Release Note ==================== Venturix FX-2 Series System BIOS Version : V1.02 Date : May 07 1997 BIOS.ROM - 256K BIOS image file for system rom flashed. PHLASH.EXE - flash rom utility, PLATFORM.BIN - flash rom utility. (used under DOS to flash) note: This PLATFORM.BIN file is only used under DOS to flash the system BIOS. It is different from the PLATFORM.BIN included in Crisis Recovery Disk which is used under "RECOVERY MODE". Signon : Venturix FX-2 XYYY Z Version 1.02 Note: X = 5 ---> INTEL or AMD K5 = 6 ---> AMD K6 YYY = 90/100/120/133/150/166/180/200. Z = M ---> P55c = K ---> AMD BIOS function specification - Memory auto sizing support to 256MB. - Cache 256/512K memory auto sizing. - AMD 2Mbit flashable BIOS support. - 2 CH. BMIDE/(ULTRA DMA/33) support. - 1 serial ports FIFO 16550 compatible. - ECP/EPP support. - 6 lines by 50 chars softbanner support. - Quiet boot support. - APM1.2 support. - System power managerment support. - Floppy h/w write protection. - Diskette A: B: exchange support. - CD-ROM boot support. - PnP CDR V4.1 support. - Two level passowrd support. - Win 95 ordered shutdown support. - DMI 2.0 support. - Two USB port support. - Security Bios - DC on/off - Acpi 4 sec off Changes to BIOS V1.01 to generate BIOS V1.02 o Set the MDI memory speed to 15 ns if DIMM installed. o Fixed the bug that caused Novell 3.12 Server system to panic when using the AMD K5-PR166 o Fixed the bug that when "programmable power on" was set to DISABLE, the power would still "auto on" at the specific time. o Add the ability to use the arrow keys to move cursor hint to user at tool bar in Custom Sign-on Banner screen. o Change the "Boot Ordering" pop-up menu access rights to the following. (The orginal policy is that anyone under any condition can change the boot ordering). (1) password is not set: anyone can access (2) password is set, and "password on boot" is disable: anyone can access (3) password is set, and "password on boot" is enable: only using "supervisor password" will allow access the boot menu. o Fixed the bug that caused Hard Disk Auto Detect to fail when using the "Maxtor 85120 AB-" (CHS, 10585, 15, 63, 5121MB). o Fixed the bug that when a 32MB DIMM was installed, DMI would show 16MB information, and change the DMI slot information for the Short Tower from 3 ISA/2 PCI slots to 3 ISA/3 PCI slots. o Fixed the bug that Japanese Win95 OSR2 can not startup with add-on (DE500 NIC) and (SB16 PNP Sound) installed. o Fixed the bug that caused the "PS/2 Mouse:Installed" to not be displayed in the summary screen. o Change AMD K6 CPU sign on from: AMD-K6/PR2-xxx to: AMD-K6-xxx o Changed Security menu to not display the SETUP item "Password on boot:" when entering SETUP by using the USER password. o Change the setup help text of "Integrated Peripherials" to delete the text " and local bus IDE adapter ", because IDE setup item is no longer there. o Fixed the bug that cause the system to hang when formatting a UDMA diskette created by a UDMA FDISK. o Support 64Mbit SDRAM technology. If 3rd slot is installed, then clear MTXC reg 54 bit 1 to 0, otherwise set to 1 (64 Mbit support). When set to 0: If 1st and 2nd bank use 64Mbit SDRAM, then only 16M detected in both bank. If 3rd bank uses 64Mbit SDRAM, then system would hang. When set to 1: 1st and 2nd bank can support 64Mbit SDRAM. o Fixed the bug that with some specific SMC935Apm chips in some specific Main Logic Boards, after disconnecting the power cable and discharge CMOS would cause system to hang at "setup power management" (9Ch). Multi-Boot II Supporting description... In a MultiBoot system, the first boot device is selectable. It does not default to the Floppy device A: or IDE primary-Master. Any bootable device can be specified as a Master Boot device on the MultiBoot Menu of Setup. This allows you to select the order that boot devices are attempted. This feature is called the "Boot Priority" and is always present. If you select the [Hard Disk] item in the Boot Priority section of Setup and then press the key, the Boot Connection Device menu appears. The Boot Connection Device menu allows you to specify the order in which hard drives are installed into the system during ROM scan (POST code 98h). BOOT MENU: If is pressed during POST, a menu appears that allows you to over-ride the default boot order with a "Boot First" device selection. You can also enter CMOS Setup from this menu. Some CD-ROM drives do not auto-type correctly. This will be apparent during POST when the "CD-ROM identified" message is not displayed. In this case, go into Setup and select the hard disk type for the CD-ROM manually, instead of auto-typing it in Setup. Many advanced operating systems such as Windows 95, Windows NT, OS/2 Warp, Unix, and others, modify the boot sectors of any hard drives that are installed in the system while the OS is being installed. This can cause normally bootable hard drives to be rendered non-bootable, even though the user did not want this behavior. In systems where there are two or more bootable hard drives, it is recommended that all bootable hard drives other than the target of the new OS be removed from the system prior to installing the new OS. Once installation of the new OS is complete, the other bootable drives can then be added back to the system. This simple procedure prevents the advanced Operating Systems from modifying the boot sectors of other bootable drives, thus preserving the MultiBoot II capability of choosing among several hard drives to boot from.