ATA Security eXtension BIOS v2.11

Only for programmers and BIOS gurus with technical questions.
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mcvd
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Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2007 5:44 pm

I just found an interesting utility called ATA Security eXtension BIOS v2.11. Maybe someone else finds this interesting as well.

On the website http://www.fitzenreiter.de/ata/ata_eng.htm it says:

The ATASX BIOS ROM provides the "ATA Security Mode Feature Set" which
most modern SATA, ATA/IDE hard disks (HDDs) support but the most PC BIOS do not.

While booting ATASX can
+ unlock already locked HDDs with the correct user password
(automatic and manual entering)
+ also freezes the SATA, ATA security functions on unlocked ATA HDDs.

Requirements:
=============
+ You need a 386 processor or higher
+ a vga video adapter
+ a network card or
+ a module based BIOS
(Really old mainboards have a BIOS which consists of one compiled code.)

Many network cards have an E/EEPROM socket with an attached E/EEPROM.
So, the ATASX BIOS can be used as a Etherboot/Network BOOTROM replacement.
Tested on 3Com Etherlink ISA and Realtek 8029 PCI.

Also including it into a mainboard BIOS is possible.
Tested on Medion Titanium 8000 and ASUS A7N8X-E.

If the ATASX BIOS detects a PCI BIOS, it scans the PCI Bus for IDE-Controller.
Is there no PCI BIOS present then only the legacy ports will be used.
(Primary: 1F0H and Secondary: 170H)


There are different releases of ATASX included:
All versions support the features at boot (... see listed above).
Some has an internal setup to change the ATASX settings of the harddisks.


\ATASX The standard version with colors and setup

\BlackWhite\ATASX A smaller version whithout colors

\NoSetup\ATASX Smallest version is without Setup. You have to configure
this with the included DOS-Setup. In some cases this
is the suggested version because the user can't change
the ATA Security settings.
maman
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Joined: Sun Mar 31, 2002 2:08 pm
Location: Taka Bonerate National Park, Indonesia
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IIRC, the author of the program used to post in this forum during the development of ATASX BIOS ROM version 1 :D
ethercore
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Joined: Sun Jan 11, 2009 1:51 pm

Hi friends! I'm new here - I hope someone is willing to try and help me with something.

I have an Intel motherboard with a 82562V-2 10/100 Network Connection (integrated NIC). I'd like to get the above ATASX flashed onto its EEPROM, but am unsure how to go about it. I believe I need to find a proper flashing utility, but have not yet found one from the manufacturer, which I assume would be the safest way to go. I'm unsure whether the EEPROM is part of the system BIOS memory, or separated. I don't want to risk messing with the main BIOS as I am not experienced enough to fix it.

Is this worth trying since I need ATASX on my system, or should I buy a cheap PCIe NIC (I have a PCIe slot available) which has Wake On LAN support, which from what I read means it is bootable and will take ATASX?

Thank you!
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