I noticed just about all Merit Megatouch Force machines use the same MB. MB are generally around $200+ to replace on those dang things.
Why wouldn't another brand MB work in a Force machine ? ANyone ever try it ? What happend ?
Just curious.
Dave
COINOPSHOP
As with anything PC-based, you need to know the software first.
For Windows-based systems, you NEED a restore process of some kind to make it work on a different MB. If you're supposed to just buy a new HDD, then you're screwed six ways to Monday. Even moving an add-in card to a different spot can permanently hose the OS on the HDD. If you do have a restore process though, it's generally pretty tolerant -- as long as the chipsets present are in the same family and supported by the driver on the restore disc, you're golden.
Linux is more tolerant, but at the same time, not. Generally they'll tolerate just about any mobo from a main chipset standpoint, but if the sound chip (specifically, the mixer exposed to userspace by the driver) isn't an EXACT match, you most likely won't get any sound. On the gfx side, it's VERY tolerant -- generally, any graphics chip that's simply
of the same brand and not too new will work.
Of course, that's just OS considerations. There's sometimes software security crap that may lock the game down to a specific board. (For instance, PiU Fiesta & EX actually check
a string in the BIOS against a known value via a convoluted cryptographic mess, in an attempt to force you to use the "factory" motherboard. Unfortunately for them, a lot of boards have that string in the right place...)
My recommendation is to first make a bit-for-bit copy of the HDD (using Linux dd, don't settle for less!) then just try it on any motherboard you have laying around that's around the right age, being sure to restore your image before each new board. If it runs on Windows, use the restore process (usually a CD or DVD of some variety) instead.