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AST RESEARCH, INC.         SOFTWARE BULLETIN # 0139E               11-22-95

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                           Premmia Flash BIOS Update


Production Release: 2.03
Available: June 1994


Part Number                Description                  File Name
905508-313                3.5" diskette 1 of 1          05508313.EXE

This is an updated version of the Premmia Flash BIOS image.  This diskette 
allows the user to easily upgrade the system BIOS by writing a new image of 
the system BIOS to the Premmia's Flash BIOS loader.

File 05508313.EXE can be found on AST's BBS (817) 230-6850.  AST's BBS 
supports modem speeds up to 28.8k bps.  The above file will also be posted on: 

CompuServe 
Go ASTSUPPORT

AST Worldwide Web Site
http://www.ast.com


Release 2.03 of the Premmia Flash BIOS Image supersedes all previous 
releases and provides the following enhancements:


ENHANCEMENTS

BIOS update for new chipset ATI LX HJ.



Production Release: 2.02
Available: May 1994

Revision: A

Release 2.02 of the Premmia Flash BIOS Image supersedes all previous 
releases and provides the following problem resolutions:


PROBLEMS RESOLVED

Windows desktop text distortion.  Display distorted with vertical lines.

Premmia failing TGRAF, a DOS-based application, running 8514 emulation.

Color palette selection under OS/2.  WIN OS/2 causing color palette distortion 
in OS/2 desktop.

Premmia failing to pass Advanced Diagnostics 2.11 when the serial port is 
configured as 2F8h and IRQ3.

Premmia system locks when running computations with Aries software 
(Garrett Intl.).



Production Release  1.04
Available August, 1993

Date: September 1, 1994

Release 1.04 of the Premmia Flash BIOS Image supersedes all previous 
releases and provides the following problem resolutions:


PROBLEMS RESOLVED

Resolved problems with intermittent parity errors under Windows 3.1.

Setting the "Hard Disk Adapter" or "Floppy Disk Adapter" field to add-in, 
without actually adding-in any adapter, would cause the system to report a 
conflict.



Production Release  1.03
Available July, 1993 


Release 1.03 of the Premmia Flash BIOS Image supersedes all previous 
releases and provides the following enhancements:


ENHANCEMENTS

Added a check for hard disk and floppy disk controller conflicts when using 
add-in adapters. 


PROBLEMS RESOLVED

Using the SPEED.EXE utility would not change the current processor speed. 

Resolved a problem entering setup ONLY when an AST Token Ring module 
is installed.

Resolved a problem with drives that utilize read-staging (such as the Conner 
CP30544) which prevents the system from booting to the hard drive.



Production Release 1.02
Available June, 1993

Release 1.02 of the Premmia Flash BIOS provides the following problem 
resolutions:


PROBLEMS RESOLVED

Resolved a problem when using a Pure Data EISA Token Ring adapter 
and switching between DOS sessions under Windows 3.1, the screen would 
go blank and the system would lock.  

Resolved a problem where running ASTSETUP.EXE would cause the system 
to reboot.

Resolved a problem where the parallel port direction would always be set to 
Standard (Output Only). 



Production Release 1.01
Available May, 1993

Release 1.01 of the Premmia Flash BIOS Image supersedes all previous 
releases and provides the following problem resolutions:

PROBLEMS RESOLVED

If the second bank is not populated, the SIMM sizing routine was reporting 
32MB of memory in the unpopulated bank.  This problem was causing LAN 
cards such as AST Ethernet to fail its self test. 

Some mismatch SIMM configurations do not report any error beeps. 

If no passwords exist, Setup is entered with (trusted) user rights, rather than 
administrator rights. 

If the module has an error, the system will not prompt for F1 to continue. 

The add-in ATI Graphics Ultra Pro card does not work. 

The slow speed is causing the system to hang. 

The slow speed was not working at 8MHZ. 

System displays invalid HD parameters in 2nd HD param fields in SETUP, if 
the no 1st HD connected or the 1st drive type is set to NONE.

If an adapter card (AST Ethernode) is used the Adapter ROM's 
message (pass/fail) could not be seen.

If the serial number or asset tag checksums are bad, a 16.12 error number is 
displayed, indicating that an EISA error has occurred, rather than a CMOS 
error. 

The cache test was always displaying 09.09 error code if the cache test fails. 

Setup accepts a 7-char user password when the minimum password length is 
set to 8 characters.