would love to tell you how to flash the bios for WHS/server 2003 or even XP but as yet i havent been able to figure out how to add slp strings properly to the bios for those operating systems, you can however add SLIC 2.1 to the bios for this board and activate vista/win7/server 2k8 no problem. as iv got less than 20 post i couldnt post links to the files you need, but i managed to get everything i needed for the board from this site so if you have some patience you will get all the things you need to successfully flash your board and activate the above mentioned operating systems. you will need the following 1. arima hdama bios 218b. 2. Rw everything program. 3. Phoenix tool 1.42 or later ( bios modding tool for inserting SLIC) 4. SLIC 2.1 bin & certificate 5. OEM product key links to all this stuff is on the website so if your patient you will get it going. during installing windows you will also need the silicon image drivers if you plan on installing on a sata hard drive or raid. in the bios mods section you will find this thread :ARIMA HDAMA G Bios upgrade to allow Server 2008 if you start there you should get all the info you need. you should also find the certs you will need in the thread called: Win 7 & Server 08 R2 SLIC 2.1 Bin Collection in the bios mods section. id recommend using the compaq-HP certs if you want to activate server 2k8. if you pm me your email i'll send you any files you will need later when i get back from work.
From the page of the seller's item it states the following! Compatible with Linux(i386, IA64 and X86-64), Windows Server 2008/2003/2000 (32bit/64bit) and Windows XP(32bit/64bit) The vendor also has a link on the page for the revised bios and software drivers, are these any good or not?
Thanks Much tqhoang, My real concearn is the actual Bios upgrade process and what to do and which files to use! This is somthing I have never done before and I don't want to do anything that can't be un-done! Also until my VGA switch arrives I have to keep switching the monitor back and forth from the server to my other puter That was why I asked for a step by step so I could print out the instructions and go from there
No, the CD is bootable...it actually uses the same DR-DOS that the Bootdisk.com driver-free disk uses. Just make sure your CD/DVD drive is first on the boot menu in the BIOS.
What is best practice for installing the memory in this mother board? I have 4 x 1meg sticks and I was wondering if I should install all 4 in the one bank or 2 sticks in each bank?
HDAMA-and-HDAMB-Motherboard-BIOS-Fixes?p=297781#post297781"]HDAMA-G ISO image [/URL]and burn it to a CD using an app like the free ImgBurn. Then boot the CD and run the batch script for whichever BIOS you want to flash. Tqhoang I will be trying both Floppy then if no joy CD! So here is what I plan to do! 1) Copy with the original 2.18B file and name it F_SIL55.BAT to the floppy disk. 2) Insert and boot Server 3) Type somthing at a DOS screen ______ Help! 4) Let the file do it's stuff! 5) Copy one of your Bios's to another floppy, I will be putting either WHS or if no joy 2003 server on! 6) Do the same as point 3) Type somthing at a DOS screen again Hey presto I will have flashed my first Bios in 19 years P.S. what do you mean by file format like HG? This is really all way above my head. If I make a mess or get frustrated I will be paying 700 quid for a new easy to install on quiet server!
Sorry that was a typo. Someone must have distracted me for a second and then I left it saying "HG". I meant to say "BIOS.ROM" or something with a 8.3 filename format...i.e. DOS friendly. If you have a CD drive, then that is going to be the easiest method. Less error prone to bad floppies. - Boot the CD - Type "F_ORIG" to flash the original 2.18B beta BIOS. When it finishes, reboot the PC. - Boot the CD again - Type "F_SIL54" or "F_SIL55" to flash one of the modified BIOS'es with a newer Silicom Image SATA ROM. When it finishes, reboot the PC. Since you're planning on running WHS or Server 2003, then DO NOT install any of my modified BIOS'es with ACPI modifications. Those are intended for Linux or Windows Vista/7/2008[R2].
Can I ask exactly what is the "newer Silicom Image SATA ROM" ? What extra functionality has this got over the original 2.18b?
The BIOS'es created by Arima are really old and have a fairly old release of the Silicon Image (SI) SATA ROM/BIOS. Having the latest SI SATA ROM allowed for large SATA hard drives to be detected properly. I think people had problems detecting either 1TB+ or possibly even 750GB+ capacity drives. It's really up to you whether you "need it" or just want to have the latest. I would suggest that you at least use the BIOS that gets flashed by the "F_SIL54" batch script. That SI ROM is the latest one that was officially released in RAID form. The BIOS that gets flashed by the "F_SIL55" batch script was more targeted for Windows Vista/7/2008[R2] users. That's why all of my ACPI DSDT mods use that one as a starting point. Bottom line...don't worry too much about flashing the BIOS. You can always go back to the original 2.18B.
just wanted to say thank you for all your help.... the iso worked really well when i found the post with the command to f_orig to get the bios flashed! thanks again! alex
You're welcome...glad to help out. Don't forget that if you're running Linux or Windows Vista/7/2008[R2], you'll need a BIOS modded with ACPI DSDT P-States for your specific CPU in order to get CPU frequency and voltage scaling to work (aka PowerNow/Cool-n-Quiet/Optimized-Power-Management). If you're interested, please post the necessary info that I requested in the first post.
tqhoang, Have any of you (or anyone else for that matter) ever seen a BIOS version 1.22 for HDAMAI boards? I just bought a HDAMAI-B board off eBay that was supposedly factory refurbished/repaired and it has BIOS version 1.22 on it. The BIOS version date is 08/16/06. I'm going to see if it will load Windows Server 2008 R2.
No I haven't heard about it. I think I saw that same board on eBay but I didn't want to get it without the SATA ports. Perhaps you could back it up for us using the latest phlash16 (i.e. ph161700.exe)?
Sorry tqhoang, having a hard time getting it to write the 1.22 bios to floppy. I am using the /RO=old_bios.bin command, but it keeps failing immediately saying that it can't find the bios.wph file on the floppy disk. Also, the latest phlash I can find is phlash16.exe, I cannot find the ph161700.exe you reference above.