BIOS update for Biostar M6TFX motherboard

Recommended by Wim's BIOS...

I have a Biostar M6TFX version 1.2 motherboard and I need a BIOS update. I tried getting the bios update from Biostar's web site, but I couldn't find it there or on the internet. I'm trying to upgrade my Pentium II 300MHz processor to a Celeron 766MHz (using a slot 1 to socket 370 adapter), but the computer won't work until I update the BIOS (black screen). I've included all my system details below.

BIOS Info
--------------
Motherboard OEM : Biostar Microtech Corp.
BIOS Version : 07/15/95(C)1996 American Megatrends Inc.,All Rights Reserved
BIOS Date : 07/15/95
Motherboard ID : M6TFX0909B
BIOS ID : 61-0908-001223-00111111-071595-I440FX-002_09_CHIPSET-5
BIOS Size : 128 kB
Processor : Pentium II
Chipset ID : Intel Natoma 440FX rev 2
BIOS Revision : 0908
BIOS Chip type : DIP 32-Pin
BIOS Chip ID : MX C9734 28F1000PPC-12C4 M30878

[cp]

did you check your SLOT1->S370 adapter for fcpga-ii compatibility?

Yes, its FC-PGA2 compatible.

[Denniss]

I really doubt a new bios will correctly detect your Coppermine Celeron. Another issue might be the voltage, you may have to jumper your Adapter to 1,8V VCore to have it boot.
Most of these old boards have 1,8V as minimum VCore, some of the very first generation Slot-1 boards might even have 2,0V.

[cp]

does the adapter have a voltage regulator? if not please take a multimeter and measure the voltage on PWRGOOD. report back with the result.

Yes, the adapter has both FSB and voltage settings. I set the voltage to 1.7v and the FSB speed to 66MHz before I tried to install it. I even tried clearing the CMOS but no luck. My motherboard does have voltage settings which I will list below..

http://www.upgradeware.com/english/prod ... /slott.htm
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/2/21/804535/m6tfx.txt

[Denniss]

Try jumpering the adapter to 1.8V, using 2.0V may be risky (CPU overheating) but computer may boot with this.

I've jumped it to 2.0V but no boot. I'm going to call Biostar tomorrow ask if they have BIOS update for my motherboard. This is starting to look futile...

[cp]

i wasn't asking for vcore jumpers..i wanted to know if there's a device that generates the appropriate voltage for PWRGOOD. on many old boards the pin is fed by vcore. and if the slot1-adapter just feeds the voltage to the fcpga cpu, the cpu wouldn't start because it sits there waiting for the PWRGOOD signal to go high. while there was no problem with that on 2.8v pentium ii cpus it will hit you hard using a 1.7v device.

I don't know how to check the PWRGOOD voltage on the adapter, if you can explain to me how to do it, I can send you the results.

Anyway, I got an email back from upgradeware.com, here's what they had to say:

Hi

Thank you for your email.

440FX is the 1st generation chipset of Pentium Pro/II, the VRM doesn’t support CPU voltage lower than 1.8V
And its BIOS only support PII. Both the hardware and BIOS are the issues for performing upgrade.



Best regards
Tech Support

[cp]

PWRGOOD is pin AK26 on S370 and A12 on Slot1. Measure the voltage against Vss with processor plugged in and system powered up.
http://www.hardware-bastelkiste.de/inde ... u_686.html

Sorry for the delay cp but something came up...

cp wrote:

PWRGOOD is pin AK26 on S370 and A12 on Slot1. Measure the voltage against Vss with processor plugged in and system powered up.
http://www.hardware-bastelkiste.de/inde ... u_686.html

I've tested the PWRGOOD pin against the VSS but my multimeter isn't detecting anything voltage. Was there a specific VSS pin I had to test the PWRGOOD with? I used VSS pin AK36..

http://www.hardware-bastelkiste.de/pict ... ga_cel.gif

[cp]

from the celeron datasheet:

"The PWRGOOD (Power Good) signal is a 2.5 V tolerant processor input. The
processor requires this signal to be a clean indication that the clocks and power supplies (VCCCORE, etc.) are stable and within their specifications."

the signal will be supplied to the processor by the mainboard (voltage regulation circuit to be exact).

can you please check the voltage on Vcc2.5 (Z36) and Vcc1.5 (AD36).

[cp]

oh, btw. the above pinout is NOT the pinside view. please use this:
http://download.intel.com/design/celero ... 365820.pdf
and refer to page 97 for the pinside view.
you can only measure the signal while the system is running AND a cpu is in the slot.

Did you wanted me to test AD36 and Z36 against PWRGOOD(AK36)?