You can find the BIOS and flash utilities here:

http://cwcyrix.duckdns.org/ftp-archives/ftp.f … d/bios/socket7/
There´s also a manual:
http://cwcyrix.duckdns.org/ftp-archives/ftp.f … manual/socket7/

There are at least 3 revisions of this board that support different clock frequencies and have different heatsinks for the core-voltage VRM.
The version with the larger heatsink is better suited for a 233MMX. But the upgrade is a good idea anyway.

majestyk wrote on 2022-07-18, 05:04:

There are at least 3 revisions of this board that support different clock frequencies and have different heatsinks for the core-voltage VRM.
The version with the larger heatsink is better suited for a 233MMX. But the upgrade is a good idea anyway.

You know what the best revision is?

Looks like the one I got is 1.3 maybe. Attached a picture.

Thank you for the BIOS and flash tool link!

I think they´re all "1.3", so I better had called them versions.
Later versions had a larger heatsink (picture?) for better support of power hungry CPUs.
Also there are versions with
3 jumpers besides the northbridge (clock1, clock2 and pci-something) for FSB up to 66MHz
4 jumpers (clock1, clock2, clock3 and pci...) with one of the clock jumpers soldered, also for max. 66 MHz
4 jumpers ( clock1, clock2, clock3 and pci...) all populated for 75 MHz (or even more) FSB

In some cases (depending on the clock-gen etc.) it´s possible to populate the 4th soldered jumper and upgrade for higher FSBs.

If you run a PMMX 233 on a version with the tiny heatink it´s mandatory to use a strong CPU-cooler with the airstream going to the direction where the larger of the tiny heatsinks is. (The 3.3V I/O VRM doesn´t get hot)

majestyk wrote on 2022-07-18, 06:06:

Later versions had a larger heatsink (picture?)

Here are some pics of the motherboard.

MajinPowers wrote on 2022-07-18, 04:31:

Question 2:
The Motherboard also has a USB header (10-Pin) Anything special I need to know about this or will any 10-pin work?

The USB on the PA-2005 is non-functional, because the USB controller in the VIA chipset is faulty (it's disabled permanently in hardware). The 10-pin header belongs to the Serial IR port.

MajinPowers wrote on 2022-07-18, 04:31:

Question 1: The motherboard has a header for PS/2 Mouse Connector: MS_CON. Anyone know what kind of cable I would need to h […]
Show full quote

Question 1:
The motherboard has a header for PS/2 Mouse Connector: MS_CON. Anyone know what kind of cable I would need to hook up a PS/2 Mouse? the connector looks like only 5 pins but
really only has four actual pins. I cannot find out much about this online. Any other options for adding PS/2 Support?
Would this work.....
https://www.ebay.com/itm/165540458129?hash=it … 0oAAOSwpZdir9c6

Question 2:
The Motherboard also has a USB header (10-Pin) Anything special I need to know about this or will any 10-pin work? Was looking at this on eBay...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/383765355878

Question 3:
Right now, I have a P200 MMX in the system Looking online seems like the P233 MMX will work if I update the bios. I was able to find BIOS 6.201J900 from...
https://www.ultimateretro.net/en/motherboards/2420#downloads

Looks like I need a program called Flash534.zip to install the updated bios. Anyone know where to find this tool? Is it worth trying to flash for P233 MMX support?

Q1)
You can use any PS/2 bracket and connect the individual wires in the connector according to the header scheme on the board - they can be easily ejected from the connector. The PS/2 wiring scheme for the mouse is here https://hw-server.com/connection-over-ps2-port, but you need to know where on the board header is the +5V, data, clock and ground (sometimes it is described in the manual, other times it has to be detected by measurements).
Accordingly, you'll plug in the individual wires in the connector if they don't fit.

Q2)
USB tends to be better standardized than PS/2 header connection - on one side of the header there is +5V power supply, then -/+ data and ground. So if you measure +5V on one of the sides, you'll find out how to plug in the USB connector: pin 1 is usually +5V. Look at the picture.
But beware, I have already seen non-mirror wiring at the 10-pin header (+5V has always been in the opposite corner pin), so make sure you have +5V for a pair of pins or not.

So I was able to flash the BIOS to version 619j900.
I also installed the P233MMX with a proper heatsink and fan but it is still reading it as P200.
Used a heatsink from StarTech because it is 100% copper and I swapped out the default fan for a Noctua 60MM fan.

Any idea what I am missing? I don't see anyway to change the multiplier to 3.5.

MajinPowers wrote on 2022-07-18, 09:04:

So I was able to flash the BIOS to version 619j900. I also installed the P233MMX with a proper heatsink and fan but it is still reading it as P200.

Any idea what I am missing? I don't see anyway to change the multiplier to 3.5.

If you've set FREQ1 & FREQ2 to pins 1-2 (1.5 x) the p233MMX should interpret this as 3.5x for 233MHz

PC Hoarder Patrol wrote on 2022-07-18, 09:31:

If you set FREQ1 & FREQ2 to pins 1-2 (1.5 x) the p233MMX should interpret this as 3.5x for 233MHz

Woot! got it running @ 233! Thank you for the information!

majestyk wrote on 2022-07-18, 05:04:

The version with the larger heatsink is better suited for a 233MMX. But the upgrade is a good idea anyway.

Looks like my board has the small heatsink. After getting the 233MMX running at the correct speed the PC started locking up because of heat.
If I place a fan next to the VRM heatsink it stops locking up. You think it is safe to run like this if I add another fan in there to cool the VRM? Ot would it be best to drop it back down to 200 (Think I am going to add a fan regardless)?

I added a fan to keep the VRM heatsinks cool.

Cut a 3-inch hole in the bottom of the case and installed an 80mm Noctua fan intaking air right over the heatsinks.

Also added a grill and some thick rubber grommets to stop sticking your finger in the fan and to keep it quiet.

Seems to be working great at cooling while running the CPU @ 233 speed.

I was also able to get the PS/2 Mouse working using the PS/2 Mouse Connector: MS_CON on the motherboard.

If anyone has a PA-2005 the motherboard pinout is:

1 = Data
2 = Not connected
3 = GND
4 = Vcc/5v
5 = CLK

I am not having any luck getting the serial ports working.
I ordered some StarTech cables from Amazon. but the mouse does not work when I try connecting them. Are all serial cables the same?

Any tips to get this working?

Any way to test these ports other than with a mouse? I just got this serial mouse, and it might not be working.

These are the cables I got...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0067DB6RU?psc=1&re … product_details

There are two versions of COM-pinouts, you can find the details online.
I used to call the less common version the "supermicro" type. Maybe you got this version from Amazon (or FIC used it here?)? If you have basic soldering skills you can change the pinout at the RS232 plug yourself:
One version is "row one first, then the second row" while the second version goes "one wire to row one, the next to row two, third to row one..."

majestyk wrote on 2022-07-24, 05:00:

There are two versions of COM-pinouts, you can find the details online.
One version is "row one first, then the second row" while the second version goes "one wire to row one, the next to row two, third to row one..."

Thanks for the information majestyk!

Looking online IT seems like the two cables are called DTK/INTEL and AT/EVEREX.

DTK/INTEL Pinout
1 3 5 7 9
2 4 6 8 x

AT/EVEREX Pinout
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 x

Using a multimeter to test the cables, It looks like I have AT/EVEREX. I am guessing I need the less common DTK/INTEL cables.

Update:

The DTK/INTEL Cables worked.

The serial header on the motherboard is...
DCD 1 2 DSR
RXD 3 4 RTS
TXD 5 6 GTS
DTR 7 8 RI
GND 9 10 Not Used

Place where you can order DTK/INTEL cables...

http://www.pccables.com/cgi-bin/orders6.cgi?a … arch=IDC&rcode=

MajinPowers wrote on 2022-07-24, 01:03:

I added a fan to keep the VRM heatsinks cool. […]
Show full quote

I added a fan to keep the VRM heatsinks cool.

Cut a 3-inch hold in the bottom of the case and installed an 80mm Noctua fan intaking air right over the heatsinks.

Also added a grill and some thick rubber grommets to stop sticking your finger in the fan and to keep it quiet.

Seems to be working great at cooling while running the CPU @ 233 speed.

Neat mod 😀 ...at least FIC acknowledged the need for some kind of modification in the attached

I can not seem to win with this PC!

Since I got a mouse working I installed Win98SE and some games.

Every-time I try to play a Lucas Arts game the PC crashes and sometimes I get this error.

The program tried to execute an invalid instruction
Fault location: 814e:eb29
Interrupts in service: None

I was able to play some Sierra games without issue, so far only Lucas Arts games are causing the crash. Specifically Monkey Island 1 and 2.

I tried swapping the RAM out but didn't change anything.

Any Ideas what would be causing this?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sovled!

Using SetMul seems to have fixed this crash. I didn't know Lucas Arts games was effected by speed. My retro PC that is dying was a P200MMX and it had no issues running Monkey Island.
I guess the extra 33MHZ was too much 🤣!

Most games I have that had speed issues don't load or run super fast, never saw one run a bit and then crash with an error like that.

[/quote]
Neat mod 😀 ...at least FIC acknowledged the need for some kind of modification in the attached
[/quote]

Thanks, I thought it turned out well and keeps the PC cool.

The Build:
Everything was new old stock / new excluding the processor, sound card, and video card.

TechMedia Case
TechMedia 300 watt PSU
FIC PA-2005 revision A1 motherboard
Gotek Floppy Emulator
Asus QuieTrack CD-Rom
512MB 72-Pin EDO RAM (Found a seller on eBay that sells new EDO RAM. memgate is the sellers name. )
P233MMX CPU
Sound Blaster AWE 64 Gold
VooDoo 4 PCI
2X SD to IDE Adapters with printed brackets
2X 32GB SD Cards (Updating the BIOS to 6201j900, the final released BIOS still only supports up to 32GB HDDs)

I have a Promise Ultra 66 I am thinking about trying to get working.