[LinuxBIOS] GA-6BXC support

[Richard Smith]

>
> I have ordered a replacement BIOS. I hope that's the only part that
> died and the rest of the board is ok.

You should be ok.  Typically that just frys the part thats in
backwards.  Do you have access to a oscope?  If so then watch the chip
select line in the bios socket  you should see several transitions
(typically 8) when you hit reset.  If you get those then your
motherboard is probably still ok.

> > There are lots of 440bx boards out there. I just don't have the time.
> > I'll send you the patches if you want to play with them.
>
> Yes, please do. It'll probably take a while until I get v1, then v2,
> working, though.

I'll update my framework to the latest SVN rev and push it up this weekend.

Don't spend too much time on V1.  Its a deadend street.  Once we fix
the SPD data issue from the RAM with what I already have the rest of
V2 should knock out really quickly.

Sweet.  I'm stoked that someone is going to work on this.

> I have a W49F002U and a AM-29F040B chip to work with. Both seem to be
> supported, and both are rewritable (so I can flash them multiple times),
> correct?

Correct.  You can re-flash them many times.  I've yet to exhaust a
flash parts erase-write cycles under even heavy development work.  You
have to have some really repetitive program hitting it over and over
to reach that >100k cycle number.

What size part was in the mainboard to begin with?  A 2Mbit or 4Mbit
part?   If its a 2Mbit part the you can use a 4Mbit part but you may
need to duplicate the data in the upper 256k of the part since you
don't really know if the extra address line at the socked is grounded
or floating.  If it was a 4Mbit part then you should be able to use a
2Mbit part as long as you have the size correct (2Mbit) in the config
file.

One thing you do need to pay attention to is the speed of the parts
you are using.  I know for a fact that 90nS or faster should work.
However there has been at least one report on the list where some one
had what looked (based on datasheet) like a compatible replacement but
did not work.  I don't remember what platform it was on.

I've personaly used loads of both ST and AM 90nS 29F040B's with the
Bitworks/IMS board so I'm quite sure the 440BX works fine with both of
those mfgs.

-- 
Richard A. Smith