40GB: Atrend 6240v1

BIOS update, EIDE card, or overlay software? (FAQ Hard disk recognition)
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michaelorford
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I need to upgrade my BIOS for my ATC-6240V1 Board, but through hunting around on the net have discovered that Atrend dont exist anymore.
Is there any way to find if another company can suply the upgrade I need.
My Bios Details are as follows if anyone has an upgrade that they could pass on
BIOS Date: 04/02/99
BIOS Type: Award Modular BIOS v4.51PG
BIOS ID: 04/02/1999-i440BX-W977TF-6240-SH
BIOS Eval: 6240 VER:1.1 06 WB
Chipset: Intel 440BX/ZX rev 3
Superio: Winbond 977TF rev 0 found at port 3F0h

Thanks for any leads

Mike
NickS
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Location: Thames Valley, UK

There are a number of 6240 BIOSes at:
http://www.nix.ru/support/drivers.html? ... vendor=129
I would guess that the 117 is 1.1 07 but will check...
[edit]Yes,
05/25/1999-i440BX-W977TF-6240-VH
6240 VER:1.1 07 WB
NickS
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That is patchable to support big HDDs, by the way.
michaelorford
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Do you think this BIOS upgrade will allow my system to recognise my Seagate 40GB HD which at present it will not recogonise?

Thanks for all your help
NickS
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No, but we can send you a patched version. I'll do that as soon as I sort out my problem with MODBIN.EXE.
NickS
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Done. Please give us feedback.
michaelorford
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Nick,

Thanks alot for the file, I just got it.

Two quick questions, has this patched BIOS been tested? If for any reason there is a problem, I should be able to recover my system by buying a new BIOS chip...correct?, but since Atrend are no longer in business, is it likely that its would be possible to find a replacement chip, or would I have to replace the whole mobo if things go wrong? The other thing, I have read that not all BIOS's are windows XP compatable, do you know if this patched upgrade is or have I been misslead by what I have read?
Once again, I really appreciate your help, and Ill get back to you with the results.

Best regards,

Mike
NickS
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I'm sorry, but I can't tell you whether that BIOS will be XP compatible. I guess what you are asking about is the inclusion of ACPI. There is no ACPI Table module in this BIOS so I would gguess ACPI is not supported. I understand that you can install XP in non-ACPI mode

The patched version has not been tested.

If your PC is dead after flashing there are people who can sell you a new BIOS chip programmed with a file you supply (such as the 1.1 07 in the link at nix.ru), or you can try one of the recovery procedures described in the FAQ at the main site, or you may find a local shop which can reprogram your old flash ROM.
michaelorford
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I mustered up the courage to try the flash with the patched Bios.
I used AWD812 for the process, but I got the error message that 'The program file part doesnt match with your system'. So I tried also the unpatched version (117a) and again I got the same message.
I just read your personal message, and could try again with an earlier version as you suggested, although I must admit, I am a bit reluctant to try the flashing on the Bios now since it hasnt been tested. I know I am a coward, but being in Cyprus where I am not really sure about the support I could expect to get in case I trash my system, nor about having a new chip readily available, I may just live with second best and use the software option from Seagate. Although this works OK and allows me to use my 40GB drive and to its full capacity, the only downside is that when my system needs to restart during installations etc, I have to physically power off my PC rather than use a restart. Its a bind, but maybe a safer option.

Thanks again for all your support.

Mike
NickS
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The reason why you get that error message is because the last part of the ID is slightly different - "VH" vs "SH". The Award flasher expects the ID to be the same except for the date, but some manufacturers varied the last couple of letters of the ID to show BIOS version variations - very annoying. You can overcome this by using Uniflash to flash.
michaelorford
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:D

Finally I performed the BIOS upgrade using uniflash and I had great success. What can I say? You guys are fantastic....many thanks.
Something strange however. After the flash, I ran a BIOS diagnostic program (dont remember where I got it from) which basically tells you what functions are supported by the BIOS. It still told me that large HDs are not supported, but in reality as I said before, they are supported and my system works great now. Strange, but who cares what it says as long as it works!

One last question before I leave you guys in peace.
Do you happen to know if this patched BIOS will support larger RAMs as at present I have (dare I say it), only 64Mb and am planning to upgrade to 128Mb?
By the way, just to inform you also that this BIOS does support Xp as I have installed this OS on my machine.

Once again, thanks alot for all of your expertise!

Mike
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