Damned Voice POST

  • Thread starter Thread starter Eli
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Eli

Can the voice POST reporter be disabled on the PC-DL motherboard?

Is there any way to _not_ generate a "Keyboard not found" message when
using a USB keyboard?
 
Eli said:
Can the voice POST reporter be disabled on the PC-DL motherboard?

Is there any way to _not_ generate a "Keyboard not found" message when
using a USB keyboard?
Click to expand...

If the BIOS was halting, something like:

Halt On [All, but Keyboard]

But the fine manual shows no option for disabling Voice POST.

The solution is easy. Use the Winbond Voice Editor to record
over the "Keyboard not found" message, with a short burst of
silence instead. While the download directory for the PC-DL
doesn't have a pointer to the file, this one might work for
you. (Uninstall Asus Probe and MBM5, before using Voice Editor,
as they all access the SMBUS.)

ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/misc/utils/winbond/865875_veditor_M316.zip

Note that the voiceedit tool has some knowledge of chipsets, and
my previous little research effort is here:

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&[email protected]

By recording a burst of silence, to replace the Keyboard message,
there is little chance of overflowing the capacity of the Voice POST
memory chip (the eight pin DIP package).

If you prefer a brute force solution, popping the eight pin DIP
containing the voice samples, out of its socket (with the power
off of course), will also stop it :-) While the picture of the
motherboard in the PDF manual is pretty poor quality, the eight
pin DIP looks like it could be to the right of item #14 (between
#14 and #7). Store the chip in an antistatic bag, like the motherboard
bag, or a DIMM memory antistatic bag, for the day when you need it.
Use antistatic precautions as well during removal. Make a note
of the orientation needed for reinstallation, in your paper users
manual.

HTH,
Paul
 
Eli said:
Can the voice POST reporter be disabled on the PC-DL motherboard?

Is there any way to _not_ generate a "Keyboard not found" message when
using a USB keyboard?
Click to expand...

If the BIOS was halting, something like:

Halt On [All, but Keyboard]

But the fine manual shows no option for disabling Voice POST.

The solution is easy. Use the Winbond Voice Editor to record
over the "Keyboard not found" message, with a short burst of
silence instead. While the download directory for the PC-DL
doesn't have a pointer to the file, this one might work for
you. (Uninstall Asus Probe and MBM5, before using Voice Editor,
as they all access the SMBUS.)

ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/misc/utils/winbond/865875_veditor_M316.zip

Note that the voiceedit tool has some knowledge of chipsets, and
my previous little research effort is here:

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&[email protected]

By recording a burst of silence, to replace the Keyboard message,
there is little chance of overflowing the capacity of the Voice POST
memory chip (the eight pin DIP package).

If you prefer a brute force solution, popping the eight pin DIP
containing the voice samples, out of its socket (with the power
off of course), will also stop it :-) While the picture of the
motherboard in the PDF manual is pretty poor quality, the eight
pin DIP looks like it could be to the right of item #14 (between
#14 and #7). Store the chip in an antistatic bag, like the motherboard
bag, or a DIMM memory antistatic bag, for the day when you need it.
Use antistatic precautions as well during removal. Make a note
of the orientation needed for reinstallation, in your paper users
manual.

HTH,
Paul
Click to expand...


Thanks, Paul. I discovered that the latest BIOS verion 1005 for the
PC-DL has added the ability to control the voice reporter. You can
disable a couple of the messages (such as the nearly useless "Now
booting from operating system"), or you can disable the voice
entirely. Also, when it's enabled, 1005's voice reporter doesn't
complain about the keyboard.

Unfortunately, 1005 gave me nothing but grief from the minute I loaded
it. I even downloaded it a second time from another Asus server and
reflashed it. Finally, it hung up completely during the POST and I
had to clear the CMOS.

I've gone back to BIOS version 1004 which doesn't have the ability to
control the voice but has been much more reliable. Maybe 1006, when
it's released, will be better.
 
Eli said:
Eli said:
Can the voice POST reporter be disabled on the PC-DL motherboard?

Is there any way to _not_ generate a "Keyboard not found" message when
using a USB keyboard?
Click to expand...

If the BIOS was halting, something like:

Halt On [All, but Keyboard]

But the fine manual shows no option for disabling Voice POST.

The solution is easy. Use the Winbond Voice Editor to record
over the "Keyboard not found" message, with a short burst of
silence instead. While the download directory for the PC-DL
doesn't have a pointer to the file, this one might work for
you. (Uninstall Asus Probe and MBM5, before using Voice Editor,
as they all access the SMBUS.)

ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/misc/utils/winbond/865875_veditor_M316.zip

Note that the voiceedit tool has some knowledge of chipsets, and
my previous little research effort is here:

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&[email protected]

By recording a burst of silence, to replace the Keyboard message,
there is little chance of overflowing the capacity of the Voice POST
memory chip (the eight pin DIP package).

If you prefer a brute force solution, popping the eight pin DIP
containing the voice samples, out of its socket (with the power
off of course), will also stop it :-) While the picture of the
motherboard in the PDF manual is pretty poor quality, the eight
pin DIP looks like it could be to the right of item #14 (between
#14 and #7). Store the chip in an antistatic bag, like the motherboard
bag, or a DIMM memory antistatic bag, for the day when you need it.
Use antistatic precautions as well during removal. Make a note
of the orientation needed for reinstallation, in your paper users
manual.

HTH,
Paul
Click to expand...


Thanks, Paul. I discovered that the latest BIOS verion 1005 for the
PC-DL has added the ability to control the voice reporter. You can
disable a couple of the messages (such as the nearly useless "Now
booting from operating system"), or you can disable the voice
entirely. Also, when it's enabled, 1005's voice reporter doesn't
complain about the keyboard.

Unfortunately, 1005 gave me nothing but grief from the minute I loaded
it. I even downloaded it a second time from another Asus server and
reflashed it. Finally, it hung up completely during the POST and I
had to clear the CMOS.

I've gone back to BIOS version 1004 which doesn't have the ability to
control the voice but has been much more reliable. Maybe 1006, when
it's released, will be better.
Click to expand...

Don't forget to contact Asus with the results of your 1005 experience.
Bug fixes will only come if there are enough complaints. Doing a
"Load Setup Defaults" on the first POST after the BIOS has been
upgraded, is supposed to fix a lot of that. There are occasions
where clearing the CMOS is necessary to get a new BIOS to start.
This is because the definition of the data structure in the CMOS
RAM can change, something which you wouldn't think would
need changing. "Load Setup Defaults" loads the CMOS with data
consistent with the new BIOS.

Paul
 
1On said:
Don't forget to contact Asus with the results of your 1005 experience.
Bug fixes will only come if there are enough complaints. Doing a
"Load Setup Defaults" on the first POST after the BIOS has been
upgraded, is supposed to fix a lot of that. There are occasions
where clearing the CMOS is necessary to get a new BIOS to start.
This is because the definition of the data structure in the CMOS
RAM can change, something which you wouldn't think would
need changing. "Load Setup Defaults" loads the CMOS with data
consistent with the new BIOS.
Click to expand...


Yep, I always do that. In this Award BIOS there are no "default"
defaults - it's either (as best as I can recall) "Load Failsafe
Defaults" or "Load Optimized Defaults". Either of which you could
have to tweak a bit to get the system to boot since you may need to
change the hard disk boot order. I think the failsafe defaults
underclock the CPU considerably plus they do some odd things like
disabling the floppy drive. The optimized defaults actually looked
safer to my eye.

One odd thing with both 1005 and 1004 on this system is that if I turn
on the full screen logo (which I did just for grins) I get what
appears to be a corrupted graphic. According to the release notes
1005 has a new logo in 256 colors. It was during the display of the
logo that 1005 would hang each time. At first 1005 ran OK, although
it tended to take a very long time when booting before any video
output appeared. I was playing with different BIOS settings to get it
boot faster when it decided to die.
 
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