New P-III 500 on MB not recognized

[jorams]

I have a "new" P-III 500 MHz on my oldest PC (up from PII 350Mhz), MB=Superpower SP-P2BXA and it recognizes the 500MHz, but lists it as PII+MMX 500MHz. I tried flashing Award bios to P2BXA_B6 from P2BXA_B3, but it is not recognized, no change in BIOS (on startup reads P2BXA ver B3) or otherwise it does not work! Any recommendations, short of throwing it out a window, are greatly appreciated.

As an aside, I installed a 256MB Centon PC133ONLY chip ($27), but it is a 100MHz system and only recognized 128MB. Still, the PC100 128MB chip was $29, so no BIG pain there. Any way I can get all of it recognized?

[NickS]

I guess that's an Intel BX based board. Take a look at this FAQ:
http://n.ethz.ch/student/sroland/ram_bx_faq.html
to see why some 256MB modules will work and some won't.

Re: recognising the CPU correctly: Apple_rom's patcher may do that job. I'll take a look if you like.

Re: not flashing the BIOS successfully: can you describe exactly what you did, step by step , and the messages you got ?

[jorams]

NickS:
Thanks for the help with RAM. This particular one is not PC100 backwards-compatible but even CtSpd recognized it as 256MB.

Re. the BIOS: I downloaded an update from Bios-Drivers.com with the name SP-P2BXA.BIN (ZIP) and followed the instructions: Make bootable floppy, copy AWDFLASH and .BIN file to floopy, re-booted from floppy, ran AWDFLASH.EXE flash with file name P2BXA_B6.BIN, made backup of P2BXA_B3, SUPPOSEDLY successfully flashed P2BXA_B6.BIN and re-booted from HD. Then ran CMOS setup to load default choices. In the end-no change. Your comments are appreciated.

[NickS]

So you ran awdflash from the DOS prompt, manually, entering the filenames when prompted, rather than
awdflash P2BXA_B6.BIN /py /sn /cc /cd /cp
and it ran through showing the blocks being programmed ok ?

ctspd will read the spd (Serial Presence Detect) chip, a little 8-pin serial EEPROM chip on the DIMM, and provide that data. Unfortunately, that does not mean that the chipset will then be able to drive the RAM chips on the DIMM!

[jorams]

Yep. After I tried the file P2BXA_B6.Bin, which ran w/out changes to B3 version or at least didn't recognize the new processor, I ran a second file BXA_B7.BIN and it DID tell me that it was not for my motherboard. I flashed it anyway. Now, I'm looking for a way to restore the previous B3 version from backup. Luckily, I backed-up the previous BIOS to backup.bin file on floppy. By the way, I'm writing this from my laptop, since as you probably know, PC no longer boots-up.

You're right. No change on the memory recognition. Still, 128MBPC100 chip was more expensive than 256MB PC133ONLY so I guess if I ever upgrade motherboard, and now seems like as good a time as any, I can always use it later.

MoBo is Superpower SP-P2BXA #2A69KSMAC, i440BX chipset SUPPOSED to recognize P-III processor. If you have any other suggestions once I get the old BIOS version running, I will give it a try. As widely posted in this website, ONLY THOSE WHO DO NOTHING, MAKE NO MISTAKES. Another learning opportunity... I REALLY appreciate your help, NickS

[NickS]

Where did you find those BIOS files ? The only one I can find widely available is the 256 KByte BIOS C4 which should produce
08/06/1999-i440BX-W977TF-2A69KSMCC-00 in the bottom left of the memory count screen,
P2BXA VER:C.4 in the top left under the Award logo. And from what you said, it may not suit your board. Would you like to zip and email your saved BIOS ?
[edit]Ah, they're listed under "BXA" rather than "P2BXA". So if you managed to flash the B6 successfully it should have shown you
05/11/1999-i440BX-W977TF-2A69KSMAC-00 and
P2BXA VER:B.6

The other thing is, did you use the /cc /cd /cp switch and/or clear CMOS after booting ? if the BIOS has changed substantially the internal usage of extended CMOS may have changed, causing boot failure - it's happened to me and others.

[jorams]

Right! But the first file (B.6) still showed B.3 after clearing CMOS and reboot. That's when I tried BXA.B7 and succesfully fried the BIOS. Just got back from two computer repair shops and both want to sell me a new MoBo. I'm going to try and find another PC to hotflash. I'll e-mail you the files.

[Rainbow]

The B7 is 256KB BIOS and will obviously not fit in the 128KB chip...

[jorams]

I realized it was a 256 Kb file afterwards, even though AWDFLASH told me it was not for my hardware--my mistake. I've already ordered a chip form Badflash since I can't find a place to do a hotflash and the computer repair shops in the neighborhood would rather sell me a new MoBo. Thanks for all the help, guys. It is appreciated.

[NickS]

For the record, the B3 BIOS shows:
08/04/1998-i440BX-W977TF-2A69KSMAC-00
SP-P2BXA VER:B.3