Can I desolder a PCI connecter and put in an ISA connector

[NYCheapo]

I have an MSI 6337 815Pro. The orginal one. The 6337 is supposed to have 1 isa slot but i couldn't find a dealer and went with the regular all PCI version. It has the ISA connector outline. I was wondering weather i could desolder the PCI connecter which is there and drop in the ISA connector and resolder?

 

[jscobie]

dude save the time and worry and get PCI components, they run faster...and Linux likes them more...plus ISA is dying out and fast. usually only NIC cards are ISA now, so go out and purchase a new NIC for $15 or less

 

[Jorrit]

of course you can't do that. pci runs at 33mhz, while isa runs at 8 or something. you would fry your isa card.

 

[TheTeacher]

The speed controller for ISA is in the BIOS I believe. SO it should automatically run at whatever speed it is. I would MUCH rather have an ISA modem than a PCI one. I would do it just for that. Then I could bust out my Diamond Supra Sonic 2 baby. yeah baby yeah. That is the best modem. Hands down.
Mike

 

[NYCheapo]

That's exactly what i want to do SuicidaLX. I wanted to put my Zoom Modem in there. Which is a Rock Solid 2919. Not like those crappy winModems.

 

[MGMorden]

Just get a hardware PCI modem (they're out there) if you don't want a winmodem (though a winmodem isn't a bad thing. with a 133, they used to impact performance a bit, with the current 1ghz+ chips, they don't even put a dent in your performance). I smell a screwed up board if you attempt what you're talking about . . . .

 

[Sybz]

Ever unmounted your car wheels and tried bicycle wheels instead? ;-)

 

[highwire]

Regarding the original question - no chance. ISA is ISA, PCI is PCI. Everything is different - timing, speed , signal definitions. And I'm an ol' hardware hacker.

But, I'm with you on your objective. I'm on DSL now, but I still don't want to give up my trusty ISA modem. It's been a good friend. Solid 50+ connects. Yesterday, 1/2 of LA's DSL was down. I still want a good dial-up for backup.

The only choices now are either a winmodem or a 3com/USR 2977 PCI hardware modem if the new board doesn't have an ISA slot . And the 3977 is about 55 extra dollars to spend if you already have a good ISA modem and are up-grading your system. I'm thinking of a Biostar M7MIA for the very fact that it comes with an ISA slot.

 

[coomarlin]

Do they still make 56k modems? :Q

 

[AndyHui]

If the solder outline for the ISA slot is present, then YES, you probably could desolder the PCI slot and put on an ISA slot.

The fact that <<ISA is ISA and PCI is PCI>> is irrelevant.

The problem is whether or not the other things needed for ISA operation are present. You would need a PCI-to-ISA bridge, BIOS support and clock support.

It's doubtful that you would be able to do the replacement successfully, unfortunately.

 

[highwire]

coomarlin -

I've been on DSL for only about a month now, and already I'm starting to be a bandwidth snob, too.

But yesterday, it went away for about 15 hours and myself, and I'm sure, a whole lot of others were back in the 56k slums again - that is, if they were lucky and had a good 56k modem.

 

[quakguy]

wouldn't a good pci hardware modem be cheaper than a new motherboard? hehe

 

[highwire]

AndyHui -

I stand corrected. I missed that ISA &quot;socket outline&quot; business in the post.

Yes, if the board was designed for an optional ISA socket and if the underlying hardware AND firmware/bios support is there, it's feasible.
Otherwise, it's rocket science.

 

[hatboy]

If having a hardware-based modem is really important to you, why not get an external modem (not a usb one, but one that plugs into a com port)? I've had an external US Robotics for a couple of years and I like it much better than any internal modem I've had. It's nice to be able to see exactly what it's doing all the time and you can easily reset it without rebooting your machine.

 

[The_Lurker]

Shouldn't the BIOS&quot;s be the same? Since all the Motherboard has the Same BIOS, and regarding the ISA-PCI bridge, wouldn't they be the same as well? since it would be much more costly to design a chip that supports ISA, and then design another one that doen'st support the ISA slot? Lastly, yeah, there are Hardware 56kb modems out there, just a lot more expensive than winmodems, (Like what, $20 Cdn compared to $80?)