Alpha 164LX SROM problem \ VOGONS

Alpha 164LX SROM problem

Topic actions

First post, by parabellum

Posted on 2025-02-13, 10:51

parabellum Offline

Rank Newbie

Rank: Newbie
Posts: 21
Joined: 2023-10-07, 16:36

I recently dug out a set of Alpha 164LX motherboard + CPU + RAM combo. When i try to boot this, however, there is no vga output, only 6 beeps coming from speaker. The manual says it is "Checksum error" so i replaced the 2032 battery , which made no change. I also plugged a postcode card to ISA slot, which shows 3F 06 - confirming it is indeed firmware checksum error.

So i tried to use fail-safe booting to rewrite the firmware. I put a jumper across CN7 - as instructed - but it does not even boot into fail-safe mode. only 6 beeps.
At this point, i suspect the SROM chip is either corrupt or damaged. (i cleaned its socket with deoxit - no change)

The problem is, XC17128 is not even supported by my T48 programmer. Furthermore, I cannot find any known good rom file for this SROM chip. All firmware images i found are for 4MB flash chip.
Any suggestions? 🙁

Reply 1 of 5, by legodude

Posted on 2025-02-16, 13:29

legodude Offline

Rank Newbie

Rank: Newbie
Posts: 29
Joined: 2023-11-05, 17:55

I have a couple Alphas, but not a 164LX. You may try your question at VCF or one of the more unix-y discords.

But as to your specific question, I don't have a source for the SROM. There is supposed to be some SROM debug serial output (J29), maybe you could try that?
In my quick googling I could not find an easy way to read or program that chip.

Reply 2 of 5, by parabellum

Posted on 2025-02-16, 14:28

parabellum Offline

Rank Newbie

Rank: Newbie
Posts: 21
Joined: 2023-10-07, 16:36

legodude wrote on 2025-02-16, 13:29:

I have a couple Alphas, but not a 164LX. You may try your question at VCF or one of the more unix-y discords.

thanks. I will try that.

legodude wrote on 2025-02-16, 13:29:

But as to your specific question, I don't have a source for the SROM. There is supposed to be some SROM debug serial output (J29), maybe you could try that?
In my quick googling I could not find an easy way to read or program that chip.

There is a low cost programmer design from elektor magazine.
https://www.elektormagazine.com/magazine/elek … or-200310/17575

Reply 3 of 5, by weedeewee

Posted on 2025-02-16, 17:10

weedeewee Offline

Rank l33t

Rank: l33t
Posts: 3405
Joined: 2021-01-31, 16:09
Location: Belgium, Earth

any chance it's a memory problem?
The way it's phrased 'Checksum error detected when image was read back from memory' makes me think it might be memory related.

Right to repair is fundamental. You own it, you're allowed to fix it.
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
Do not ask Why !
https://www.vogonswiki.com/index.php/Serial_port

Reply 4 of 5, by parabellum

Posted on 2025-02-17, 01:22

parabellum Offline

Rank Newbie

Rank: Newbie
Posts: 21
Joined: 2023-10-07, 16:36

the board requires 2 dimms at minimum to boot, so i swapped around 4 dimms... no result. it only takes non-REG ECC SDRAM, which i do not have spares for now.
did test non ECC and REG ECC sticks, all resulted postcode 05 with 5 beeps - bad ram.

Reply 5 of 5, by legodude

Posted on 2025-02-17, 01:55

legodude Offline

Rank Newbie

Rank: Newbie
Posts: 29
Joined: 2023-11-05, 17:55

http://ftp.zx.net.nz/pub/archive/www.alphalin … firmware/ebsdk/

You can check here as well
I'm not sure if there are binaries in there or not. His site has lots of rare Dec/Compaq files

Go to top of page Go to top of page

Back to General Old Hardware