VOGONS


First post, by cyclone3d

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Working on testing / putting together a system with an ASUS P5A-B motherboard.

I decided to make a post to consolidate information since I was having trouble finding some specific info I was looking for - mainly the BIOS revision history.

Most of this info will carry over to the P5A as well.

Latest BIOS:

Filename
1011bn005.zip
File size
103.29 KiB
Downloads
182 downloads
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception

Flash utility - the version that ASUS says to download doesn't work - gives an "unknown flash" error and will not flash, it requires a newer version:

Filename
aflash.zip
File size
36.87 KiB
Downloads
252 downloads
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception
Last edited by cyclone3d on 2019-06-22, 22:49. Edited 1 time in total.

Yamaha modified setupds and drivers
Yamaha XG repository
YMF7x4 Guide
Aopen AW744L II SB-LINK

Reply 1 of 14, by cyclone3d

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P5A-B BIOS revision information:

Latest Beta BIOS revision source: http://www.k6plus.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=1105#p9014

1011bn005.zip P5A-B M/B WO/Audio (ALi 1541/1543C), BIOS ver. 1011beta 05/13/2002

1. Fixed PME not enabled for some cards.
2. Remove Set off APM Mode 1.0 checking, fix Win 2000 APM mode can't shut down.
3. Fixed P5A/P5A-B when shutdown in Windows XP cannot turn off power.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Older BIOS revisions source: http://www.elhvb.com/mobokive/archive/asus/so … p5a-b/index.txt

ab5i1010.zip P5A-B M/B (ALi 1541/1543C), BIOS ver. 1010 05/31/2000

ab5n1010.zip P5A-B M/B WO/Audio (ALi 1541/1543C), BIOS ver. 1010 05/31/2000

1. Support IDE HDD larger than 32GB.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ab5i1008.zip P5A-B M/B (ALi 1541/1543C), BIOS ver. 1008 10/25/1999

ab5n1008.zip P5A-B M/B WO/Audio (ALi 1541/1543C), BIOS ver. 1008 10/25/1999

1. AGP Turbo mode default disabled.

2. Added patch code for nVidia Riva TNT2.

3. DMI revised for max CPU speed, max DRAM size & L2 cache size entries.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ab5i107a.zip P5A-B M/B (ALi 1541/1543C), BIOS ver. 1007.A 09/14/1999

ab5n107a.zip P5A-B M/B WO/Audio (ALi 1541/1543C), BIOS ver. 1007.A 09/14/1999

1.Fix for AMD K6-2 500MHz processor speed detection error.

2.Add Y2K patch.

3.IRQ 12 released if PS/2 Mouse not installed.

4.Fix for Cyrix MII-366 detection error.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ab5i1007.zip P5A-B M/B (ALi 1541/1543C), BIOS ver. 1007. 05/17/1999

ab5n1007.zip P5A-B M/B WO/Audio (ALi 1541/1543C), BIOS ver. 1007. 05/17/1999

1.Fix for AMD K6-3 475MHz processor speed detection error.

2.Added K6 Write Allocate control item.

3.Fix for ATI Rage128GL/VR shutdown hang problem when using K6-3.

4.Added patch for ATI Rage128GL/VR.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ab5i1006.zip P5A-B M/B (ALi 1541/1543C), BIOS ver. 1006. 03/22/1999

ab5n1006.zip P5A-B M/B WO/Audio (ALi 1541/1543C), BIOS ver. 1006. 03/22/1999

1. Fix for USB falied in DOS mode with 1006.004 BIOS.

2. Fix for Windows 200 shutdown failure with 1006.004 BIOS.

3. Added support for 450MHz K6-2 & K6-3 with Vcore = 2.4V.

4.Fix for ATI Rage128GL driver installation failure.

5. Added support for Modem Power Up in ACPI mode.

6. Added support for Wake On Lan in ACPI mode.

7. Fix for NT5.0/W2000 installation failure.

8. Fix for NT5.0/W2000 HCT 8.0 test failures.

9. Fix for system reboot at SCSI init with K6 & USB.

10. Changed name for AMD-K6-3 to AMD-K6-III.

11. Fix for flash utility failure with USB keyboard attached.

12. Added ATI RagePro Patch for P5A-B WOA.

AGP DPLL counter += 7
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ab5i1005.zip P5A-B M/B (ALi 1541/1543C), BIOS ver. 1005. 01/15/1999

ab5n1005.zip P5A-B M/B WO/Audio (ALi 1541/1543C), BIOS ver. 1005. 01/15/1999

1.Added ATI RagePro Patch for P5A-B. AGP DPLL counter += 7

2.Added Rise mP6 recognition.

3.Added "CDROM,A,C" boot sequence.

4.Added AMD-K6-2 366/380 support.

5.Parity check bit enabled for supporting some Creative audio cards which use NMI for SB16 emulation.

6.Added IR PnP BIOS node report if IR enabled
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ab5i1004.zip P5A-B M/B (ALi 1541/1543C), BIOS ver. 1004. 10/21/1998

ab5n1004.zip P5A-B M/B WO/Audio (ALi 1541/1543C), BIOS ver. 1004. 10/21/1998

1. Fix for Matrox Mystigue PCI card crashed after VGA firmware was upgraded.

2. Fix for HCT 8.0 PCI test error.

3. Added patch for Riva TNT.

4. Fix for USB_IRQ_ITEM no function.

5. Fix for system reboot with the combination of AMD K6-2 & USB Keyboard.

6. Fixed modem wakeup failed under Win98 (ACPI mode).

7. Disable Ring Wakeup under Win95/Win98 (APM mode) if it's Setup disabled.

8. Fix system hang at POST 0dh when Winfast S800 VGA card is plugged in.

9. Fix for NT 5.0 when working in ACPI mode got shutdown when Space bar is pressed.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ab5i1003.zip P5A-B M/B (ALi 1541/1543C), BIOS ver. 1003. 08/28/1998

ab5n1003.zip P5A-B M/B WO/Audio (ALi 1541/1543C), BIOS ver. 1003. 08/28/1998

1. Add AGP patch for 3D Labs Permedia2, Trident 3DImage 9850, Nvidia Riva 128.

2. Fix the system can't boot from some model of LS-120.

3. Fix ESCD updated unexpectedly.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Last edited by cyclone3d on 2019-06-19, 02:50. Edited 2 times in total.

Yamaha modified setupds and drivers
Yamaha XG repository
YMF7x4 Guide
Aopen AW744L II SB-LINK

Reply 2 of 14, by cyclone3d

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P5A BIOS revision information:

Source: http://www.elhvb.com/mobokive/archive/asus/so … i/p5a/index.txt

al5i107a.zip P5A M/B (ALi 1541/1543C), BIOS ver. 1007.A 07/16/1999

1. Fix for AMD K6-2 500MHz processor speed detection error.

2. Add Y2K patch.

3. IRQ 12 relesed if PS/2 Mouse not installed.

4. Fix for Cyrix MII-366 detection error.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

al5i1007.zip P5A M/B (ALi 1541/1543C), BIOS ver. 1007. 04/30/1999

1. Fix for AMD K6-3 475MHz processor speed detection error.

2. Added K6 Write Allocate control item.

3. Fix for ATI Rage128GL/VR shutdown hang problem when using K6-3.

4. Added patch for ATI Rage128GL/VR.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

al5i1006.zip P5A M/B (ALi 1541/1543C), BIOS ver. 1006. 03/24/1999

1. Fix for USB falied in DOS mode with 1006.004 BIOS.

2. Fix for Windows 200 shutdown failure with 1006.004 BIOS.

3. Added support for 450MHz K6-2 & K6-3 with Vcore = 2.4V.

4. Fix for ATI Rage128GL driver installation failure.

5. Added support for Modem Power Up in ACPI mode.

6. Added support for Wake On Lan in ACPI mode.

7. Fix for NT5.0/W2000 installation failure.

8. Fix for NT5.0/W2000 HCT 8.0 test failures.

9. Fix for system reboot at SCSI init with K6 & USB.

10. Changed name for AMD-K6-3 to AMD-K6-III.

11. Fix for flash utility failure with USB keyboard attached.

12. Added ATI RagePro Patch for P5A-B WOA.

13. AGP DPLL counter += 7
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

al5i1005.zip P5A M/B (ALi 1541/1543C), BIOS ver. 1005. 01/15/1999

1.Added ATI RagePro Patch for P5A-B. AGP DPLL counter += 7

2.Added Rise mP6 recognition.

3.Added "CDROM,A,C" boot sequence.

4.Added AMD-K6-2 366/380 support.

5.Parity check bit enabled for supporting some Creative audio cards which use NMI for SB16 emulation.

6.Added IR PnP BIOS node report if IR enabled
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

al5i1004.zip P5A M/B (ALi 1541/1543C), BIOS ver. 1004. 10/21/1998

1. Fix for Matrox Mystigue PCI card crashed after VGA firmware was upgraded.

2. Fix for HCT 8.0 PCI test error.

3. Added patch for Riva TNT.

4. Fix for USB_IRQ_ITEM no function.

5. Fix for system reboot with the combination of AMD K6-2 & USB Keyboard.

6. Fixed modem wakeup failed under Win98 (ACPI mode).

7. Disable Ring Wakeup under Win95/Win98 (APM mode) if it's Setup disabled.

8. Fix system hang at POST 0dh when Winfast S800 VGA card is plugged in.

9. Fix for NT 5.0 when working in ACPI mode got shutdown when Space bar is pressed.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

al5i1003.zip P5A M/B (ALi 1541/1543C), BIOS ver. 1003. 08/28/1998

1. Add AGP patch for 3D Labs Permedia2, Trident 3DImage 9850, Nvidia Riva 128.

2. Fix the system can't boot from some model of LS-120.

3. Fix ESCD updated unexpectedly.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Last edited by cyclone3d on 2019-06-19, 02:49. Edited 1 time in total.

Yamaha modified setupds and drivers
Yamaha XG repository
YMF7x4 Guide
Aopen AW744L II SB-LINK

Reply 3 of 14, by cyclone3d

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Experiences with K6-2, K6-2+, and K6-3+ CPUs , motherboard cache and bus speed:

K6-2 - works fine at 120Mhz fsb with motherboard cache enabled

K6-2+ - must disable motherboard cache for 120Mhz bus speed. Seems to work with motherboard cache enabled up to 110Mhz bus speed.

K6-3+ - must disable motherboard cache for 120Mhz bus speed. Seems to work with motherboard cache enable up to 110Mhz bus speed. May not be fully stable even with motherboard cache disabled. Will do more testing later.. but there seems to be some sort of timing issue with the K6-3+ where there isn't with the K6-2+. Tried 2 different K6-3+ 450Mhz CPUs with the same exact results.

Results were exactly the same between 2 version 1.04 motherboards even though they have different branded motherboard cache.

The version 1.03 motherboard I have seems to not handle the higher bus speeds quite as well.

The K6-2+ 550Mhz was hitting 660Mhz (120x5.5 or 110x6) easily.

Both K6-3+ 450Mhz CPUs seemed to have some timing issue with the motherboards and going over 630Mhz. Will be testing with some Via based motherboards to see if I can clock them any higher.

Last edited by cyclone3d on 2019-06-23, 02:10. Edited 2 times in total.

Yamaha modified setupds and drivers
Yamaha XG repository
YMF7x4 Guide
Aopen AW744L II SB-LINK

Reply 6 of 14, by 1541

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Here's a similar approach on the P5A using a K6-III+ with various speeds:
https://www.creopard.de/2018/02/Retro-PC-Spie … nter-MS-DOS.htm
(english translation: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=de& … nter-MS-DOS.htm)

and of course:
https://www.philscomputerlab.com/k6-2-2-3-resources.html

💾 Windows 9x resources (drivers, tools, NUSB,...) 💾

Reply 7 of 14, by Gopher666

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I bumping this up to ask for advice if this is a good board to combine with a Voodoo3 3000 AGP 16MB card and K6-III CPU?

There was a similar thread: Asus P5A very slow AGP / Video cards

- ASUS P5A - ATX, 5 PCI, 3 ISA, AGP, 3 SDRAM, supports FSB up to 120MHz, ALi Aladdin V based, supports voltages from 2.0 to 3.5V in 0.1V increments - best ALi Aladdin V motherboard by far. Has minor AGP issues with some video cards. The ALi chipset can perform better then the MVP3 chipset when it comes to memory performance, but these boards can be fragile so handle with care and don't use for testing parts or benchmarking.

However as it's been said on the thread Voodoos don't have an issue because they don't take advantage of the AGP port just use the PCI instructions.

Also according to this comparison this board is doing kinda good:
file.php?id=32949&mode=view

I just don't want to build an unstable system which needs to be rebooted in between every 2 game starts or in every hour, keep bsoding or doesn't even start up sometimes when it does not feel like it 😀
So pls if you this board share your experience.

Reply 8 of 14, by Sphere478

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What bios settings are you guys using? I’m having stability issues can’t pass a 3dmark

Gopher666 wrote on 2021-01-25, 17:18:
I bumping this up to ask for advice if this is a good board to combine with a Voodoo3 3000 AGP 16MB card and K6-III CPU? […]
Show full quote

I bumping this up to ask for advice if this is a good board to combine with a Voodoo3 3000 AGP 16MB card and K6-III CPU?

There was a similar thread: Asus P5A very slow AGP / Video cards

- ASUS P5A - ATX, 5 PCI, 3 ISA, AGP, 3 SDRAM, supports FSB up to 120MHz, ALi Aladdin V based, supports voltages from 2.0 to 3.5V in 0.1V increments - best ALi Aladdin V motherboard by far. Has minor AGP issues with some video cards. The ALi chipset can perform better then the MVP3 chipset when it comes to memory performance, but these boards can be fragile so handle with care and don't use for testing parts or benchmarking.

However as it's been said on the thread Voodoos don't have an issue because they don't take advantage of the AGP port just use the PCI instructions.

Also according to this comparison this board is doing kinda good:
file.php?id=32949&mode=view

I just don't want to build an unstable system which needs to be rebooted in between every 2 game starts or in every hour, keep bsoding or doesn't even start up sometimes when it does not feel like it 😀
So pls if you this board share your experience.

This is by far the fastest I’ve ever seen my k6-III+ 550 ever perform this board is awesome, but I’m having stability issues.

Sphere's PCB projects.
-
Sphere’s socket 5/7 cpu collection.
-
SUCCESSFUL K6-2+ to K6-3+ Full Cache Enable Mod
-
Tyan S1564S to S1564D single to dual processor conversion (also s1563 and s1562)

Reply 9 of 14, by bloodem

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What are your full system specs?

1 x PLCC-68 / 2 x PGA132 / 5 x Skt 3 / 9 x Skt 7 / 12 x SS7 / 1 x Skt 8 / 14 x Slot 1 / 5 x Slot A
5 x Skt 370 / 8 x Skt A / 2 x Skt 478 / 2 x Skt 754 / 3 x Skt 939 / 7 x LGA775 / 1 x LGA1155
Current PC: Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Backup PC: Core i7 7700k

Reply 10 of 14, by Sphere478

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bloodem wrote on 2021-12-25, 13:11:

What are your full system specs?

K6 3+ 550

640mb cl2 pc133

Radeon 9800 pro

Audigy 2 zs

Promise tx4 sata II 300

Windows XP sp3

Asus p5a 1.4

Latest 1011 005? Bios? I forget does that sound right?

Sphere's PCB projects.
-
Sphere’s socket 5/7 cpu collection.
-
SUCCESSFUL K6-2+ to K6-3+ Full Cache Enable Mod
-
Tyan S1564S to S1564D single to dual processor conversion (also s1563 and s1562)

Reply 11 of 14, by bloodem

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Any reason why you're running Windows XP (and especially SP3, which is known to come with a lot of bloat)? Even Windows XP SP1 is well above the capabilities of a SS7 platform.
Two other red flags that I see are the Promise SATA II controller and the Radeon 9800 PRO. I'm pretty sure ATI never thought of testing these cards (and their drivers) on such a weak and problematic platform. 😀
Your BIOS version seems right.

To make sure that things are stable under 'normal' circumstances, I would first test with the following configuration and if stable, then go from there (i.e. make changes until you find the source of the instability):

K6-3+ 550
128 MB RAM
a cheap GeForce 2 MX/MX400 (driver 7.76) - if it's unstable in 3D apps, disable AGP 2X with the Ali AGP tool.
default onboard IDE controller
Windows 98 SE (clean, no service packs)

As an example, I have two Asus P5A rev 1.04 configurations and they're both 100% stable:

CONFIG 1 (my fastest SS7 platform):
AMD K6-3+ 400 MHz OC @ 633 MHz (FSB115 x 5.5)
128 MB RAM (more RAM works fine, but will come with a 5 - 10% performance penalty, depending on the game)
VGA: GeForce 2 GTS (driver version 7.76 / AGP 2X disabled)
OS: Windows 98 SE (no service packs)

CONFIG 2 (not as fast as the first, but more compatible):
AMD K6-2+ 550 MHz OC @ 616 MHz (FSB112 x 5.5)
128 MB RAM
VGA: Voodoo 3 3000 AGP (Frame Buffer Size: ALL / Write allocation: Enabled without hole)
OS: Windows 98 SE (no service packs)

1 x PLCC-68 / 2 x PGA132 / 5 x Skt 3 / 9 x Skt 7 / 12 x SS7 / 1 x Skt 8 / 14 x Slot 1 / 5 x Slot A
5 x Skt 370 / 8 x Skt A / 2 x Skt 478 / 2 x Skt 754 / 3 x Skt 939 / 7 x LGA775 / 1 x LGA1155
Current PC: Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Backup PC: Core i7 7700k

Reply 12 of 14, by Sphere478

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bloodem wrote on 2021-12-25, 17:18:
Any reason why you're running Windows XP (and especially SP3, which is known to come with a lot of bloat)? Even Windows XP SP1 i […]
Show full quote

Any reason why you're running Windows XP (and especially SP3, which is known to come with a lot of bloat)? Even Windows XP SP1 is well above the capabilities of a SS7 platform.
Two other red flags that I see are the Promise SATA II controller and the Radeon 9800 PRO. I'm pretty sure ATI never thought of testing these cards (and their drivers) on such a weak and problematic platform. 😀
Your BIOS version seems right.

To make sure that things are stable under 'normal' circumstances, I would first test with the following configuration and if stable, then go from there (i.e. make changes until you find the source of the instability):

K6-3+ 550
128 MB RAM
a cheap GeForce 2 MX/MX400 (driver 7.76) - if it's unstable in 3D apps, disable AGP 2X with the Ali AGP tool.
default onboard IDE controller
Windows 98 SE (clean, no service packs)

As an example, I have two Asus P5A rev 1.04 configurations and they're both 100% stable:

CONFIG 1 (my fastest SS7 platform):
AMD K6-3+ 400 MHz OC @ 633 MHz (FSB115 x 5.5)
128 MB RAM (more RAM works fine, but will come with a 5 - 10% performance penalty, depending on the game)
VGA: GeForce 2 GTS (driver version 7.76 / AGP 2X disabled)
OS: Windows 98 SE (no service packs)

CONFIG 2 (not as fast as the first, but more compatible):
AMD K6-2+ 550 MHz OC @ 616 MHz (FSB112 x 5.5)
128 MB RAM
VGA: Voodoo 3 3000 AGP (Frame Buffer Size: ALL / Write allocation: Enabled without hole)
OS: Windows 98 SE (no service packs)

I’m starting to suspect the 9800 pro. More testing required.

I can try sp1. I usually just go through and trim the bloat back 🤣. I’ve come to the conclusion that XP is going to be the OS for this build after having issues with software I’m using on other versions

Sphere's PCB projects.
-
Sphere’s socket 5/7 cpu collection.
-
SUCCESSFUL K6-2+ to K6-3+ Full Cache Enable Mod
-
Tyan S1564S to S1564D single to dual processor conversion (also s1563 and s1562)

Reply 13 of 14, by Sphere478

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Ooo!! the infamous hidden settings. Finally found them!

Dudes, it goes to 150mhz?!? Wtf?! Lol

Ummm 150 x 6x is 900!

Someone emerse this in ln2 and grab that cpu-z verification!

Attachments

Sphere's PCB projects.
-
Sphere’s socket 5/7 cpu collection.
-
SUCCESSFUL K6-2+ to K6-3+ Full Cache Enable Mod
-
Tyan S1564S to S1564D single to dual processor conversion (also s1563 and s1562)

Reply 14 of 14, by atlantisworld

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bloodem wrote on 2021-12-25, 17:18:
Any reason why you're running Windows XP (and especially SP3, which is known to come with a lot of bloat)? Even Windows XP SP1 i […]
Show full quote

Any reason why you're running Windows XP (and especially SP3, which is known to come with a lot of bloat)? Even Windows XP SP1 is well above the capabilities of a SS7 platform.
Two other red flags that I see are the Promise SATA II controller and the Radeon 9800 PRO. I'm pretty sure ATI never thought of testing these cards (and their drivers) on such a weak and problematic platform. 😀
Your BIOS version seems right.

To make sure that things are stable under 'normal' circumstances, I would first test with the following configuration and if stable, then go from there (i.e. make changes until you find the source of the instability):

K6-3+ 550
128 MB RAM
a cheap GeForce 2 MX/MX400 (driver 7.76) - if it's unstable in 3D apps, disable AGP 2X with the Ali AGP tool.
default onboard IDE controller
Windows 98 SE (clean, no service packs)

As an example, I have two Asus P5A rev 1.04 configurations and they're both 100% stable:

CONFIG 1 (my fastest SS7 platform):
AMD K6-3+ 400 MHz OC @ 633 MHz (FSB115 x 5.5)
128 MB RAM (more RAM works fine, but will come with a 5 - 10% performance penalty, depending on the game)
VGA: GeForce 2 GTS (driver version 7.76 / AGP 2X disabled)
OS: Windows 98 SE (no service packs)

CONFIG 2 (not as fast as the first, but more compatible):
AMD K6-2+ 550 MHz OC @ 616 MHz (FSB112 x 5.5)
128 MB RAM
VGA: Voodoo 3 3000 AGP (Frame Buffer Size: ALL / Write allocation: Enabled without hole)
OS: Windows 98 SE (no service packs)

I have this config:
K6-2+ 570 @600 (100 x6)
128MB 100 (i have two modules more 128mb 133 without use)
P5A V1.03 with latest bios b5
V3 3000 agp (Frame Buffer Size: ALL / Write allocation: Enabled without hole)
Win98SE
Can you show the p5a bios parameters of your config 2 or
what setting to change in bios to optimize this configuration?

Thanks!