BIOS Savior -- How to write the Internal PROM ??
Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 4:51 am
I got the Bios Savior RD1-8X for my Chaintech VNF4 but can't figure out how to program its internal PROM. The VNF4 has a SST49LF004A/3.3V and the BIOS Savior has an i82802AB.
I tried Winflash v1.75 (and 1.51) by switching to the Bios Savior's internal flash after booting, then running Winflash to write this internal flash with the same V4 BIOS I wrote to the original flash some time ago using WinFlash.
Winflash gives: "BIOS ID error Are you sure to program" I said Yes. Then flashed it. It whirs and clanks for 3-4 minutes and then says "Flash Block verify error". It won't boot with the new flash but works when I flip the switch back to the original BIOS PROM.
So, I booted a floppy with AWDflash v8.32, flipped the switch to the Bios Savior's internal flash and used the following command:
Awdflash.exe VN210427.bin /cks9d20 /cc /cd /cp /r /WB /py
This fails with "Unknown Flash Type".
I tried adding the checksum with the idea that this might over-ride the ID error but it didn't work.
The problem seems to be that the BIOS has some type of ID built in and this is checked against the ID in the BIOS file. Since the blank BIOS chip I'm trying to program doesn't have the ID already it doesn't let me program it to have that ID -- kind of a Catch 22.
Any ideas how to get around this?
The BIOS savior seems like a good idea but it is defeated by the built-in software safeguards which don't have an obvious way to over-ride them... makes me wonder how hot-flashing is done since it seems like the same situation.
The VNF4's BIOS settings are at defaults: Flash BIOS Protection - disabled, System BIOS Cacheable - disabled.
Tried Uniflash; this produced a clearer error message: "Unknown Flash Chip". I wrote to the support email and quickly got an answer (nice people who clearly care about their program) but unfortunately:
"nForce 2, 3, 4(...) chipsets are not supported by UniFlash."
Any help or ideas would be appreciated.
I tried Winflash v1.75 (and 1.51) by switching to the Bios Savior's internal flash after booting, then running Winflash to write this internal flash with the same V4 BIOS I wrote to the original flash some time ago using WinFlash.
Winflash gives: "BIOS ID error Are you sure to program" I said Yes. Then flashed it. It whirs and clanks for 3-4 minutes and then says "Flash Block verify error". It won't boot with the new flash but works when I flip the switch back to the original BIOS PROM.
So, I booted a floppy with AWDflash v8.32, flipped the switch to the Bios Savior's internal flash and used the following command:
Awdflash.exe VN210427.bin /cks9d20 /cc /cd /cp /r /WB /py
This fails with "Unknown Flash Type".
I tried adding the checksum with the idea that this might over-ride the ID error but it didn't work.
The problem seems to be that the BIOS has some type of ID built in and this is checked against the ID in the BIOS file. Since the blank BIOS chip I'm trying to program doesn't have the ID already it doesn't let me program it to have that ID -- kind of a Catch 22.
Any ideas how to get around this?
The BIOS savior seems like a good idea but it is defeated by the built-in software safeguards which don't have an obvious way to over-ride them... makes me wonder how hot-flashing is done since it seems like the same situation.
The VNF4's BIOS settings are at defaults: Flash BIOS Protection - disabled, System BIOS Cacheable - disabled.
Tried Uniflash; this produced a clearer error message: "Unknown Flash Chip". I wrote to the support email and quickly got an answer (nice people who clearly care about their program) but unfortunately:
"nForce 2, 3, 4(...) chipsets are not supported by UniFlash."
Any help or ideas would be appreciated.