===================================================================== Last Revised AST RESEARCH, INC. SOFTWARE BULLETIN # 0305 07/22/97 ===================================================================== TITLE: Manhattan S6200, CommercePro BIOS v3.90 FILENAME(S) / PART NUMBER(S) / DESCRIPTION(S): 05573039.EXE / 905573-039 Manhattan S6200, CommercePro BIOS v3.90 SUMMARY File 05573039.EXE contains version 3.90, disk 1 of 1, of the Manhattan S6200 and Commerce Pro system BIOS. This update applies to the following systems ONLY: 501832 and 503076. RESOLUTIONS Version 3.90 contains the following problem resolutions: Previous BIOS versions did not allow EISA devices with embedded BIOS (such as SCSI controllers) to take control of the system in order to initialize the EISA device. As a result, the device was not able to function because the embedded BIOS could not load. This problem has been fixed in this release. ENHANCEMENTS N/A PREVIOUS RELEASE(S) Previous releases of the Manhattan S Series System BIOS include the following resolutions and enhancements: --------------------------------------------------------- Release 3.80 Date: 4/29/97 Resolved the system hang condition that occurred if the keyboard keys were pressed during boot. Increased the length of time that the Automatic Server Reboot (ASR) mechanism uses to determine that the system is hung and that it needs to be reset. The counter was set to four seconds before, and now it is set to eight seconds. This was done to prevent false hung conditions that were sometimes caused by SCSI controller drivers that took longer than four seconds to initialize. Added a BIOS flash file part number field in the BIOS that will allow manufacturing to determine what BIOS flash file corresponds to that system. ------------------------------------------------------- Release 3.60 Date: 4/1/97 This release will allow the Manhattan S6200 and Commerce Pro server to support the new version of the Intel Pentium Pro processors. The stepping of the new processors is known as B1. -------------------------------------------------------- Release: 3.50 Date: 12/2/96 * This release contains a new feature that allows the user to designate interrupt numbers for exclusive use by ISA and EISA devices. The remaining interrupts are then available for assignment to PCI devices. ------------------------------------------------------ Release: 3.31 Date: 9/5/96 * This BIOS fixes a problem with earlier releases and has to do with support for virtual wire mode in Novell Netware 4.1 SMP. The platform specific module ASTPSM.NLM causes the system to hang if there is only one P6 in the system and the virtual wire mode setting in BIOS is set at I/O APIC. The BIOS has been fixed and the hang condition no longer occurs. This fix requires the use of a new version of the file ASTPSM.NLM. ------------------------------------------------------ Release: 3.20 Date: 7/17/96 * The BIOS is now compliant to the year 2000 specification. This means that the real time clock will be able to update the date correctly at the end of the century, from 12-31-1999 to 1-1-2000. * The code for the INT15 routine has been modified to allow the system BIOS to be updated with new Pentium Pro BIOS update files. The BIOS now has update files preloaded for SA0 and SA1 steppings of the P6. The INT15 routine will make it possible to load new update files for future steppings of the P6. ------------------------------------------------------ Release: 3.00 Date: 6/4/96 * A new option has been added to the CHIPSET menu. The option is labeled "Virtual Wire Mode via". The two choices available are "I/O APIC" and "Loc APIC". Loc is short for Local. When loading OPTIMAL settings this field defaults to "I/O APIC". ------------------------------------------------------ Release: 2.90 Date: 05/13/1996 * The ASR Option is now enabled by default for both Optimal and FailSafe options under Chipset setup. * The Adapter BIOS Shadow Cacheable option under Advanced Setup now allows the settings below it to be controlled individually. * The Adapter BIOS Shadow Cacheable option under Advanced Setup is disabled by default when choosing the Optimal or FailSafe options under Chipset setup. * The In-Order Queue Depth option has been removed permanently from the Chipset setup. NOTES N/A For information on installing this update, please view the README.TXT file that accompanies the update. You can download this file from the following services: AST WWW Site: http://www.ast.com AST On-Line! BBS*: See IB0001.TXT CompuServe: GO: ASTFORUM Prodigy: JUMP: ASTSUPPORT * Refer to IB0001.TXT for a list of AST's international BBS numbers. To decompress this file, create a temporary directory on your hard drive, copy the downloaded file to that directory, and run the file. TAN 001637RF, 002013AO, 001915ML --------------------------------------------------------------------- The information in this data sheet is subject to change without notice. AST Research, Inc. shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein; nor for incidental or consequential damages resulting from the furnishing, performance, or use of this material. This material contains information protected by copyright. No part of this material may be reproduced in any form without prior written consent from AST Research, Inc. All rights reserved. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Template Rev 02