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Motherboard swap

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gleneagles
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Motherboard swap

Desktop is about 9 years old, running a dual boot system Linux & Windows 7

Hard drive packed up a couple of years ago & replaced with evo 840 ssd

Power supply also replaced about a year ago.

Intend on replacing motherboard, cpu and memory....buying as a bundle so everything comparable.

The question is this can I just connect everything up and power up or am I asking for trouble.

I know it should not be a major problem reinstalling everything but if I could just boot up it would save a fair amount of time.

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Baldrick1
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Re: Motherboard swap

@gleneagles 

If your asking if the system disk will just boot into Windows and Linux then I think it very unlikely. There will be no harm done by powering up then reinstalling everything.

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TheRoadCrew
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Re: Motherboard swap

If your not buying the latest CPU you should be OK with Linux, newer CPUs won't let you install Windows 7 - not sure if an existing install will work, you'd need to be looking for hardware still offering support for Win7.

Edit: Assuming you're still using win7, of course.

Edit2: You probably can install Win7 on newer CPUs - you just won't get updates.

Edit3: coming real soon now.... 🤣

idonno
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Re: Motherboard swap

@gleneagles I recently upgraded mine to a higher spec MB, CPU, GPU and RAM but still using the original NVMe drive (which had W8.1 only installed on it) and also transferred over 2 SSD's at the same time. It booted straight into Windows without any real issues with everything being reported as installed.

 

Although saying that, after a few minutes running Windows (tbh, everything seem to be working fine) I got a Windows message saying 'the CPU (Ryzen 9 3900X) is not compatible with W8.1'!!!! Don't ask me what the actual compatibility problem was. I went online and really couldn't find any info.

 

As the reason for the upgrade was to start getting ready for the next MS flight sim (and that will only run on W10) and getting fed up with that message every time I booted up, I decided to 'upgrade' a couple of days later to W10. I'd already downloaded a version to a USB stick. Again no real issues (apart from the MB built in WiFi which had to be disabled in the BIOS while installing W10). Re-enabled afterwards. But again it really was very easy to do.

 

But depending on your actual specs you might find you run into the same problem with W7. I would still give it a go though. OS's and BIOS's seem to have come on a long way of late. Years ago, I'm certain what I did above would have been a total disaster needing a total re-install! Just be prepared to update your OS systems.

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PeeGee
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Re: Motherboard swap

I recently had a motherboard failure, fitted a new board/cpu (same manufacturer)/memory connected up and only one minor problem, the integrated graphics didn't have a Linux module so I put the old card in and all up and running with the right resolution. Obviously, ran an update just in case.

MS Windows often works without too many problems, but having drivers on a memory stick can help, or running an update to Win10 will overcome that.

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Baldrick1
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Re: Motherboard swap

@gleneagles 

I recently had a motherboard failure and looked at buying a bundled upgrade. Whilst it is totally dependant on the spec of the upgrade bundle, in the end I bought a custom base unit as it was not that much more expensive. The  only difference is the cost of the case, power supply and CD drive. 

I then went mad and included a NVME M2 drive to use as the system disk.  I then added the graphics card from my old pc in place of the on board graphics plus reporposed the sata3 SSD from the old computer as the data disk. I now have a pretty quick machine.

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gleneagles
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Re: Motherboard swap

Thanks for the replies.

The replacement motherboard is a gigabyte A320M S2 AMD Ryzen 5 3600.

More than enough for my needs as I am not into gaming but photography & video.

If I do need to reinstall I have windows 7 installation on a usb stick but not clear how that works ie: if there is a option in the bios to select it to boot first or if this happens automatically.....guess I will soon be finding out.

First chance I will get to do the swop is next week due to other commitments but will be back if I get stuck.

Thanks again to all for the advice given.

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Alex
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Re: Motherboard swap

Good luck @gleneagles let us know how you get on.

I mainly use a Mac now, just because it is easier and I have no output on the graphics card from my PC. My sysadmin friend said try a different socket on the Mobo, which I haven't done yet.

I used the internal graphics card to start up Windows, and burn a Blu Ray disc of all my digital photos. 12Gb. Come to think of it I don't know where the disc is now. Somewhere at home. I think I will need to burn another one.

As it sounds like you are upgrading your PC, I would definitely consider a Blu Ray writer if you don't have one to backup your photos. That's what I have done (yes Alex if you can find the disc it helps!). I can advise you on free software which is really good. So simple to use, and just works.

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Baldrick1
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Re: Motherboard swap

@Alex 

I don't know the relative merits in terms of longevity of data retention bit it seems to me that a USB memory stick is a much cheaper option than blu ray. 

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Baldrick1
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Re: Motherboard swap

@gleneagles 

If you get stuck insert your Win 7 USB stick with the computer off, boot into the bios and change the boot order so that USB comes first. Save and exit.

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MisterW
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Re: Motherboard swap

If your asking if the system disk will just boot into Windows and Linux then I think it very unlikely

Linux detects hardware on each boot and so, providing there are kernel drivers for the new hardware, it should boot and load the correct drivers. If you have an up to date Linux system and the new hardware is not 'bleeding-edge' then it should work fine. I've done a few motherboard upgrades in the past and my Ubuntu system just booted like nothing had changed. As @PeeGee says, sometimes integrated graphics may not give optimum resolution without some tweaking. 

I don't use Windows much, but I would have expected a Windows installation would boot, but would probably need some drivers replacing and almost certainly will need the licence re-activating.

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gleneagles
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Re: Motherboard swap

Update....good news and bad....

Following change of motherboard, cpu & memory everything powered up ok.

Got into the bios and changed the boot order so windows 7 iso would boot up which it did but.......

Mouse and Keyboard were not working so no way to select windows....

Spent a fair bit of time on the internet faffing about with various workarounds but no luck....

Guess I will have to bite the bullet and go with Windows 10....

Annoying really as I can get into Linux and all the previous programs are still intact with keyboard and mouse working ok.

Tempted to wipe the SSD and try again.

Any thoughts..

 

 

 

 

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idonno
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Re: Motherboard swap

Mouse, keyboard wireless or wired?

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gleneagles
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Re: Motherboard swap

@idonno 

Tried both but no luck....

Seems one solution might be a mouse with a ps2 connector or whatever the correct name is, no doubt like most people I have had one or two of those in the past but dumped them in favour of using wireless or usb...

 

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MisterW
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Re: Motherboard swap

Got into the bios and changed the boot order so windows 7 iso would boot up which it did but.......

Mouse and Keyboard were not working so no way to select windows....

Have you tried enabling USB Legacy support in the Bios ? https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/x86/usb-legacy-support.html

If you can't get the mouse/keyboard to work with the ISO booted , then wiping the disk won't be a good idea, since you will need to boot up an ISO to install anything!!

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