Roman555 wrote on 2022-12-06, 22:09:

Hello, Do you have a hardware programmer? BIOS update is a risky procedure. There are some BIOSes preserved in web.archive.org. […]
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kendair wrote on 2022-09-28, 10:58:

Hello Everyone! […]
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Hello Everyone!

I have a PCChips M570 V1.3 motherboard, and I'm looking for the original AMI WINBIOS. Upgraded the BIOS to the latest 09/04/1998, but I was dumb-dumb and not making any backups. Hoped for resolve some compatibility issues, but it get even worse with the new BIOS, now I cannot use any soundcard 🙁

I hope somebody have this board and can make a back-up form the original BIOS.

Many thanks!

Greetings,
Attila
Hungary

Hello,
Do you have a hardware programmer? BIOS update is a risky procedure.
There are some BIOSes preserved in web.archive.org. But it's difficult to say whether they are compatible or not.
Sybercom MB570
Amptron PM-9700
bns-computer PCChips M570 - just a list of BIOSes because of FTP links

Hi!

Thanks for the links! Unfortunately the Sybercom link not works, and the Amptorn looks way too different (Slot1/Socket370)

Anyway, I have a minipro programmer, I learned form my mistake, I have backup form the current bios, and I'm always start with a full dump if i update any MoBo's bios 😁

kendair wrote on 2022-12-07, 16:10:

Hi!

Thanks for the links! Unfortunately the Sybercom link not works, and the Amptorn looks way too different (Slot1/Socket370)

Anyway, I have a minipro programmer, I learned form my mistake, I have backup form the current bios, and I'm always start with a full dump if i update any MoBo's bios 😁

Welcome!
minipro programmer - it's wonderful. I have an old DIY Willem (LPT interface) - a really naughty programmer 😀
The picture was just a picture. Amptron BIOSes was hidden behind menu "BIOS".

bogdang wrote on 2022-12-07, 06:17:

I have checked, but there is no write-protect switch on the mobo (I managed to find the manual). The bios was bricked during an […]
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Horun wrote on 2022-12-07, 02:31:

Agree ! Hmm, If the flash eeprom is bad you will not be able to re-flash and have it work. How did you "brick" your BIOS ? or di […]
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Roman555 wrote on 2022-12-06, 22:17:

Maybe EEPROM is faulty so BootBlock can't recover BIOS flashing it from a floppy.
Or maybe there's a jumper on the mainboard that protects BIOS from flashing.
Sometimes a manufacturer (I don't mean MSI here) used one-time-programming (OTP) chips so it couldn't be recovered at all.

Agree ! Hmm, If the flash eeprom is bad you will not be able to re-flash and have it work. How did you "brick" your BIOS ? or did it just fail on it's own ?
If you have an eeprom programmer (TL866 type) you can try to flash the chip, it will also help to find if the chip is bad.
Searching back thru archive org there never was a AG76 released/posted for MSI or Premio but there is a AMI AG77d bios (diff than the AG77) with AMI flash 5.3 which should work IF your bios chip is OK.
One thing: never load Himem.sys or other things to flash an old BIOS unless you know it is ok and always use the flasher tool that was meant to use for the BIOS version. Attached AG77d

added: the Chaintech 5SEM appears to have all same chipset/chips as the MS5124, will look to see if there is an AMI bios for it to try....

I have checked, but there is no write-protect switch on the mobo (I managed to find the manual).
The bios was bricked during an eeprom update using AG79 (next time I will take into account the ID bios string too), the ami flasher was launched from a startup dos floppy without any extended memory manager.
I will try AG77d with the flasher, also from the floppy startup disk.
Thank you very much for your support!

Unfortunately , no luck with AG77d. There is, however, a different behaviour after reading the rom file. I get no infinite loop of 7 short beeps, but no image/post either .... just black screen, no floppy activity, no beeps.
I have waited for 10 minutes then rebooted. It starts reading the floppy again ...
I guess the only solution is to find that AG76 rom, but I have been searching for three weeks now and still no luck.

bogdang wrote on 2022-12-07, 18:57:

... Unfortunately , no luck with AG77d. There is, however, a different behaviour after reading the rom file. I get no infinite l […]
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...
Unfortunately , no luck with AG77d. There is, however, a different behaviour after reading the rom file. I get no infinite loop of 7 short beeps, but no image/post either .... just black screen, no floppy activity, no beeps.
I have waited for 10 minutes then rebooted. It starts reading the floppy again ...
I guess the only solution is to find that AG76 rom, but I have been searching for three weeks now and still no luck.

Maybe it helps. The reason : the bootblock part of flash is write-protected and when you try to give another version new bootblock can't be flashed.
Also new version of bios might be flashed using a hardware programmer or hot-swap method.

P.S. BIOS error may be caused by faulty RAM or cache.

Roman555 wrote on 2022-12-07, 17:49:

Welcome! minipro programmer - it's wonderful. I have an old DIY Willem (LPT interface) - a really naughty programmer :) The pict […]
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kendair wrote on 2022-12-07, 16:10:

Hi!

Thanks for the links! Unfortunately the Sybercom link not works, and the Amptorn looks way too different (Slot1/Socket370)

Anyway, I have a minipro programmer, I learned form my mistake, I have backup form the current bios, and I'm always start with a full dump if i update any MoBo's bios 😁

Welcome!
minipro programmer - it's wonderful. I have an old DIY Willem (LPT interface) - a really naughty programmer 😀
The picture was just a picture. Amptron BIOSes was hidden behind menu "BIOS".

Thanks a lot for the files, I hope they will help a lot and solve my compatibility problem. I'll have enough free time this weekend to try it out, I'll let you know if there's any progress! Thanks again!

Roman555 wrote on 2022-12-07, 20:20:

Maybe it helps. The reason : the bootblock part of flash is write-protected and when you try to give another version new bootblo […]
Show full quote

bogdang wrote on 2022-12-07, 18:57:

... Unfortunately , no luck with AG77d. There is, however, a different behaviour after reading the rom file. I get no infinite l […]
Show full quote

...
Unfortunately , no luck with AG77d. There is, however, a different behaviour after reading the rom file. I get no infinite loop of 7 short beeps, but no image/post either .... just black screen, no floppy activity, no beeps.
I have waited for 10 minutes then rebooted. It starts reading the floppy again ...
I guess the only solution is to find that AG76 rom, but I have been searching for three weeks now and still no luck.

Maybe it helps. The reason : the bootblock part of flash is write-protected and when you try to give another version new bootblock can't be flashed.
Also new version of bios might be flashed using a hardware programmer or hot-swap method.

P.S. BIOS error may be caused by faulty RAM or cache.

I will try using different ram modules (tested ones), or write the eeprom in a programmer / another motherboard using hot-swap.
Thank you very much!

Roman555 wrote on 2022-12-07, 20:20:

Maybe it helps. The reason : the bootblock part of flash is write-protected and when you try to give another version new bootblo […]
Show full quote

bogdang wrote on 2022-12-07, 18:57:

... Unfortunately , no luck with AG77d. There is, however, a different behaviour after reading the rom file. I get no infinite l […]
Show full quote

...
Unfortunately , no luck with AG77d. There is, however, a different behaviour after reading the rom file. I get no infinite loop of 7 short beeps, but no image/post either .... just black screen, no floppy activity, no beeps.
I have waited for 10 minutes then rebooted. It starts reading the floppy again ...
I guess the only solution is to find that AG76 rom, but I have been searching for three weeks now and still no luck.

Maybe it helps. The reason : the bootblock part of flash is write-protected and when you try to give another version new bootblock can't be flashed.
Also new version of bios might be flashed using a hardware programmer or hot-swap method.

P.S. BIOS error may be caused by faulty RAM or cache.

And ... it`s alive again! 😉 Seems like the recovery boot was not able to program the eeprom.
I have bought an XGECU programmer and successfully wrote the AG77D bios image.
Thank you!

bogdang wrote on 2023-01-04, 19:47:

And ... it`s alive again! ;) Seems like the recovery boot was not able to program the eeprom. I have bought an XGECU programmer […]
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Roman555 wrote on 2022-12-07, 20:20:

Maybe it helps. The reason : the bootblock part of flash is write-protected and when you try to give another version new bootblo […]
Show full quote

bogdang wrote on 2022-12-07, 18:57:

... Unfortunately , no luck with AG77d. There is, however, a different behaviour after reading the rom file. I get no infinite l […]
Show full quote

...
Unfortunately , no luck with AG77d. There is, however, a different behaviour after reading the rom file. I get no infinite loop of 7 short beeps, but no image/post either .... just black screen, no floppy activity, no beeps.
I have waited for 10 minutes then rebooted. It starts reading the floppy again ...
I guess the only solution is to find that AG76 rom, but I have been searching for three weeks now and still no luck.

Maybe it helps. The reason : the bootblock part of flash is write-protected and when you try to give another version new bootblock can't be flashed.
Also new version of bios might be flashed using a hardware programmer or hot-swap method.

P.S. BIOS error may be caused by faulty RAM or cache.

And ... it`s alive again! 😉 Seems like the recovery boot was not able to program the eeprom.
I have bought an XGECU programmer and successfully wrote the AG77D bios image.
Thank you!

I'm glad to read that you've managed to revive it 😀
Congrats!

Hello everyone.
I have a great request, I need a BIOS for the board from the photo. I've searched but can't find it anywhere.

Adriand1281 wrote on 2023-03-01, 19:29:

Hello everyone.
I have a great request, I need a BIOS for the board from the photo. I've searched but can't find it anywhere.

These are not exact layout matches but they do have the same chipset.
https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/bek-tronic-bek-3708
https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/pine-t … chnology-pt-321

though only the pine one has bios downloads available.

Do we collect the bios'es from the old laptop boards?
I've got a Siemens Nixdorf Scenic 4NC laptop's motherboard from the pile of scrap, the flash chip contains bios for both - chipset (ALI M1219) and video (CHIPS F65530).
Should I upload it in the 486 bios section?

If you ask me...add to the 486s. Thanks!

weedeewee wrote on 2023-03-01, 20:03:

These are not exact layout matches but they do have the same chipset. https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/bek-tronic-bek-3708 […]
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Adriand1281 wrote on 2023-03-01, 19:29:

Hello everyone.
I have a great request, I need a BIOS for the board from the photo. I've searched but can't find it anywhere.

These are not exact layout matches but they do have the same chipset.
https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/bek-tronic-bek-3708
https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/pine-t … chnology-pt-321

though only the pine one has bios downloads available.

Thank you very much, one of the given bios worked

Hello,
I do not know if it is the proper discussion.
I have Ga-586DX, Intel 430HX dual cpu,the bios of this card is crippled.
It has usb headers but no usb options and appears to be disabled.
No voltage readings
No proper interrupt table (or buggy).
Not even jan Steunbrick was able to help me to past 8GB limitation….

Can someone do something for this nice piece of hardware with such a poor software support?

Mamba wrote on 2023-03-14, 13:44:

Hello, I do not know if it is the proper discussion. I have Ga-586DX, Intel 430HX dual cpu,the bios of this card is crippled. It […]
Show full quote

Hello,
I do not know if it is the proper discussion.
I have Ga-586DX, Intel 430HX dual cpu,the bios of this card is crippled.
It has usb headers but no usb options and appears to be disabled.
No voltage readings
No proper interrupt table (or buggy).
Not even jan Steunbrick was able to help me to past 8GB limitation….

Can someone do something for this nice piece of hardware with such a poor software support?

See if you can find another motherboard that has the same I/O controller from there you may be able to use modbin to edit the bios? Not sure. An external I/O card may be an option also. Maybe even a mr bios.

Ga-586ux bios is basically the same card but without SMP and single socket.
Not sure it has better irq handling.
We need someone who is able to surf bioses like Jan is (he is here?).

Mamba wrote on 2023-03-14, 15:04:

Ga-586ux bios is basically the same card but without SMP and single socket.
Not sure it has better irq handling.
We need someone who is able to surf bioses like Jan is (he is here?).

Could trade up to a tyan s1564D

Sphere478 wrote on 2023-03-14, 18:17:

Mamba wrote on 2023-03-14, 15:04:

Ga-586ux bios is basically the same card but without SMP and single socket.
Not sure it has better irq handling.
We need someone who is able to surf bioses like Jan is (he is here?).

Could trade up to a tyan s1564D

Will take into consideration, meanwhile I want to fight with this board.

I retrieved a program called Award bios editor https://sourceforge.net/projects/awdbedit/fil … t/awdbedit-1.0/
It seemed to be the answer to all my questions.
when I load the bios in the program, everything looks too good to be true.
It is able to see everything but do not why I cannot change paramenters, even if I save, they revert to the old status (i.e. USB controller field).

Am I missing something? Any advice?

Am I missing something?

Hi Mamba,

Awdbedit is a nice program to view various Award BIOS details, but it still has bugs and can produce a corrupted BIOS when saving changes.

I prefer the good old MODBIN V4.50.82a DOS tool from Award for editing the Setup menus of 1997-1999 BIOSes.
I took a look at the GA-586DX Rev 2.x board Ver 2.40 BIOS and indeed found a lot of hidden options.
I enabled all useful Setup options, including ‘USB Controller’, DRAM timings, and PCI IDE IRQ Mapping options.

Here is this 5DX “patch J.1” BIOS.
I hope this helps with your fight with this nice board. 😉

Cheers, Jan

Chkcpu wrote on 2023-03-16, 22:35:

Hi Mamba, […]
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Hi Mamba,

Awdbedit is a nice program to view various Award BIOS details, but it still has bugs and can produce a corrupted BIOS when saving changes.

I prefer the good old MODBIN V4.50.82a DOS tool from Award for editing the Setup menus of 1997-1999 BIOSes.
I took a look at the GA-586DX Rev 2.x board Ver 2.40 BIOS and indeed found a lot of hidden options.
I enabled all useful Setup options, including ‘USB Controller’, DRAM timings, and PCI IDE IRQ Mapping options.

Here is this 5DX “patch J.1” BIOS.
I hope this helps with your fight with this nice board. 😉

Cheers, Jan

Jan!

Hello!! You tried to help me years ago with the 8GB limitation!!
At the end of the day it is always you the one to talk to it seems!
Still no luck in the limitation eh?
But thank you a lot!!