VOGONS


First post, by jcarvalho

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Hi guys, I have an GD542x VLB Rev 1.0 with old BIOS, I have found https://www.bios-mods.com/resources/index.php … 6+5428+v1.30%2F a newer bios.
Can I burn a 27C256 and replace the original chip?
Due lack of answers I have tested burning 27C256 and MOBO start beeping and dont POST, so 27C256 is not an option 😢
Can someone point me the right chip? This is because I cant get UNIVBE 5.1 to give VESA 2.0... It says "no"
I cant tell what eprom chip is because it only has a Cirrus logo but no reference from chip id, only this CL-GD5904-20DC-A1

Thanks!
Jorge

Reply 1 of 2, by shamino

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I don't know anything about these cards so these are just generic suggestions:

Is there some other image of the original unmodified firmware you can program onto the same EPROM? That would help confirm the problem is the chip and not some other issue with the firmware you're trying to use. Although to put the certainty at 100% you'd ideally want to copy your own firmware from your own card, and you couldn't do that without knowing the chip type when you dump it.

By testing continuity with a multimeter, can you figure out which pins of the chip are connected to GND and which are connected to +5V (or even +12V)? That might add some clues to guess what pinout it's using.
You can probably find an ISA connector pinout online that will tell which pins of the connector carry GND and all voltages. You can check continuity between those locations and the pins of the ROM chip you're trying to identify.

Instead of tracing the continuity, another way to get the same info would be to power it up and measure voltage at the IC pins (or at the empty socket) vs a known ground (case of the PC), but then you have to be careful not to short anything. It's safer to wrap the probe with tape so only the tip is exposed. Anything that reads a steady voltage that makes any sense is probably tied to that voltage level and not switching.

Then compare with some EPROM datasheets and see what makes sense.

Reply 2 of 2, by jcarvalho

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shamino wrote:
I don't know anything about these cards so these are just generic suggestions: […]
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I don't know anything about these cards so these are just generic suggestions:

Is there some other image of the original unmodified firmware you can program onto the same EPROM? That would help confirm the problem is the chip and not some other issue with the firmware you're trying to use. Although to put the certainty at 100% you'd ideally want to copy your own firmware from your own card, and you couldn't do that without knowing the chip type when you dump it.

By testing continuity with a multimeter, can you figure out which pins of the chip are connected to GND and which are connected to +5V (or even +12V)? That might add some clues to guess what pinout it's using.
You can probably find an ISA connector pinout online that will tell which pins of the connector carry GND and all voltages. You can check continuity between those locations and the pins of the ROM chip you're trying to identify.

Instead of tracing the continuity, another way to get the same info would be to power it up and measure voltage at the IC pins (or at the empty socket) vs a known ground (case of the PC), but then you have to be careful not to short anything. It's safer to wrap the probe with tape so only the tip is exposed. Anything that reads a steady voltage that makes any sense is probably tied to that voltage level and not switching.

Then compare with some EPROM datasheets and see what makes sense.

Hi! I can check the voltage of the pins without shorting, I could just put the multimeter in continuity and check, remove IC from socket and probe the pins against the AT connector... Thank you! you shown me the way!! Then it is more easy like you said, going thought eprom datasheets and find a similar one