Board:asus/a8n e
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This HOWTO explains how to use LinuxBIOS on the ASUS A8N-E board.
Status
Device/functionality | Status | Comments | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CPU | ||||||||
CPU works | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK | Tested: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3000+. | ||||||
L1 cache enabled | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK | CPU: L1 I Cache: 64K (64 bytes/line), D cache 64K (64 bytes/line) | ||||||
L2 cache enabled | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK | CPU: L2 Cache: 512K (64 bytes/line) | ||||||
L3 cache enabled | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
Multiple CPU support | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
Multi-core support | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested | |||||||
Hardware virtualization | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
RAM | ||||||||
EDO | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
SDRAM | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
SO-DIMM | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
DDR | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK | Tested with one DIMM in slot DIMM_B1 (see manual). | ||||||
DDR2 | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
DDR3 | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
Dual channel support | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested | |||||||
ECC support | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested | The board supports ECC according to the manual. | ||||||
On-board Hardware | ||||||||
On-board IDE 3.5" | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK | Tested: Primary IDE (master and slave) and secondary IDE (master and slave). | ||||||
On-board IDE 2.5" | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
On-board SATA | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | WIP | Port 3 (hde in FILO) and 4 (hdg in FILO) on the board work fine. Port 1 and 2 don't seem to work, this is being investigated. | ||||||
On-board SCSI | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Unknown | |||||||
On-board USB | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK | Tested: USB keyboard (on each of the 10 possible USB ports). | ||||||
On-board VGA | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
On-board Ethernet | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK | |||||||
On-board Audio | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested | |||||||
On-board Modem | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
On-board FireWire | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
On-board Smartcard reader | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
On-board CompactFlash | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
On-board PCMCIA | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
On-board Wifi | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
On-board Bluetooth | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
On-board SD card reader | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
Add-on slots/cards | ||||||||
ISA add-on cards | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
Audio/Modem-Riser (AMR/CNR) cards | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
PCI add-on cards | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK | Tested: PCI VGA card in all three PCI slots. | ||||||
Mini-PCI add-on cards | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Unknown | |||||||
Mini-PCI-Express add-on cards | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Unknown | |||||||
PCI-X add-on cards | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Unknown | |||||||
AGP graphics cards | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
PCI Express x1 add-on cards | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested | |||||||
PCI Express x2 add-on cards | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
PCI Express x4 add-on cards | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested | |||||||
PCI Express x8 add-on cards | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
PCI Express x16 add-on cards | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested | |||||||
PCI Express x32 add-on cards | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
HTX add-on cards | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
Legacy / Super I/O | ||||||||
Floppy | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested | |||||||
Serial port 1 (COM1) | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK | |||||||
Serial port 2 (COM2) | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
Parallel port | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK | Tested: modprobe ppdev, further tests were not performed. | ||||||
PS/2 keyboard | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | WIP | Doesn't seem to work yet, this is being investigated. | ||||||
PS/2 mouse | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | WIP | Doesn't seem to work yet, this is being investigated. | ||||||
Game port | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested | |||||||
Infrared | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
PC speaker | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK | |||||||
DiskOnChip | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
Input | ||||||||
Trackpoint | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
Touchpad | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
Fn Hotkeys | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
Fingerprint Reader | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
Laptop | ||||||||
Docking VGA | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
Docking LAN | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
Docking USB | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
Docking Audio | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
Docking Displayport | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
Thinklight | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
Webcam | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
Miscellaneous | ||||||||
Sensors / fan control | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK | Tested: sensors reports K8 core temp. (kernel module k8temp) and various other values from the IT8712F Super I/O (kernel module it87). | ||||||
Hardware watchdog | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
SMBus | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Unknown | |||||||
CAN bus | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
CPU frequency scaling | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | No | Needs (at least partial) ACPI support. | ||||||
Other powersaving features | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
ACPI | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | No | There's no ACPI implementation for this board. | ||||||
Reboot | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK | |||||||
Poweroff | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | No | |||||||
Suspend | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Unknown | |||||||
Nonstandard LEDs | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK | There's a green LED on the board which is enabled when the board is powered-on. Works out of the box, no special LinuxBIOS support required. | ||||||
High precision event timers (HPET) | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested | Doesn't seem to be enabled right now, but the hardware seems to support it. | ||||||
Random number generator (RNG) | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | |||||||
Wake on modem ring | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested | |||||||
Wake on LAN | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A | The on-board ethernet device doesn't seem to support WOL (also not mentioned in the manual). | ||||||
Wake on keyboard | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested | |||||||
Wake on mouse | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested | |||||||
TPM | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Unknown | |||||||
Flashrom | OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK | Works fine when booted with BIOS and also with LinuxBIOS. |
Before you begin
The ASUS A8N-E is an Athlon64 Socket 939 board (nforce 4 ultra) with socketed BIOS sold around 120 (mostly out of stock in 8/2007; used items at eBay ~ 20-35). It already boots LinuxBIOS. Latest legacy BIOS is from May 2006 v.1013. Socket 939 Athlons do not have Pacifica Virtualization.
The ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe, an "nforce 4 sli" board probably shares the same PCB design with more solder pads populated (please confirm), and is also out of stock mostly.
The ASUS A8NE-FM/S has initial support in the form of a patch.
Hot plugging a BIOS chip was successfully done (pull out chip with glued-on handle while running Linux), so you don't necessarily need an external EPROM programmer, just a spare working 49LF004 chip. 8 MBit SST 49LF080A was also successfully flashed and booted with legacy BIOS (two images concatenated). The PLCC32 BIOS chip is of type SST 49LF004B of which you need a spare programmed piece. You might reflash an empty or used one plugged into your A8N.
The revisions 3000 and up work, but don't expect anything to see on the POST card. The serial Terminal with 115000 8n1 will show whether LB manages with your RAM and all.
Known issues
- Currently PS/2 keyboards do not work, but USB keyboards do.
- Single DIMM support only.
- The MAC address is stored in flash for almost all CK804/MCP55 boards. All of these boards flashed with LB probably have the same MAC address. See src/southbridge/nvidia/ck804/romstrap.inc and src/southbridge/nvidia/mcp55/romstrap.inc for details. On some of these boards, the MAC address is stored in a separate EEPROM, but you can't count on that.
TODO
If you can help out with this, please join the mailing list and let us know!
This work is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or any later version. This work is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. |