Retro HP Vectra VL 6/333 won't boot with Celeron 333mhz

[jm764]

Not sure if this is the right forum to post this on, if not just tell me and I'll move it to the correct one.


I have an old (mostly stock) HP Vectra VL 6/333 Desktop that currently has a Pentium II MMX @ 333mhz and I want to upgrade it with a Celeron (Mendocino- Socket 370 with a Slot 2 adapter) at 333 mhz.

Unfortunately when ever I try booting the PC with the Celeron it hangs up at the second boot stage out of 8 on the monitor and wont turn off without a "hard" shutdown.

The adapter the Celeron is attached to has multiple jumpers on it I can change but I haven't really messed with them as they are supposedly already set to automatic config for any socket 370 processor.

The motherboard has a set of switches that controls the cpu speed and is already set to 333 mhz and ranges from 200-366 mhz.

Is there a way I might be able to rig it to work or is the motherboard just too old to accept and adapted processor?

I'll post links and pictures if you need them.


Thank you for the help.
- Jason

[jumper]

Is the Pentium II you are replacing an overclocked Klamath (2.8v) or a Deschutes (2.0v)? Either way, a Celeron at the same speed is probably a downgrade. You must be hoping to overclock it once you get it working....

[Tripredacus]

It does appear to be a downgrade. The PII has more L2 cache than the Celeron. Look here:

http://www.cpu-museum.de/?m=Intel&f=Pentium+P-II#cpu0561

http://www.cpu-museum.de/?m=Intel&f=Celeron#cpu0280

Unless those are the wrong CPUs.

Otherwise try to find a manual for that board. A BIOS update may also be needed.

[jm764]

It does appear to be a downgrade. The PII has more L2 cache than the Celeron. Look here:

http://www.cpu-museum.de/?m=Intel&f=Pentium+P-II#cpu0561

http://www.cpu-museum.de/?m=Intel&f=Celeron#cpu0280

Unless those are the wrong CPUs.

Otherwise try to find a manual for that board. A BIOS update may also be needed.

 

 

Is the Pentium II you are replacing an overclocked Klamath (2.8v) or a Deschutes (2.0v)? Either way, a Celeron at the same speed is probably a downgrade. You must be hoping to overclock it once you get it working....

 

Here are the CPU's:

 

Pent.2-

http://www.cpu-world.com/sspec/SL/SL2S5.html

 

Cel-

http://www.cpu-world.com/sspec/SL/SL36B.html

 

 

I also have a spare Pentium 3 at 500 mhz ,but I highly doubt it will work.

http://www.cpu-world.com/sspec/SL/SL365.html

 

 

I know it;s technically a downgrade but I've heard that the Mendocino Celerons were pretty good compared to the Pent2 of the same speed. I have another motherboard I plan putting the Pentium 2 in but if I can't put the celeron in the Vectra I'll just leave the Pent.2 in it.

Edited September 23, 2015 by jm764

[Drugwash]

First off, try to find if there's a BIOS upgrade available for that machine - it may accept a Pentium III as many P II machines do.

Some boards have an automatic position for the dip-switch and that, in conjunction with a BIOS update, may allow you to run a better CPU such as the P III.

But you do need to read a detailed manual for your board to see if such option is available.

 

EDIT:

Also please take into account that the slot adapter may be defective. I have a slotket adapter (socket 370 to Slot 1) that fried me a few CPUs before I realised it, so…

Edited September 23, 2015 by Drugwash

[jm764]

First off, try to find if there's a BIOS upgrade available for that machine - it may accept a Pentium III as many P II machines do.

Some boards have an automatic position for the dip-switch and that, in conjunction with a BIOS update, may allow you to run a better CPU such as the P III.

But you do need to read a detailed manual for your board to see if such option is available.

 

EDIT:

Also please take into account that the slot adapter may be defective. I have a slotket adapter (socket 370 to Slot 1) that fried me a few CPUs before I realised it, so…

 

Well I'll try the bios update if I can find one for it. HP is notorious for having next to no info nor downloads on these ancient machines on their site so it looks like more Google searching for me.

 

As far as the slotket goes it seems to be in near perfect condition and the processor was already in it when I got the PC it was originally in.

[Drugwash]

Could this be it? it says 2000-02-09 , Version HI.01.08.

 

Usually P II and P III are pin-to-pin compatible so they can be directly replaced but admittedly I'm not familiar with the details of this particular machine. Hopefully you manage to pull it through, but be very careful with BIOS upgrading - a defective floppy disk/drive may brick the machine.

 

EDIT:

I see the P III is also Slot 1 but at 100MHz bus so if the board is capable of such bus frequency through the dip-switch you should first change that and anything else required (I doubt it has multiplier switches/jumpers but one never knows). It may be a much better alternative than the Celeron but it all depends whether the (new) BIOS recognises it and can adapt to its required bus/multiplier/voltages.

Edited September 23, 2015 by Drugwash

[submix8c]

"VL6/333" - Uh-uh (probably not). Here's a reference.

http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/Business-PCs-Evo-Deskpro-Vectra/HP-Vectra-VL6-333mhz-running-at-233-mhz/td-p/210880?notmigrated

 

Series 7 is a 66mhz MoBo. IOW, SECC-I, not an SECC-II. The 500mhz will act according to what the above link says.

 

Look here at the 66mhz. You're already maxed out.

http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Pentium-II/TYPE-Desktop%20Pentium%20II.html

[puntoMX]

Just use the 500MHz PIII and see if it runs at 333MHz on that mobo. If so you have a few MMX and some other functions extra but that's all you can get out of it.

[jumper]

SSE support would be the biggest reason to upgrade to a PIII. And if the 500MHz PIII runs at 333 (or 366) MHz, there will be plenty of headroom to try software overclocking.

Edited September 25, 2015 by jumper

[submix8c]

Um...

As far as the slotket goes it seems to be in near perfect condition and the processor was already in it when I got the PC it was originally in.

Ahem... SECC-I vs SECC-II

Pay attention, folks. You can *not* put an SECC2 CPU into an SECC1 Slot!

[jm764]

Well after a lot of searching I found more about the slocket and the HP vectra:

 

Slocket info:

http://images.anandtech.com/old/CPU/Intel/pentium3e/500e/overclocking/slocket2inst.jpg

 

A similar topic about the slocket and a similar Celeron.

http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1028881

 

Vectra information:

http://www.manualslib.com/manual/663149/Hp-Vectra-Vl.html?page=9#manual

 

Could this be it? it says 2000-02-09 , Version HI.01.08.

 

Usually P II and P III are pin-to-pin compatible so they can be directly replaced but admittedly I'm not familiar with the details of this particular machine. Hopefully you manage to pull it through, but be very careful with BIOS upgrading - a defective floppy disk/drive may brick the machine.

 

EDIT:

I see the P III is also Slot 1 but at 100MHz bus so if the board is capable of such bus frequency through the dip-switch you should first change that and anything else required (I doubt it has multiplier switches/jumpers but one never knows). It may be a much better alternative than the Celeron but it all depends whether the (new) BIOS recognises it and can adapt to its required bus/multiplier/voltages.

 

That was the PC and the bios is updated now from ver .07 to .08. Sadly I didn't see any notes about broader cpu support but I'll try the celeron again tomorrow.

 

Some pictures of my celeron and slocket:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9uFvN9K3tPWNlpUTl94Uy1ta1U/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9uFvN9K3tPWUGFkbUYzSzB3bUU

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9uFvN9K3tPWX1Y1QzJkSUpZVkU

Edited September 27, 2015 by jm764

[submix8c]

Your CPU is a First-Gen Celeron (Mendocino), according to your link. Using your chart:

 

Set Vcore=2

Set FSB=100

Set CPU=PPGA / Intel

 

*Theoretically* the iWill should provide what's needed, disregarding the BIOS Support (AFAIKR).

Now, whether it will work in a 66mhz FSB MoBo, I really don't know. My impression is that the FSB should match between MoBo and Slocket, since the Slocket's only *real* purpose is to allow a Socket CPU to be inserted into a Slot.

 

(FYI - I had a Slocketed MoBo once... recycled the whole shebang.)