Adding microcode to HP Netserver Phoenix 4.06 BIOS

Steve Shockley · Sun May 01, 2005 4:24 am

I've got an HP Netserver LH 3, current BIOS is at ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softlib/software1/ ... ios_us.exe (self-extracting zip, there's a floppy image inside). I've found that by changing the VRM and CPU, I can install faster CPUs in the machine, but it complains that it doesn't recognize the processor at boot. I'm trying to extract the BIOS so I can try to hack in support for newer CPUs, but I'm having problems.

When I try with phoedeco, I get:

Code: Select all

PHOEDECO * V.K. * 1998.04.02..2003.11.02
lh3bios.us
Position packed   C  unpacked type         target      filename
-------- -------- -- -------- ------------ -------- -- ------------
000FF3CD 00000C08 02 00006DBA DISPLAY      00000000 -> r00FF3CD.DEC
000FDC07 000017AB 02 00002958 User.2       00000000 -> r00FDC07.DEC
000FC40C 000017E0 02 000026B0 Suspend      00000000 -> r00FC40C.DEC
000F9BE4 0000280D 02 00005321 Strings      00000000 -> r00F9BE4.DEC
000F7ACB 000020FE 02 00008536 B            000F7ACA -> 000F7ACA.DEC
000F0055 00007A5A 00 00007A5A X            000F0070 => 000F0070.DEC
000ECE64 000031D6 02 00009129 User         00000000 -> r00ECE64.DEC
000E9B4F 000032FA 02 00007750 T            00000000 -> r00E9B4F.DEC
000E6324 00003810 00 00003810 CPU          00000000 => r00E6324.DEC
000E290C 000039FD 02 000088D0 Editor       00000000 -> r00E290C.DEC
000E01E5 00000CA0 00 00000CA0 X.2          00000000 => r00E01E5.DEC
000FB0B5 2DBBAEC6 54 17B49E96 ¶.23         BF1C348B ?Please contact author !
Found a error in modules chain list !

It extracts some files, but nowhere near 512k, so I'm guessing it wouldn't recompile into a working BIOS.

When I try with PhoenixDeco, I get:

Code: Select all

♦-=PhoenixDeco, version 0.31 (DOS)=-♦

Filelength      : 80000 (524288 bytes)
Filename        : lh3bios.us
PhoenixBIOS hook found at       : 77114
System Information at           : 77175
BootBlock       : 10000 bytes
BankSize        : 128 KB
Version         : DEVEL14J
Start           : 7F3CD
Offset          : 70000
BCP Modules     : 22
BCPFCP          : 7FF00
FCP 1st module  : FFFF (7FFFF)
Released        : 01 May 2000 at 16:01:20
/* Copyrighted Information */
        PhoenixBIOS 4.06.43 PL
/* ----------------------- */

================================== MODULE MAP =================================
Class Code
. Instance
. .
C I    LEVEL      START       END     LENGTH  RATIO   LINK TO   FILEOFFSET
----   -----    ---------  ---------  ------  -----  ---------  ----------
D  0   LZARI    FFF7 F3CD  FFFF FFEF    C08     10%  FFFF DC07    7F3CDh
U  1   LZARI    FFF7 DC07  FFFF F3CC   17AB     57%  FFFF C40C    7DC07h
M  0   LZARI    FFF7 C40C  FFFF DC06   17E0     61%  FFFF 9BE4    7C40Ch
S  0   LZARI    FFF7 9BE4  FFFF C40B   280D     48%  FFFF 7ACB    79BE4h
B  0   LZARI    FFF7 7ACB  FFFF 9BE3   20FE     24%  FFFF 0055    77ACBh
X  0    NONE    FFF7 0055  FFFF 7AC9   7A5A    100%  FFFE CE64    70055h
U  0   LZARI    FFF6 CE64  FFFF 0054   31D6     34%  FFFE 9B4F    6CE64h
T  0   LZARI    FFF6 9B4F  FFFE CE63   32FA     42%  FFFE 6324    69B4Fh
C  0    NONE    FFF6 6324  FFFE 9B4E   3810    100%  FFFE 290C    66324h
E  0   LZARI    FFF6 290C  FFFE 6323   39FD     42%  FFFE 01E5    6290Ch
X  1    NONE    FFF6 01E5  FFFE 0E9F    CA0    100%  FFFF B0B5    601E5h
¶  16   RSRV!    FFF7 B0B5  2DBB 5F95  2DBBAEC6      9%  4263 8A27    7B0B5h
Total Sections: 13

but when I try to extract, I get:

Code: Select all

♦-=PhoenixDeco, version 0.31 (DOS)=-♦

Filelength      : 80000 (524288 bytes)
Filename        : lh3bios.us
PhoenixBIOS hook found at       : 77114
System Information at           : 77175
BootBlock       : 10000 bytes
BankSize        : 128 KB
Version         : DEVEL14J
Start           : 7F3CD
Offset          : 70000
BCP Modules     : 22
BCPFCP          : 7FF00
FCP 1st module  : FFFF (7FFFF)
Released        : 01 May 2000 at 16:01:20
/* Copyrighted Information */
        PhoenixBIOS 4.06.43 PL
/* ----------------------- */

BootBlock ... O'k
D.0 DISPLAY0.rom ... O'k
Total Sections: 1

Any ideas? I'd love to be able to upgrade this box.

Krobar · Mon May 09, 2005 9:33 am

Im afraid Im unsure about the microcode but it may be worth checking if Tyan or Asus have a suprisingly similar looking MB, HP usually buy OEM from these guys and you can often simply flash the equivilent retail bios on top. Ive no idea what the LH3 MB looks like though so you'll have to take a look yourself.

Steve Shockley · Thu Jul 07, 2005 5:42 am

Thanks for the reply. I discovered recently that the Netserver LH3 mainboard is the same as the Netserver LPR, except the LPR was available with P3-800s and BIOS to match. I've tried to flash the LPR BIOS on the LH3, but it complains that it's the wrong system. Is there a way to force the Phoenix phlash utility to write the "wrong" BIOS?

(I'm not that worried about killing the board, since I can ebay another one for around $25, and then it has the right BIOS...)

jonferguson · Mon Oct 31, 2005 8:08 am

I am trying to do the same thing with a Netserver E60. I have successfully extracted the bios with phoedeco, but I am not sure where to go from here. Most examples deal with ami or award bioses.