Mystery MR. BIOS EPROM I got on eBay

Sphere478 wrote on 2023-12-09, 18:42:

Mystery MR. BIOS EPROM I got on eBay

Partial ! mystery mrbios, ie one half of the odd/even bios combo.

Re: 486 motherboard. Raising from the dead.

Looking for recommendations for this board. Think a mr bios would be cool

I think I see some MR Bios here:

https://web.archive.org/web/19961112202812/ht … 0/Drivers/BIOS/

093-951.ROM 65536 10-11-93 V DLC MR BIOS V1.51-MX1C 30H (same as JAGUA
092-862.ROM 65536 10-12-93 IV DLC MR BIOS V1.41-HT32307 (same as JAGU
HPVMR145.ZIP 58915 07-12-93 (HIPPO V) MR BIOS V1.45 (solve KB problem)
094-016.ROM 65536 06-02-94 PRO MR BIOS V1.65

douglar wrote on 2024-01-28, 15:55:

I think I see some MR Bios here: […]
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I think I see some MR Bios here:

https://web.archive.org/web/19961112202812/ht … 0/Drivers/BIOS/

093-951.ROM 65536 10-11-93 V DLC MR BIOS V1.51-MX1C 30H (same as JAGUA
092-862.ROM 65536 10-12-93 IV DLC MR BIOS V1.41-HT32307 (same as JAGU
HPVMR145.ZIP 58915 07-12-93 (HIPPO V) MR BIOS V1.45 (solve KB problem)
094-016.ROM 65536 06-02-94 PRO MR BIOS V1.65

There's a bunch! And i believe that those are the first ever found MR-BIOS roms for 486 platform! People with HT chipsets got a jackpot!

(I am still looking for MR-BIOS for SIS 471 chipset)

Shadow Lord wrote on 2023-06-13, 18:06:

This may have already been answered but outside of manuals is there an actual MR. BIOS BIOS available for the Micronics JX30G motherboard? I saw the manuals posted a bit back. I also looked through the list of boards but did not see these particular boards listed. If anyone can point me to a BIOS file it would be appreciated! TIA!

Still looking for help on this. These boards were used on the Gateway 2000 486 VL machines.There are apparently compatible bioses out there. I am just not sure if they have been found. TIA!

GigAHerZ wrote on 2024-01-28, 19:27:

douglar wrote on 2024-01-28, 15:55:

I think I see some MR Bios here: […]
Show full quote

I think I see some MR Bios here:

https://web.archive.org/web/19961112202812/ht … 0/Drivers/BIOS/

093-951.ROM 65536 10-11-93 V DLC MR BIOS V1.51-MX1C 30H (same as JAGUA
092-862.ROM 65536 10-12-93 IV DLC MR BIOS V1.41-HT32307 (same as JAGU
HPVMR145.ZIP 58915 07-12-93 (HIPPO V) MR BIOS V1.45 (solve KB problem)
094-016.ROM 65536 06-02-94 PRO MR BIOS V1.65

There's a bunch! And i believe that those are the first ever found MR-BIOS roms for 486 platform! People with HT chipsets got a jackpot!

(I am still looking for MR-BIOS for SIS 471 chipset)

Umm.. Nope I dumped and posted 486 MR-BIOS ROMs in the past? From an OCTEK DMA2 board..

appiah4 wrote on 2024-01-29, 08:20:

Umm.. Nope I dumped and posted 486 MR-BIOS ROMs in the past? From an OCTEK DMA2 board..

I'm working through the ROMS there and so far all of the one look like ROMs that have already been found, just with different file names. I got excited for a second. Looks like I jumped the gun.

douglar wrote on 2024-01-29, 12:10:

appiah4 wrote on 2024-01-29, 08:20:

Umm.. Nope I dumped and posted 486 MR-BIOS ROMs in the past? From an OCTEK DMA2 board..

I'm working through the ROMS there and so far all of the one look like ROMs that have already been found, just with different file names. I got excited for a second. Looks like I jumped the gun.

Yeah, I already went through them all a while ago, so did the guys at TRW. But mistakes can always happen, so I would appreciate a heads-up if you find anything.

I've been trying to find info on other companies that shipped motherboards with MRBIOS since then, but got nowhere. Kind of a miracle Octek published these, as a lot of 486 boards (and even some early Pentium ones) had non-flashable EPROMs, so most users woudn't be able to do anything with these images.

Also yeah, these are definitely not the first 486 images we found. There's OPTi 802/895, and a bunch of early 486 chipsets from SIS, UMC, Symphony, etc. It's the late chipsets like SIS471 and VIA 82c496G that we're missing.

jheronimus wrote on 2024-01-29, 12:17:

Yeah, I already went through them all a while ago, so did the guys at TRW. But mistakes can always happen, so I would appreciate […]
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douglar wrote on 2024-01-29, 12:10:

appiah4 wrote on 2024-01-29, 08:20:

Umm.. Nope I dumped and posted 486 MR-BIOS ROMs in the past? From an OCTEK DMA2 board..

I'm working through the ROMS there and so far all of the one look like ROMs that have already been found, just with different file names. I got excited for a second. Looks like I jumped the gun.

Yeah, I already went through them all a while ago, so did the guys at TRW. But mistakes can always happen, so I would appreciate a heads-up if you find anything.

I've been trying to find info on other companies that shipped motherboards with MRBIOS since then, but got nowhere. Kind of a miracle Octek published these, as a lot of 486 boards (and even some early Pentium ones) had non-flashable EPROMs, so most users woudn't be able to do anything with these images.

Also yeah, these are definitely not the first 486 images we found. There's OPTi 802/895, and a bunch of early 486 chipsets from SIS, UMC, Symphony, etc. It's the late chipsets like SIS471 and VIA 82c496G that we're missing.

Was there ever an MR BIOS for SIS471? I've never heard of one. I'd be very interested in it, as I actually have a SIS471 board in my 1989-1991 UMC US5X-40 system 😀

appiah4 wrote on 2024-01-29, 12:46:

Was there ever an MR BIOS for SIS471? I've never heard of one. I'd be very interested in it, as I actually have a SIS471 board in my 1989-1991 UMC US5X-40 system 😀

It's mentioned in several docs, including Microid's website (https://web.archive.org/web/19961111131504fw_ … com/chipset.htm), but no one has ever seen one, and Usenet doesn't seem to have any posts from people who had one back in the day (at least I couldn't find)

There's a long running theory that EFAR 802 is a clone of SIS471, I can't remember if anyone has been able to prove it. Bit if true, MR BIOS exists for EFAR with a small caveat that it's a 128KB image, and I don't own any SIS471 boards that take such a 128KB chip. If anyone does, they can test V070B42R and V070B42S images and report back 😀

jheronimus wrote on 2024-01-29, 12:59:

appiah4 wrote on 2024-01-29, 12:46:

Was there ever an MR BIOS for SIS471? I've never heard of one. I'd be very interested in it, as I actually have a SIS471 board in my 1989-1991 UMC US5X-40 system 😀

It's mentioned in several docs, including Microid's website (https://web.archive.org/web/19961111131504fw_ … com/chipset.htm), but no one has ever seen one, and Usenet doesn't seem to have any posts from people who had one back in the day (at least I couldn't find)

There's a long running theory that EFAR 802 is a clone of SIS471, I can't remember if anyone has been able to prove it. Bit if true, MR BIOS exists for EFAR with a small caveat that it's a 128KB image, and I don't own any SIS471 boards that take such a 128KB chip. If anyone does, they can test V070B42R and V070B42S images and report back 😀

I have a Chicony CH-471 but I don't know whether it can actually read a 128K EPROM.. I mean, if you link me to the BIOS I'd be happy to burn it and give test it next time I have my hands on the system (IF I have an EPROM of that size, that is..)

EDIT: Also, I'm sure someone more intelligent than me looked into this but, could the first and second 64KB of the ROM be duplicates? I know that sounds dumb but I've seen dumber shit been done, so I can't discount that having been the case when 128KB EPROM is cheaper than the 64KB one..

appiah4 wrote on 2024-01-29, 13:22:

I have a Chicony CH-471 but I don't know whether it can actually read a 128K EPROM.. I mean, if you link me to the BIOS I'd be happy to burn it and give test it next time I have my hands on the system (IF I have an EPROM of that size, that is..)

EDIT: Also, I'm sure someone more intelligent than me looked into this but, could the first and second 64KB of the ROM be duplicates? I know that sounds dumb but I've seen dumber shit been done, so I can't discount that having been the case when 128KB EPROM is cheaper than the 64KB one..

I think generally (probably not always) if your board can take DIP32 chips, it can take 128KB.

Also I think I looked into those images a while ago, they were full of FFFFFFs, but it wasn't just in the beginning or the end, so I'm not sure if you can just remove them and be fine.

Attached both images.

My board can only take DIP-28 🙁

Got this I-Bus SBC today:

Intel 82430HX
MR BIOS V3.57
Build: V098I5MC
Date: 05/27/98

EDIT: I re-dumped the BIOS using both Microid Research own MRFLASH utility and a TL866 (these two matched), I deleted the previous incorrect dump (only half of the content it seems and I'm attaching the new one

Yrouel wrote on 2024-01-30, 14:45:

Got this I-Bus SBC today: […]
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Got this I-Bus SBC today:

Intel 82430HX
MR BIOS V3.57
Build: V098I5MC
Date: 05/27/98

This is very interesting. Not only is this a new Soc7 image, but it's also the first I see a MR BIOS firmware newer than 3.46.

jheronimus wrote on 2024-01-29, 12:59:

appiah4 wrote on 2024-01-29, 12:46:

Was there ever an MR BIOS for SIS471? I've never heard of one. I'd be very interested in it, as I actually have a SIS471 board in my 1989-1991 UMC US5X-40 system 😀

It's mentioned in several docs, including Microid's website (https://web.archive.org/web/19961111131504fw_ … com/chipset.htm), but no one has ever seen one, and Usenet doesn't seem to have any posts from people who had one back in the day (at least I couldn't find)

There's a long running theory that EFAR 802 is a clone of SIS471, I can't remember if anyone has been able to prove it. Bit if true, MR BIOS exists for EFAR with a small caveat that it's a 128KB image, and I don't own any SIS471 boards that take such a 128KB chip. If anyone does, they can test V070B42R and V070B42S images and report back 😀

I have this: https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/qdi-v4s471-g
And it supports both 64kB and 128kB ROMs.
I'm quite busy this week, but during weekend i should be able to confirm, if those bioses work on this board. That would be amazing.

jheronimus wrote on 2024-01-30, 14:47:

This is very interesting. Not only is this a new Soc7 image, but it's also the first I see a MR BIOS firmware newer than 3.46.

This seems to be the board by the way https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/i-bus-ibus-mako

Yrouel wrote on 2024-01-30, 14:45:

Got this I-Bus SBC today: […]
Show full quote

Got this I-Bus SBC today:

Intel 82430HX
MR BIOS V3.57
Build: V098I5MC
Date: 05/27/98

EDIT: I re-dumped the BIOS using both Microid Research own MRFLASH utility and a TL866 (these two matched), I deleted the previous incorrect dump (only half of the content it seems and I'm attaching the new one

To whom is curating the archive, please replace the previous binary file with this new one which is a proper dump, sorry for the inconvenience

GigAHerZ wrote on 2024-01-30, 18:58:

I have this: https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/qdi-v4s471-g And it supports both 64kB and 128kB ROMs. I'm quite busy this w […]
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jheronimus wrote on 2024-01-29, 12:59:

appiah4 wrote on 2024-01-29, 12:46:

Was there ever an MR BIOS for SIS471? I've never heard of one. I'd be very interested in it, as I actually have a SIS471 board in my 1989-1991 UMC US5X-40 system 😀

It's mentioned in several docs, including Microid's website (https://web.archive.org/web/19961111131504fw_ … com/chipset.htm), but no one has ever seen one, and Usenet doesn't seem to have any posts from people who had one back in the day (at least I couldn't find)

There's a long running theory that EFAR 802 is a clone of SIS471, I can't remember if anyone has been able to prove it. Bit if true, MR BIOS exists for EFAR with a small caveat that it's a 128KB image, and I don't own any SIS471 boards that take such a 128KB chip. If anyone does, they can test V070B42R and V070B42S images and report back 😀

I have this: https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/qdi-v4s471-g
And it supports both 64kB and 128kB ROMs.
I'm quite busy this week, but during weekend i should be able to confirm, if those bioses work on this board. That would be amazing.

So i tried it out.
I have W27C01 chip, which should be a similar chip to the 27C512 type of EEPROMs, but 128kB.
I get very long low and then half shorter higher pitched sound from PC speaker and that's it. Jumpers 73 and 79 have no effect on this behavior.

So i either have a wrong type of 128kB EEPROM or this rom is not suitable for my QDI board. 🙁

QDI board being tested: https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/qdi-v4s471-g