Thx, latest verion(s) will be online with the next update! 😀

kind regards
soggi

PC@LIVE wrote on 2021-10-05, 19:46:

OK thanks for the info. I connected the CF-IDE adapter that I use on the old-PC, the CF card is only 8MB, but despite this it is […]
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Mumak wrote on 2021-10-03, 21:48:

PC@LIVE wrote on 2021-10-03, 20:54:

Hello an info on the fly. I restarted a 386SX and I was wondering: can your program work? I remember that it goes on the 386 but […]
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Hello an info on the fly.
I restarted a 386SX and I was wondering: can your program work?
I remember that it goes on the 386 but I don't know if it works on the 386SX, this being quite similar to a 286 (ie 16 bit instead of the 32 of the 386).
If it is possible I would like to try it these days, I currently have 2MB of ram, but if necessary I can easily bring it to 4MB by adding two other 1MB 30pin RAMs.

It will work on 386SX as the instruction set is important. 2MB might fit, but you'll need to try.

OK thanks for the info.
I connected the CF-IDE adapter that I use on the old-PC, the CF card is only 8MB, but despite this it is sufficient for starting some DOS programs.
HWinfo started up, a bit slowly because the Turbo is off (I guess), but it completed the various tests and created the files (which I attach).
But I have to find the definitive configuration, for this 386SX, I was thinking of adding an ISA sound card and another 2MB of RAM, I don't think the addition of the coprocessor is necessary, but it depends on the software that I will be able to use, if they require it to speed up processing , I might add it.

Would it be possibly to know what board this is, and, if it has an AMI BIOS, what exactly does the string on the bottom say? Because your HWINFO report has an AMI keyboard controller copyright string I've never seen before (also, another of oyur HWINFO report has that of the 1993 AMI MegaKey with 'P' version letter, thanks for that one as well!), which places it before the 'F' AMIKey from 1990, but without the details I'm asking for, I can't determine which version it is (ie. what letter it returns in command 0xA1, which is what the final character of the BIOS string is). Thanks in advance!

Edit: From reading the report further, it turns out to be DTK board with the ALi M1217 chipset, so it's not there on Ultimate Retro. But the BIOS is an AMI BIOS 070791, which is perfect. I would just like the full BIOS string then, if possible.

Edit #2: Well, even better would be if you could run my AMIKey probing tool on it and post here the AMIKEY.BIN it produces. It's in the attached .RAR archive. Thanks in advance!

Battler wrote on 2021-12-10, 10:52:

Would it be possibly to know what board this is, and, if it has an AMI BIOS, what exactly does the string on the bottom say? Bec […]
Show full quote

PC@LIVE wrote on 2021-10-05, 19:46:

OK thanks for the info. I connected the CF-IDE adapter that I use on the old-PC, the CF card is only 8MB, but despite this it is […]
Show full quote

Mumak wrote on 2021-10-03, 21:48:

It will work on 386SX as the instruction set is important. 2MB might fit, but you'll need to try.

OK thanks for the info.
I connected the CF-IDE adapter that I use on the old-PC, the CF card is only 8MB, but despite this it is sufficient for starting some DOS programs.
HWinfo started up, a bit slowly because the Turbo is off (I guess), but it completed the various tests and created the files (which I attach).
But I have to find the definitive configuration, for this 386SX, I was thinking of adding an ISA sound card and another 2MB of RAM, I don't think the addition of the coprocessor is necessary, but it depends on the software that I will be able to use, if they require it to speed up processing , I might add it.

Would it be possibly to know what board this is, and, if it has an AMI BIOS, what exactly does the string on the bottom say? Because your HWINFO report has an AMI keyboard controller copyright string I've never seen before (also, another of oyur HWINFO report has that of the 1993 AMI MegaKey with 'P' version letter, thanks for that one as well!), which places it before the 'F' AMIKey from 1990, but without the details I'm asking for, I can't determine which version it is (ie. what letter it returns in command 0xA1, which is what the final character of the BIOS string is). Thanks in advance!

Edit: From reading the report further, it turns out to be DTK board with the ALi M1217 chipset, so it's not there on Ultimate Retro. But the BIOS is an AMI BIOS 070791, which is perfect. I would just like the full BIOS string then, if possible.

Edit #2: Well, even better would be if you could run my AMIKey probing tool on it and post here the AMIKEY.BIN it produces. It's in the attached .RAR archive. Thanks in advance!

The AMI BIOS string is dumped in the HWiNFO.DBG file, for this case it's:
AMI ID = 30-0100-428036-00101111-070791-ACER1217

I see, but that's missing the final character that only appears on the POST screen, and is obtained by running keyboard controller command 0xA1 (AMI get controller version), and that's what I need, in order to know which AMI keyboard controller version that copyright string belongs to.

Battler wrote on 2021-12-10, 10:52:

Would it be possibly to know what board this is, and, if it has an AMI BIOS, what exactly does the string on the bottom say? Bec […]
Show full quote

PC@LIVE wrote on 2021-10-05, 19:46:

OK thanks for the info. I connected the CF-IDE adapter that I use on the old-PC, the CF card is only 8MB, but despite this it is […]
Show full quote

Mumak wrote on 2021-10-03, 21:48:

It will work on 386SX as the instruction set is important. 2MB might fit, but you'll need to try.

OK thanks for the info.
I connected the CF-IDE adapter that I use on the old-PC, the CF card is only 8MB, but despite this it is sufficient for starting some DOS programs.
HWinfo started up, a bit slowly because the Turbo is off (I guess), but it completed the various tests and created the files (which I attach).
But I have to find the definitive configuration, for this 386SX, I was thinking of adding an ISA sound card and another 2MB of RAM, I don't think the addition of the coprocessor is necessary, but it depends on the software that I will be able to use, if they require it to speed up processing , I might add it.

Would it be possibly to know what board this is, and, if it has an AMI BIOS, what exactly does the string on the bottom say? Because your HWINFO report has an AMI keyboard controller copyright string I've never seen before (also, another of oyur HWINFO report has that of the 1993 AMI MegaKey with 'P' version letter, thanks for that one as well!), which places it before the 'F' AMIKey from 1990, but without the details I'm asking for, I can't determine which version it is (ie. what letter it returns in command 0xA1, which is what the final character of the BIOS string is). Thanks in advance!

Edit: From reading the report further, it turns out to be DTK board with the ALi M1217 chipset, so it's not there on Ultimate Retro. But the BIOS is an AMI BIOS 070791, which is perfect. I would just like the full BIOS string then, if possible.

Edit #2: Well, even better would be if you could run my AMIKey probing tool on it and post here the AMIKEY.BIN it produces. It's in the attached .RAR archive. Thanks in advance!

I now read your message, having various old motherboards, I don't remember if the one you are interested in is the 386SX or the 386DX, by heart it seems to me it is the 386SX having this ALI chipset (Acer), I can't tell you the manufacturer and the model, maybe from the BIOS you can go back to the manufacturer, on the board there is a writing GMB-386SAL (silkscreen), the BIOS is AMI color type (the one with color screens).
If you want to see both tabs (and others), if you find it useful there are many images here:
Re: Test and troubleshoot PC@LIVE motherboards
Currently I don't have the possibility to start it now, but I can do it in the next few days, fortunately your file is very small, because I have a CF of only 8MB now almost full, but as soon as I can I will try to start it and run your file.
Investigating I found I think the manufacturer and the model, it is described here:
https://www.win3x.org/uh19/motherboards/5496
It would therefore be a Gemlight GMB-386SAL, others call it Robotech, I don't know if it is the same board from another manufacturer (to understand us as ECS and PCChips).

Oh, thank you very much! Yes, I meant the 386SX.

Also, I have now attached JETKEY.COM (in it own .RAR on this post) that does the excat same (except the file is named JETKEY.BIN), but saves the output file after every keyboard controller command run, just in case AMIKEY.COM ends up in a hang or reboot (it can sometimes happens and is harmless).

Also, if it's not too much of a burned, would it be possible to run this on your 486 machine shown in this post: Re: HWiNFO for DOS resurrected ! as well, and post the .BIN file from that as well? Thanks in advance!

Battler wrote on 2021-12-10, 21:57:

Oh, thank you very much! Yes, I meant the 386SX.

Also, I have now attached JETKEY.COM (in it own .RAR on this post) that does the excat same (except the file is named JETKEY.BIN), but saves the output file after every keyboard controller command run, just in case AMIKEY.COM ends up in a hang or reboot (it can sometimes happens and is harmless).

Also, if it's not too much of a burned, would it be possible to run this on your 486 machine shown in this post: Re: HWiNFO for DOS resurrected ! as well, and post the .BIN file from that as well? Thanks in advance!

Ok I'll try to run this file on the 386SX too, and also on the PINE 486.
As soon as I have completed the tests with both PCs, I will be able to put them online.
If it is not a problem I would put them here, or tell me where to put them (link).
Unfortunately I have a power supply failure of the 286, it is an Intercomp Digit with AMD cpu and LPX-like MB format, I think maybe you might have been interested?

It's fine to put them here, just put them into a .RAR or something and they can be attached easily.

And sad to hear that about your 286.

the_ultra_code wrote on 2020-04-20, 07:21:

Hello Mumak, […]
Show full quote

Hello Mumak,

I saw this thread, and I'd thought I'd help.

Never have I've been so excited to run HWINFO before! (being serious) I grabbed the latest version from your website (modified date April 13, 2020), which is older than the one you just posted above, but I encountered no issues, so I guess it doesn't really matter, eh?

I'm really impressed. It felt so cool to see all the specs of the system under DOS. Probs one of the coolest DOS programs I've used, but then again I don't have much DOS experience (I don't really use DOS except to play DOS games).

Anywho, as you can see, I used my Pentium MMX machine as the test candidate, running HWINFO under its DOS 6.22 install, using the XMS (Extended Memory) manager. (If you want an overview of the system, click here)

I've attached the log for the program as well if you are interested.

I think there might be a bug in HWINFO there, because your log says there's a Winbond W83877TF Super I/O Chip, but on your Imgur album, I can clearly see a National Semiconductors Super I/O chip, which matches the Intel LT430TX Technical Specification (but bizarrely, the keyboard controller does not - your HWINFO log shows an 1994 AMI copyright string, while the technical specification claims it should be a Phoenix MultiKey).

Battler wrote on 2021-12-10, 21:57:

Oh, thank you very much! Yes, I meant the 386SX.

Also, I have now attached JETKEY.COM (in it own .RAR on this post) that does the excat same (except the file is named JETKEY.BIN), but saves the output file after every keyboard controller command run, just in case AMIKEY.COM ends up in a hang or reboot (it can sometimes happens and is harmless).

Also, if it's not too much of a burned, would it be possible to run this on your 486 machine shown in this post: Re: HWiNFO for DOS resurrected ! as well, and post the .BIN file from that as well? Thanks in advance!

Tomorrow I think I can start the two PCs (or at least one) to run the two programs you have attached.
Unfortunately I am trying to solve the failures of several MB, fortunately I managed to recover at least four, I will see for these to run the HWinfo program, They are three slot1 (two bx and a SiS600) and an SKT462 / A, but I have others on I am working on (in the short time I have available), some have been put away because I have not found the fault.

Battler wrote on 2021-12-14, 00:03:

the_ultra_code wrote on 2020-04-20, 07:21:

Hello Mumak, […]
Show full quote

Hello Mumak,

I saw this thread, and I'd thought I'd help.

Never have I've been so excited to run HWINFO before! (being serious) I grabbed the latest version from your website (modified date April 13, 2020), which is older than the one you just posted above, but I encountered no issues, so I guess it doesn't really matter, eh?

I'm really impressed. It felt so cool to see all the specs of the system under DOS. Probs one of the coolest DOS programs I've used, but then again I don't have much DOS experience (I don't really use DOS except to play DOS games).

Anywho, as you can see, I used my Pentium MMX machine as the test candidate, running HWINFO under its DOS 6.22 install, using the XMS (Extended Memory) manager. (If you want an overview of the system, click here)

I've attached the log for the program as well if you are interested.

I think there might be a bug in HWINFO there, because your log says there's a Winbond W83877TF Super I/O Chip, but on your Imgur album, I can clearly see a National Semiconductors Super I/O chip, which matches the Intel LT430TX Technical Specification (but bizarrely, the keyboard controller does not - your HWINFO log shows an 1994 AMI copyright string, while the technical specification claims it should be a Phoenix MultiKey).

I managed to create the required files some time ago, yesterday I started the two PCs, the 386SX and the PINE 486DX, unfortunately the PINE showed a problem when starting, it does not recognize the keyboard, and therefore I could not run any program, I think is a problem due to the oxide of the tracks, I have to try to clean it in the next few days and try again if the keyboard problem disappears, if I'm lucky a clean will suffice, otherwise I would have to go hunting for an interruption of the tracks.
I hope I don't have to get to that, but I'll check other things as well, such as the fuse, and the keyboard connector pins.

I have several MB under repair, I was lucky enough to recover some of them, the last one is an MB SKT 754, it is an ASRock K8Upgrade-NF3, it is a particular card because it allows through a special card to support CPUs with subsequent sockets, yes it can switch to socket 939 or AM2, even DDR2 RAM is used with AM2.
However I booted the card with a 1GB of DDR400 RAM, a 2.0GHz Sempron 3400+ CPU, a 128MB AGP8X GF4 MX440 VGA, and the usual IDE-CF adapter with a 256MB CF card, booted into DOS, ran the latest version of HWinfo (6.20) and I created the files I am attaching.
I hope you are interested in it, but I have other MBs that I need to repair and try, so I think I can run your program in other cards that I have on the bench.

I just tested a MB slot1, it is not the usual bx, it is a QDI Legend-V motherboard, the chipset is the Intel 440LX, the installed CPU is a 333MHz PII (which is the maximum for the FSB66 PII), the RAM is PC100 from 64MB, I have not yet put a VGA AGP, I used to start it a VGA ISA WD (the same used for the PINE SI21), connected keyboard power supply and Post Card ISA, start and the card starts showing the codes in succession , as long as it shows the BIOS boot screen, the rest is simple just press one key to enter or another to start the PC looking for the OS.
I don't think this card has problems booting, I will be sure only when I have finished the tests, I will connect the usual IDE-CF with DOS, and I will change the CMOS battery (it is low), I also need to find a suitable AGP card so a 2X possibly, I currently have an i740 but it is from another PC that I need to fix.
Soon I'll be running the HWinfo program and creating the files to put them here.

Today I was able to run HWInfo 6.20 on the QDI Legend-V, even though I don't have the final configuration, I booted the PC and ran via the -d -r option.
I hope the file is useful, even if from what I have seen it recognizes I would say all the HW, out of curiosity I tried HWInfo16, it works but it does not recognize the CPU, I do not think it is important since it is intended for older PCs, about a decade at least .

Thanks! Yes, HWiNFO16 is for 8086-286 only and it makes no sense to run it on later systems as it won't recognize them properly.

PC@LIVE wrote on 2021-12-24, 18:42:

Battler wrote on 2021-12-14, 00:03:

the_ultra_code wrote on 2020-04-20, 07:21:

Hello Mumak, […]
Show full quote

Hello Mumak,

I saw this thread, and I'd thought I'd help.

Never have I've been so excited to run HWINFO before! (being serious) I grabbed the latest version from your website (modified date April 13, 2020), which is older than the one you just posted above, but I encountered no issues, so I guess it doesn't really matter, eh?

I'm really impressed. It felt so cool to see all the specs of the system under DOS. Probs one of the coolest DOS programs I've used, but then again I don't have much DOS experience (I don't really use DOS except to play DOS games).

Anywho, as you can see, I used my Pentium MMX machine as the test candidate, running HWINFO under its DOS 6.22 install, using the XMS (Extended Memory) manager. (If you want an overview of the system, click here)

I've attached the log for the program as well if you are interested.

I think there might be a bug in HWINFO there, because your log says there's a Winbond W83877TF Super I/O Chip, but on your Imgur album, I can clearly see a National Semiconductors Super I/O chip, which matches the Intel LT430TX Technical Specification (but bizarrely, the keyboard controller does not - your HWINFO log shows an 1994 AMI copyright string, while the technical specification claims it should be a Phoenix MultiKey).

I managed to create the required files some time ago, yesterday I started the two PCs, the 386SX and the PINE 486DX, unfortunately the PINE showed a problem when starting, it does not recognize the keyboard, and therefore I could not run any program, I think is a problem due to the oxide of the tracks, I have to try to clean it in the next few days and try again if the keyboard problem disappears, if I'm lucky a clean will suffice, otherwise I would have to go hunting for an interruption of the tracks.
I hope I don't have to get to that, but I'll check other things as well, such as the fuse, and the keyboard connector pins.

Well, the files you posted don't show the AMI copyright string, but, thanks to the probing on the same KBC version ('8') by another person who also happened to have one, I now know why - the AMI '8' KBC version of command 0xA0 (Get Copyright String) behaves differently from how it does on the later controllers - on the later ones, the returned copyright string always ends in a 0x00, but on the '8', it does not, which causes my programs to error our at that command. I wonder when AMI added the 0x00 termination - the 'F' already has it, but there's 'B', 'D', and 'E' between '8' and 'F', so who knows.

If wonder how does HWINFO not fall into that same pitfall - does it simply receive bytes from command 0xA0 until it times out?

And here's hoping you can get the PINE 486DX to work again.

Battler wrote on 2021-12-26, 15:50:

Well, the files you posted don't show the AMI copyright string, but, thanks to the probing on the same KBC version ('8') by anot […]
Show full quote

PC@LIVE wrote on 2021-12-24, 18:42:

Battler wrote on 2021-12-14, 00:03:

I think there might be a bug in HWINFO there, because your log says there's a Winbond W83877TF Super I/O Chip, but on your Imgur album, I can clearly see a National Semiconductors Super I/O chip, which matches the Intel LT430TX Technical Specification (but bizarrely, the keyboard controller does not - your HWINFO log shows an 1994 AMI copyright string, while the technical specification claims it should be a Phoenix MultiKey).

I managed to create the required files some time ago, yesterday I started the two PCs, the 386SX and the PINE 486DX, unfortunately the PINE showed a problem when starting, it does not recognize the keyboard, and therefore I could not run any program, I think is a problem due to the oxide of the tracks, I have to try to clean it in the next few days and try again if the keyboard problem disappears, if I'm lucky a clean will suffice, otherwise I would have to go hunting for an interruption of the tracks.
I hope I don't have to get to that, but I'll check other things as well, such as the fuse, and the keyboard connector pins.

Well, the files you posted don't show the AMI copyright string, but, thanks to the probing on the same KBC version ('8') by another person who also happened to have one, I now know why - the AMI '8' KBC version of command 0xA0 (Get Copyright String) behaves differently from how it does on the later controllers - on the later ones, the returned copyright string always ends in a 0x00, but on the '8', it does not, which causes my programs to error our at that command. I wonder when AMI added the 0x00 termination - the 'F' already has it, but there's 'B', 'D', and 'E' between '8' and 'F', so who knows.

If wonder how does HWINFO not fall into that same pitfall - does it simply receive bytes from command 0xA0 until it times out?

And here's hoping you can get the PINE 486DX to work again.

I hope I can help you, it is easy for me to create the files you need, unfortunately I don't always have the time to repair and test old motherboards or old PCs, I realized I have several to repair, and some need capacitors spare parts that I don't have, while others I can't understand the fault, in short, when I manage to recover some of them, I use some programs including HWinfo.
For PINE I think it can be fixed, but I have to find some time to check the various tracks if they are ok, it's a job that I don't know how long it will take, if you are lucky you can fix it quickly, otherwise it could even take years, the only thing I hope is the chip is not broken, in that case I don't know how I could replace it, that is, if a chip taken from another card is okay, or if the same chip is needed for an identical card.

Well, the status of the chip can be easily determined by booting the machine and seeing if you still see that 'P' at the right end of the string at the bottom, as that comes from the keyboard controller (command 0xA1). If it's there, then the keyboard controller is working and the problem is somewhere else.

Battler wrote on 2021-12-26, 18:43:

Well, the status of the chip can be easily determined by booting the machine and seeing if you still see that 'P' at the right end of the string at the bottom, as that comes from the keyboard controller (command 0xA1). If it's there, then the keyboard controller is working and the problem is somewhere else.

Thank you very much for the very useful info.
I did not know this thing, I will check if it is visible when the PC starts, I hope so, I do not remember this particular, but it is likely that it is as I imagine an oxide problem in the tracks (or corroded tracks), I will try to try again in these days, if I can check the tracks and I'll try to fix the bad ones.

When I start hwinfo I get the following error: "Cannot run it under OS/2". After that I can only press OK which closes the program.

I am running it on DR-DOS 6.0 with Qemm 9.0 though. Funny thing is it's running hwinfo16 without problems. Also it works after a clean boot (so only DR-DOS 6.0). Lastly if I run it (with Qemm 9.0 etc) with the options "-v -d -r" it creates a log file without errors in it with all the information available in the program.

If you need more info let me know.