VOGONS


First post, by ruthan

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I found at home Core 2 MB with VIA PT880 Ultra chipset:
https://www.asrock.com/mb/via/4coredual-vsta/#Specification

at first look it nice for retro PC - Core 2 Quad support, lost of slots etc.. but in specs is max. RAM only 2 GB, i tried the luck is not only problem of too old manual, but when i tried 2 DDRII 2 GB sticks i see only 2 GB instead 4 GB.

Its this hard stupid VIA chipset limit? Because i865 is able to use at least 3GB.
I would like to use this board with Linux and from time to time with WIndows 7 too and 4GB or more would be really nice, 2 GB are not enough, if would fix it it would be nice board.

BTW in FAQ is something about that some PCI-E GPU working only with special VGA GEN1 bios with Geforce 8800, did actually someone see these GEN1 Bioses available.. I had problem that some GEN1 GPU (X300-X850) are not working on some PCI-E gen 2 / gen 3 board not opposite way.

Last edited by ruthan on 2018-08-22, 00:15. Edited 1 time in total.

Im old goal oriented goatman, i care about facts and freedom, not about egos+prejudices. Hoarding=sickness. If you want respect, gain it by your behavior. I hate stupid SW limits, SW=virtual world, everything should be possible if you have enough raw HW.

Reply 1 of 25, by Srandista

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Yep, but only with unofficial BIOS.

You can find more information here: Asrock 775Dual VSTA & Core4Dual thread

BIOS is available here: ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA Bios 2.39a

BTW, could you please try ESS Solo-1 on very similar board (4CoreDual-SATA2) in Win 98? I'm able to get sound on DOS 7.1, but not in Win 98 😒

Socket 775 - ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA, Pentium E6500K, 4GB RAM, Radeon 9800XT, ESS Solo-1, Win 98/XP
Socket A - Chaintech CT-7AIA, AMD Athlon XP 2400+, 1GB RAM, Radeon 9600XT, ESS ES1869F, Win 98

Reply 2 of 25, by ruthan

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Thx, unofficial Bios that is music for my ears.. in like to flash Bios with unofficial in the morning 😀

 BTW, could you please try ESS Solo-1 on very similar board (4CoreDual-SATA2) in Win 98? I'm able to get sound on DOS 7.1, but not in Win 98 :-/

ESS-Solo 1 is exactly did i brother with this board, at first i want to test pure Dos, but can try Windows 98 too, if i would make my old Windows 98 installation booting.. it survived lots of boards, last time i was used with AMD970 AM3 so it could be a bit complicated..

Im old goal oriented goatman, i care about facts and freedom, not about egos+prejudices. Hoarding=sickness. If you want respect, gain it by your behavior. I hate stupid SW limits, SW=virtual world, everything should be possible if you have enough raw HW.

Reply 3 of 25, by Srandista

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I don't remember, with which tool I did flash it, one of these two. Unfortunately I'm unable to test it right now.

Regarding PCIe and GPUs, with that unofficial BIOS, you should be able to run any non PCIe 3.0 and non dualGPU. So Radeon HD6970 and GTX580 max.

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  • Filename
    winflasher_4.40.zip
    File size
    468.6 KiB
    Downloads
    94 downloads
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception
  • Filename
    AFUWin.zip
    File size
    1.29 MiB
    Downloads
    93 downloads
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception

Socket 775 - ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA, Pentium E6500K, 4GB RAM, Radeon 9800XT, ESS Solo-1, Win 98/XP
Socket A - Chaintech CT-7AIA, AMD Athlon XP 2400+, 1GB RAM, Radeon 9600XT, ESS ES1869F, Win 98

Reply 4 of 25, by ruthan

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I had more time to fiddle with this machine, it seems that both bios upgrading utilities are the same, i used them form Windows XP.. I would rather use some Flashing utility for Dos if it would exist.

I used 2x 2GB DDR 800 from Adata i not sure but that could be these cheap AMD only ones.. but are usually not working with Intel board. Memtest seems to run fine.

I have a bit problem that boot is too fast and my AGP Geforce 6600 and LCD HP monitor, usually init after boot screen, in grub too manager or during primary OS boot up.. I had to increase Grub timeout.

I tried to boot old XP 32 installation and use SDI tool for automatic drivers installation and selection.. I dunno where was problem but it took few hours that 2,4 GB package was downloaded.. maybe some issues with server, but never had such problem, i suspect crappy driver for VIA NIC.

Unfortunatly some driver has problem - bluescreen during XP boot, i would be to fiddle with some P2P migration tool to fix.

Win98 are booting, but because of my poor test best has covered PS2 mouse port.. i didnt test too much yet.. i was lazy to it on keyboard only.

I have second SDD with WIndows 7 64bit with but its EFI one, so it would not boot probably because board has not EFI support, im not sure, Grub2 EFI boot could be run from not EFI Grub2, or is possible to install Grub EFI to not EFI MB.. I never tried it.
I dunno if there is some WIndows 7 EFI to MBR instalaltion migration tool.

So far i have only Mint 18.3 64bit working fine.. And all problems are fixable but it would take a time.

Last edited by ruthan on 2018-08-19, 22:25. Edited 1 time in total.

Im old goal oriented goatman, i care about facts and freedom, not about egos+prejudices. Hoarding=sickness. If you want respect, gain it by your behavior. I hate stupid SW limits, SW=virtual world, everything should be possible if you have enough raw HW.

Reply 5 of 25, by ruthan

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Few more info Legacy infos:
- UMBPCI is not working with this board, that is flaw in comparision with i865 boards
- ESS Solo is working in Linux fine
- ESS Solo by default was detected on IRQ7
- I dunno maybe its is because BIOS update but Windows 98 not now booting classical System protection error (i have try safe mode, check bootlog etc.. or it would file, i would have to use some WIn98 image..)
- maybe it is because i enabled Legacy USB (im using PS2 to USB convertor to keyboard), but TAB is not working in FIle WIzard..

Update:
-XP boot fixed with Paragon P2P adjust i have to include XP + Via and Sata drivers, i dunno if only one and which one is enough.
-I have problem to load EMM386 i got freeze, i had same problem on X58, there helped to set HDD in IDE mode, but still board has only RAID / NORAID option and both are freezing. Do you have same problem, are using Sata Storage? Realmode is booting fine.
- That VIA NIC look pretty CPU dependent and when is CPU loaded download speed is really slow, Realtek is much better..
- XP up and running fine, except networking.. I installed Realtek HD and ESS 1938 both are running fine.
- Windows 7 would try to convert GPT to MBR.. and after that i will probably still not boot, so i will have load some HDD image and on VIA crapp NIC it would be slow, i have some PCI NIC but there still slower that proper NIC Gb/s NIC, i have Gigabit 3com PCI, which worked in Windows 98 but i killed it by bad PCI-E PCI bridge manipulation..

Update2:
- After GPT to MBR convertion Grub is able to boot Windows 7, i would have to fix MBR to boot Windows 7 by disk itself.. because now Grub in on other HDD, but i did it lots of times, so i will do it once more somehow..
- So only problematic OSes are now Windows 98 and Dos (EMM386)

Im old goal oriented goatman, i care about facts and freedom, not about egos+prejudices. Hoarding=sickness. If you want respect, gain it by your behavior. I hate stupid SW limits, SW=virtual world, everything should be possible if you have enough raw HW.

Reply 6 of 25, by Srandista

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ruthan wrote:

I had more time to fiddle with this machine, it seems that both bios upgrading utilities are the same, i used them form Windows XP.. I would rather use some Flashing utility for Dos if it would exist.

Here you go. I combined DOS flasher from ASRock site with custom BIOS from pctreiber.net. Didn't test it myself (I flashed my board with custom BIOS from Windows XP with no issues), so if your PC became Skynet and declares nuclear war to the world, it's not my responsibility 😉

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  • Filename
    4CoreDual-VSTA(2.39a).zip
    File size
    591.6 KiB
    Downloads
    87 downloads
    File comment
    4CoreDual-VSTA 2.39a BIOS DOS flasher
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception

Socket 775 - ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA, Pentium E6500K, 4GB RAM, Radeon 9800XT, ESS Solo-1, Win 98/XP
Socket A - Chaintech CT-7AIA, AMD Athlon XP 2400+, 1GB RAM, Radeon 9600XT, ESS ES1869F, Win 98

Reply 7 of 25, by ruthan

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- Thanks but i already updated it..
- Fix boot from MBR fixed with Paragon HDD 2012.

Now is Dos / Win 98 hammer time:
Its EMM386 running for you with DOS?
Win 98 safe mode is running, even USB mouse through legacy settings is running there that is great.

Is there any Windows 98 drivers collection for this machine?

Im old goal oriented goatman, i care about facts and freedom, not about egos+prejudices. Hoarding=sickness. If you want respect, gain it by your behavior. I hate stupid SW limits, SW=virtual world, everything should be possible if you have enough raw HW.

Reply 8 of 25, by ruthan

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After classical remove allmost everything expect virtual sound drivers.. and virtual cd rom i managed to too into normal Windows 98 driver hell before me.
I most wonder about USB drivers (are they part of Via chipset drivers?), because i need to make USB mouse running.

Dos is strange, i have some data corruption here copied files have zero size, im not sure i thing that i saw this thing in the past and it was connection with some keyboard + File Wizard issue, im not sure why, but my PS2 to USB - quite modern Zalman keyboard not working here well - TAB is not working in File managers..

Update:
ESS1938 - seems to be working, got logout sound after driver installation in Win98, after reboot its working too, for system sound, i would test some games but i need mouse first.. - I used driver from Vogonds driver library.
I downloaded some VIa hyperion package for Win 98.. but installation is always canceled before error..
- I still need to make to work NIC driver.

Im old goal oriented goatman, i care about facts and freedom, not about egos+prejudices. Hoarding=sickness. If you want respect, gain it by your behavior. I hate stupid SW limits, SW=virtual world, everything should be possible if you have enough raw HW.

Reply 9 of 25, by Srandista

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Do you have enabled USB 2.0 in BIOS? In which PCI slot did you put the sound card?

Regarding mouse, I'm using my MX518 with USB=>PS/2 adapter, and it works just fine in Windows out of the box, and for DOS too, with CuteMouse. In Windows it's working even just with USB.

Btw, are you using SATA HDD? I had a huge problems in Win 98 with SATA drive, so I just swap it for IDE one, and the same applies for CD-ROM.

I dind't have any problems with installing VIA Hyperion drivers, could you share a error message? And also, are you looking for Win 98 NIC drivers?

Socket 775 - ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA, Pentium E6500K, 4GB RAM, Radeon 9800XT, ESS Solo-1, Win 98/XP
Socket A - Chaintech CT-7AIA, AMD Athlon XP 2400+, 1GB RAM, Radeon 9600XT, ESS ES1869F, Win 98

Reply 10 of 25, by ruthan

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Soundcard slot - last PCI slot is often problematic, so i used second from bottom.

I have USB2 enabled in Bios and i disable legacy, because there was classical problem with wild mouse from time to time, which is typical for Legacy USB in Windows98.
I see USB controllers in Windows 98, i just need proper drivers for them.

As i said i cant use mouse PS2 porn, for now i need adjust some piece of wood in my testbench, i would need cabinetmaker for that, i dont have tools for it and im lazy.

Yeah im using Sata SSD for everything, because there are silent and faster, they are working fine in Windows 98 and Sata with proper controller setting - if has IDE mode..

VIA hyperion driver - error message is something about that installation end too soon and any file not been copied.. Problem even if it fail to install, in next reboot lots of devices are re-detected, its annoying.

Im old goal oriented goatman, i care about facts and freedom, not about egos+prejudices. Hoarding=sickness. If you want respect, gain it by your behavior. I hate stupid SW limits, SW=virtual world, everything should be possible if you have enough raw HW.

Reply 11 of 25, by ruthan

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Tested sound in Diablo II shareware its working fine. I find out there is some Dos emulation virtual device for Sound card.. there some IO 240 - i changed it to 220 to better compatibility.. I didnt test it yet, because my Geforce 6 has problem with Windows Dos modes, sometime is working only in Windows, its know problem i would have to get some AGP ATI X300 - X850..

I have found some generic USB2 via drivers:
https://www.techspot.com/drivers/downloadnow/ … 40c69273&file=1

They are working, but mouse is working, but i has some strange lag.. Its new Gigabyte mouse, but i tried older Logitech USB its the same, even worse.. Mouse sampling rate is too small and direction detection failing often.

I have found some NIC driver, its installed no error but its not working error 10043 during ping.

I have still 1 unknown PCI device:
Its using IRQ5 and memory range FEBFC.. If would have good mouse or network i would find out, but know its complicated.

SIV reporting:
VEN-DEV-SUB-OEM-Rev
1106-3288-08881849-10
1106 is VIA, but its probably Realtek HD soundcard

Last edited by ruthan on 2018-08-21, 20:05. Edited 1 time in total.

Im old goal oriented goatman, i care about facts and freedom, not about egos+prejudices. Hoarding=sickness. If you want respect, gain it by your behavior. I hate stupid SW limits, SW=virtual world, everything should be possible if you have enough raw HW.

Reply 12 of 25, by Roman555

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ruthan wrote:

I used 2x 2GB DDR 800 from Adata i not sure but that could be these cheap AMD only ones.. but are usually not working with Intel board. Memtest seems to run fine.

It's easy to understand. Just look up in a datasheet of the memory chips (if only google knows about them).

[ MS6168/PII-350/YMF754/98SE ]
[ 775i65G/E5500/9800Pro/Vortex2/ME ]

Reply 13 of 25, by ruthan

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Hmm, i though that other Sata controller in IDE mode will fix Dos EMM386 freeze problem but nothing.. Do you use only IDE storage in system or some Sata + IDE(PATA) combination is working for pure DOS?

Im old goal oriented goatman, i care about facts and freedom, not about egos+prejudices. Hoarding=sickness. If you want respect, gain it by your behavior. I hate stupid SW limits, SW=virtual world, everything should be possible if you have enough raw HW.

Reply 14 of 25, by Srandista

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Yes, I'm using only IDE drivers, with SATA ones I had a lot of issues, and I just wasn't in a mood to troubleshoot them. So I just swap 80GB SATA HDD for the same drive with IDE, and also swap SATA DVD-RW for IDE DVD-ROM.

Socket 775 - ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA, Pentium E6500K, 4GB RAM, Radeon 9800XT, ESS Solo-1, Win 98/XP
Socket A - Chaintech CT-7AIA, AMD Athlon XP 2400+, 1GB RAM, Radeon 9600XT, ESS ES1869F, Win 98

Reply 15 of 25, by ruthan

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Hmm, its starting to be interesting, if dont overlooked anything onboard Sata controller could be disabled, i try some cheap IDE to Sata adapter im getting still EMM386 boot freeze..

Im using only AGP G6600 + ESS SOLO-1 nothing fancy, soundcard drivers are even disabled.

I even tried proper keyboard DIN one.. old yellow Chicony and its the same, only in DOS realmode (Himem only, NO EMM386) finally keyboard is working fine..
I tried to remove soundcard is still the same.

VIA,ViA.. Via Appia, you are giving me again 73 BC user experience..

Im old goal oriented goatman, i care about facts and freedom, not about egos+prejudices. Hoarding=sickness. If you want respect, gain it by your behavior. I hate stupid SW limits, SW=virtual world, everything should be possible if you have enough raw HW.

Reply 16 of 25, by ruthan

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I tried IDE HDD and i still have same problem, its for someone MS DOS 7.1 working? Because problem could be in some BIOS settings in:
1) Bios settings - I tried to disable integrated NIC and Sound card, no help.
2) Used HW, but it had to be Geforce 6600 AGP problem. Tried Ati X600 its the same.
3) Its is some my Autoexec / Congis win DOS 7.1 settings..

Im old goal oriented goatman, i care about facts and freedom, not about egos+prejudices. Hoarding=sickness. If you want respect, gain it by your behavior. I hate stupid SW limits, SW=virtual world, everything should be possible if you have enough raw HW.

Reply 17 of 25, by agent_x007

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Disable USB 2.0 (not USB in general), and SATA controler.
Also, check if there are compatibility options for CPU/Chipset (like enable "legacy support for USB" or "Max CPUID Value Limit").

157143230295.png

Reply 18 of 25, by ruthan

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agent_x007 wrote:

Disable USB 2.0 (not USB in general), and SATA controler.
Also, check if there are compatibility options for CPU/Chipset (like enable "legacy support for USB" or "Max CPUID Value Limit").

I will try USB2, i dont think that this MB has something for disabling of Sata controller.. there is only RAID / NON-RAID mode.

Legacy support for USB is disabled, it mess with mouse cursor sometimes, i also tried remove mouse completely. I never had problem with CPUID limit with Dos.

JEMM and QEMM are working in EMS mode, but i want to make EMS working too..

Im old goal oriented goatman, i care about facts and freedom, not about egos+prejudices. Hoarding=sickness. If you want respect, gain it by your behavior. I hate stupid SW limits, SW=virtual world, everything should be possible if you have enough raw HW.

Reply 19 of 25, by ruthan

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Ok USB2 or CPUID or hardware Virtualization arent source of problem..

Im old goal oriented goatman, i care about facts and freedom, not about egos+prejudices. Hoarding=sickness. If you want respect, gain it by your behavior. I hate stupid SW limits, SW=virtual world, everything should be possible if you have enough raw HW.