P2B-AE: Tualatin *and* Firewire?

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P2B

I am experimenting with an Asus P2B-AE motherboard (OEM for Sony,
similar to the P3B-1394) to see if I can get it to run a Tualatin processor.

First problem was the original BIOS, which was thoroughly crippled -
however the board runs fine using the last P3B-1394 BIOS (version
2004.001, dated November 2001). Onboard sound and firewire work, and it
will run any Coppermine or older processor at 66 or 100Mhz FSB (the
clock generator is capable of up to 150Mhz, and has also been crippled -
but I know how to fix that with my trusty soldering station).

However, it won't boot a Tualatin processor - Celeron or P3-S. There is
BIOS activity, but POST freezes at x0D - which appears to be
undocumented but means it doesn't even get as far as CPU detection, let
alone any video.

The board *will* boot a Tualatin using P2B BIOS version 1014.003, but of
course the onboard sound and firewire don't work.

Can anyone offer advice on how to go about hacking Tualatin support into
the P3B-1394 BIOS?

TIA

P2B
 
I am experimenting with an Asus P2B-AE motherboard (OEM for Sony,
similar to the P3B-1394) to see if I can get it to run a Tualatin processor.

First problem was the original BIOS, which was thoroughly crippled -
however the board runs fine using the last P3B-1394 BIOS (version
2004.001, dated November 2001). Onboard sound and firewire work, and it
will run any Coppermine or older processor at 66 or 100Mhz FSB (the
clock generator is capable of up to 150Mhz, and has also been crippled -
but I know how to fix that with my trusty soldering station).

However, it won't boot a Tualatin processor - Celeron or P3-S. There is
BIOS activity, but POST freezes at x0D - which appears to be
undocumented but means it doesn't even get as far as CPU detection, let
alone any video.

The board *will* boot a Tualatin using P2B BIOS version 1014.003, but of
course the onboard sound and firewire don't work.

Can anyone offer advice on how to go about hacking Tualatin support into
the P3B-1394 BIOS?
Click to expand...

Hi P2B

Really advanced question !

I do not know a way to do it. I have worked with cpucode manipulation
of cpucodes.bin in several bios's using cbrom and ctmc. But this is
not necessary for booting. Just for errata.

It is strange that the p3b bios does not boot, since p3b will normally
boot with tualatin, and it has the same chipset I use a beta p3b bios
that will boot with tualatin on a slot-T adapter. As far as I
remember, this beta was necessary for booting. Further I patched a
cpucode.bin from tusl2 into the bios.

Maybe you can patch the sound and the firewire into that.

If not, I would use a sound card and a firewire card.

But I hope some others know registers well enough.

best regards

John
 
It is strange that the p3b bios does not boot, since p3b will normally
boot with tualatin, and it has the same chipset I use a beta p3b bios
that will boot with tualatin on a slot-T adapter. As far as I
remember, this beta was necessary for booting. Further I patched a
cpucode.bin from tusl2 into the bios.
Click to expand...

So, I can suggest that you try with the p3-f beta bios:

ftp://ftp.asuscom.de/pub/ASUSCOM/BIOS/Slot_I/INTEL_Chipset/i440BX/P3B-F/

it works for me with a slot-t adapter with a tualatin, 12x124

best regards

John
 
JK said:
Hi P2B

Really advanced question !
Click to expand...

:-) Thanks for your response.
I do not know a way to do it. I have worked with cpucode manipulation
of cpucodes.bin in several bios's using cbrom and ctmc. But this is
not necessary for booting. Just for errata.
Click to expand...

Yup, been there.
It is strange that the p3b bios does not boot, since p3b will normally
boot with tualatin, and it has the same chipset I use a beta p3b bios
that will boot with tualatin on a slot-T adapter. As far as I
remember, this beta was necessary for booting. Further I patched a
cpucode.bin from tusl2 into the bios.
Click to expand...

I agree - the P3B-F beta was released a month before the P3B-1394 beta,
so it's annoying the latter won't boot a Tualatin. However, the P3B-F
beta has microcode for tA1 stepping Tualatins, the 1394 beta does not.

IME the beta BIOS is necessary for Tualerons but not for P3-S, but the
P2B-AE won't boot either.
Maybe you can patch the sound and the firewire into that.
Click to expand...

I think I'll try adding the sound and firewire files from the 1394 BIOS
to the P2B beta that works - but I'm not optimistic :-(
If not, I would use a sound card and a firewire card.
Click to expand...

Not enough PCI slots - I need at least one of the onboard features
working for the intended application. Besides, I'm mostly doing this for
the challenge...
But I hope some others know registers well enough.
Click to expand...

Me too......

P2B
 
Dear P2B,

After couple years of experiment and trial and error. I have got my P2B-AE
motherboard running with a Tualatin processor.

I was one of the person that originally used a P2B BIOS running the P2B-AE.

So I am sure Tualatin processor will work with the board, it's only problem
with the BIOS.

Here is how I did it..
1) get the latest Sony BIOS (3005.BIN)
2) patch it with bios patcher http://rom.by/Award/patcher/bp-4_23.rar see
http://homepage2.nifty.com/mx/guide/biosmx.htm
3) upload the patched image to BIOS (make sure you have a backup BIOS incase
it doesn't work)

also I have tried it with a Power Leap slotket, it boots up but doesn't seem
to run smoothly (may be due to the tempurture sensor)
I am currently using Iwill SlocketII + PL-370 adaptor and is running very
nicely

David.
 
dp said:
Dear P2B,

After couple years of experiment and trial and error. I have got my P2B-AE
motherboard running with a Tualatin processor.

I was one of the person that originally used a P2B BIOS running the P2B-AE.

So I am sure Tualatin processor will work with the board, it's only problem
with the BIOS.

Here is how I did it..
1) get the latest Sony BIOS (3005.BIN)
2) patch it with bios patcher http://rom.by/Award/patcher/bp-4_23.rar see
http://homepage2.nifty.com/mx/guide/biosmx.htm
3) upload the patched image to BIOS (make sure you have a backup BIOS incase
it doesn't work)

also I have tried it with a Power Leap slotket, it boots up but doesn't seem
to run smoothly (may be due to the tempurture sensor)
I am currently using Iwill SlocketII + PL-370 adaptor and is running very
nicely

David.
Click to expand...

David, you da man! Thanks a million!

As a quick test, I ran the bios patcher against the P3B-1394 BIOS which
was on the board when I got it - bingo, now it boots a 1.4Ghz P3-S at
1050Mhz (100Mhz FSB), with firewire and sound enabled :-) Almost
perfect! (The patched BIOS says the CPU is a Tualatin Celeron, I haven't
yet checked to see if the 512KB L2 cache in the P3-S is properly enabled).

Next job will be to get out the soldering iron and fix the FSB selection
circuitry to enable the full range of settings supported by the clock
generator (up to 150Mhz). I'll post back with my results (and probably
add a page to my p2bmod site - with all due credits, of course!).

Meanwhile, could you post a link to the Sony BIOS (I can't seem to find
it) or just email it to me.

Thanks again,

P2B
 
P2B said:
I am experimenting with an Asus P2B-AE motherboard (OEM for Sony,
similar to the P3B-1394) to see if I can get it to run a Tualatin
processor.

First problem was the original BIOS, which was thoroughly crippled -
however the board runs fine using the last P3B-1394 BIOS (version
2004.001, dated November 2001). Onboard sound and firewire work, and it
will run any Coppermine or older processor at 66 or 100Mhz FSB (the
clock generator is capable of up to 150Mhz, and has also been crippled -
but I know how to fix that with my trusty soldering station).

However, it won't boot a Tualatin processor - Celeron or P3-S. There is
BIOS activity, but POST freezes at x0D - which appears to be
undocumented but means it doesn't even get as far as CPU detection, let
alone any video.

The board *will* boot a Tualatin using P2B BIOS version 1014.003, but of
course the onboard sound and firewire don't work.

Can anyone offer advice on how to go about hacking Tualatin support into
the P3B-1394 BIOS?

TIA

P2B
Click to expand...

Got it working :-)

The P2B-AE board is currently running a 1.4Ghz P3-S CPU @ 1470Mhz
(140Mhz FSB) and is stable so far - it froze afer 10 minutes @ 1575Mhz
(150Mhz FSB), probably due to the 440BX chipset or board layout since
all other components are known to be stable @ 150 on a P2B-S. Onboard
sound and firewire are working perfectly using a Sony XP BIOS patched
with apple_rom's Award BIOS Patcher (thanks again for the tip, David!).

The hardware modifications required were somewhat more involved than I
had anticipated due to the bizarre clock control circuitry Asus had
implemented to cripple the board for Sony, but after several hours of
poring over datasheets, probing the board, and drawing circuit diagrams
I was reasonably confident I just had to replace the bank of 5 DIP
switches with a bank of 10, remove two resistors, and move another
resistor - turns out I was right, since all FSB settings and the AGP
divisor are now controlled by switches instead of the CPU's BSEL0 signal.

I knew the DIP switches would be a real pain to remove since one side of
the bank is connected to the ground plane, which tends to soak up most
of the heat applied - so I practiced by taking the replacement switch
bank from a dead P3V-4X. I made a mess of the dead board, but developed
my technique in the process and was able to make a neat job of the P2B-AE.

I took photos of the surgery and will add a P2B-AE page to my P2Bmod
site as spare time allows.

Another one down! That leaves the P2B-VM as the only P2B variant I
haven't modified for Tualatins and 150Mhz FSB AFAIK. Anyone care to
donate one to the cause ? (I'll pay postage)

P2B

http://tipperlinne.com/p2bmod
 
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