Tools to mod Phoenix-Award Workstation BIOS?

Discussion in 'BIOS Mods' started by Galane, Feb 28, 2017.

  1. Galane

    Galane MDL Junior Member

    Feb 11, 2013
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  2. Tito

    Tito Super Mod / Adviser
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    Nov 30, 2009
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  3. Galane

    Galane MDL Junior Member

    Feb 11, 2013
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    Only removable chip aside from the CPU is U17, which is an 8 pin DIP. Says Winbond on it. I can't read the number, at least not without taking the board out of the case so I can get a good look with a magnifier. Getting presbyopia when your eyes are already myopic really sucks.
     
  4. LatinMcG

    LatinMcG Bios Borker

    Feb 27, 2011
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    thats the one.. easy to reprogram if it bricks from bad flash with a $5 usb programmer CH341A
     
  5. Galane

    Galane MDL Junior Member

    Feb 11, 2013
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    I haven't seen a DIP chip on a PC motherboard in a long time. (Since the mid 90's.) One wonders how this board manages with a little 8 pin when the old boards used 20 or so pin DIPs or PLCCs or soldered.

    It does have a built in BIOS flash program, but it only works with a genuine 34pin cable connected floppy drive. A USB floppy or thumb drive doesn't work. That flasher does do integrity checking. I flashed it anyway and the first time it failed, despite doing a full format twice on the disk before copying the file to it.

    Such effort Biostar went to for making it easy to update - then never released any updates. Surprising they put the BIOS file online to download. Why bother when it's identical to what shipped on them all?
     
  6. LatinMcG

    LatinMcG Bios Borker

    Feb 27, 2011
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    try boot dos and awdflash