[LinuxBIOS] [Fwd: Re: Intel 440bx]

[Svante Signell]

-------- Forwarded Message --------
> From: Svante Signell <svante.signell at telia.com>
> To: linuxibios at linuxbios.org
> Cc: svante.signell at telia.com
> Subject: Re: [LinuxBIOS] Intel 440bx
> Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2006 11:34:16 +0100
> 
> I'm very interested in the development for 440BX in V2. I have a Dual
> CPU MSI-6120 with overclocked P2 Celerons. Below are some excerpts from
> emails exchanged between the list and me in January this year.  I also
> have at least 2 more boxes with the same chipset if everything works out
> OK with the Dual CPU box I would replace the BIOS in these too. BTW: How
> to backup the old BIOS to a replacement chip before starting? Is that
> supported by flashrom?
> 
> Thanks,
> Svante Signell
> 
> On Tue, 2006-11-14 at 10:32 +0100, Peter Stuge wrote:
> > On Tue, Nov 14, 2006 at 01:43:13AM -0500, Corey wrote:
> > > On Mon, 2006-11-13 at 17:45 +0100, Shaddam Corrino IV wrote:
> > > > I was looking around today and all that I could find was "certified
> > > > pre-owned" 256KiB flash ROMs for around $6 each.
> > 
> > [..]
> > 
> > > board). Did manage to find out that FrozenCPU.com carries the Bios
> > > Saviors, and I've never had a bad experience with them, I've used
> > > them several times over the years, and when you figure in shipping,
> > > they're quite a bit cheaper than direct from ioss.
> > 
> > The BIOS savior $25 is definately worthwhile. Zero risk of shorting
> > the mainboard out while hotswapping flash chips then.
> > 
> > 
> > //Peter
> > 
> ==================================================
> Hello,
> 
> I have been communicating with the Linuxbios mailing list on and off
> (mostly off lately). I'm interested to try out the linuxBIOS on my old
> dual CPU board MSI-6120. The current MSI/AMI BIOS V2.0 does not support
> newer CPUs than Coppermine.
> 
> Currently I have two old PII processors (Mendocino) installed and would
> like to upgrade to one Celeron 2 or dual PIIIs (Tualatin) using one or
> two "Upgradeware SLOT-T" slot 1 to socket 370 adapters. A 1.3GHz Celeron
> 2 boots with this new CPU but runs _extremely_ slow, at around 8MHz
> compared to expected 1.3GHz. This has been reported before in the thread
> 'Level 2 cache activation code' in late 2003.
> 
> Where can I purchase a replacement BIOS chip? Placed in a socket on the
> main board is a 2x16 pin DIL labeled: 686 AMI BIOS 1995 CS 92222. 
> 
> lspci shows:
> 0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corp. 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX Host
> bridge (rev 03)
> 0000:00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX AGP
> bridge (rev 03)
> 0000:00:07.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ISA (rev 02)
> 0000:00:07.1 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE (rev 01)
> 0000:00:07.2 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 USB (rev
> 01)
> 0000:00:07.3 Bridge: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI (rev 02)
> 0000:00:0f.0 Ethernet controller: 3Com Corporation 3c905B 100BaseTX
> [Cyclone] (rev 30)
> 0000:00:10.0 Multimedia audio controller: Creative Labs SB Live! EMU10k1
> (rev 05)
> 0000:00:10.1 Input device controller: Creative Labs SB Live! MIDI/Game
> Port (rev 05)
> 0000:01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Matrox Graphics, Inc. MGA G400
> AGP (rev 04)
> 
> =======================================================
> On Wed, 2005-01-12 at 18:12 +0100, Peter Stuge wrote:
> > On Wed, Jan 12, 2005 at 10:38:57AM +0100, Svante Signell wrote:
> > > Where can I purchase a replacement BIOS chip? Placed in a socket on
> > > the main board is a 2x16 pin DIL labeled: 686 AMI BIOS 1995 CS
> > > 92222.
> > 
> > Please remove the shiny sticker and check how the actual package is
> > marked. You're looking for thin letters and numbers "engraved" on
> > top of the black plastic. Look for 29F020 or something similar.
> 
> I found the BIOS chip brand and version: Its a Winbond W29C020-90
> (84400M282325601VA). Any suppliers available somehere?
> Is it large enough to host LinuxBIOS?
> 
> My dual-CPU MSI-6120 MOBO has on-board dual channel Adaptec 7895 SCSI
> support. Does V1 support this? What about the FSB settings avalaible in
> the MSI/AMI BIOS v2.0: 100MHz, 103MHz, 112MHz, 133MHz?
> It would be nice to run the board at 133MHz, eqipped with an 1.4GHz
> Tualatin Celeron 2 or dual PIIIs. (Or VIA C3 1.0-1.4GHz, currently
> single CPU, and hopefully soon dual CPU)
> 
> ===========================================================
> On Thu, 2005-01-13 at 16:23 -0600, Richard Smith wrote:
> ...
> > > 
> > > no idea on the FSB settings -- I think linuxbios always goes with
> the
> > > fastest :-)
> > 
> > The FSB is set via the clock chip.  The clock chip we have is set via
> > straps.  I'm not sure what your commercial bios is doing but the 440bx
> > is not rated for over 100Mhz.  So those other settings are
> > overclockings.  And they will change the speed of your PCI bus as
> > well.
> 
> I know about the 100MHz rating for 440BX. However, on the board you can
> select 66/100 MHz FSB and the BIOS supports the higher FSB speeds. Also
> the board has multiplier settings (3-5) x (66,100) MHz = 200-500 MHz for
> CPUs with changable clock multipliers. The board runs today with dual
> Celeron (Mendocino, 300MHz, before Intel disabled dual on Celerons) at
> 103/66*300MHz = 466MHz stably for many years now.
>  
> BTW: The memories I have installed are all PC133 parts.
> 
> > I suspect your board has a small microcontroller on it with eeprom
> > that sets the strap settings on boot and then de-asserts reset.  That
> > or it boots in 66Mhz and then sets the clock chip after that.
> > 
> > Anybody know what clock chip is on that board?
> 
> Where to look for that chip?
> 
> The board also has a system manager jumper: Selectable between the
> SuperIO chip (default) vs. the PIIX4E (southbridge). Wht is the meaning
> of this choice?
> 
> I have the board description in pdf-format available if someone is
> interested.
> 
-- 
Svante Signell <svante.signell at telia.com>