Is it safe to replace the eprom on a hippo vl+ with a winbond w27c512 eeprom? I don't want to remove the label on the rom chip. I'd like to change from 'mister bios' to ami bios.
I've switched them out and haven't had any problems. Why on earth would you want to switch from MR-BIOS to AMIBIOS? Could you please dump the MR-BIOS and post the image here?
"Will the highways on the internets become more few?" -Gee Dubya
V'Ger XT|Upgraded AT|Ultimate 386|Super VL/EISA 486|SMP VL/EISA Pentium
Is there something special about Mr-Bios? How does it's menu look like?
I find MR-BIOS generally makes my systems marginally faster. The menus are nice, and the system boot up speed is really fast. It also adds some power management stuff to older 386 and 486 systems.
If anyone has MR BIOS for the SiS Rabbit 386 chipset, please let me know.
"Will the highways on the internets become more few?" -Gee Dubya
V'Ger XT|Upgraded AT|Ultimate 386|Super VL/EISA 486|SMP VL/EISA Pentium
any shots available for it? 😁
wrote:Could you please dump the MR-BIOS and post the image here?
I'm afraid not, i've downloaded the ami bios from mobokive. I had to go to the waybackmachine due to a bad configuration of the server. The mrbios is there as well.
http://www.elhvb.com/mobokive/archive/Octek/4 … 0VL+/index.html
I know the microid bios is better but i like the ami one more, due to nostalgia reasons i guess. The bios menus in mrbios look good and more modern with some sort of tabs. What i don't like is the fast boot and the lack of information during it.
Do you actually own the board and done the swap? Is the ami bios the classic color bios? Thanks.
Thanks for the link.
I don't own the board, but I do collect BIOS images.
MR BIOSes are not easy to come by. I particularly want ones for 386 boards. All I have at the moment are the ones for the UMC and OPTI chipsets from those Russian bios collection sites.
"Will the highways on the internets become more few?" -Gee Dubya
V'Ger XT|Upgraded AT|Ultimate 386|Super VL/EISA 486|SMP VL/EISA Pentium
^ do you think a bios like that would work on my 386DX40 mobo? It's a UMC 82C3491 based one...
The UMC BIOS available is for the 82C480 chipset, which I think is made of 3 chips. Is the 82C3491 a two chip solution? It wouldn't hurt to try I guess.
"Will the highways on the internets become more few?" -Gee Dubya
V'Ger XT|Upgraded AT|Ultimate 386|Super VL/EISA 486|SMP VL/EISA Pentium
I've adquired an eprom with the ami bios recorded, amd am27c512, but i haven't tried it yet.
wrote:Mr. BIOS? Sounds interesting 😀
It's an abbreviation for Microid Research Systems BIOS, I think.
It was also used in InnoTek VPC 4x.
"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel
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I can confirm it works fine, it's the classic ami bios. By the way the chipset setup menu option is missing, i'm almost sure it was the same with mr bios.
Most ROM's use a standardized pinout but this isn't a rule. You can find out easily by looking up the datasheets, if the pinout and voltages match it will probably work but be warned, flash voltages vary a lot more than reading voltages so it is generally unwise to try flashing different EEPROMs in a board that wasn't designed for them.
Mr. BIOS, I've heard of it and know of its existence but I don't believe I've ever worked with it. For some reason, possibly due to my compulsion to listen to rubbish 90s songs, all I can hear in my head is Tania Evans;
"I know what I want and I want it now...!"
Hi, I have same issue. Bought Hippo VL+ rev 2.2 and both Mr.BIOS and the second one (keyboard controller) are missing. I need to buy some parts and flash them myself. Any chance of finding rom for keyboard controller (the one next to it) as well?
The keyboard controller isn't a rom, but a microcontroller. You'll need to buy another keyboard controller - but there are multiple types and not all are compatible with all boards. If you can find an image of the original board it should show you the brand (AMIKey, Jetkey, Regional, etc).
My collection database and technical wiki:
https://www.target-earth.net
Yes, got it. Out of curiosity: I have similar board, also 486DX and it has both BIOS and controller. Both are AWARD, not AMI. Can I replace it? From what I read you can put AWARD or AMI on any board, the only requirement is that both controller and BIOS brand match. Is that correct assumption?
cyberluke wrote on 2021-06-30, 08:17:Yes, got it. Out of curiosity: I have similar board, also 486DX and it has both BIOS and controller. Both are AWARD, not AMI. Can I replace it? From what I read you can put AWARD or AMI on any board, the only requirement is that both controller and BIOS brand match. Is that correct assumption?
This was somewhat true with early boards from the 286 and 386 era, but wasn't a guarantee. By the time of the 486 I would expect the motherboard chipsets to require specific BIOS support; I don't think you'll get away with just swapping in any BIOS - you'll need to source a BIOS from at least a board with the same chipset.
My collection database and technical wiki:
https://www.target-earth.net
What hides under that DCA sticker ( I don't want to remove mine ) on the Hippo VL/VL+/VL PRO and Hippo DCA 1 ? I downloaded two BIOS upgrades from:
https://www.elhvb.com/mobokive/archive/octek/ … plus/index.html
namely:
Hippo DCA 1 MRBIOS 3.21 Support Cyrix 5x86 AMD 5x86.exe
and
Hippo DCA1 MRBIOS 3.21 Support AMD DX Write-Back & 5x86.zip
and looked inside both of them.
Judging by the name they seem to be very similar ( upgrade to support the same CPU's ? ), but size is different and reading at the very end of the file, one seems to be designed to support HT34407 and the other OPTI4C1 ??? What gives? I don't want to ruin my board by flashing wrong BIOS.
Also, which software would you use to flash MR BIOS? Can I use UniFlash? Any ideas?
