No it does not have boot from USB. see manual https://theretroweb.com/motherboard/manual/7i … ee413264974.pdf
boot devices: Floppy .LS/ZIP .HDD-0 .SCSI .CDROM .HDD-1 .HDD-2 .HDD-3 .LAN
Think first USB boot came with USB 2.0 in early 2000's.

USB booting shouldn't require any special hardware.

However, the USB disk emulation support you describe all requires deep changes to the BIOS, and lots of hacks with code in System Management mode to simulate a hard drive while talking to the USB controller underneath. My understanding is that BIOS vendors would take their "core" and customize it when a new chipset comes out. BIOS revisions after that are mostly bug fixes to that core and tweaks by the motherboard manufacturer. No one cared whether USB boot worked or not when this was released, or generally until netbooks (years later) so it makes sense Award wasn't going to retroactively go back and add USB boot years later.

CD-ROM is the easiest option here.

Nice, thank you for the detailed responses - that was on point.

@Horun Thank you for the manual. That's a life saver!
@jakethompson1 Absolutely makes sense to me. Learned something new - thank you!

I've checked the manual for Legacy USB support, aka. "Simulates a PS/2 mouse/keyboard" but it looks like the only thing this board supports is · USB Keyboard Support and it is disabled by default.
So I need to buy a PS/2 mouse and keyboard. Otherwise I'll be stuck, right? 😉

Forgot to add: And/or USB <-> PS/2 adapter

I suggest you get a PS/2 keyboard, sometimes those early version USB Legacy supports will not work proper in BIOS or in DOS. Our local thrift stores have them often for about $5, mostly HP and Dell black ps/2 keyboards.
If you plan on running Win98 then you may not need a ps/2 mouse unless you plan on playing with DOS stuff.
I avoid adapters as they can be specific and not all USB keyboards/mice are ps/2 compatible even with an adapter....

Okay, issue is sorted.. the Cheery keyboard I have is a standard keyboard class compatible with USB 1.0. A simple PS/2 adapter would do. Regarding the mouse I simply ordered one from Cherry that comes with a PS/2 adapter by default. That should be the perfect setup then..

I've had success in the past booting legacy boards with a USB drive using the Plop Boot Manager. You can even flash it onto an option ROM if you prefer to use it that way.

ifrit05 wrote on 2024-09-22, 22:21:

I've had success in the past booting legacy boards with a USB drive using the Plop Boot Manager. You can even flash it onto an option ROM if you prefer to use it that way.

Great, I didn't know something like that exists. But unfortunately it doesn't support USB connected ODDs.

kind regards
soggi

So, the system arrived today. I've checked everything, read the manual of the board completely; checked against the reality (checked all jumpers, IDE cable setup, the Voodoo 3000 AGP installed, RAM installed, CPU, FAN connectors, power connectors (ATX) and all -- I was almost sure it would just boot flawlessly, but... after I hit the power button, it starts, FANs start moving -- but a 2-tone alarm tone rings and LEDs are flashing red and green in a rhythm. I did power off the machine immediately and check back tomorrow, as it's late here, but do you know of any list of Gigabyte GA-71X alarm tone meanings? I remember that they are usually listed in the motherboard manual, but I haven't found such a list in the PDF linked here. Just want to make sure I at least identify the error..

I noticed you're always naming the motherboard wrong, it must be a GA-7IX, this is a capitalized "i" and not the digit "1"!

Did you change or add something after you received the computer? First I would do is to clear the CMOS and then try again. The board has a Slot A, right? It is definitely a GA-7IX and not a GA-7IXE? The former has an Award and the latter an AMI BIOS. The German Wikipedia has an article about BIOS beep codes (-> https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_BIOS-Signalt%C3%B6ne), if you don't understand German use a search engine and search for Award (respectively AMI) BIOS beep codes.

kind regards
soggi

> I noticed you're always naming the motherboard wrong, it must be a GA-7IX, this is a capitalized "i" and not the digit "1"!

Oh, right! I always just copied the name from the ebay offering page and as I was able to find results... xD Actually a nice blind spot. I didn't realize at all.

> Did you change or add something after you received the computer?

I asked the guy to remove the HDD from the machine before sending it to me via DHL. I was concerned about headcrashes... so I just reconnected the drive to IDE 1 and of course the power connector they way I used to do back in the day.. it's a long time ago but I still remember that one had to be careful with the orientation of the connectors and all. I double-checked my work by checking the photos of the machine the guy had online with lit open. It looks like I connected it exactly as it has been set-up before. Apart from that, I just removed a bit of dust.

---

Googling with the correct name gives me one more valuable result for the board: https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/gigabyte-ga-7ix#bios
which is especially helpful, as I could already learn a few more things, as today I let the machine run for a bit longer... I've got a video signal, the machine seems stable at least.
However an alarm that could be either identified as a continuous long-short peep tone, or a siren tone rings. It's interesting, as the list of alarm tones you mentioned, is would imply that it's either a fatal motherboard defect or an issue with voltage or heat. I did immediately shut it off again but took a short video and picture.

On-screen messages:
Award Modular BIOS (etc...)

GA-7IX.F1
Check System Health !, VCore =1.60V
Main Processor : AMD Athlon(T) 600MHz
<CPUID:0612>

I think there are 3 newer BIOS versions available, F2, F3, F4a

By pure luck I found a german "BIOS Kompendium", which has a little more info on all BIOSes: http://www.networkclan.de/pdf/compend.pdf

I case it's a siren tone:
Lüfter ausgefallen oder Lüfter hat keine Rotationsabfrage
bzw. ist nicht angeschlossen. (zeigt "N/A")
Temperatur zu hoch (MB / CPU)
Spannung zu hoch oder zu niedrig. (ggf. durch
Netzteildefekt)

Also the error message on screen seems to lead into that direction...

Checking the specs for an AMD Athlon 600: https://www.ele.uva.es/~jesman/BigSeti/ftp/Mi … _Data_Sheet.pdf
Page 63 says that the operating voltage is 1.55 to 1.65 which, *in case the error message shows the reality (=1.60V) and not the expected value* (I don't know), would be fine.

I'll now double check if all FANs are running fine and disconnect one of the CD-ROM drives for diagnosis... I suspect that the 250W power supply is a bit weak for the build.

I'll upload a video of the case later if I can't solve it. I think that gives a much better basis for any diagnosis.

Thanks alot for your help!

It may be worthwhile to create a plopboot floppy, and use THAT for booting USB sticks.

I do something similar for very early laptops that have USB1.1, and a cdrom but no facility to boot USB sticks. Dont want to burn dozens of discs just to try different things, or to try freedos from a USB stick; Just pop in the plopboot cd, boot that, and then chain booting the USB stick.

kyroxx wrote on 2024-09-26, 09:11:

Oh, right! I always just copied the name from the ebay offering page and as I was able to find results... xD Actually a nice blind spot. I didn't realize at all.

Ah OK, now I'm 100% sure I found the offer on Kleinanzeigen - not ebay, which just was part of the name the last few years after ebay sold its classifieds business. It's interesting that many people still think it has something to do with ebay (except that ebay shares 33% of the actual owner). -> https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleinanzeigen

BTW I had the same radial cooler installed below my Voodoo3 2000 back then, funny. But it's better to install a fan on the card itself, I modified the Voodoo3 3000 I got after the 2000 with several coolers (including RAM) and fans to a sandwich cooled one (cooler with fan also on the backside).

kyroxx wrote on 2024-09-26, 09:11:

GA-7IX.F1 Check System Health !, VCore =1.60V Main Processor : AMD Athlon(T) 600MHz <CPUID:0612> […]
Show full quote

GA-7IX.F1
Check System Health !, VCore =1.60V
Main Processor : AMD Athlon(T) 600MHz
<CPUID:0612>

I think there are 3 newer BIOS versions available, F2, F3, F4a

This is a good sign and yes, I would flash the latest BIOS F4a - but first get a stable system! That what you call "error message" doesn't have something to do with the VCore, because it is right for an AMD Athlon 600 (Argon, CPUID 0612, structure: 250 nm) -> https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_Athlon_(K7) (Modelldaten -> Argon). What can you see if you check "System Health" in the BIOS? For me it sounds like there is a need of having a 3-pin connected fan which reports RPM, else BIOS expects no fan is connected and warns because there's a (hypothetical) chance the CPU gets burned.

kyroxx wrote on 2024-09-26, 09:11:

By pure luck I found a german "BIOS Kompendium", which has a little more info on all BIOSes: http://www.networkclan.de/pdf/compend.pdf

Oh, I just noticed the LEGENDARY German BIOS Kompendium isn't online anymore (was situated at www.bios-info.de). Digging deeper I found out that Eckart Prause (Hecki) had to shut it down at the end of 2020 for reasons of health and age (-> https://web.archive.org/web/20201220072208/ht … w.bios-info.de/). Hans-Peter Schulz (Rufus), the creator of the BIOS Kompendium, already passed away in 2008 and Hecki took over completely. So here's the original last version V6.8 of it -> https://web.archive.org/web/20170223002941/ht … 2x846/titel.htm. Oh man, time goes by so fast...it's 16 years since Rufus passed away.

---

I would test the computer in minimal config which means only plug in what is really needed: CPU, VGA, 1 RAM stick, then disconnect from power, push the power button to discharge the capacitors in the power supply, Clear CMOS (if you didn't already)...now reconnect to power, power on, go into BIOS and chose "Load Default Settings"...if it still beeps "Lüfter hat keine Rotationsabfrage" could be a reasonable explanation. Removing dust and especially dust bunnies (Wollmäuse) is always a good idea - I would take a blow-out gun (connected to a compressor) for that, cleaned some really dusty motherboards at work this way.

So, hopefully I didn't forget something...else let me know!

Edit:
- For flashing the BIOS AWDFLASH v8.99 or UniFlash 1.40/1.47re.09/v2.00.SPI.RC03 are recommended, they are available on my website -> https://soggi.org/motherboards/bios-update-fl … h-utilities.htm.
- The chipset (AMD Irongate) drivers are also available from my website -> https://soggi.org/drivers/drivers.htm.

kind Regards
soggi

> Ah OK, now I'm 100% sure I found the offer on Kleinanzeigen

Yeah, right, the offer was published there; it's still online but marked as "reserved".

> BTW I had the same radial cooler installed below my Voodoo3 2000 back then, funny. But it's better to install a fan on the card itself, I modified the Voodoo3 3000 I got after the 2000 with several coolers (including RAM) and fans to a sandwich cooled one (cooler with fan also on the backside).

Oh nice, yeah, that's much better for the longlivity of the card, I guess. Not sure if I dare to do that kind of a modification atm. I was into building my computers on my own back then, also custom setups with coolers etc. but that talent didn't age well 😁 I'm feeling a bit rusty with this tbh. don't wanna damage the precious card right away... making it worse with good intentions 😉

> This is a good sign and yes, I would flash the latest BIOS F4a - but first get a stable system! That what you call "error message" doesn't have something to do with the VCore, because it is right for an AMD Athlon 600 (Argon, CPUID 0612, structure: 250 nm)

Perfect, good to know!

> What can you see if you check "System Health" in the BIOS?

I'm having trouble entering the BIOS atm. I'm pretty sure that the USB to PS/2 adapter I use on my keyboard is dysfunctional as the modern Cherry USB keyboard doesn't seem to implement the "original" USB 1.1 spec. I've checked the keyboards specs beforehand; there was nothing about official support, but people on the internet reported that it would work under DOS with PS/2 adapters... so I assumed it will just do fine. Now I think it doesn't and hitting the DEL key doesn't lead to entering the BIOS setup... soo, I'm going to have to wait until the new keyboard arrives which is some no-name PS/2 only thingy - this should def. do. I also ordered a CMOS battery, CR2032 to replace the old one. Funnily I realized that checking the motherboard manual and looking at the actual JP3 configuration at hand... the board already came with CMOS clear shortened... the seller either did that on purpose before sending it to me and forgot to set it back to 2-3 default position... or they had issues as well, and didn't report them. It's a bit suspicious that their offering is still online as "reserved" when the machine is clearly sold. But let's see..
Another thing I noticed is, that the floppy disk drive has a constant light. I remember that this means no good. I checked how it is connected and it looked fine at first glance.

As the memory check counts through all memory just fine, I guess I can rule out RAM as the issue? Also VGA works. I already removed the NIC and the CD-ROM + CD Burner.
The 5 1/4 inch floppy disk drive is pointless - I want to remove it, but it has a power wire connected to the fan. I haven't seen such a configuration yet. I will detatch it too tonight.
The floppy disk drive itself has its power connector so tightly connected that I'm a bit worried that I'll damage it if I continuously try harder..
my plan for now is to simply detach the flatband cable so that the board isn't connected but leave the power cord connected. I cannot remember if that practice was "fine" or problematic though.

> Oh, I just noticed the LEGENDARY German BIOS Kompendium isn't online anymore (was situated at www.bios-info.de). Digging deeper I found out that Eckart Prause (Hecki) had to shut it down at the end of 2020 for reasons of health and age (-> https://web.archive.org/web/20201220072208/ht … w.bios-info.de/). Hans-Peter Schulz (Rufus), the creator of the BIOS Kompendium, already passed away in 2008 and Hecki took over completely. So here's the original last version V6.8 of it -> https://web.archive.org/web/20170223002941/ht … 2x846/titel.htm. Oh man, time goes by so fast...it's 16 years since Rufus passed away.

Yes, time flies.. it's so sad to see people go... RIP... I still remember vividly when I walked into one of those PC shops in the mid 90s, buying my first own EDO-RAM... I think it was 16MB or so and I saved for that for over a year... back in the day I remember that the world was really different. The calmness, the peace of mind, and the patience we had in contrast to today's world in general is mindblowing. It has been a slower world. The social networks were real, not virtual and fake. I had the experience that especially people in the IT field were a very nice and a truly special kind of community connected by common interests but also by specific values - hacker values if you will. Every kid with sparkling light in their eyes was welcome to experiment and learn, hang out in those shops, etc... just because those shops were ran by truly passionate old school enthusiasts...

Maybe it's just me and my subjective view/feelings on things or I'm being extremely nostalgic these days, but I really, really miss those old days somehow. It feels like values have been stolen... it just feels so very different these days or maybe I'm part of the wrong bubbles. There are still people like you, and people on here who keep the old spirit alive. People who live and act by the old values, ...and that's fantastic! But time goes on and soon we'll feel old too.. xD Idk.. it's already 2 years ago when my old boss passed away... he was one of the guys who would code in assembly language like a wizard. He taught me programming and I was very, very fortunate to have met him when he was in his best years of his career... we met in an IRC chat where I helped fixing a linux device driver for someone by rewriting parts in C... I was 17 years old and basically poor, jobless and without any chances to find a trainee position... he managed to convince his boss to hire me as a trainee because he saw true passion in me.. without him I would probably have become a car mechanic or so.. as some sort of last resort.. well... idk, I don't want to go too deep into this, but philosophically speaking, the only time we have control over is probably the here and now. It's amazing to have places like this forum where "our past" is still alive 😀) One day it will pass too, but today we can still enjoy this -- and our nostalgia 😀

---

> if it still beeps "Lüfter hat keine Rotationsabfrage" could be a reasonable explanation.

Yeah I too hope that the FAN RPM monitoring is the cause of the alarm.. especially after CMOS has been clearly cleared and defaults have been loaded, it would have reset the prior settings. If the seller had the FAN monitoring disabled on purpose, and got rid of the alarm or if he had a password set and thought resetting CMOS was a good idea (JP3 on pos 1-2; contrary to usual positions the manual for the 7IX says that 2-3 is default position), then this could easily explain why he never mentioned any defect.

> I would take a blow-out gun (connected to a compressor) for that, cleaned some really dusty motherboards at work this way.

Yeah I have bought one recently for the purpose to remove those dust. I think I've been quite successful with this. I see if I can take some photos and videos as promised. But first I'll try to rule out the simple solutions.

> So, hopefully I didn't forget something...else let me know!

Thank you so much for helping me debugging this issue!!

> Edit:
> - For flashing the BIOS AWDFLASH v8.99 or UniFlash 1.40/1.47re.09/v2.00.SPI.RC03 are recommended, they are available on my website

Ah, perfect! I didn't have the BIOS flash tool yet. BIOS and Drivers still seem to be available via the Gigabyte website, interestingly: https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-7IX/s … pport-dl-driver

Best and kind regards
kyroxx

Update: Removed all unnecessary cards, IDE cables etc.
With only VGA, CPU, RAM on the board, the result remains the same:

Alarm:
https://youtube.com/shorts/N4RxedN0Sq4?feature=share

Furthermore all FAN alarms are disabled in BIOS (I did load failsafe defaults).

With the new PS/2 only keyboard, BIOS responds to keyboard input, so I could check for the PC Health status as well...

Screenshot:
https://ibb.co/fxt3FKP

Now I'm a bit out of ideas. Is the FAN speed maybe too low? Temp. seems to be fine?
I'm going to check the jumper positions again, but other than that I can't see any fault. Also the capacitors look fine. There's no "blooming" on any of them.
The RAM checks/counts through just fine as well.

Best and kind regards
kyroxx

soggi wrote on 2024-09-27, 06:43:

I would test the computer in minimal config which means only plug in what is really needed: CPU, VGA, 1 RAM stick, then disconnect from power, push the power button to discharge the capacitors in the power supply, Clear CMOS (if you didn't already)...now reconnect to power, power on, go into BIOS and chose "Load Default Settings"...if it still beeps "Lüfter hat keine Rotationsabfrage" could be a reasonable explanation. Removing dust and especially dust bunnies (Wollmäuse) is always a good idea - I would take a blow-out gun (connected to a compressor) for that, cleaned some really dusty motherboards at work this way.

Could "Lüfter hat keine Rotationsabfrage" also ring the alarm in case the alarm is clearly disabled? I mean, of course the system FAN is reporting 0 because there is none connected 😁

Two more observations:
- CMOS checksum error persists, no matter how often I clear the CMOS
- I can save and store a date change to CMOS and it would persist
- I cannot change Integrated Peripherals USB setting for USB keyboard support from Disabled to Enabled. It would be Disabled again after saving and reboot.

I suspect a faulty CMOS chip, corrupted BIOS firmware, or potentially a weak CMOS battery right now... I'll change the CMOS battery soon,
but as the system seems to operate relatively stable despite the constantly ringing alarm, I'm thinking about risking to get the FDD attached and flash the BIOS in case the BIOS is corrupted somehow?

Today I've got a chance to replace the CMOS battery. Turns out the alarm was ringing because the VBAT was reporting < 2V. Comparing the voltage readings in PC Health page of the BIOS clearly tells.
With the new CMOS battery, the alarm is gone - which is really cool. However, no matter how often I clear the CMOS, the CMOS checksum error persists with every boot. I double-checked my CMOS clearing procedure
by setting a date, restarting, making sure the date was still set. I then turned the PC off, disconnected from power, pressed the power button for 15 seconds, removed the CMOS battery, shorted the JP3 Clear CMOS jumper as by the manual. It's a bit odd that for this motherboard, the jumper position for CMOS clear is 1-2. I remember that the typical CMOS reset position was 2-3, but well... I then waited for 20 seconds, installed the CMOS battery again, connected the power cord, turned on the computer and verified that the date in CMOS was reset to 1999 - which was the case. So to my understanding, the CMOS would have been correctly reset. However, after completing POST and checking the RAM and IDE devices, the message on "CMOS checksum error" would still be printed.

The system runs stable though.. I'm not sure if flashing the BIOS is a good idea and safe if it's unclear if the CMOS chip isn't defect.

Hmm, thinking about it, the BIOS EEPROM could be faulty or the connectors might be simply dirty. For now it might be okay to let the system run even with the EEPROM of the BIOS failing. I'll use contact spray to further clean the parts and rule out EEPROM pin connection failure.. but until then I'll probably just use the system as-is.