Chipset: Cyrix Cx5510 (MediaGx)

First version, last is 5530. Drivers are up to Win98.

Can you dump the bios rom here?

Nexxen wrote on 2023-05-16, 18:05:

Chipset: Cyrix Cx5510 (MediaGx)

First version, last is 5530. Drivers are up to Win98.

Can you dump the bios rom here?

Sure, it appears the BIOS is a socketed DIP so that should be easy.

It will take me a week or two though before I can get to it, but it's on my to-do list. It's currently in a case, stored behind a lot of other stuff 😀

eesz34 wrote on 2023-05-16, 18:17:

Nexxen wrote on 2023-05-16, 18:05:

Chipset: Cyrix Cx5510 (MediaGx)

First version, last is 5530. Drivers are up to Win98.

Can you dump the bios rom here?

Sure, it appears the BIOS is a socketed DIP so that should be easy.

It will take me a week or two though before I can get to it, but it's on my to-do list. It's currently in a case, stored behind a lot of other stuff 😀

I can't but believe your willingness in participating in the "rom dump" game.
Then you realize how difficult it is to actually dig out the case it is in and simply desist.
Happened to me. 😀 I guess a lot of other people here.

Do you have drivers, an old cd that came with it? or anyhting else?

Nexxen wrote on 2023-05-16, 18:59:

I can't but believe your willingness in participating in the "rom dump" game. Then you realize how difficult it is to actually d […]
Show full quote

I can't but believe your willingness in participating in the "rom dump" game.
Then you realize how difficult it is to actually dig out the case it is in and simply desist.
Happened to me. 😀 I guess a lot of other people here.

Do you have drivers, an old cd that came with it? or anyhting else?

I will be getting the case out because I have another motherboard to put in it. That motherboard isn't ready yet though.

I do have two 3.5 disks! One is labeled VGA, the other sound. I believe that's all it came with. I can image those too when I dump the BIOS.

eesz34 wrote on 2023-05-16, 16:46:

Are MediaGX motherboards of much interest to the retro community? I

In my opinion the mediaGX is interesting because it's essentially a fast 486 SoC - essentially a Cyrix 586 running anyware from 133 to 300MHz. My MediaGX system is built on an ECS P5GX-M, 266Mhz cyrix GXm, 64Mb of ram, 20GB HDD, an S3 VIrge, a Voodoo 2 and a Yamaha SW20-PC - it can do 486 things, it can do pentium things, and it can even do 386 thigs.

More importantly for some older hardware and older games, it runs at 30 or 33Mhz FSB, with some odd boards even being able to go down to 25mhz. I don't know if software like setmul supports the GXm, but there are ways around that. I installed my PC in a tiny mATX case and routed the multiplier selection pins to dip switches at the back of the case, so I can change the CPU speed without taking the cover off. My machine is also remarkably compatible with speed sensitive hardware like the Yamaha SW20-PC OPL4 card, witch I had trouble running on anything faster then a socket 5 pentium. It's also the only PC I own that can run odd games like Dyna Blaster, even at 266MHz. It also works with newer hardware - I was able to post the PC with a PCI voodoo 3 - a pointless exercise but a fun one. It can also play gl quake! and I mean enjoy playing quake, not watch a slideshow and get motion sickness. 3dfx descent, 3dfx carmaggedon, uprising, pandemonium, tomb raider, mechwarrior 2, duke3d run great on a fast mediagx. Starcraft and aoe1 also run ok.

The platform's biggest disadvantage in my opinion is the lack of L2 cache witch hurts performance. Not as much as on a "regular" 486, since the mediaGX runs SDRAM memory, but I'm sure the system would perform better with L2 cache. Another annoyance is the on-board video and sound. On board video is SLOW, especially in dos, and the on board sound is buggy and noisy. May be a driver or configuration issue on my part, but after messing with the PC for a couple of days I decided to disable on board sound and video and run PCI and ISA cards.

Socket3 wrote on 2023-05-16, 21:51:

In my opinion the mediaGX is interesting because it's essentially a fast 486 SoC - essentially a Cyrix 586 running anyware from […]
Show full quote

eesz34 wrote on 2023-05-16, 16:46:

Are MediaGX motherboards of much interest to the retro community? I

In my opinion the mediaGX is interesting because it's essentially a fast 486 SoC - essentially a Cyrix 586 running anyware from 133 to 300MHz. I have a running MediaGX system build on an ECS P5GX-M, 266Mhz cyrix GXm, 64Mb of ram, 20GB HDD, an S3 VIrge, a Voodoo 2 and a Yamaha SW20-PC - it can do 486 things, it can do pentium things, and it can even do 386 thigs.

More importantly for some older hardware and older games, it runs at 30 or 33Mhz FSB, with some odd boards even being able to go down to 25mhz. I don't know if software like setmul supports the GXm, but there are ways around that. I installed my PC in a tiny mATX case and routed the multiplier selection pins to dip switches at the back of the case, so I can change the CPU speed without taking the cover off. My machine is also remarkably compatible with speed sensitive hardware like the Yamaha SW20-PC OPL4 card, witch I had trouble running on anything faster then a socket 5 pentium. It's also the only PC I own that can run odd games like Dyna Blaster, even at 266MHz. It also works with newer hardware - I was able to post the PC with a PCI voodoo 3 - a pointless exercise but a fun one. It can also play gl quake! and I mean enjoy playing quake, not watch a slideshow and get motion sickness. 3dfx descent, 3dfx carmaggedon, uprising, pandemonium, tomb raider, mechwarrior 2, duke3d run great on a fast mediagx. Starcraft and aoe1 also run ok.

The platform's biggest disadvantage in my opinion is the lack of L2 cache witch hurts performance. Not as much as on a "regular" 486, since the mediaGX runs SDRAM memory, but I'm sure the system would perform better with L2 cache. Another annoyance is the on-board video and sound. On board video is SLOW, especially in dos, and the on board sound is buggy and noisy. May be a driver or configuration issue on my part, but after messing with the PC for a couple of days I decided to disable on board sound and video and run PCI and ISA cards.

Thank you for that, I knew nothing about this CPU until now. I got it because it was in the case I bought. I wanted the AT case and the entire system was dirt cheap.

Socket3 wrote on 2023-05-16, 21:51:

In my opinion the mediaGX is interesting because it's essentially a fast 486 SoC - essentially a Cyrix 586 running anyware from […]
Show full quote

eesz34 wrote on 2023-05-16, 16:46:

Are MediaGX motherboards of much interest to the retro community? I

In my opinion the mediaGX is interesting because it's essentially a fast 486 SoC - essentially a Cyrix 586 running anyware from 133 to 300MHz. I have a running MediaGX system build on an ECS P5GX-M, 266Mhz cyrix GXm, 64Mb of ram, 20GB HDD, an S3 VIrge, a Voodoo 2 and a Yamaha SW20-PC - it can do 486 things, it can do pentium things, and it can even do 386 thigs.

More importantly for some older hardware and older games, it runs at 30 or 33Mhz FSB, with some odd boards even being able to go down to 25mhz. I don't know if software like setmul supports the GXm, but there are ways around that. I installed my PC in a tiny mATX case and routed the multiplier selection pins to dip switches at the back of the case, so I can change the CPU speed without taking the cover off. My machine is also remarkably compatible with speed sensitive hardware like the Yamaha SW20-PC OPL4 card, witch I had trouble running on anything faster then a socket 5 pentium. It's also the only PC I own that can run odd games like Dyna Blaster, even at 266MHz. It also works with newer hardware - I was able to post the PC with a PCI voodoo 3 - a pointless exercise but a fun one. It can also play gl quake! and I mean enjoy playing quake, not watch a slideshow and get motion sickness. 3dfx descent, 3dfx carmaggedon, uprising, pandemonium, tomb raider, mechwarrior 2, duke3d run great on a fast mediagx. Starcraft and aoe1 also run ok.

The platform's biggest disadvantage in my opinion is the lack of L2 cache witch hurts performance. Not as much as on a "regular" 486, since the mediaGX runs SDRAM memory, but I'm sure the system would perform better with L2 cache. Another annoyance is the on-board video and sound. On board video is SLOW, especially in dos, and the on board sound is buggy and noisy. May be a driver or configuration issue on my part, but after messing with the PC for a couple of days I decided to disable on board sound and video and run PCI and ISA cards.

On my board sound wasn't that bad.
I lacked the video dongle and had to use a PCI video card. When I built the flat cable + vga, I went back to PCI fast.

Nexxen wrote on 2023-05-16, 18:59:

I can't but believe your willingness in participating in the "rom dump" game. Then you realize how difficult it is to actually d […]
Show full quote

I can't but believe your willingness in participating in the "rom dump" game.
Then you realize how difficult it is to actually dig out the case it is in and simply desist.
Happened to me. 😀 I guess a lot of other people here.

Do you have drivers, an old cd that came with it? or anyhting else?

Here it is. Contained within is the BIOS dump using a TL-866 and the two 3.5" disks that came with it. Is this going to go on TheRetroWeb by any chance? The webpage for this board doesn't have these items.

Would you also like photos of the front and back?

eesz34 wrote on 2023-05-29, 01:32:

Nexxen wrote on 2023-05-16, 18:59:

I can't but believe your willingness in participating in the "rom dump" game. Then you realize how difficult it is to actually d […]
Show full quote

I can't but believe your willingness in participating in the "rom dump" game.
Then you realize how difficult it is to actually dig out the case it is in and simply desist.
Happened to me. 😀 I guess a lot of other people here.

Do you have drivers, an old cd that came with it? or anyhting else?

Here it is. Contained within is the BIOS dump using a TL-866 and the two 3.5" disks that came with it. Is this going to go on TheRetroWeb by any chance? The webpage for this board doesn't have these items.

Would you also like photos of the front and back?

Nice!!

They'd like nice pics to post. If you can take some good ones it'll be perfect.

Thanks!

@eesz34

Ok, this is a bit weird. the CX5510 chip is supposed to have audio internally. The driver disk contains drivers for the C-Media CMI8330. Is there a sound chip on the VGA/Audio add-in card?

The bios has been added. As a result the page was renamed to DataExpert MGX7510 as they made the board, GCT resold it. Redirect is in place so it can still be found under gct-mgx.

Nexxen wrote on 2023-05-29, 09:14:

Nice!!

They'd like nice pics to post. If you can take some good ones it'll be perfect.

Thanks!

These are ok, but I'm not great at taking pictures. They're better than the ones on TRW at least.

evasive wrote on 2023-05-29, 12:51:

@eesz34

Ok, this is a bit weird. the CX5510 chip is supposed to have audio internally. The driver disk contains drivers for the C-Media CMI8330. Is there a sound chip on the VGA/Audio add-in card?

The bios has been added. As a result the page was renamed to DataExpert MGX7510 as they made the board, GCT resold it. Redirect is in place so it can still be found under gct-mgx.

I just looked, it does have a CMI8330 chip on the MB. Also here is the add-in which is nothing but connectors.

eesz34 wrote on 2023-05-29, 12:53:

Nexxen wrote on 2023-05-29, 09:14:

Nice!!

They'd like nice pics to post. If you can take some good ones it'll be perfect.

Thanks!

These are ok, but I'm not great at taking pictures. They're better than the ones on TRW at least.

WOW i love this motherboard, i really wish i can have one! is amazing

Hi, I have a LITE version of the MediaGX board, which doesn't have the on-board audio/video. Is this needed?
Here is the Info. However, the BIOS(ver 2.01) provided by this site has something wrong. When flashed the PS/2 mouse cannot be detected. I have the ver 2.0 one in my motherboard, which works fine. The only issue is the IRQ11 on my board has failed for unknown reason, but it seems not related with my BIOS.

GunKneeNeon wrote on 2023-05-29, 15:35:

Hi, I have a LITE version of the MediaGX board, which doesn't have the on-board audio/video. Is this needed?
Here is the Info. However, the BIOS(ver 2.01) provided by this site has something wrong. When flashed the PS/2 mouse cannot be detected. I have the ver 2.0 one in my motherboard, which works fine. The only issue is the IRQ11 on my board has failed for unknown reason, but it seems not related with my BIOS.

Hi, ok, that's not really good news. Can you give us a backup dump of your 2.0 bios so we can add it in there and put a note with the 2.01 one about the PS/2 mouse troubles?

eesz34 wrote on 2023-05-29, 12:53:

Nexxen wrote on 2023-05-29, 09:14:

Nice!!

They'd like nice pics to post. If you can take some good ones it'll be perfect.

Thanks!

These are ok, but I'm not great at taking pictures. They're better than the ones on TRW at least.

They are, I can read the chip markings so I have added them to the page, together with your pictures. This is quite a complete entry now.

evasive wrote on 2023-05-29, 16:11:

Hi, ok, that's not really good news. Can you give us a backup dump of your 2.0 bios so we can add it in there and put a note with the 2.01 one about the PS/2 mouse troubles?

No problem! Here is the dump. See my POST screenshot, ignore the errors. 😀

While the v2.01 BIOS not working for me, this one from grandtek works!

BTW, I noticed you've added the video driver to the 586 GX LITE/LITE V2 page. I think it not suit the board, since there is no on-board vga on them.