I'm trying to dump the old AWARD 4.50 Type BIOS on my 386 mainboard to see if I can patch it for "int-13" support to allow larger IDE drives to work...
Problem is that it's SO OLD that I can't seem to find a flash program to dump it with!
UNIFlash is USELESS as it uses PCI bus...
Already tried an old version of AWDFLASH (v5.35A) but that tells me to update the BIOS to a newer version...
Here is what BIOS Wizard reports the BIOS to be:
BIOS Manufacturer: Award Modular BIOS v4.50
BIOS ID: 02/26/93-SARC_RC2016A-219v0000
BIOS Date: 04/30/90
BIOS OEM Signon: SNB-M019 MINI 386SX BIOS Version 2.1
BIOS ROM Size: Unknown
Chipset: PCI BIOS is not installed
Super I/O Chip: Known super I/O chip is not found
[LOL! The BIOS Date is older than the ACTUAL BIOS Date of 02/26/93...OMG!]
Anyone got any ideas WTF I can dump the thing with in terms of flashing programs for DOS?
(sorry, I don't own an EEPROM programmer)
An older version of AWDFLASH maybe, but WHERE to download it from?
==EDIT==
Found this program in an OLD post over at WiMs BIOS forums:
www.linuks.mine.nu/ree/If you're using Windoze...
1) Download the .BZ2 file
2) Rename the Extension to .TAR.BZ2
3) Extract with WinRAR
4) Create a new archive of the files with your favourite archiver for a backup
I'll report back when I've tested it to see what I can get (or maybe "not get"...)
==EDIT #2==
HOLY F@@k IT WORKS!
(well maybe, it dumps a 64K BIOS - not sure if it's the whole thing, I'll check the flash-chip type and see if it matches)
Also bizzarely it lets you dump the GFX card ROM too - anyone want a ROM image of a 2MB ATI Mach ISA board...
LOL!
Anyhow, on to the "interesting" part...
Opened up the SNB-M019 MINI 386SX Mainboard BIOS in a HEX editor and found...ALL THE CPUs it supports...and it's a LOT!
Check this out...
80386SX/80387SX*
80386SL/80387SL*
80386DX/80387DX*
Cx486SLC/387SX*
Cx486DLC/387SX*
IBM386SLC/387SX*
IBM486SLC2/387SX*
80486SX/80487SX (independant)
80486SX2
80486DX
80486DX2
P24T
Unknown
[Note *= with or without math co-processor]
Anyone notice the SECOND LAST CPU before the CPU Table ends at "Unknown" for processors it does not know...
...it's a PENTIUM OVERDRIVE!!!
The first 2 chips on THIS page:
www.cpu-collection.de/?l0=co&l1=Intel&l2=Pentium%20OverDrive...it's just a shame that the board doesn't have the socket to support them - WHOA! That would have been SMOKIN'
Could you imagine...
386SX 40MHz -> Pentium Overdrive 83MHz
WHEEEEE!
And looky what I found on eBay too...
cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=6884164903&rd=1&rd=1The 83MHz Pentium Overdrive model...
...I wonder... . . .
==EDIT #3==
Yeah I know...REEEEALY long post...LOL!
Anyhow, checked the BIOS chip...no idea what type it is as there is a sticker over it (don't wanna peel the thing in case it's an EEPROM and I hose the BIOS...)
The sticker says...
386SX Award Software Inc.
s002304
(C) 1984, 1992
All Rights Reserved
As for the P24T support, I'm probably barking up a very oddly shaped and completely wrong type of 'tree'...
Would have been awesome if my board had the necessary overdrive socket though!
@tom - you should try REE.EXE on your 386SX and see what CPU types it supports in the BIOS (would be cool to find out what MIGHT have been, had your board supported them in hardware...)