gigabyte 7s748 dead

Hot-swapping and Boot-Block flash & Boot block flash and floppy support
fugazi
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yes, there is still warranty for the board. we will try to rma it tomorrow. but since i'm in mexico i don't know how they will handle it. things here can be a little bit "different"...

anyway. i'm interested in giving this method a shot. what does "shortening the two highest pins" mean exactly. which ones are the two highest?

thanx,
hannes
NickS
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"Highest" depends on the size of the BIOS chip - 1 Mbit, 2 Mbit or 4 Mbit.
For a 1 Mbit (128KB) BIOS chip the highest address lines will be A15 and A16; for a 2 Mbit chip A16 and A17; for a 4 Mbit chip A71 and A18.

Here is an example of the pin connections for a 2 Mbit DIP packaged device:
http://www.futurlec.com/Memory/29F020.shtml
but I suspect yours is a PLCC packaged device (pins on four sides)
Tested patched BIOSes. Untested patched BIOSes.
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fugazi
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yap, it has pins on 4 sides.
NickS
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OK, if your BIOS image is 256 Kbytes then search the web (or AMD website) for a diagram for 29F020 PLCC. See if it ties up with the number of legs on your BIOS chip. Try shorting the address pins at your own risk.
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fugazi
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hmpf, still no success.

don't know if i'm doing everything right and it's also a little bit tricky do make a shortcut with the pins being that near together. maybe tomorrow, when my pal is awake, we'll try it again.

or i have to try to return the board. otherwise we'll have to buy a new one and i'll take the "broken" one to germany next week, where i surely can find someone experienced to fix it.

damn. does this mean i can't apply a bios update in the future just like i've done it a million times before? even if the manufacturer recommends it?
and what's the deal with their dual bios crip-crap if it doesn't work? huge sticker on the mainboard box? should kick in the backup bios automatically but doesn't...

i'm confused. [/list]
NickS
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Dual Bios !Image

My son says his Gigabyte NF2 dual-bios board has a jumper to select the BIOS. That is a step in the right direction. Otherwise, if the bootblock does not run or does not find a fault it does not invoke the backup.
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fugazi
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well, seems as if the only dual bios existing on this model is the dual bios sticker on the box...

gigabyte webpage doesn't say a word about it on their webpage. haven't been very happy with a gigabyte mainboard years ago. never bought one again until last month and i think i will avoid them as well in the future. tech support has not been answering for 5 days now. and i don't know if i can apply the update to the other 2 machines with the same mobos that stand around here, showing cpu temperatures of about 80°C and making everyone freak out.

anyway. i'll try to return it today.

thanx for all your help guys.
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