Two ROMs - but differant IRQ routing tables?

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plugh
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Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2007 11:10 pm

I want to upgrade the disk in an old FIC "sabre" (P3 i815E) system I have. It appears the BIOS doesn't support LBA48. Went to the fic site, and the only bios they show ("WD602") is what I'm currently running.

But...

In my archives, I have both the "WD602" and also a "WD603" ROM image. I have a vague recollection that I downloaded this from the *USA* FIC site - which no longer exists (www.fica.com now redirects to www.fic.com.tw).

Hmmm...

I analyzed both ROMs with AMIBCP 7.5, and the results make me think that this truly is a later version of the bios for my system EXCEPT:

-->the IRQ routing tables don't match

WD602

Code: Select all

                    INT Pin A     INT Pin B     INT Pin C     INT Pin D
   Bus#  Device#   Reg# BitMap   Reg# BitMap   Reg# BitMap   Reg# BitMap  Slot
   00h     08h     60h  DEB8h    61h  DEB8h    00h  DEB8h    00h  DEB8h   00h
   00h     10h     60h  DEB8h    00h  0000h    00h  0000h    00h  0000h   00h
   00h     F8h     FEh  4000h    61h  DEB8h    6Bh  DEB8h    63h  DEB8h   00h
   01h     18h     61h  5EF0h    62h  5EF0h    63h  5EF0h    60h  5EF0h   01h
   01h     20h     61h  5EF0h    62h  5EF0h    63h  5EF0h    60h  5EF0h   02h
   01h     28h     61h  5EF0h    62h  5EF0h    63h  5EF0h    60h  5EF0h   03h
   01h     10h     60h  5EF0h    61h  5EF0h    00h  0000h    00h  0000h   00h
   01h     40h     68h  5EF0h    00h  0000h    00h  0000h    00h  0000h   00h
WD603

Code: Select all

                    INT Pin A     INT Pin B     INT Pin C     INT Pin D
   Bus#  Device#   Reg# BitMap   Reg# BitMap   Reg# BitMap   Reg# BitMap  Slot
   00h     08h     60h  DEB8h    61h  DEB8h    00h  DEB8h    00h  DEB8h   00h
   00h     10h     60h  DEB8h    00h  0000h    00h  0000h    00h  0000h   00h
   00h     F8h     FEh  4000h    61h  DEB8h    6Bh  DEB8h    63h  DEB8h   00h
   01h     18h     61h  5EF0h    62h  5EF0h    63h  5EF0h    60h  5EF0h   01h
   01h     20h     62h  5EF0h    63h  5EF0h    60h  5EF0h    61h  5EF0h   02h
   01h     28h     63h  5EF0h    60h  5EF0h    61h  5EF0h    62h  5EF0h   03h
   01h     10h     60h  5EF0h    61h  5EF0h    00h  0000h    00h  0000h   00h
   01h     40h     68h  5EF0h    00h  0000h    00h  0000h    00h  0000h   00h
You will note that the entries for PCI slots 2 and 3 are differant.

IMO the entries for slots 2 and 3 look more correct/typical in the wd603 image than the wd602 image. Perhaps they corrected an error? I have not had any problems with PCI boards in the system - but perhaps I've just been lucky?

I'm stumped...

Just about everything else about this rom looks "right" to me - it's got the same modules (but slightly differant sizes), almost identical setups for 'hidden' and 'visible' options (most setup options hidden), almost identical 'failsafe' and 'optimal' defaults, the dates make sense (wd602=05/25/01 wd603=03/12/02), there is even an internal 'bios tag' that makes sense (WD602 rom tag = "WD6023" WD603 rom tag = "WD6026").

Since I have no readme or anything that documents these images, I'm left with two questions:

1) Is there any way to tell if "wd603.rom" has AMI's LBA48 support? (The "Int-13" modules is the same size in both ROMs - is that where the support would be?)

2) Is there any way to tell which IRQ routing table is "right"? (The system has a PCI riser card - can I meter the slot INT pins and see?)

Thanks in advance...
plugh
New visitors - please read the rules.
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2007 11:10 pm

Well I'll be...

Pulled the riser card, metered the PCI pins...

The INT lines ARE 'rotated' amongst the slots.

So it appears the Routing table in my current 'wd602' bios is not correct, and the table in the 'wd603' bios is!
cp
BIOS Guru
Posts: 1914
Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2002 9:07 pm
Location: Germany

what do you need lba48 support for? does the bios crash when you autodetect a hdd larger than 128GB?
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