As cyclone3d has already updated one of his systems from the shipping Zenith BIOS, 1.00.10 WLB08, to the latest one from the archived Zenith support page, 1.00.14 WL014, with no apparent issues, I can't foresee any problems. The only wrinkle was that the PLATFORM.BIN file which PHlash uses during the update wasn't configured to allow any way to backup the old BIOS and it'd be nice to have that backup - I'm sure some other flashing util will be able to do it when he gets a chance to test his other system.

As I posted previously, ideally BIOS & SCU are at the same revision level but between minor updates this isn't always a must. We won't really know till owners start to add & configure EISA or PCI cards with the various BIOS revisions we have available!

Yes, the BIOS is a soldered Intel flash chip.

A normal update involves booting to DOS (floppy) then inserting the BIOS update floppy & running the PHlash util and then a power cycle on completion. If the update fails then you boot from the BIOS update floppy and recovery starts automatically - there's no recovery jumper; just a BIOS write protect jumper (J6A).

Remember that the 512KB BIOS will contain not just the standard system stuff but the OB video bios and compressed elements of the SCU & selected EISA config files. If the required EISA config files aren't provided thru the BIOS then they're loaded from disc as normal. Any elements of the 'live' EISA configuration are most likely stored in the BIOS and the NVRAM on the Dallas chip, so when / if you choose to battery mod the RTC chip is a personal one.

feipoa wrote:

The BIOS.ROM file for the v14 BIOS is 512 KB, which seems awfully large. Do these boards come with a 4 mbit EEPROM? I figured they would come with a 1-2 mbit eeprom.

Intel E28F004 - 4Mbit Indeed

Just shipped one of these to Maryland from Oregon, was only $55 , so shipping domestic isn't to bad
(I did exploit eBay shipping to do it but hey it saved $$)

How many pins does this RTC have? It looks a little longer than the standard 12887. I am guessing DIP-28? As I assume it is soldered on, I should get a head start on ordering the DIP socket for it. Thanks!

feipoa wrote:

How many pins does this RTC have? It looks a little longer than the standard 12887. I am guessing DIP-28? As I assume it is soldered on, I should get a head start on ordering the DIP socket for it. Thanks!

It is DIP-28, but already socketed.

Alright, that saves me an order then. Anyone else plan on using EISA cards?

I bought two of the NEC's plus some other parts, am planning on using EISA NIC card in one box (if still works after all these years) if not will be using PCI.

added:

PC Hoarder Patrol wrote:

Remember that the 512KB BIOS will contain not just the standard system stuff but the OB video bios and compressed elements of the SCU & selected EISA config files.

I looked thru the newest BIOS and it has the onboard video BIOS plus two different Adaptec scsi BIOS (in v x.14) as well as system BIOS.

That certainly explains the 4 mbit size of the EEPROM!

I also hope to use an EISA NIC. Will see how that goes; I'm a little nervous.

What OS are you thinking of ? 4.0 Workstation should run well on this system, am leaning toward 4 but also have the full MS Dev platform package for 3.51 which may prove interesting and also supports dual processors. added: need to look thru my scsi drives, have a bunch that are LVD but should still have some regular UW's laying around somewhere....

EISA (old interest) was one reason why these attracted me, plus being dual cpu (newish interest) seemed ideal. Issue with the @CPUShack offer is that the cost of a complete system + shipping + local customs fees & sales tax is likely just too rich for my budget. May still try for a parts package in the New Year if still available cost-wise.

If I did, I still have a few old EISA cards from the dim & distant that I could reuse - storage controllers (with & without cache), video cards & NICs. I wouldn't worry @feipoa, if the SCU works the way it should and you have the correct config files then EISA is quite straightforward.

OS would probably be NT 4 or W2k - did stumble across an old HCL for W2K which explicitly listed the 2P / 200MHZ Pentium version of both the Zenith Z-Server WL & the NEC ProServa V+ 😎

I intend to triple boot NT4, W95c (or W98SE - still undecided), and W2K.

I have 3.51 setup in a dual boot environment with my NexGen and SXL2-66 system. 3.51 was an interesting challenge. Graphic card drivers will be more limited, so I picked NT4.

PC Hoarder Patrol wrote:

EISA (old interest) was one reason why these attracted me, plus being dual cpu (newish interest) seemed ideal. Issue with the @CPUShack offer is that the cost of a complete system + shipping + local customs fees & sales tax is likely just too rich for my budget. May still try for a parts package in the New Year if still available cost-wise.

He does collect CPU's, you should email him if you have some older or rare ones you would be willing to sell. You might be able to do some type of deal that would reduce overall system cost. I can't say for sure but it could be worth asking him.

Got my machine today, works good so far. Have a couple 4Gb UW to add to it and will change out the CDROM, 4x is just too slow. Have a 8x scsi from 1998 that should work well.

Added: tried a few different PCI video cards (2Mb Trio64+ and a 8Mb Matrox and they all worked just fine, using a PCI add-on seems to disable/bypass the onboard vid bios.
I did not and would not try a Cirrus Logic PCI due to it could conflict with the onboard Cirrus video. Next in my list of things to try: a PCI IDE card just to see what happens but that is for another day. Have not had to run the EISA config utils yet because no EISA cards have been installed yet, also have not updated the BIOS, still at 08.

My system has been sitting in San Francisco since Christmas. A little strange how it went up to Portland, then down to San Francisco and is still there. I've cleared out my agenda to get to work on the system the moment it arrives.

My system has arrived.

Has anyone who received one of these tested the scroll wheel and headphone jack on the CD-ROM drive? There appears to be a cover preventing them from being used, but if you look at the back of the CD-ROM bezel, you can see appropriate slots for the headphone jack and scroll wheel. Unfortunately, this cover is glued on with what appears to be RTV or similar. On mine, you can see the black glue edge on the top. At first I thought this was an air gap, but it is actually the glue. I'm considering removing this cover some how.

I'm also curious if the S-spec on the Pentium 200's were all the same.

It's not glue, it is double sided tape.

I bought a bunch of those drives... one got damaged in shipping and the bezel was broken so that's how I know it is tape.

Black double-sided tape? Was yours black in colour? I've scrapped some off and it really has the look and feel of the RTV I use on my differential covers.

Yeah, it is black. Definitely some type of tape though.

Wonder who added them - NEC or NOAA, as I don't think it was there on the original Zenith bezel?

My guess is NEC. I doubt NOAA had special covers made that matched perfectly as well as the oval shaped tape strips that look to perfectly match the covers.