Sphere478 wrote on 2021-11-04, 16:21:

Doornkaat wrote on 2021-11-04, 09:10:

I thought this thread was probably the best place to post this: Browsing for similar stuff on thingiverse I recently found out s […]
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I thought this thread was probably the best place to post this:
Browsing for similar stuff on thingiverse I recently found out somebody designed an adaptor to use S478 or S939/754/AM2 coolers (that use the standard retention frame) on Socket8 mobos.
S8 coolers aren't easy to come by while sub-par 478/939 coolers are cheap and plenty and more than capable of keeping PPros cool.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4795993
The designer made some other nifty socket adaptors as well. Check it out! https://www.thingiverse.com/polandremariadirak/designs

The way they built that one looks like it will break as soon as you latch it 🤣

super cool find!

Hm, I was mostly looking at the AMD retention mechanism and that looks pretty sturdy. The S478 frame might be best when glued together before clipping the cooler in, I'll agree to that!

My socket 8 adapters could be used with AM2 coolers with slightly adjusted retention spring mechanism due to different height of cpu

New system nearly finished. Had some problems and now waiting for the new modified BIOS version 105 - the recent version 103c has some bugs (usb/ps2/ram)

Specs at the moment:

2x Intel Pentium Pro 1mb L2 cache @ 200MHz (100MHz FSB x 2)
2x Asus C-P6S1 socket 8 to slot 1 converter
Tyan Tiger 133 S1834D w/ modded BIOS 103c
NVIDIA GeForce 4 TI4200 AGP (soon a GeForce 3 Ti 200/500)
Quantum3D Obsidian2 SBi (3dfx Voodoo 2 SLI)
512 MB SD-RAM 133MHz
Creative Labs Soundblaster Vibra 16c ISA
Opti USB2 PCI Card
Intel 320 Series SSD 40Gb (IDE/SATA converter)
Dual Boot Win2K + Win98 SE
Case Lian Li

Mentat-vvo wrote on 2020-08-20, 10:00:

Got newly-made ones.
E262C494-ED58-4209-AFAC-50A501CDBB30.jpeg
6BC6C695-E7B5-4608-B713-84E186C26ED1.jpeg

Where can i get these adapter pcbs? Are they for sale or gerber file? I would really love a set since i have multiple dual slot motherboards and cpus with spare sockets!

I would also be interested in getting my hands on a pair

Mentat-vvo wrote on 2021-11-05, 00:40:

My socket 8 adapters could be used with AM2 coolers with slightly adjusted retention spring mechanism due to different height of cpu

33816B1F-5B6E-492A-933E-0FE91171C6D6.jpeg

Please I still hope everyday to get one of these pcbs, will buy a few for many of my slot boards I have here with diffrent chipsets etc to try on, I have alot of socket 8 cpus etc. Please email me if possible gangsta_017@hotmail.com

Hi,

I purchased a few of these socket 8 adapters a few years back. Just stumbled upon this thread. Very interested in trying this with a Tyan Tiger 133. Does anyone have the patched BIOS?

-Brian

Finished recapping the motherboard. For retro projects as of late, I've been going with polymer capacitors. Happy with how it turned out.

Still looking for the BIOS. Would be most appreciative to get a copy...

-Brian

Oh very nice!! I very much like those capacitors. I believe those polymer caps may be the same tech used for run capacitors they are very tough and long lasting technology.

bbuchholtz wrote on 2024-07-20, 19:56:

Still looking for the BIOS. Would be most appreciative to get a copy...

Could you please dump the flash chip of your board? I will try to make you a patched version.

kmeaw wrote on 2024-07-22, 00:27:

Could you please dump the flash chip of your board? I will try to make you a patched version.

Thank you so much!!

Please find the attached archive with BIOS images:

1834Ddump.bin - This was the version that came with my motherboard.
1834Dv103c.bin - I found this one online (The Retro Web).
1834Dv105.bin - I found this one online (The Retro Web).

I took a quick look at my dump with a hex editor, and it looks to be v1.05. The sticker on the EEPROM indicates that this board originally came with v1.02. But, I think the previous owner updated the BIOS. I can look for v1.02, if you think that will help.

-Brian

bbuchholtz wrote on 2024-07-24, 13:03:

1834Ddump.bin - This was the version that came with my motherboard.

Your dump is indeed v1.05, the original filename is called "1834W105.BIN".
I have added cpuid guards to some of the MSR accesses that may be not supported by your CPU, please try booting this version. If it doesn't fix your issue, please log the sequence of the codes seen on a POST card with both this and your original version from the dump you have provided.
Be sure to have means to revert this version - I have no hardware to test it, so general disclaimer applies, flash at your own risk.
I haven't touched the bootblock so normal Award BIOS recovery should be possible from a floppy drive but please make sure you have an EEPROM programmer that works with your flash chip and you know how to use it.

Thank you! Already making progress. Now my system starts the initial POST process.

Getting a BIOS checksum error:

BIOS POST code: 41

I have a chip programmer, so no worries about bricking the board.

Also, what tools do you use? I'm trying to learn more about modifying BIOSes. I have experience with tools like CBROM. And can also do things like extracting/inserting uncompressed microcode with a hex editor. I'm looking to get more advanced with my techniques...

-Brian

bbuchholtz wrote on 2024-07-25, 12:42:

Also, what tools do you use? I'm trying to learn more about modifying BIOSes. I have experience with tools like CBROM. And can also do things like extracting/inserting uncompressed microcode with a hex editor. I'm looking to get more advanced with my techniques...

I am using basic unix tools - dd, hexdump, xxd for cutting and pasting file fragments, lha for packing/unpacking, cbrom 2.07 and modbin6 2.04.01 for module manipulation, nasm (ndisasm), ghidra and HIEW for doing actual code changes.
I think I have fixed the checksums, please try again.

Looks like you've resolved the checksum error. System now fully initializes with one CPU installed:

However, when there is a second CPU installed, I get a POST code of: 4E

-Brian

I found an undocumented jumper setting for a 3.0x multiplier, so I'm no longer overclocking the CPUs.

But, when using 2 CPUs, I'm still getting a POST code of: 4E

-Brian

Do you see anything on the screen when you get POST code 4E? Was the system behavior any different with 1 and 2 CPUs before you flashed the modded BIOS?

As far as I know unmodified BIOSes fail to initialize by freezing - either just after PnP init or as early as the BIOS identification string (which normally contains the vendor and the product name of the motherboard) is printed. If it works with one CPU, then it should work with both, so I don't think there is anything that I can do by patching the main module.

It could be a Socket-to-Slot converter issue - not all of them route the signals required for multiprocessor configurations.

I have only one idea left - running two CPUs might need an updated microcode. Could you boot with a single CPU installed and get a CPUID report (Jan Steunebrink's CHKCPU would work)? Then I would replace the microcode module in your BIOS to have the latest version.

I've used these CPUs and adapters on another dual slot-1 board and both are detected properly. So, I am confident that the necessary signals are present.

I can try updating the microcode in the BIOS.

I've been doing some research on POST code 4E and found this excerpt:

Program MTRR of M1 CPU; initialize L2 cache for P6 class CPU & program cacheable range; Initialize the APIC for P6 class CPU; On MP platform, adjust the cacheable range to smaller one in case the cacheable ranges between each CPU are not identical

-Brian

For some reason I cannot find the code that outputs 0x4E in your dump.
The patch I did sets the cachable range for anything older than Pentium II (CPUID(1) < 0x630) to 512MBytes which should be fine for Pentium Pro. I assume it is safe because that is what your BIOS does if the CPU does not identify itself as an Intel Genuine CPU - if it does, it would go up to 4GB if CPU tells so. Which other board were you using with those CPUs? I can try to analyze the ROM of that board to see what has been done differently.

Here are some more things that might help:
Could you boot with a single PPro and show the output of "-d 0:4f0" command in the DOS debugger (debug.exe) after loading as few drivers as possible?
Does anything change if you configure your BIOS to disable all caches on a single CPU and then add another CPU?
When the machine is stuck on POST code 0x4E is there anything on the screen? If you have a fast enough camera could you use it to get a full list of POST codes from the start of the machine?

Coming soon, will be open source. Will work with Dual Slot-1 440BX boards.