Came home form work today and found a Hp Pavilion sitting on my door step. Works ok has ME on with 64meg ram thing runs real slow. Mouse didn't work when I booted it the first time but just had to reinstall the drivers and then it was fine. (just had to pat it on the back till it burped) Hehe was looking for a Linux machine. The Mb is a KL97-xv rev 1.0 I'm looking for a manual but can't find one. Checked the HP site and did a google search couldn't find one there. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Hey Set,

Don't know where to take you beyond the HP site where I put in a search for Manuals (http://search.hp.com/query.html?qp=%2BTicker%3AHP&qt=pavilion+manuals+KL97-xv+&col=hpcom+ccen+ccenfor&ht=0&qs=&qc=&pw=100%25&ws=0&la=en&qm=0&st=1&lk=1&rf=0&oq=&rq=0&si=1&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hp.com%2F&submit.x=8&submit.y=8)

I believe the KL97 xv is an Asus board. Probably older and the manual may not be on their site anymore. Will let you know.

Nope, they have NO listings for any Pentium II boards anymore.

Set,
Asus does have some manuals for old P2 boards, but not the KL97. They have one for the KN97, might be similar or an update to your board. The manual has a shot of the board, so you can compare.
http://download.asus.com.tw/mb_alllist.asp

The problem is, this is an HP we are talking about...whether or not Asus made it doesn't matter, it is proprietary. This means that there are most definitely changes from the retail version it resembles (HP is very good at doing this). So while a manual for the retail version may be a good starting point, most likely there will be things in it that will not be doable on the HP version (like everything set automatically and no way of making changes manually).

For the most part I have found the newer versions of Linux to handle the HPs pretty well (except for the infamous HP Chameleon modem/soundcard). If possible, as a test I would either ghost the current drive or put in a small drive and load Linux on it, see how much it picks up and configures automatically. The BIOS options should be pretty straightforward (HP tends to simplify the BIOS in an attempt to idiot-proof their machines).


HPs also tend to come loaded with useless background apps and 64MB is not really enough for ME. Most HPs aren't real friendly to increased CPU speeds either (due to lack of options in the BIOS...mostly).

Set,

Poking around I found a post where someone verified that his Pavilion 8260 had the KL97 xv in it. HERE'S (http://www.hp.com/cposupport/personal_computing/support_doc/bph03915.html) a list of what came included in the box with the computer. There is not a manual...only a User's Guide. I'll keep looking and perhaps find a d/l for one of those.

I was back shaking the bushes again and found nothing. I was thinking that it was a proprietary board and that's why no manual was turning up. mjc thanks for the idea. I was almost ready to wipe that drive and go for it. I'm the kind of person who gets all excited and rushes right in without thinking or planning and bangs his head on a wall. I have a 2 gig HDD around I'll zero it out and stick it in and see what's what. The only big change I'm sure to make is the win modem gets replaced. With what I don't know yet I have to look in my bag of tricks and see what's there.

malcore that board got my attention too. I'll take a look at it Like mjc said it it may be a starting point.

Whyzman thanks. Who ever left the computer didn't leave anything else with it no CDs or manuals of any kind and reader rabbit 2 isn't loaded on eather.:(

That KN97 is a lot different.

Set,

It appears that the User's Guide is also on the CD included with the unit. There was some information on the BIOS defaults...on the HP site. As mjc pointed out, options seemed to be "Idiot Proof!" :D

Yeah, I have an HP...don't laugh...I needed a machine quickly and the price was right. ;)

But most Pavilion models, being the consumer line, have very few details about their inner workings available.

I would grab the latest updates for the BIOS before I did anything with it, just use the Pavilion model number to get whatever downloads you need. And of course HP does not support any other software than what was originally on it, so you would be entirely on your own with it (like it had any warranty left on it to begin with....;) ). Also look at what was originally packaged with it...may give you some ideas of what it can do.