Compaq i440BX board

[Rainbow]

I have a Compaq board that does not work (I've heard that the BIOS was badly flashed).
It's ATX board (the connectors on the back are not standard ATX), made in 1998, Slot 1, i440BX chipset, 3xDIMM, AGP, 4xPCI, 2xISA. There are very BIG capacitors near the Slot 1 and there is also a big heatsink for the voltage regulator transistors. There are 6 DIP switches and a clear CMOS jumper.
There is also a label, which says:
166813-001 *P1637AKDEGXC2Z* 009635-101
009636 ASSEMBLED IN MALAYSIA REV AK

The most weird thing is that the "BIOS ROM" (yes, it's marked as ROM) is not a standard type. It's PLCC (soldered, of course...) marked with unknown logo and:
27871
-101
9827GBA J
(M) COMPAQ
I'm afraid that it really is a ROM, not flashable.

[Rainbow]

Here's the scan (bad because of the large capacitors and heatsink):

[KachiWachi]

I found this -

http://electrospec-inc.com/part/search. ... &x=66&y=18

Looks like it might be an AMD chip...but couldn't find anything on their website in the few moments I spent there.

9827 is probably the date code, so it can't be that old...

[Rainbow]

I've been told that there was as PII 350 CPU there. I suspect that it's from Compaq DeskPro EN or EP or SP, model 6350. I've found 3 different ROMs for these - 686T1, 686T2 and 686T3.
The logo on the chip is badly-done AMD. The WE# pin is connected so it should be flashable.
Now it will wait until I buy a PLCC socket to make an adapter to access the Flash ROM without complete desoldering.

[Denniss]

What's printed just below the big Compaq Logo in the top left ?

[edwin]

Something's missing in the lower left corner.



An that would be Deskpro EP series indeed.

[Rainbow]

Missing? What - I haven't noticed anything.

[edwin]

Looks like the system "speaker" is missing the cover...

[Rainbow]

Removed the flash ROM and inserted into c't Flasher (using homemade PLCC-to-DIP adapter). It did not work unless I set the voltage to 12V. Then it detected as "Am29F002(N)(B)T/5V". The BIOS inside was f***ed up - a piece of code & COMPAQ string + date repeating a few times. The chip itself is OK - new BIOS flashed correctly - but the board does not work. I've tried 686T1 and 686T2 BIOSes from Compaq and also some 256KB Award BIOS for some i440BX board (randomly chosen from the Award BETA BIOSes). It does not start at all - no POST codes...
The most weird thing is that the VPP pin on the board is connected to a pad on the back of the board. There is second pad connected to 12V next to this one. But these two pads were NOT connected together - so the VPP pin of the chip was not connected. So I don't know how anyone could flash it
The address pins are directly connected to ISA bus, data goes through 74LS245 - maybe it's bad...

[NickS]

The most weird thing is that the VPP pin on the board is connected to a pad on the back of the board. There is second pad connected to 12V next to this one. But these two pads were NOT connected together - so the VPP pin of the chip was not connected. So I don't know how anyone could flash it

I seem to remember Nokia/ICL doing this on some of their boards. Presumably in the factory it was put on a jig/bed-of-nails.

[Rainbow]

The unbelievable thing is how the contents of the Flash ROM became corrupted... I've been told that it was badly flashed. I've saved a backup before flashing a correct BIOS there. I've splitted it into 4 64KB blocks and compared them - they're the same - no differences.
The board does not work with any BIOS - that leads me to one thing - something more must have happened, not only a bad flash.

[Toby B]

This is rather interesting.

a piece of code & COMPAQ string + date repeating a few times

You think there is/was anything useful there for tracking the board to a manufacturer?

Would be interested in knowing.

PS the board is a CR120 motherboard:

This is about all we have right now.

front panel

xxxx.xx
xx

power ledpower switch jumpered
HDD LED
+ on the left

[skinnie]

Hi,sorry to put this thread up,can anybody tell me if this board supports 40gb hdds?where can I find the latest bios for it?I've searched in compaq site and nothing..
edit: mine has agp,3pcis and 3 isas..

[edwin]

hp support and search for deskpro EP if this is indeed the same board you have. What is the compaq part number &replacement part number?

xxxxxx-xxx numbers

[skinnie]

I have this numbers:
332857-001 and 008312-101
I need the manual and a bios that can support 40gb ide :s
edit: it is this motherboard http://www0.uk.shopping.com/xPF-Compaq-20244732
edit2: this is the page http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/Te ... OID=20#290

but now how do I flash the thing?fro what I read it is completely different from "normal" pcs...and how do I know wich bios to choose?