased clock speed; however, there is no option in the BIOS to adjust the CPU voltage. I know some other users are using the 3000+ but does anyone know how to solve this issue? In the meantime I've had to bump the clock speed down to 100 Mhz, leaving me with an underclocked 3000+ running at a mere 1.3 ghz :( No bueno, amigo!
This shouldn't even be an issue because the motherboard states support for the 3000+ but it is causing my frustration to no end... any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks everyone...
P.S. I have Windows XP Pro, SP1, latest nForce drivers, temperature is running around 55º C, and I even closed the MSI hardware monitor to make sure it wasn't giving false diagnostics, but the system still restarts .. I've reinstalled windows multiple times, still happening.. it has to be a hardware issue.

He didn't say directly; however, he did allude to the fact that a lot of instability issues were caused by the ram settings in the bios. I would venture to guess the auto detect function for the ram in the bios works with the supported ram manufacturers, but my ram is made by SpecTek... had to go on their site and get the values from a pdf... and then the values are in nanoseconds instead of clock cycles like the bios requires so I'll have to convert those values somehow... what I did do was play around with the values and bump the delay from 2.5 to 3 and that seemed to fix the stability issue... this helps in the meantime before I figure out the exact value for each ram setting in the bios.. at least it doesn't restart anymore!

Mega 180 and PC Alert 4

Hello chaps,
Some time ago I posted a thread regarding my relatively new Mega 180 and it's annoying habit of shutting down then only restarting after a few hours unplugged from the mains. There were some helpful responses but unfortunately the problem was never resolved - it just meant I had to shutdown the PC more often.
However, recently the problem is getting worse. I have installed PC Alert 4, but I have no idea what the readings mean. There are four screens which appear to be showing voltages or something, all are in green except for the second one which is frequently red.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?!
Any suggestions gratefully received.
Mega 180, 2.8 Ghz, 512 RAM, XP Pro

to determine if the PSU is the problem, remove the cover from your Mega and disconnect all the power connectors to the mega PSU. get a regular ATX PSU (with enough juice of course), sit it next to the mega, and connect the ATX PSU connectors to the Mega (drives, mobo etc). connect the power plug to the ATX PSU and boot up.
note that the LCD display won't function, and you won't get any sound either, but this is only while the mega PSU is not being used.
use your mega as normal, and see if the problem reoccurs. if you get the same problems, then you know its not the PSU. if it all behaves well, then you have to consider a replacement PSU
as i see it you have two choices: you can either scour ebay for a cheap faulty unit being sold for spares (but make sure the PSU is okay before buying!). or you could contact your nearest MSI office and see if they will sell you one
How to contact MSI.
if you're feeling adventurous, you could always check out some other posts here, where users have done away with the mega PSU altogether, and had a regular ATX type sat outside the case as an "external" PSU...

Mega 180 VGA Video Out Of Range

Hello all.
I recently received a Mega 180 (used, but not too used). It had an ATI AGP card in it that I pulled out. I then installed Win XP Pro (SP2 and other up to date MS stuff).
It was working fine for a few days ... I have a KVM switch and plugs attached to it, with the VGA cable into the primary VGA slot. Now I can't get any video output. My LCDs (attached to the KVM, and directly to the Mega180) say that "video out of range". I've connected a CRT to it but it's not getting a video signal after the MS XP Pro initial screen.
I've gone into the BIOS and reset it to the "optimal defaults" but no luck there either.
Any help/suggestions would be appreciated.
ESlater

Bass: Are you sure it's the F6 key that allows one to reset to VGA mode? I've gone into CMOS and turned off Quick Boot, but still, everytime I press F6 I just get the Windows options for Safe Mode boot.
I did go into Safe Mode and set my resolution to 800x600 but that still didn't help.
I guess I can always go ahead and re-install the ATI AGP but I was thinking this unit should work with the standard VGA plug. What is weird is that Windows was running fine, and I wasn't really using the machine at all when the video mode got "reset" (or something).
I guess I'll boot into Safe Mode and remove all video drivers and see how that goes?
Otro: I thought that by hooking up the CRT I'd be able to capture all video modes (certainly more than w/the LCD). What's happening is that the CRT is turning "off" once Windows moves beyond the initial screen (presumably to the User Account Login Screen), as if the Mega 180 isn't even sending a signal down the VGA connection.

Mega 180 Athlon 3200+

Hi there,
This had been mentioned before but can i use a Athlon 3200+ to its full capacity? The 3200+ i will get soon is a 400Mhz CPU. My mega 180 is water cooled so heat is not a problem.
The reason i need the full power of the CPU is that i plan to use the MEGA for future HDTV playback
I hve read on http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/msi_mega_180_review/page2.asp mentions:
'nfortunately, the nForce2 IGP is officially limited to bus speeds of 333MHz (NVIDIA didn’t add support for 400MHz to the IGP), so the MEGA 180 doesn’t officially support AMD’s Athlon XP 3200+. Instead, the highest processor support is the Athlon XP 3000+. (To MSI’s credit, they have left the door open to Athlon XP 3200+ via jumper, but this is officially considered overclocking.)'
Which jumper are they talking about? The FSB jumper they mention in the manual is set to default 133/166 MHz
According to the PDF manual
FSB Mode Jumper: J8
This jumper allows you to set the CPU FSB mode.
User mode
(default)
133 MHz
Safe mode
100 MHz
CPU FSB Frequency Jumper: J7
This jumper is used to specify the CPU FSB (Front Side Bus) frequency.
Leave the jumper short connected if a 133/166MHz FSB CPU is installed. If the
CPU supports 100MHz FSB, leave the jumper open. To use a 200MHz FSB
CPU, set the jumper short and enter the BIOS Setup Utility to adjust the CPU
FSB Clock Frequency.
so setting the FSB to 200 should get this to work. I will also be using PC3200 DDR
Thanks

do you have a vga card in it
nforce 2 onboard vga usually stops working at around fsb 185 or so

Mega 180 - AIW & XP MCE

OK... so MSI doesn't support MCE.... the built in video card sucks (but I knew that buying it), it doesn't have a large PSU.... and I want to use this as a HTPC... so I came up with an idea, and before I plop down the $$$ I wanted to see what you guys think, and any experience.
I'm thinking about upgrading the video to a ATi All-In-Wonder 9600 (Or maybe 9700), ditching XP/MCIII and going with XP Media Center Edition 2005.
What benefits would I lose by losing the remote that came with the 180? (Besides the FM/CD PC off features)
Would I lose any thing else? Gain anything??

Big Cheese - I have no experience with that card. I am using MCE 2005 with nothing but the onboard graphics for the Mega 180. I have an external USB HDTV tuner and am attaching to a plasma display using full resolution 1080i. It works just fine using the onboard graphics. I believe that TV even HDTV is not nearly as demanding as current games like Far Cry on graphics engines.
I think the Mega 180 makes a reasonable HTPC running MCE 2005. It is much more compleat than the MCIII application. It is tied tightly to the Media Player V10 for indexing avi's, mp3's, etc. It is quite stable... Hasn't hung up or rebooted on me yet. It is tied to the internet everytime you turn around for things like movie information, cd covers, etc. In general it is ALOT better than MCIII.
There are problems however. I think the biggest one is the remote control. I have the Mega remote working to control MCE. You have to install a tool called girder and spend alot of time customizing it. But I can now control MOST of the interefaces with the Mega remote. I'm still having trouble with operating the controls on DVD title pages. The normal left right up down mappings from the rest of MCE do not work. Also you can't get the Mega to power up or come out of standby with the remote. A true MCE remote can do this if the Mobo supports the right options... I don't seem to see these options in the Mega 180 BIOS interface.
Another problem is how &^%%& secretive MS is. Since this is meant to be bought as a prebuilt system there is very little documentation or help on how to do anything. The MCE forums are quite snooty about general users building their own MCE's. However this is changing since MCE2005 is now available on ebay. Trying to figure out how to customize things is hard. For example adding an internet radio station to their radio station list is EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING. It would be cool for instance to add the MSI standalone radio application to the MCE other programs list.... GOOD LUCK!
If you're into HDTV another problem is the do not copy bit. US OTA transmissions will start using this next year. MS is extremely into digital rights managment. They will honor this bit. So things like copying HDTV material to disk will **PROBABLY** not work with MCE. Also even though I have no protected material on my machine I have seen numerous error messages that say something like "You must be trying to copy protected material. BLAH BLAH BLAH.... or maybe there is a hardware error." This constant threat about DRM is very annoying.

MEGA 180 Help

Hi
Please, please, please can someone help.
I have bought a second user MEGA 180, problem is the previous owner did not send the Driver disc and is away for a week.
I am desparate for the drivers!
The support page on the website does not help much. The board in my MEGA is 6796.
I have got the sound to function OK.
Problem is with the video drivers. Anybody prepared to send me them?
The secondary VGA socket seems to be OK (just needs drivers) but the primary one just displays everything in Green, like those old Comodore Pets.
PLEASE, this is for a Christmas present.
Also, does Media Center come bundled on the driver disc?
Thanks
Piers

Try this.
Yes MSI Media Center is available there (as well as the bundled disc), but be warned: it's a huge download! Use serial # "VBMK844FOLEXHAI".
As for video drivers, Nvidia drivers will work fine You may have to install them in Safe Mode though so you'll be able to see the screen.

MEGA 180 Remote/LCD API

Hi,
I've just built a new MEGA 180 system, and while I like the hardware, I'm less than enthusiastic about the software. Frankly, Media Centre III stinks!
For one thing, I'd like to be able to use the MEGA 180 for MP3 playback without having to turn on the monitor (which is a projector in my case, that takes more than a minute to start up).
The first step would be to program the remote and the LCD display so that you can use whatever MP3 player you want, in my case I would write a WinAmp / MediaMonkey plugin.
For that I need some way to access these devices. I found some dlls and a WinIRX.ocr on the CD but I have no idea how to use them. Is there any API description I can use? Even a simple .h and .lib file for the dlls would suffice for me.
If you've heard anything about such a description, please let me know. Or maybe the adress of somebody at MSI I could contact to get it?
Thanks!
Martin.

I've been looking into the dll's as well; there are a few that looks promising. They can't be referenced from Visual Basic though , so someone with more insight into C++ should have a go at them. PC Alert 4 also installs it's own dll's for writing sys- and cpu temp to the LCM, so there is plenty to choose from. Can't help out with any API descriptions though...
We should keep in mind however that the 180 and 865 are new products for MSI, and not only are they occupied with fixing the numerous problems users have reported, but they will probably try to develop other applications that take advantage of the remote and LCM. From what we've seen so far that is obviosly something they should leave to other, more suited, developers!
I too think that MSI would benefit from releasing a SDK, thus increasing the overall useability of the Mega, thus attracting more users. Leave it to the endusers to decide which mediaplayer/s we want to use.
For the moment I'm putting my hope to a Girder-plugin for the remote, since that seems the most plausible solution right now.
-M

My MEGA 180 is hotter than a hair dryer :(

Hi folks,
I've a massivly temperature Problem with my new Mega 180 (3000 Athlon XP, 2*512 MB RAM, Radeon 9800XT)
We've already checked the installation of the headsink two times and it semms that he is correctly installed.
Yesterday (with closed cover) we ran 3DMark 2003 over 6 hours an the CPU-temperature was stable at 69-75° C, system temperature about 50° C
Today i installed the new BIOS, and the first time i was able to get a CPU-temperature about 45° C on startup, now after 1 hour uptime it is about 67° C with an average cpu usage of 10%. But my cover is also opened :/
Playing UT pushes the temperature over 85° C. Oh damn
So what could cause such high temperatures? Of course the AGP card will block the airflow, but I've heard about users running their system with AGP-Card and a stable temerature about 45° C
1) I've noticed that the cooler fans run sometimes with only about 3200 rpm, even if the temperature is over 60° C. Is the cooler speed controlled by BIOS or PC Alert? Would there be a possibily to run the fan always with 5400 rpm or even higher?
2) Sometimes there are huge differences in CPU temperature. From 60° to 72° withing 15 seconds. Is this normal?
3) Are there any fans that run with more than 5400 rpms and fit onto the heatsink? So i would replace the original fans. What about placing a HDD cooler in the mediacard slot? Would it be useful? What aoubt a cooler in the PCI-slot?
I would be glad if somebody can give me some suggestions or tips. If temperatur stays so high i would give the barebone back...
thx

Yeah, Im having issues with heat also, hitting upwards of 62 degrees and thats after Ive modified the heatsink and mounted an additional fan on top!
I think the MSI are badly designed in terms of airflow and cooling. Having the AGP slot right next to the heatsink fan is a bit .... well stupid really. Even if I was to reverse the fans on the heatsink, to pull in cooler air from the right hand side of the case, Im still gonna be pumping hot air directly onto the back of the GFX card.
MSI should have, in my opinion, put the AGP slot on the far left of the motherboard, instead of the PCI slot that is currently located there. Then at least, one would be able to mount a decent extractor fan that fits into the PCI slot to blow hot air away. Then the heatsink fans could be reversed to draw cooler air in from outside the case.
This is the type of fan Im referring too.
Not only this, but the PSU unit gets really hot too, and the fan inside that puts out a pathetic amount of airflow.
I can appreciate that MSI were trying to keep the noise levels down - but Id sooner have a slightly less quiet pc... than something I can cook marshmellows on

Mega 180 Temps

Let me start off by saying that the Mega 180 is a great idea for a product but unfortunately it is not finished. MSI is using us as beta testers - at our expense. I build computers for people as a side business and against my better judgement, I built a customer a Mega 180 based system and I've had nothing but problems with it and it's damaging my reputation. But, OK enough of that.
One major problem with the Mega 180 is it's CPU and hard drive temp and here's what you can do to fix it. First off, the CPU heat sink is nice and big and made of copper - very nice. However, the underside of the sink (the part that touches the CPU) is absolutely aweful! The bottom should be mirror smooth. Mine looks like the surface of a record. Therefore, you need to lap it. Look this process up on the net to see exactly how to do it. Once lapped and the bottom is mirror smooth and you can see your reflection, use ARTIC SILVER thermal grease (just a tiny bit) and put the sink back on. Your CPU temp under load will be about 8 degrees cooler. Next, replace the small fan on the cooler with a bigger one (make sure you use one that's sensored, like the one you're replacing). Lastly, get some flexible ducting from the hardware store (plastic, not aluminum), attach one end over the sink's big fan and carefuly route the other end to the side of the case (may not be possible if you are using an AGP card) and position it so it sucks in outside air. Now that your CPU is cooled with fresh air, you will see another 2 - 3 degree reduction of CPU temp.
Finally, the hard drive is way too hot. I measured it with a IR temp meter after a full defrag and my jaw hit the ground when I saw how hot it was - 152 degrees F. That type of temp will kill your hard drive. Fix this by placing a fan inside the case (RAM side) blowing fresh air right onto the hard drive. This brought the temp down significantly. It also cooled other items too (CD drive, chipset).
The only downside to this is your system will be louder due to fan noise. However you will have fewer system lock-ups and mystery reboots (caused by overheated components).
One last idea, if the case is just too cramped for you, remove the power supply, buy a new one and mount it outside the case on the back. It doesn't look good but it sure frees up space and improves air flow (plus you'll have more power if you buy a higher watt supply).
Peace!

Hey cb31,
Even though this thread is about temps, I too think noise is the biggest problem with the Mega, and my current efforts are targeted at killing the constant background noise. My goal is the same as your's - I want to leave the computer on most of the time and not be bothered with it.
I'm proceeding slowly however, and so far I've only done the following:
-Replaced the 60mm Delta fan with a Papst of the exact same size. I found the Delta to be noisy, while others report that it's doing ok. Don't know about you... The Papst is really quiet and actually cools a little bit more effective, though that's a bonus feature! But on the overall it didn't have the effect I hoped for
-The smaller Delta fan (outtake side of heatsink) already is quiet enough, so doesn't need to be replaced on behalf of noise anyway...
-Took out the PSU and put White Lithium Grease in the fan for smoother operation since I figured it made a lot of noise. That didn't help much either... I'm thinking about replacing the PSU fan with something better, even though a lable on the back of the PSU states "W/ Noisekiller". It's still a no-name fan and can be improved upon.
Right now the loudest noise in my Mega doesn't seem to come from any fan at all, but rather from the hd. And it's not so much the actual noise from the unit as vibrations reverberating through the chassis. A common problem obviously, but there isn't any room for hd suspension systems in the Mega, so other actions are required here! I tried to slide in thin sheets of plastic between the drive and the cage, to act as silencers, but that didn't have any real effect as the cage touches the drive in several places, thus transfering the vibrations anyway. A new drive cage could do the trick, but I haven't gotten that far yet, and might not ever...
The Seagate Barracuda is considered to be a silent drive, so replacing it probably wouldn't help.
To conclude: If your fans are noisy, replace them or grease them for better operation, but you might not even hear the difference...
The major flaw seems to be the internal design of the Mega, and there's isn't much to be done about that, unless you're handy with a Dremel and sheets of metal. I might be, but I will have to get back to you on that!
Cheers!
-M

TV-Out on Mega 180 (Composite)

Hi there,
I just received my Mega 180 some days ago. So far I'm really satisfied. I just have one problem an perhaps you could help me.
I at first used the S-Video out from Mega to my S-Video-Scart-In of my TV. That worked without problems.
Now I wanted to use the Composite out instead of S-Video out from the Mega 180. So I connected a composite-adapter to the S-Video port and connected a composite cable to it. Now my TV only shows the picture black/white.
I know that this is an issue connected with S-Video. So I changed in nvidia-driver the automatic detection to manual (composite). But whenever I change this, I just get a complete black screen. I tried this with many nvidia driver versions. All the same.
And now the really misteryous thing: when I de-install the nvidia driver (graphic) and start windows with standard vga-mode, I have a colored picture with the mentioned composite out without having changed anything.
Anyone has an idea? Thanks in advance.
My Hardware:
- MSI Mega 180
- Athlon Sempron 2800
- WinTV 350 PVR
- 512 MB
- onBoard graphicscard

Quote
I at first used the S-Video out from Mega to my S-Video-Scart-In of my TV. That worked without problems.
Quote
I want to use composite instead of s-video because my tv doesn't support s-video. It only supports composite.
just re-reading this post has got me a little confused. are you now connecting to a different TV now?

Things to Know Before Building Your Mega 180

Some people have asked me for a list of tips so here is my attempt---I'll ask Wonk to sticky it if it turns out OK....
Feel free to PM me with more tips---I'll add as necessary....
TIP SHEET FOR THE MEGA 180:
So you bought that new Mega 180 and the docs leave a lot to be desired......Don't panic!! Take a look at this tip sheet. Should save you a lot of hours!
RAM AND PROCESSOR:
Several things here.....If you are going to use onboard video----you should NOT use higher RAM than PC 2700----waste of money to buy higher as the Nforce2 18G "Crush" was only designed to run no higher than with DDR333 RAM (PC2700). Nvidia warns against it on their site. I have personally experienced a LOT of problems when you try to run the onboard at DDR 400 (PC3200)----trashed Bios in most cases. Also---the 18G and to some extent---"Dual Channel" is picky about memory----try to get a matched pair of DIMMS----and if you REALLY want to be on the safe side----go to Nvidias site and look up the page that lists known, compatable memory with the NForce2 chipsetNforce2 compatable memory. I use A-Data 512 sticks---but they are hard to find.
If you are going to use a Vidcard---then higher memory is just fine----but if you are NOT planning on overclocking-----there is really NO need for higher than PC2700 as the default bus for Barton 2800+ and below is FSB 166 (DDR333---PC 2700).
Alyways run your RAM (Synch) 100%---do not play with dividers if you are using the onboard video. If you have no clue what I just said----you are fine as the defaults will take care of this----this last was for overclockers.
Processor----I like the cost of the Barton 2800+ right now----fast, cheap and even using the onboard and no overclocking----you have a fast machine that can do anything. The 2800+ also leaves the door open for a slight overclock (I have not tried this yet) without too much stress on anything.
LCD PANEL:
Do Not----I say again----Do Not use the "welcome.exe" program----or ANY other program on ANY disk or the MSI website to do ANYTHING to your front panel. That program is for the Mega 651 model and WILL TRASH YOUR LCD. The LCD panel works just fine----it doesn't need any updating.
If this advice is to late, the firmware fix is in here:
https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threadid=46355&sid=
Do download and install the latest version of PC Alert MSI Mega 180 Downloads----works great with the front LCD panel and displays PC info nicely.
Use the EQ mode buttons while playing in the HiFi mode----changes the sound a lot and also the display changes------COOL!
OPTICAL DRIVE:
Use an MSI optical drive----basically anything from MSI will work fine---some other drives are reported to work fine like a NEC 2500A----but if you use an MSI drive----you can't go wrong. You might want to put the drive in another machine with a floppy first----and download and update that drive to the latest firmware (most will require a floppy to do that and the Mega 180 has none.)
CABLE MANAGEMENT:
Buy a dollar pack of cable ties and go to work-----make sure ALL cables are away from the front of the intake fan for the CPU----you want a very clear path to the cooler. Less clutter---better airflow. Better airflow----lower temps.
CPU INSTALL:
Get rid of the MSI thermal grease with some Goof Off or acetone-----and get some good Arctic Silver 3, AS5 or AS Ceramique. Clean both the chip top and the bottom of the HS with denatured alcohol before applying the thermal grease. You might also want to lapp the bottom of the HS which is not very well done----but I found it not necessary. The HS/Fan unit is very easy to install----just rotate your screw down points as perscribed by the sticker on the cooler----don't tighten one screw all the way down----then go to the next.
DRIVERS:
I found the drivers on the install disk to be non-functional---- get the latest drivers from the MSI website (you can use Live Update for this) or go to http://www.nforcershq.com and get the latest Nforce2 Driver Remix from Morpheus1 or Mwarhead.
DO NOT use the Nvidia SW IDE driver (say "No" when it asks you in the driver install) Only use the ITB (In The Box) IDE driver----it's the default driver. Your Optical device will probably not function correctly (eject, etc) with the Nvidia SW IDE driver.
Nforce2 SoundStorm Drivers are a tricky topic----there are TONS of versions out there.... I've had the best luck so far with Drivers 4.31 (Off Microsoft Windows Updates---it was a Driver Update) and Audio Control Panel 4.31. Nvidia has a driver update package now JUST for audio-----posted Here
If you are having problems with Media Center III crashing----it seems to be a conflict between the SoundStorm Drivers and Media Center III, Uninstall your Nvidia audio devices in the device manager (Three of them----there is one hidden---so go to view and "show hidden devices") then reboot and let Windows rerecognize your devices and reload drivers. This will solve most problems until Media Center II has another bad crash----in which case---you may have to do this procedure over again. You can tell if it's really hosed up because the radio sound will come on automatically at boot----or you will have lost the SoundStorm Control Panel Icon in the SysTray. I'm working on different versions of SoundStorm to see which works best---will update if I find anything new. (Update)----4.31 seems to be the best but I still can'ttotally eliminate the crashing in Media Center III.
Once you get your Lan device up and running (or your modem) Go to Windows Update and make sure you are completly updated with all latest window updates---If using WinXP-----you need to be at WinXP ServPack 1a when you are done.
Use Windows Cleanup and Defrag when you are done----ESPECIALLY cleanup---to get rid of any left over temp files in the Mega----To get the BEST and most optimised defrag----run windows defrag at least three times in a row----maybe more----it will REALLY optimise the drive.
TV CARD:
The main TV Card designed for the Mega 180 is the MSI 8606-40 Mega TV Card----be careful to get it vice the other version of the MSI 8606 which is the MSI 8606-10 TV@anywhere Master.
The Mega TV Card does not include a Radio while the 8606-10 DOES include a radio. Since your Mega 180 already has a radio----you absolutely don't need or want the 8606-10 TV@anywhere Master.
Do NOT use any drivers or software you receive with the Mega TV Card MSI 8606-40----just set the disks aside. You will ONLY uses the drivers off the Mega 180 Install Disk.
The Mega TV Card MUST be installed before the menu item for "Install TV Tuner Drivers" becomes visible on the Mega 180 install disk.
Make sure your TV Card is hooked into the line called "Remote Control" within the Mega 180 itself----there is a small 3 inch connecting wire in the TV card box.
The TV and Radio function well with the remote----but you must have MSI Media Center III installed. I could not get the TV or the Radio to work without Media Center III.
Upon initial setup of the TV within Media Center III---you may have to switch the source between cable and antenna to get the initial channels to auto scan. Once done auto scanning---switch back to cable as source (assuming you have cable).
Using the remote to force the TV screen to full screen: When you use the up/down arrows on the remote----watch the menu items on the screen----the various menu item buttons will highlight as you hit the arrows.
Once you have highlighted the little arrow button on the lower right of the screen----just below the TV display (it will turn green)----hit the ENTER key
It goes to widescreen----hit the ENTER key again------it goes to fullscreen
BTW, the remote works fine-----the trick is you HAVE to have Media Center III installed and available to be called for it to control the TV Card----Radio Etc. It will start up normally when you push the TV button on the remote.
BIOS SETTINGS:
The defaults will mostly work. One thing----to get BEST performance out of the NForce 2 Onboard video----set AGP to 128 and Set Frame Buffer to 128----I had crashes with almost any other video setting. I'm still playing with PCI clock, voltages, and some other settings to get better stability-----will let you know.....
6 CHANNEL SOUND
Use all three ports in the back of the Mega 180 and then configure it using the SoundStorm Control Panel----Use the "Speaker Setup Wizard". Check and adjust using the "Test Tone" button. I'm using an inexpensive set of Analog Altec Lansing 5.1s----the sound is excellent.
That's all for now----tell me what else you've found and I'll post.
John

My MSI MEGA 180 has a strange display on the monitor.
I opened the boxed removed all items.
Installed the CPU (supported on the CPU compatability list for the MSI MEGA 180), installed the heatsink & fan.
Installed the HD drive.
Installed the MSI DVD+/-RW
Installed 1 DIMM module of DDR RAM PC2700 333MHZ 1GB
Pushed the Power button for the PC and the desplay is corrupted.
I tried the 4 possible configurations for Jumpers 7 and 8 to alter the FSB speed with no luck.
I also tried the 4 different J7 and J8 configurations without having the HDD and DVD-RW drives connected - same result.
I also tried the 4 different J7 and J8 configurations with the Secondary VGA output connected to my monitor.
I also tried the 4 different J7 and J8 configurations with the S-Video output connected to my TV and no signal at all.
Both my monitor and HDD work fine with my other PC.
I noticed the jumper pins are not numbered - made the configuration job a bit more tedious.
Please note the LCD screen works correctly, however the redio tuner in HiFi mode doesn't pick up any local stations.
As I am a Software Test Engineer, I am 100% confident I have checked all possible configurations including clearing the CMOS, but the system simply will not display to the VDU. The POST should at least be visible when Power is turned on for the PC mode.
NOTE: I will update the RAM Brand as soon as I find out the title from the supplier, but I believe it is OEM.
NOTE II: this is the URL to the CPU used: http://www.excaliberpc.com/product_info.php?products_id=1798
PLeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssss ssssssssssssssssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eee help ease my pain!!

Introduction Mega 180 user

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