======================================================================= AST RESEARCH, INC. SOFTWARE BULLETIN # 0164C 10-21-94 ======================================================================= PREMMIA LX P/60, ADVANTAGE! EXP FLASH BIOS Production Release: 1.11 Available: October, 1994 Part Number: 905537-034 3.5" diskette 1 of 1 Revision: A Systems Affected: 501288-00X using BIOS V 1.06 and earlier. This is an updated version of the Premmia LX 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. Release 1.11 of the Premmia Flash BIOS Image supersedes all previous releases and provides the following problem resolutions: PROBLEMS RESOLVED: - Fixed the problem of the DPT 2021 ISA SCSI controller not initializing when performing a warm boot. - Removed several second "holes" in POST that would cause a CMOS checksum error if the front panel reset was hit. - Disabled CPU to DRAM read around bit in PCMC (Reg 53 bit 3=0). Setting the bit caused network ABEND errors. - Fixed the problem where a "4" appeared intermittently in the keyboard buffer after boot. - Fixed the problem where the ICU would not run. - Fixed the problem where the "PCI IDE Interface" Setup entry would disappear if it had been disabled during the previous Setup session. ENHANCEMENTS: - Changes to SETUP utility: 1. European languages have day, month, year. English has year, day, month. 2. Months are 3 letter abbreviations. Spanish and Italian abbreviations were guessed at. 3. Additional help messages added. - Added new ATI Mach32 video BIOS. - COM4 (2E8H) is eliminated as a serial port option if ATI video is detected and active. - Added new, more friendly, user interface. Layered interface functions more like standard applications with better screen layout for easy viewing. Like functions are grouped onto screens or menus for easier configuration. - Added On-line help available for most setup fields. - Added administrative password function which allows all but Time/Date and User Password selections to be modified only by the system administrator. - Added new screen layout which allows more descriptive field text. - Added new screen layout to permit field and option text to be translated without having to use cryptic abbreviations. - Both User and Administrative passwords are available. - Passwords have been extended to seven(7) characters instead of the current six(6). - Multi-language support is now available. - OEMs and users will be able to flash language sets into the BIOS and configure which language is used through Setup. The current plan is for language pairs consisting of: English(US)/German(GR), English(US)/Italian(IT), English(US)/French(FR), and English(US)/Spanish(SP). - Depending upon the size of the FLASH device used for a particular product, up to 32 languages may be present at one time in the BIOS. - User definable parameters are available on a per drive basis. This means each of the four drives may have unique user defined parameters. - The DMA selection (Auto-Configured or Disabled) may be set on a per drive basis. (Removed the ability to select the DMA transfer mode.) - The Sector/Block selection (Auto-Configured, 8 Sectors/Block, 4 Sectors/Block, or Disabled) for multiple sector transfers may be set on a per drive basis. (Removed the ability for finer resolution of Sector/Block size.) - Added the ability to disable fast PIO modes. This selection (Auto-Configured or Disabled) may be set on a per drive basis. - The Translation selection (Auto-Configured, Logical Block Addressing, Extended Cylinder/Head/Sector or Standard Cylinder/Head/Sector) may be set on a per drive basis. - A Hard Disk Pre-Delay has been added to the Boot Options screen. This option sets a fixed amount of time to wait in POST before attempting to initialize any of the hard disks. This delay occurs only once before calling the hard disk initialization code. Because POST is so fast on this version of BIOS, many drives have not finished their power on self-test routines by the time the BIOS reaches its hard disk initialization code. For certain drives, if the BIOS attempts to query the drive before it has finished its self-test, the drive may hang. In an attempt to accommodate a user with one of these drives this option has been made available. (This option is available on some current products.) - Plug and Play version 1.2 will be supported in the Phase II BIOS. - Added Advanced Power Management to support both the APM 1.0 and 1.1 specifications. - Standby and Suspend are handled as like events allowing power down from OS/2 Control Panel. - Critical 1.1 calls are allowed even if the OS connects as 1.0. This allows POWER.EXE to run in 1.0 while a custom Windows driver takes advantage of full 1.1 compatibility. - Added new Int 15h Extensions for Extended Memory and Memory Map. - Added function E801 to report the amount of contiguous memory above 1Mb. - Added function E820 to report a full memory map of the system. This function is used by Windows version 4 and newer versions of Windows NT. - Added a setup field to enable/disable Byte Merging on PCI. This feature enhances performance but may break some PCI graphics cards. NOTE: You must clear CMOS after upgrading the BIOS to eliminate a checksum error. Production Release: 1.10 Available: May 1994 Part Number: 905537-033 3.5" diskette 1 of 1 Revision: A Reference: PR #s 100188 , 100080, 100318 Systems Affected: 501288-00X using BIOS V 1.06 and earlier. Release 1.10 of the Premmia Flash BIOS Image supersedes all previous releases and provides the following problem resolutions: PROBLEM RESOLVED: - Fixed corruption of the AST logo during the scan of option ROMS. ENHANCEMENTS: - Added support for SIO.G. - Added IDE LBA translation support. - Added ECHS IDE translation support. - Added IDE PIO MODE 3 support. - Added new ATI video BIOS. Date: April 6, 1994 Production Release: 1.08 Available: March 1994 Part Number: 905537-032 3.5" diskette 1 of 1 Revision: A Systems Affected: 501288-00X and 501289-00X using BIOS V 1.06 and earlier. PROBLEMS RESOLVED: - Problem 1 The Premmia LX system crashes after installing Windows NT while using an IDE Drive attached to an integrated IDE controller on the system board. When installing Windows NT the system copies all the needed files to the hard drive. After installation the system reboots. When it does, the Windows NT Loader tries to load. The system crashes and displays the error message: **STOP:0X0000007B INACCESSIBLE BOOT DEVICE - Problem 2 Keyboard error and two beeps during system boot. - Both problems can be solved with Flash BIOS Version 1.08 from the AST BBS. The filename is PRMLX108.EXE. - The following steps should be followed to create the BIOS update diskette. 1. Format a 1.44MB 3.5" floppy disk as a bootable system disk. Label it as "PREMMIA LX BIOS 1.08". 2. Copy the attached PRMLX108.EXE file to the PREMMIA LX BIOS 1.08 newly formatted disk. 3. Execute the program PRMLX108.EXE on the floppy disk; this will extract the necessary files. The following steps should be followed to update the BIOS on an operational Premmia LX system: 1. Insert the Premmia LX BIOS 1.08 disk into the floppy drive and boot. You will see a blue screen titled "FLASH Memory Update Utility Version 3.0". Press ENTER to continue. 2. Use the arrow keys to position the highlighted bar to the line "Update FLASH Memory Area from a File". Press ENTER to continue. 3. Press ENTER to continue. Select "Update System BIOS". 4. Tab once to highlight the file name "1008AU0Q.BIO". Press ENTER to continue. 5. The "Verify Image" screen appears. Press ENTER to continue. 6. The data on the verification screen should be: Data Image Title: AST Release 8.0 Timestamp: 01/17/94-14:04 BIOS Reserved String: 1.00.08.AU0Q 7. Take the floppy disk out of the drive. Press ENTER to continue. This will reboot the system. 8. After the reboot, verify that the POST screen shows "AST BIOS Release 1.08".