keropi wrote:

Hiya! […]
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Hiya!

I've been noticing that almost all VLB I/O and storage controllers have an empty rom socket (I guess for a 27C512 64kb eprom)...
I also assume it's for an enhanced IDE bios or something? Maybe to support large drives?
Is this a per manufacturer case or you can put there something generic ? Anyone has any info on this?

Thanks in advance! 😊

The BIOS thing sounds right. It's probably like the boot ROM socket on network cards, where any option ROM will work.

If you follow the traces, they probably go directly to the ISA edge connector.

just checked with my multimeter: they do go straight to the ISA bus.... you are correct
is there anything "useful" to do with this?

You could use the XT-IDE universal BIOS. Though I'd really only recommend it if you have either a QD6500/6580, or a card that allows you to set the speed with jumpers (rather than by software)... the universal BIOS can take full advantage of the controller's capabilities on those cards. With most other controllers, it'd work, and you'd gain large hard drive support, but you'd be stuck in basic PIO0 mode, which pretty much defeats the purpose of having a VLB IDE controller in the first place.

The other option would be to find an original BIOS for your particular card, but that is likely to be rather difficult.

I see... seems that socket will remain empty for now 🤣
Thanks for the info!