Is there any hope for the old horse?

[DeRose306]

I have an old PII 266 on an older BX board with 32mb of memory that I use as a file server for archived files. For that task it does exactly what I want it to do. I recently started running Seti on it, but it runs sooooooo slooowwwlllllyyyy, LOL. I don't expect amazing times from it, but is there any help?

Intel PII 266
Generic Intel 440BX AT motherboard
2 MB Video card
32 MB Sdram
1 GB HD (program Files)
20 GB 5400 RPM Maxtor HD (archive)

P.S. This makes a total of 4 computers now up and running. Couldn't have done it without all the information here in this forum

[Lonely Raven]

I now have 3 old BX boards and 4-5 processors ranging from
266-350.

I'm really torn about adding them to the farm. Honestly, I don't
think my electric circuts can handle the added load! I mean, I
can't even turn on another computer without the lights in the
house dimming!

Not to mention the electric bill...

[chawken]

First suggestion - as it is not stated in your description - would be to run the CLC, if you aren't already. 2nd suggestion - increase the ram to at least 64mb, 128mb is better. Other than that, sorry but the PII is going to be slow. On the PII's that I have run it on, I have gotten about 24hr. WU times for an ave. .4xx AR.

[Cy]

Not to mention the obvious of trying to overclock the system, if even just a little. :)

Cy

[DeRose306]

Oops, yes I'm running CLC with Seti Driver on all my machines. usually set the cache to 10. And when I started this computer up, I had quite a bit running in the house and well.......I blew the main circuit breaker. Just think, I still have enough to build 2 more, just can't justify them yet (Wife says no more). I'lll come up with a good reason.

[chawken]

Originally posted by DeRose306
Oops, yes I'm running CLC with Seti Driver on all my machines. usually set the cache to 10. And when I started this computer up, I had quite a bit running in the house and well.......I blew the main circuit breaker. Just think, I still have enough to build 2 more, just can't justify them yet (Wife says no more). I'lll come up with a good reason.

Tell her what I told mine - 'we are desperately searching for ET who may have the cure for all illnesses'. Of course my wife said 'yeah sure, the answer is still no'. My reply was, ' do you really want to be responsible for not finding him/her if they did have the cure - the extra PC's might be the difference between find ET and not finding ET - let it be on your head then'.

Needless to say - a seti farm was born.

The price was about a week of sleeping on the couch.

[Lonely Raven]

Haha, that's pretty good Chawken.

I have some Pentium II 350s that I run SETI on at work.
I built them to do simple tasks like burn CDs and store
ghost images for the new machines I'm building.

Each one of them stock burns a WU in about 12-14hrs.

And the Dual PII system board that I just fit into a modded
AT Server case does a WU in just about 10 hours with
a PII 400 OC'd to 500. Thats with only 1 processor!

[FRANK]

Originally posted by DeRose306
Just think, I still have enough to build 2 more, just can't justify them yet (Wife says no more). I’ll come up with a good reason.

I've got the answer for the "what do you need another one for?" question.

I'm just going to step up my reformatting routine on a couple of these machines and blame it on all of the stuff that she and the kids have downloaded from the internet. As I reformat these machines, I'll remove a little RAM each time. Then I'll explain that if she wants to maintain the level that we've attained to this point, then I'm just going to have to move to the next step and set up a dedicated "virus isolation and inoculation" system. I'll take the time to explain to her how this system will provide her with the security that is needed in light of the newest generation of virii (sp?) that have been developed recently. I'll further explain how this new secure system will run "seamlessly in the background and she'll never even notice that it's running". Once I've got her "approval" I'll have to get a new 8-port KVM switch (I'm out of ports on this one). Once I get over that hurdle, I've then got to utilize the additional three ports on the KVM. Expansion problem solved for the time being.

Time to start thinking about the next excuse, How much does a 400 Amp service cost anyhow?

[Wookie8662]

ROFL!!!

Good ideas, keep em coming!!

[rogerdugans]

Virii Innoculation System.

I like that.

Others I've used: security is a problem: with an Internet connection 24/7 a central server is a necessity to prevent loss of data and to keep script kiddies out- good excuse for a duallie too.

Webserver: everyone who does computers for a side job has a website; most of them make enough money to pay someone else to host thiers- I don't, so I have to have a webserver of my own.
(No, you can't run the webserver on the same computer as the firewall pc- anyone can get in to that one/that computer isn't fast enough to do both.)

[deez]

DeRose306...check out some of the tips on the links page http://www.ocsetiteam.com/links.htm

Also play with your bios a bit adjusting options like video bios shadow, RAM timing etc...

And if your lucky then your 266 may be multiplier unlocked. If so then you should be able to bump it up a notch without much extra cooling if any. Probably done with a jumper on your mobo

[Lonely Raven]

Um, Pentium IIs can easily be unlocked. All it takes is a piece of
scotch tape, an exacto knife to trim said tape, and a steady
hand.

It's how I got my 400Mhz PII up to 500!

If anyone is interested, I can post a how to!

[DeRose306]

IN this case, the processor is multiplier locked, but if I ever get around to some better cooling , it will do 400 mhz easily with 100mhz FSB. right now it just has a generic hsf doing an ok job at normal speeds. I went out today and bought a 256mb stick for the wife's computer so her games would run better (yeah right). and used the 128mb stick out of hers for the server. Being a BX board, I might have to upgrade it to a better processor eventually, but, just like the rest, it will grow, and grow, and grow. and then i'll use the original parts to build another computer. Thanks for all the info guys!

[{PMS}fishy]

My p2 400 is smoking the wu's at 14 hours.

[Mictlan]

Originally posted by Lonely Raven
Um, Pentium IIs can easily be unlocked. All it takes is a piece of
scotch tape, an exacto knife to trim said tape, and a steady
hand.

It's how I got my 400Mhz PII up to 500!

If anyone is interested, I can post a how to!
Yes, please tell me how to unlock the PII Katmai core chips.....seems the only way I can OC this damn work PC.....:)

Even better can I change the multiplier so the autosetup detect it? (I hope I can take this chip from 4.5*100 to at least 5.0*100)

[Lonely Raven]

Yeah, that's exactly what it is...It's a multiplier unlock.

I'll try to take a few minutes out from my Valintines Day with
my woman and do a quick write up. Unfortunatly I can't take
photo's the quality of Joe's Macros, but I'll see if I can't get
a good photo of it too.

It's literally just taping off one of the pins on one side of
the PII Slot 1 processor. And I easily run 400@500 with an
early PII Slot 1 400Mhz. I can't push it any further unfortunatly.

If I don't get back to you guys tonight, then over the weekend
for sure.

[griff_72]

Originally posted by Lonely Raven
Um, Pentium IIs can easily be unlocked. All it takes is a piece of
scotch tape, an exacto knife to trim said tape, and a steady
hand.

It's how I got my 400Mhz PII up to 500!

If anyone is interested, I can post a how to!

please post how to unlock my pII 350