MSI 6117 - List of Mobo suitable for hotflash

[Rolf]

Hi,

I have had some trouble after flashing the BIOS on my MSI 6117. In a post by ajzchips I have read that using the hot-flash technique is not limited to the same model mobo. So my question is how I can come up with a list of suitable mobos for hot-flashing my MSI 6117. It has a W29C020-90 BIOS chip. Is there by chance any suitable socket 370 Mobo?

Best regards & TIA

Rolf

[Denniss]

All mainboards using a 2MBit(256KByte) Flashrom should be suitable for a successful Hot-Flash

[Rolf]

All mainboards using a 2MBit(256KByte) Flashrom should be suitable for a successful Hot-Flash

Hi Dennis,

thank you for the ultra-fast response. Can you (or anybody else) give me a hand on for example a search term to compile my short list with? "2mbit flashrom OR flash-rom 370" returns 0 results on google and I had previously tried "W29C020 370" with similar results. It is just that I'd rather have a short-list of Mobos I can look for at Ebay than going the other way round and sifting through what's on offer and each time trying to find out whether that particular mobo has a 2Mbit chip or not. I'd appreciate your help.

Best regards

Rolf

[Denniss]

Nearly all i440BX chipset based boards should have 2MBit Flashroms - Asus P2B as example .
But it might be cheaper to use a Bios reprogramming service or to get a new preflashed Flashrom .
Preflashed Flashrom is on sale for about 10€ at Ebay or reprogramming cost about 5€ or a little more depending on your location .

[Rolf]

Nearly all i440BX chipset based boards should have 2MBit Flashroms - Asus P2B as example .

Thanks for the hint. The MSI 6117 has the i440LX chipset, so I'll look into that as well.

So far I mostly got Abit BH-6 boards on Ebay while searching for i440BX. They will definitely not work since AFAICT their BIOS is in one of those square chips. In fact I got the impression that the greater part of i440BX boards have this square thing. Apparently these square chips are also 2Mbit Flash EEPROM chips. If my guess is true than it is indeed NOT the case that just any mainboard "using a 2MBit(256KByte) Flashrom should be suitable for a successful Hot-Flash" as Denniss wrote.

If you guys don't mind, I'll keep a list of "compatible" board and will update it ever once in a while. Comments welcome.

Will work:
- MSI 6117 (of course)
- Asus P2B
- Chaintech 6VJD2
- Soltek 65DRV

i440BX that will (probably) not work:
- Abit BH-6
- Epox 3VHA
- Gigabyte 6RX
- MSI Pro266 Plus
- MSI Pro266 Master

But it might be cheaper to use a Bios reprogramming service or to get a new preflashed Flashrom .
Preflashed Flashrom is on sale for about 10€ at Ebay or reprogramming cost about 5€ or a little more depending on your location .

Sure, but I was thinking about buying a new slot370 board anyhow. So my plan is now to use that for repairing the MSI 6117 as well as for the upgrade.

[sulbert]

i440BX that will (probably) not work:
- Abit BH-6
- Epox 3VHA
- Gigabyte 6RX
- MSI Pro266 Plus
- MSI Pro266 Master

These boards (except Abit BH-6) do have VIA Apollo Pro 266 chipset, not Intel 440BX. Most of the retail slot1 i440BX motherboards I have seen do have flash chips in DIL32 (or DIP32, whatever you call it) package.

[Rolf]

i440BX that will (probably) not work:
- Abit BH-6
- Epox 3VHA
- Gigabyte 6RX
- MSI Pro266 Plus
- MSI Pro266 Master

These boards (except Abit BH-6) do have VIA Apollo Pro 266 chipset, not Intel 440BX. Most of the retail slot1 i440BX motherboards I have seen do have flash chips in DIL32 (or DIP32, whatever you call it) package.

Hi sulbert,

thanks for your comment. You are right, they have the Apollo Pro chipset. Deniss had earlier remarked that "All mainboards using a 2MBit(256KByte) Flashrom should be suitable for a successful Hot-Flash". This does not appear to be the case. Therefore I started the compilation of my little list which includes 440BX as well as other boards. Thank you for confirming that the chances are very high with the 440BX boards.

BTW, I have tried to find out if the Elitegroup P6LX-A+ is a candidate or not. It appears to be, but from what I can gather from the net, I am not 100% sure especially since that board seems to come both with 1MBit and 2MBit BIOS. A friend of mine who I am about to pay a visit at the end of March has this board.

Best

Rolf