[1303] in linux-scsi channel archive
Re: Symbios Logic/NCR 8250S in Giga-Byte GA-486AM mainboard.
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Dirk Foersterling)
Fri Jan 24 04:09:48 1997
Date: Fri, 24 Jan 1997 10:02:23 +0100
From: dirk@informatik.uni-frankfurt.de (Dirk Foersterling)
To: linux-scsi@vger.rutgers.edu (Linux SCSI list)
Cc: tech-gbt@giga-byte.com, support@symbios.com
In-Reply-To: <Pine.LNX.3.91.970124003446.213A-100000@localhost>; from Gerard Roudier on Jan 24, 1997 00:56:08 +0000
HINT: To view the solution only, go to the end of this message.
On Jan 24 1997, Gerard Roudier wrote:
>
> On Thu, 23 Jan 1997, Technical Support Staff wrote:
>
> > The NCR BIOS ususlly is not activited unless there is a NCR SCSI card plug
> > in the slot. A well design card should be able to stop the NCR BIOS blok on
> > the motherboards BIOS being load up. Since block address in a default address.
>
> 1. A well designed mother board should allow users to disable the NCR BIOS
> from the setup.
>
I second this. In my opinion, Symbios is _not_ at fault.
> 2. A serious mother board manufacturer should be able to provide
> custumers up-to-date set-up and bioses.
Oooh. Don't produce too much headache. The SCSI-BIOS thingy is bad, but
generally, the mainboard is very flexible (Joke: It is made of rubber?)
and robust. It's the first mainboard I've seen so far that handled all
486 processors from my first 486-40 up to the AMD 5x85 I'm using now.
The mainboard allowed the weirdest memory-configurations (1 60ns PS/2 SIMM
and a 70ns PS/2 SIMM in one bank, and 4 80ns SIMMS in a PS/2 SIMM
adapter in another bank) without going nuts. The PC based on this board
ran reliably with 40MHz PCI bus speed. It ran (and runs) 24hrs/day since
1994 without any hang (in Linux, of course. With Windows and DOS I
definitely _have_ hangs).
> The order of BIOS is decided by the setup and in my opinion, a well
> designed setup should know what BIOSES it provides.
> So, it should be able to detect that a board have a more recent
> NCR BIOS and call it rather than its older one.
Right.
The solution until now:
Some friendly Giga-Byte user told me how to patch the BIOS file
4am1107.bin. I did this, started the flash utility and crossed fingers.
After reboot, the Symbios Hostadapter BIOS Ver. 4.0 (NCRPCI 4.03.00, so
I lied about 4.01.00....) told me it's up and running.
So my problem has gone for now. If somebody wants to know the exact
solution: Write a mail.
-dirk
--
D i r k F "o r s t e r l i n g
dirk@informatik.uni-frankfurt.de http://www.uni-frankfurt.de/~dirk
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"In future, there may exist computers with a weight less than 1.5 tons"
(Popular Mechanics, 1949)
