Unknown BIOS Error \ VOGONS

Unknown BIOS Error

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First post, by RetroPCCupboard

Posted on 2025-01-11, 08:05

RetroPCCupboard Offline

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Hi,

Had anybody ever seen a BIOS return an unknown error before? Not sure what happened.

The attachment 20250111_074357.jpg is no longer available

The board was working. I swapped the GTX 285 GPU for a GTX 970 and it came up with this error.
Swapped the 285 GPU back and the issue remains. I tried putting an ATI X850 XT PE in, and the same issue. Tried a PCI Geforce 6200. Same issue.

The motherboard is a socket 771 with G41 chipset. A generic Chinese board rather than known brand.

The GTX 970 works fine in my Socket 775 PC.

I have tried removing the soundblaster live. No difference.

I have tried clearing the CMOS.

I have tried reducing from 2 to 1 ram modules. Tried both slots with different modules.

Any ideas?

Reply 1 of 10, by RetroPCCupboard

Posted on 2025-01-11, 08:10

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Just tried removing the GPU and used the onboard VGA port. The machine seems to start up OK like that. Though I have no drivers in XP for this onboard graphics

Reply 2 of 10, by RetroPCCupboard

Posted on 2025-01-11, 08:37

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Actually. Spoke too soon. It is doing it with onboard graphics now. No expansion cards currently installed. Has the mobo suddenly died do you think?

Reply 3 of 10, by RetroPCCupboard

Posted on 2025-01-11, 08:45

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The reported CPU temperature seems suspiciously cold.....

The attachment 20250111_081316.jpg is no longer available

Could CPU have an issue?

Reply 4 of 10, by zuldan

Posted on 2025-01-11, 09:02

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Try Reflashing the BIOS. Are you using the latest version? If you are, flash to the previous version.

Reply 5 of 10, by RetroPCCupboard

Posted on 2025-01-11, 09:13

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zuldan wrote on 2025-01-11, 09:02:

Try Reflashing the BIOS. Are you using the latest version? If you are, flash to the previous version.

It's an unknown brand motherboard. G41fB is the only thing I see that could be a model number. Are you suggesting that the BIOS got corrupted somehow? It was working OK. For months. It was my testbed for checking that purchased PCIe GPUs work....

Reply 6 of 10, by RetroPCCupboard

Posted on 2025-01-11, 11:36

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zuldan wrote on 2025-01-11, 09:02:

Try Reflashing the BIOS. Are you using the latest version? If you are, flash to the previous version.

Just realised my above response could be read as dismissive and ungrateful. It wasn't meant that way. The issue is that I don't know where I can get a BIOS from that's compatible with this board.

Also on the couple of occasions I've got into Windows after this message, the PC seems to completely lock up after a while. So I think flashing the BIOS would be a risky move given that it's unstable currently.

I'm thinking I may swap the CPU just in case there an issue with that. I can't explain why putting the GTX 970 seems to have broken it though. Maybe that's just a coincidence.

Reply 7 of 10, by PD2JK

Posted on 2025-01-11, 12:05

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Do you happen to have one of these boards? With the info given, I think you have an Esonic board.
There are some BIOS files available.

https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/?manufac … 4&cpuSocket1=16

i386 16 ⇒ i486 DX4 100 ⇒ Pentium MMX 200 ⇒ Athlon Pluto 700 ⇒ AthlonXP 1700+ ⇒ Opteron 165 ⇒ Dual Opteron 856

Reply 8 of 10, by RetroPCCupboard

Posted on 2025-01-11, 12:29

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PD2JK wrote on 2025-01-11, 12:05:

Do you happen to have one of these boards? With the info given, I think you have an Esonic board.
There are some BIOS files available.

https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/?manufac … 4&cpuSocket1=16

It doesn't look like any of those with regards to layout. Who knows if the BIOS is compatible though...

The attachment 20250111_121750.jpg is no longer available

The attachment 20250111_122005.jpg is no longer available

Please excuse the dust. This test bench is in my garage, where I also cut wood for woodworking projects.

Reply 9 of 10, by zuldan

Posted on 2025-01-11, 20:43

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Are you able to export the BIOS and post it here?

https://soggi.org/motherboards/bios-update-fl … h-utilities.htm

Reply 10 of 10, by soggi

Posted on 2025-01-11, 22:49

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zuldan wrote on 2025-01-11, 20:43:

Are you able to export the BIOS and post it here?

Can you see if the screenshot is from an AMI (U)EFI or classic BIOS? Maybe surprisingly to some of you, I don't have any experience with (U)EFI and on my BIOS utility/tools page there are only classic BIOS tools hosted.

If it is a classic BIOS, the right tools to save the BIOS are AFUBSD 3.12 / AMI AFUDOS 4.40 / AMI AFULNX 4.27 / AMI AFUWIN 4.48 / AMI AFUWINx64 4.48.

Edit:
The screenshot from inside the BIOS (temp / rpm / voltage) speaks for classic BIOS.

kind regards
soggi

Vintage BIOSes, firmware, drivers, tools, manuals and (3dfx) game patches -> soggi's BIOS & Firmware Page

soggi.org on Twitter - inactive at the moment

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