please help me with this old motherboard

Misko78 · Fri Jan 28, 2005 6:48 am

i'm trying to find bios upgrade for this motherboard, but i had no luck at all.
I need bios update because this board does not recognize SDRAM modules properly. 128MB (8 chips on it) stick is recognized as 32MB, 64 MB (8 chips on it) is recognized as 8MB and 32MB (4 chips on it) stick is recognized as 8MB.
Also I'm using Pentium 200MMX processor and have 32MB EDO ram

Maybe there is similiar board which BIOS i can use. This board have 4xISA and 4xPCI slots

This is bios string:

03/07/97-i430tx-ali5113-2A59IJA9C-00

This is what i got from CTBios:

Computer ID: FC, Type: AT
BIOS date: 03/07/97
Award BIOS found: v4.51PG
Award ID-string: 03/07/97-i430tx-ali5113-2A59IJA9C-00
Board/BIOS-Version: CH5T Pentium System Ver:1.01 OT FOR SALE
OEM: Unknown
URL: ??
Chipset: i430tx-ali5113 // Intel TX

This is what i got from uniflash:

Flash ROM chip: Winbond W29x010/011/012 5v series
PCI chipset: Intel Triton III 430TX

Fri Jan 28, 2005 8:13 am

Chipset limit. You need to use older modules with more chips per module.

The board is said to be made by Turbo Electronics, they have not left any useful info or bios files.

Can you make a backup copy of your current bios and send that to edwin@wimsbios.com?

Fri Jan 28, 2005 9:46 am

i430TX supports 64MBit density SDRAM - at least the 32 and 64MB sticks should work.
Please test without EDO installed - either your EDO makes your memory controller go haywire or the Bios is buggy.

We have a Beta Bios some months more recent than yours:
05/21/1997-i430TX-ALI5113-2A59IJA9C-00

Misko78 · Fri Jan 28, 2005 2:54 pm

First i would like to thank you for such a rapid response.

I'm trying to help my friend to do a little upgrade to his computer. He doesn't have funds to buy a new system and as i have SDRAM modules i don't use anymore i wanted to help him out.

I tried every possible combination with and without EDO ram, using only one module at the time, but no luck. All of these modules are tested on PCCHIPS VXPRO+ board and they acted the same way (capacity divided by 4), but when i updated BIOS all modules where recognized correctly.

I have manual for this board, does Wimsbios need it? I can scan it and send it.

Fri Jan 28, 2005 8:10 pm

It sounds very much like a Bios BUG. Do you want to test the Beta-Bios ?
Please have a look at your board for a model number - it's possible your board is a Lucky-Star OEM board and maybe the original model number is still present.

If you have the manual I'm sure Edwin is interested in a copy of this - just ask him or wait for a reply.

Misko78 · Fri Jan 28, 2005 9:49 pm

It sounds very much like a Bios BUG. Do you want to test the Beta-Bios ?

Why not, anything could be useful, because SDRAM doesent work and higher capacity EDO RAM is impossible to find here, especially 32MB sticks.

Please have a look at your board for a model number - it's possible your board is a Lucky-Star OEM board and maybe the original model number is still present.

Only thing that is written on board is CH5T absolutely nothing else, and there is Trigear written on ISA slotsts, BH is written on PCI slots. And here are pics of motherboard on my webpage which i created just for this purpose.

My webpage

Sat Jan 29, 2005 12:27 am

Bios sent to your E-Mail.
It seems to be patcheable for larger HDD support if needed.

Sat Jan 29, 2005 1:38 am

Denniss wrote:If you have the manual I'm sure Edwin is interested in a copy of this - just ask him or wait for a reply.

How did you know?

Yes please, a scanned version would be welcome.

Misko78 · Sun Jan 30, 2005 6:48 pm

I flashed beta bios into CH5T board, but had no luck. SDRAM is still recognized wrongly. I even managed to borrow 64MB stick with 16 chips but damn board wouldn't recognize properly. Everything else works fine and there is no difference between original bios and beta version.
I guess that i will need to find EDO memory, unless...

Thank you for all your help

Sun Jan 30, 2005 9:15 pm

Try to find larger EDO sticks or a new board.
Maybe search Ebay or similar sites for used stuff

Misko78 · Sun Jan 30, 2005 10:14 pm

Well i told my friend that it would be best to buy used board with duron or celeron procesor which is very cheap here, around 30 for both the board and processor, but he simply doesen't have funds for any of it and he is to damn proud to accept board and processor as a gift. It took me few hours to convince to accept my old SDRAMs as a gift.
What was the largest capacity of EDO sticks?

Mon Jan 31, 2005 1:12 pm

The easiest way is to find 4x32MB EDO - they should all work on the i430TX unless the board has another BUG or it's damaged somehow.

Fri Feb 04, 2005 4:24 pm

My PCPartner TXB820DS board works fine with 128MB (8-chip) or 256MB (double-sided 16-chip) DIMM modules, but the total memory is limited to 256MB.

BiosMan · Fri Feb 04, 2005 5:43 pm

i430TX chipset limit is 256MB.