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SiS 496/497 revisions

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First post, by Amigaz

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Recently aquired some Asus pvi 486sp3 motherboards which are rev 1.22 and.
I want to update the BIOS on these since they have flash bios chips which my rev 1.2 didn't have but the BIOS updates are only for certain chipset revisions like for example rev "B4", "A4" etc and I have no clue what revisions mine are since these revisions aren't written on the chips
Can someone please shed some light on my problem? 😀

My retro computer stuff: https://lychee.jjserver.net/#16136303902327

Reply 1 of 8, by 5u3

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The North- and Southbridge each have their own revision markings, which in combination determine the chipset revision.

Here is a table I found on the net somewhere:

496 MU + 497 MW = revision A4

496 NU + 497 NS = revision B2
496 NV + 497 NS = revision B3
496 NV + 497 NU = revision B4

Reply 2 of 8, by Amigaz

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5u3 wrote:
The North- and Southbridge each have their own revision markings, which in combination determine the chipset revision. […]
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The North- and Southbridge each have their own revision markings, which in combination determine the chipset revision.

Here is a table I found on the net somewhere:

496 MU + 497 MW = revision A4

496 NU + 497 NS = revision B2
496 NV + 497 NS = revision B3
496 NV + 497 NU = revision B4

Thanks

Mine are:

496 OR + 497 OT = ????

My retro computer stuff: https://lychee.jjserver.net/#16136303902327

Reply 3 of 8, by 5u3

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Just found this old usenet thread:

Patrick Duffy wrote:
This board comes in five slightly different varieties, corresponding to different revisions of the SIS chipset used: A4, B2, B3 […]
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This board comes in five slightly different varieties, corresponding to different revisions of the SIS chipset used: A4, B2, B3, B4, and B5.
The A4 chipset supports IDE up to PIO mode 2. All later chipsets support PIO mode 3 and (in later revisions) above, though not always very well. The various chipset revisions can be identified by their labels:

The various chipset revisions can be identified by their labels:

A4 Version chipset: SIS 496 MU, SIS 497 MW
B2 Version chipset: SIS 496 NU, SIS 497 NS
B3 Version chipset: SIS 496 NV, SIS 497 NS
B4 Version chipset: SIS 496 NV, SIS 497 NU
B4 Version chipset: SIS 496 OR, SIS 497 OT

I think the "B4 Version" listed at the end if the list is a typo and actually should read "B5".

Reply 4 of 8, by Amigaz

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5u3 wrote:

Just found this old usenet thread:

Patrick Duffy wrote:
This board comes in five slightly different varieties, corresponding to different revisions of the SIS chipset used: A4, B2, B3 […]
Show full quote

This board comes in five slightly different varieties, corresponding to different revisions of the SIS chipset used: A4, B2, B3, B4, and B5.
The A4 chipset supports IDE up to PIO mode 2. All later chipsets support PIO mode 3 and (in later revisions) above, though not always very well. The various chipset revisions can be identified by their labels:

The various chipset revisions can be identified by their labels:

A4 Version chipset: SIS 496 MU, SIS 497 MW
B2 Version chipset: SIS 496 NU, SIS 497 NS
B3 Version chipset: SIS 496 NV, SIS 497 NS
B4 Version chipset: SIS 496 NV, SIS 497 NU
B4 Version chipset: SIS 496 OR, SIS 497 OT

I think the "B4 Version" listed at the end if the list is a typo and actually should read "B5".

Nice, you're a better "googler" than me 😀

I'm suprised I got this late chipset revision when my board is just rev 1.22

My retro computer stuff: https://lychee.jjserver.net/#16136303902327

Reply 6 of 8, by Amigaz

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5u3 wrote:
Amigaz wrote:

I'm suprised I got this late chipset revision when my board is just rev 1.22

No idea... Maybe it is a OEM board.
Never mind - All that matters for BIOS upgrade is whether the chipset is rev. A or B.

I suspect they are that, I bought 4 of them from the same seller on ebay so I guess he had robbed them from identical systems

I knew you'd solve this mystery for me since I know you have alot of experience in this particular Asus board 😀

My retro computer stuff: https://lychee.jjserver.net/#16136303902327

Reply 7 of 8, by Amigaz

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Finally tried this board for real, flashed to the latest bios (306) which was a bit scary since I never got a message it was successful
The bios update solved a cd-rom problem I had...had to warm reboot for the cd-rom driver to work.

btw. not to happy with the PCI performance of this board...maybe my BIOS settings are wrong?
I'm only getting a score of 6.7 in pcpbench with my Hercules Terminator S3 Virge DX

My retro computer stuff: https://lychee.jjserver.net/#16136303902327