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Confusion - 11/05/2002-VT8367-8325-6A6LVM4AC-00

Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2003 8:55 pm
by kingsnake
Using the 'Award BIOS ID's' section, I have identified that the '6A6LV' part is recognised as 'VIA VT8366/VT8233 chipset with Award Bios v6.00'.

The 'M4' part is recognised as 'microstar' in the Award hardware vendors list.

My confusion arises for 2 reasons. The first is that I have a chip on my motherboard with a label on it that says 'Phoenix Bios', and FAQ number 33 says that you can't identify a motherboard with a phoenix bios because 'Phoenix doesn't care much for end users' - so do the numbers above not mean anything.

Secondly, there is another chip on my motherboard that has 'VIA VT8235' on it - which doesn't correspond to either the VT number on the start up sreen (see subject header) or the 2 numbers obtained in the bios ID section..

I have been advised to 'flash my bios' because my PC slows down over a number of hours (memory leak???). I am unsure of how to interpret the seemingly conflicting information.

Any help will be much appreciated.[/b]

Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2003 11:24 pm
by NickS
Phoenix bought Award; so a "Phoenix BIOS" can be one of two things now; either a Phoenix Award BIOS or an original-style Phoenix BIOS.

Please check for typos in the BIOS ID you posted - surely it should say 8235 not 8325 ?. Please also provide the BIOS OEM message (top left corner of memory count screen, under the Award logo, if present).

Memory leak is not a BIOS issue. What OS are you running ?

Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2003 12:57 am
by edwin
Suspect: MSI MS-6382 (Medion OEM)

Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2003 9:26 am
by kingsnake
Thanks for the responses.

I have checked again - it reads 8235 !?!?!

The full text at the top of the screen during start up is:

Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG, an energy star ally
W6382M7 V3.0D 110502 18:00:00 Medion PC

The problem with the apparent 'memory leak' started when I connected to broadband - I have tried both PCI and USB modems which made no difference. After a couple of hours of downloading, everything becomes sluggish and most notibly the sound is destroyed!

I am running Windows XP on an Athlon 2600+ with 500M memory. I have also fitted a soundblaster live and disabled the on-board sound in the bios.

If all this is not the cause of BIOS problems, I apologise for posting in a BIOS forum!!

Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2003 4:55 pm
by Denniss
MSI 6382 OEM-Board for Medion

This is more a Software problem (OS/Programs) than a Bios/Hardware problem .

Get the latest OS patches using windowsupdate and do a full Virusscan
Use Spybot-Search and Destroy to find Adware/Malware/Dialer/Spyware - maybe one or more programs of this direction causing slowdowns

Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2003 5:48 pm
by kingsnake
Thanks fo your help.

I did a virus scan with 'AVG' and it found the 'Nachi' worm.

Once cleared, my problem with slowing down has gone away.

Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2003 11:08 pm
by edwin
Cool. Thanks for letting us know.