60GB: 02/06/1999-i440BX-SMC60X-2A69KB0CC-00

alex124 · Thu Oct 30, 2003 10:44 pm

I have Octek Rhino II BX-SATX motherboard and need bios update to recognize 60Gb HDD. Here is bios info:

Program: eSupport.com BIOS Detect v1.2 July 21, 2003
BIOS Date: 02/06/99
BIOS Type: Award Modular BIOS v4.51PG
BIOS ID: 02/06/1999-i440BX-SMC60X-2A69KB0CC-00
OEM Sign-On: 99041 RHINO II S-ATX
Chipset: Intel 440BX/ZX rev 2
Superio: SMC 602 rev 0 found at port 3F0h
CPU Type: Pentium II
CPU Speed: 300 Mhz
CPU Max: 400 Mhz
BIOS ROM In Socket: Yes
BIOS ROM Size: 128K
Memory Installed: 128 MB
Memory Maximum: 768 MB

eSupport.com, Inc.
1-800-800-BIOS (2467)
www.esupport.com

Thu Oct 30, 2003 10:54 pm

http://mobokive.dyndns.org/Archive/Octe ... 20BX-SATX/

http://support.octek.com.au/Products/Ma ... s_0019.htm

Latest BIOS can be patched. Anyone already do it?

alex124 · Thu Oct 30, 2003 11:24 pm

I see Biostar M6TBC has similar Bios ID:

http://wims.rainbow-software.org/

Will it work if I flash it?

Fri Oct 31, 2003 12:12 am

Looks like the board is OEM of Biostar M6TBC. Check if it really looks like M6TBC:

alex124 · Fri Oct 31, 2003 10:39 am

Yes, it looks like the same. So I flashed it. Now it correctly recognizes hard drive. However, computer hangs while trying to access hard drive at about half of its size (perhaps at the same 32Gb boundary).

Fri Oct 31, 2003 12:46 pm

- does it hang during FDISK/FORMAT ?
- what OS ?
- have you used any Disk Management software ?

alex124 · Fri Oct 31, 2003 1:09 pm

I was trying to install linux. First time in Suse 8.2 I just created partitions, then while creating file system (mkfs) it hanged in the middle. Second time I was trying to install Redhat 9, checked to check for bad blocks, and it hanged in the middle of this check.
I did not use any disk management software.

Fri Oct 31, 2003 1:30 pm

Unfortunately, it's not the first time that I have heard this kind of report. We patched a BIOS for ECS P5VPA+ and the report back was "Win98SE OK, WinXP OK, Win2K won't install". I guess the cause is how the disk access is carried out, and although we can patch to remove the hang at disk size detection we do not alter the basic disk access routines.
I'm not a Linux expert, but do these versions access the disk directly or through the BIOS ? Is it possible to select which method is used ?
BTW, does the POST configuration summary show the HDD access mode as LBA ?

alex124 · Fri Oct 31, 2003 1:46 pm

I'm not sure, perhaps it's using bios during install. I may try to install linux in lower part and later create large partition. It does show LBA.
Wouldn't patched Rhino bios work better, or they just differ by oem string that they display?

Fri Oct 31, 2003 2:14 pm

I would think that if the Rhino board is simply an OEMed version of the Biostar M6TBC (with same BIOS ID), the only changes will be the OEM message and sometimes whether certain BIOS options are enabled or not.

Some OEM boards do use different hardware (particularly MSI boards tweaked with on-board graphics, or only one COM port, different I/O chip or whatever) and in those cases you can ONLY use the OEM version of the BIOS.

I will send the Octek BIOS patched, just for confirmation.

Fri Oct 31, 2003 3:15 pm

Sent: Octek 98054 BIOS patched with AWD64GB -32 and bp.
This is an earlier BIOS than the Biostar one and may behave differently anyway.

sulbert · Sun Nov 02, 2003 10:17 am

I have had several Octek boards (slot 1, socket 370, socket A) which are just relabeled boards of DFI and PC Partner (same BIOS ID-s as the "original" boards, just modified OEM sign-ons and stickers put on the silkscreened model numbers on the board). I liked their support - they promptly sent me a beta version of the KT133-ASP (which is actually quite an old board, isn't it?) BIOS when I e-mailed them that the board doesn't recognize a 256 MB DIMM with 256Mbit memory chips.