4DPS & 1.72f BIOS - How? \ VOGONS

4DPS & 1.72f BIOS - How?

Topic actions

First post, by Scythifuge

Posted on 2021-05-21, 03:23

Scythifuge Offline

Rank Oldbie

Rank: Oldbie
Posts: 945
Joined: 2006-06-27, 04:44

Greetings,

I got my 4DPS all hooked up and it seems to be running stable. However, it doesn't detect optical drives during boot; only when the drivers are loaded. I am getting an environment variable and switch error when using the dir command, though it still displays the directory. When I use the dir command on the slaved DVD drive, there is a hiccup and is displays the directory list, though it is slower.

I have read that the 1.72f bios offers more stability and improvements and detects ATAPI drives during the boot process. However, the bios chip is one of those erasable by UV light chips. I have heard of bios services and what not. What is the easiest and best way for me to go from the 1.5 bios to the latest bios?

Thank you!
Scythifuge

Reply 1 of 4, by Doornkaat

Posted on 2021-05-21, 06:15

Doornkaat Offline

Rank l33t

Rank: l33t
Posts: 2328
Joined: 2017-04-02, 06:50

Get a compatible EEPROM and flash the desired BIOS on that. No need for EPROMs.

Reply 2 of 4, by Scythifuge

Posted on 2021-05-21, 11:34

Scythifuge Offline

Rank Oldbie

Rank: Oldbie
Posts: 945
Joined: 2006-06-27, 04:44

Doornkaat wrote on 2021-05-21, 06:15:

Get a compatible EEPROM and flash the desired BIOS on that. No need for EPROMs.

Thank you, I'll look into that. I'll check the 4DPS manual to see if there are any issues, and will try to find out which EEPROM I need. Maybe I'll invest in a bios programmer, as I'm not sure if the 4DPS allows for flashing, or if I have a mobo that takes that chip. I vaguely remember a discussion about compatible EEPROMS, but I'm not sure. I think that getting that bios will solve a lot of issues and unlock some useful options. Plus, I believe that if it detects ATAPI drives at boot, it may be possible to boot from cdrom, which would be very handy if possible.

Reply 3 of 4, by Doornkaat

Posted on 2021-05-21, 14:07

Doornkaat Offline

Rank l33t

Rank: l33t
Posts: 2328
Joined: 2017-04-02, 06:50

Normally EPROMS won't flash on motherboards because they usually require much higher voltages than EEPROMS.
What model is in the board currently? Is there a jumper to control the voltage for flashing EEPROMs on the board?

Reply 4 of 4, by Scythifuge

Posted on 2021-05-21, 14:50

Scythifuge Offline

Rank Oldbie

Rank: Oldbie
Posts: 945
Joined: 2006-06-27, 04:44

Doornkaat wrote on 2021-05-21, 14:07:

Normally EPROMS won't flash on motherboards because they usually require much higher voltages than EEPROMS.
What model is in the board currently? Is there a jumper to control the voltage for flashing EEPROMs on the board?

It is version 2.11. The manual for version 2.1 lists Jp4 as being switchable between EPROM and FLASH ROM. I vaguely remember learning about UV erasable EPROM when trying to flash the bios with the 4DPS itself. It was before my accident, so the memory is a bit dim.

Go to top of page Go to top of page

Back to General Old Hardware