I've never had any luck doing a bootblock flash (I think it may have worked for me once?) but that's a very late version of Award Flash for such an early mobo, so maybe it will work with an earlier version? Versions 1.2 to 8.99 are available here: https://www.wimsbios.com/awardflasher.jsp#gsc.tab=0

Thank you! I'm going to try it tomorrow.
I'm eager to find out what will (and what won't) happen.
I'll get back in touch with you once I got any results.

Alright, today I've tried many different versions of awdflash. Unsurprisingly, nothing worked.
With that in mind, I think I have no choice but to switch to a chip programmer.
Unless of course, someone knows a secret sauce to my problem.

I do own a Conitec GALEP-4, but I'm unable to get it working.
Maybe someone has experience with this programmer.
You're supposed to connect it via the LPT-port, which I did.
Then you need to install the Software (G32setup_12007.exe), which I also did.
Unfortunately, all the software does, is to just display, that the GALEP isn't ready and, that there's a Data transfer failure.
I don't really know how to proceed from this point.
Does the GALEP-4 require an additional firmware, driver, or perhaps I need to set up the LPT-port?

Maybe the GALEP-4 isn't an ideal solution.
Feel free do suggest me different methods to flash the BIOS.
Just remember, that I don't have the budget for any expensive stuff at the moment.

Once again, any advice is much appreciated.

Hi Wilius,

That GALEP-4 is a great tool for reading and re-programming (E)EPROMs.

I own another German made programmer (Taskit EPROP+) from the same era that’s also connected via the LPT-port. With this programmer I need to set the LPT-port to Enhanced mode (EPP or ECP) in the BIOS. With the default SPP (Standard Parallel Port) setting, it doesn’t work.

When you are able to dump the BIOS, please post it here and I will check it for any corruption.

Jan

Chkcpu wrote on 2023-08-04, 10:08:

When you are able to dump the BIOS, please post it here and I will check it for any corruption.

I really would love to do that. However, I ran into another problem.
My GALEP-4 isn't working at all.
Only a red static light is glowing (the middle one) and that's it.
I've tested it with many different Systems, however it made no difference.
Before you ask, I made sure to set the LPT-port to ECP or EPP on the systems I were using.
I fear my GALEP-4 might be broken.
There's one more thing I'm going to try.
I have the suspicion, that my LPT cable causes the problem.
Let's hope that this is the case, because otherwise I'm pretty much screwed.
Can the capacitors go bad on the GALEP-4? I might try to replace the caps as a last resort.

I'm going to order a new cable ASAP.
Once it arrived, I'll get back in touch with you.

Until then, I beg for a little bit of patience.

I'm happy to announce, that I was able to dump the BIOS today.
Replacing the cable worked like a charm.

Here is the requested BIOS dump: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OqP2e3f4vFbA … iew?usp=sharing
Let me know, what's wrong with my BIOS, once you've looked at it.

The next step for me is to order a new BIOS chip.
Once it arrives, I'll try to flash it.
I will notify you, once I have the results.
Let's hope for the best.

Okay, you got the GALEP-4 working! 😀

Thanks for the 4SAW BIOS dump. I put it to the test and the outcome is very surprising. This BIOS is perfectly fine and there is no corruption whatsoever!!
This also means that the EEPROM chip must be fine as well.

I’ve used Award’s CBROM and MODBIN tools to inspect the BIOS. Especially MODBIN will exit immediately with a checksum error if there is any corruption.
Just to be sure, I also checked the various checksums of the compressed modules in the BIOS image with a hexeditor, and they were fine as well. In addition I compared your dump with the same BIOS from TheRetroWeb; they are identical.
Finally I put your BIOS dump in 86Box’s SY-4SAW emulated machine and ran it. It booted fine, I could enter the BIOS Setup, and it completed the boot to DOS where I could run several DOS programs.

Here are the BIOS boot and summary screens of your BIOS:

A BIOS ROM Checksum Error message normally indicates a corrupt BIOS due to bit rot or a bad flash, but I know of at least two cases where bad RAM or a bad SIMM slot were the cause.

These BIOSes are compressed and contain a decompression engine that decompresses all BIOS modules into RAM. After an integrity test, these modules are then copied to their allocated position in shadow RAM, and are run to do the POST.
If the integrity checks fails, the decompression engine jumps to the bootblock to start a possible BIOS recovery from floppy.
Because this whole process is done in RAM, what if there is a problem in the memory system? This could cause a memory corruption that would trip the integrity check with the same outcome of a bootblock recovery.

So this is where I would look on your 4SAW board. Flaky RAM? Corroded SIMM slots? Bad solder joints? Damaged traces near the SIMM slots? Bad caps causing ripples on the supply lines to the memory system?
Hopefully, you find something there.

Cheers, Jan

Chkcpu wrote on 2023-08-10, 09:53:

A BIOS ROM Checksum Error message normally indicates a corrupt BIOS due to bit rot or a bad flash, but I know of at least two ca […]
Show full quote

A BIOS ROM Checksum Error message normally indicates a corrupt BIOS due to bit rot or a bad flash, but I know of at least two cases where bad RAM or a bad SIMM slot were the cause.

These BIOSes are compressed and contain a decompression engine that decompresses all BIOS modules into RAM. After an integrity test, these modules are then copied to their allocated position in shadow RAM, and are run to do the POST.
If the integrity checks fails, the decompression engine jumps to the bootblock to start a possible BIOS recovery from floppy.
Because this whole process is done in RAM, what if there is a problem in the memory system? This could cause a memory corruption that would trip the integrity check with the same outcome of a bootblock recovery.

So this is where I would look on your 4SAW board. Flaky RAM? Corroded SIMM slots? Bad solder joints? Damaged traces near the SIMM slots? Bad caps causing ripples on the supply lines to the memory system?
Hopefully, you find something there.

Cheers, Jan

I think you are on the right track.
Judging by your results, the BIOS really isn't to blame here.
The old barrel-style battery used to be right next to the RAM slots.
When it leaked, it probably spilled its guts underneath them.

This weekend I'll try my best and resolder each individual slot.
If that doesn't work, I'm going to remove them entirely and check for any corrosion that I might have missed.
Like you pointed out, torn traces and bad caps can't be ruled out.

I did notice, that my motherboard behaves strangely, if I populate every RAM slot.
Sometimes I get a picture, but most of the time the screen remains black and I get a RAM error instead.

I will update you, if I have any results.
Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky.

I've got to confess something.
I'm an idiot, that's it.

There was never a problem with this motherboard to begin with. It's all user error.
It turns out, this board really doesn't like double-sided SIMM modules. Once I swapped it against a single-sided module, the issue immediately vanished, and the board posts normally.

My sincerest apologies for wasting your time.
I should have known better.
Suffice to say, my issue resolved itself and I feel absolutely stupid.

Still, thank you so much for your help and your great adivces. I really appreciate that.
I bet, I would've never find my mistake, if you hadn't mentioned, that there might be something wrong with the memory system.

Wilius wrote on 2023-08-11, 00:13:

There was never a problem with this motherboard to begin with. It's all user error.
It turns out, this board really doesn't like double-sided SIMM modules. Once I swapped it against a single-sided module, the issue immediately vanished, and the board posts normally.

There likely is an issue if the board doesn't like double-sided SIMM modules. At least the 4SA (without W) can take double-sided SIMMs in three of its slots, as it can work with 7 sides, which is the limit of the 496/7 chipset in the configuration used on typical 486 boards. If a double-sided SIMM fails to work in more than one slot, it is likely that some trace used to select the second bank (one of the two "back side" RAS signals) is broken. Another possible issue is that your double-sided SIMMs actually are EDO, even if you think they are FPM. The 4SAW doesn't support EDO RAM. Finally, perhaps you are right and Soyo indeed didn't wire the back side on any slot, as the 4SAW is the low-cost edition of the 4SA, so my experience might just not apply to it.

mkarcher wrote on 2023-08-11, 05:54:

There likely is an issue if the board doesn't like double-sided SIMM modules. At least the 4SA (without W) can take double-sided SIMMs in three of its slots, as it can work with 7 sides, which is the limit of the 496/7 chipset in the configuration used on typical 486 boards. If a double-sided SIMM fails to work in more than one slot, it is likely that some trace used to select the second bank (one of the two "back side" RAS signals) is broken. Another possible issue is that your double-sided SIMMs actually are EDO, even if you think they are FPM. The 4SAW doesn't support EDO RAM. Finally, perhaps you are right and Soyo indeed didn't wire the back side on any slot, as the 4SAW is the low-cost edition of the 4SA, so my experience might just not apply to it.

I think that's a really good point. Some of my double-sided modules, I've tested were indeed EDO RAM.
How strange. I really was under the assumption, that this board supports both FPM and EDO memory.
At least, that's what it says on theretroweb.com. (https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/soyo-sy-4saw)
Well, looks like I was wrong once again.
Nonetheless, I'm still surprised, that I sometimes got a picture with EDO modules installed, even if it was only the AWARD Bootblock BIOS v1.0 screen.
Guess that means I'll have to order double-sided FPM modules now.
I don't have a lot of 72-pin SIMM modules and most of them are in fact EDO memory.
Needless to say, I'm still going to rework the RAM slots. Some of the solder joints do look pretty dull.

I'll get back in touch with you, once I'm done.

In hindsight, it was a pretty bad idea from me, to jump to conclusions that quickly.

Wilius wrote on 2023-08-11, 15:41:

Nonetheless, I'm still surprised, that I sometimes got a picture with EDO modules installed, even if it was only the AWARD Bootblock BIOS v1.0 screen.

Going into the boot block screen is a known and common failure mode for Sis 496/7 based mainboards if you install EDO RAM and you don't have the very latest revision of the SiS 85c496 chip combined with a BIOS that correctly initializes the EDO mode on that revision. I would have spoken up earlier with this knowledge, but you

Wilius wrote on 2023-07-31, 16:07:

Here are things I've already tried: - Using Different FDDs - Using known good RAM in different RAM Slots. (I tested both EDO and […]
Show full quote

Here are things I've already tried:
- Using Different FDDs
- Using known good RAM in different RAM Slots. (I tested both EDO and FPM memory)
- Replacing the L2 Cache and the TAG-RAM.
- Swapping the CPU
- Double checking the jumper settings
- Trying different FDD cables
- Trying to reseat every socketed IC
- Deep cleaning the whole Board
- Checking for damaged traces or components (found none)

seemed to already have ruled out EDO RAMs as the problem. Maybe I should have pointed out that you should only use FPM with that board earlier anyway.

Wilius wrote on 2023-08-11, 15:41:

At least, that's what it says on theretroweb.com. (https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/soyo-sy-4saw)

It's possible that there are late revisions of the board that do support EDO RAM, and possibly that's why The Retro Web says so. Or that site generates the "EDO" tag just because the 496/497 is used, as the datasheet of that chipset claims EDO support without pointing out clearly that EDO support is a feature only available in the latest revision. I just checked the Asus PCI-486SP3 entry. I already had the very same issue (EDO RAM causing boot block) on that board, because the copy I had at hand also doesn't support EDO RAM. So the mistaken claim for EDO support is not limited to just one board.

Sorry for the Radio Silence.
I've been busy spending my time, trying to get my Soyo Board up and running and ended up building a whole system instead.
To conclude things right this time, this motherboard is far from being fixed.
For instance, the onboard serial ports and the parallel port don't work and I'm still not certain about the RAM situation.
I think you're right and this board does not support EDO RAM at all.

At the moment, I'm just glad that I have a somewhat working system now.
And I think that wouldn't have been possible, without your help.
So, a big thank you, to anybody who was willing to help me.

I'm definitely going to revisit and fix this motherboard in the future, but I think I'm going to call it a day for now.
(At least temporarily)

Wilius wrote on 2023-08-14, 19:24:

For instance, the onboard serial ports and the parallel port don't work and I'm still not certain about the RAM situation.

Ouch. I have this issue on my SY-4SA, too. In my case, it's damage from the battery at the pins of the Super I/O chip. This is a real pain to fix.

mkarcher wrote on 2023-08-14, 20:34:

Ouch. I have this issue on my SY-4SA, too. In my case, it's damage from the battery at the pins of the Super I/O chip. This is a real pain to fix.

I agree, this really is a pain to fix.

In my case, the Super I/O chip is fine.
Unfortunately, I've spotted more signs of corrosion around the serial port headers and other areas, which I can't reach with my soldering iron.
I wouldn't be surprised, if some of the surrounding traces or vias also no longer have continuity.

However, I found a pretty easy workaround.
For now, I'm just going to disable the onboard serial ports in the BIOS and instead rely on a multi I/O controller card.
So far I can't complain, this worked like a charm.

Wilius wrote on 2023-08-16, 02:37:

However, I found a pretty easy workaround.
For now, I'm just going to disable the onboard serial ports in the BIOS and instead rely on a multi I/O controller card.
So far I can't complain, this worked like a charm.

The onboard I/O likely has 16550 compatible FIFOs, while the old multi I/O controller cards often do not. Whether this is an issue for you depends on the use case. For example, you don't need a FIFO at all if you just want to use a serial mouse. The onboard I/O is connected to ISA bus just like a controller card, so there is no general performance advantage of using on-board I/O.