In article .com,
"tilimil" wrote:
I have spent the last three months trying to get Asus to fix a bug in
their Silicon 3112 SATA controller on the A7N8X motherboard. I have
spent countless hours on hold waiting to talk to technicians who never
seem to have any answers or ability to escalate. They just pass me
around to voice mails and then never call me back. I left repeated
voice mails for their supervisors asking for my issue to be escalated
to engineering and fixed and have never received a call back. I called
and begged customer service to help and they tell me they will have
"their guy" call me back but he never called me back either. In the
end, I am stuck with a motherboard that won't work with my hard drives
due to a bug in their SATA controller and they knnow it but won't fix
it because I am not a big reseller. Other customers are havinng this
issue as well. See
http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/cont...pic/14811/?o=0.
So be warned, ASUS makes products that perform well but don't expect
any technical support if you get in a bind.
I think I am going to start a web page detailing the horrid Asus
tehnical support and post it on slashdot. If you have had any similar
issues and would like to contribute content please email me at
tilimil AT hotmail.com
The Silicon Image database is here. It is a PITA, due to the use
of cookies in their URLs. That is why, even if I posted a URL, and
you picked up my URL two hours from now, the URL would be invalid,
and I think the IP address is hashed into the cookie. Thus, you have
to bore down and find the SIL3112 info on the database yourself. I
have quoted the text I found, for your convenience.
http://12.24.47.40/display/2/index.asp
************
SiI3112A: nForce Data Corruption
Data corruption problems can occur with nForce-based motherboards such as
the Asus A7N8X when multiple hard drives are attached to the SATA
controller. This problem is related to an issue with the PCI controller
in the nVidia chipset and can be fixed with a system BIOS update.
For the latest BIOS updates for your nForce motherboard that fixes
the data corruption problem, please visit the website of your
motherboard maker for the appropriate BIOS and flash utilities.
Silicon Image cannot provide the solution to this issue since it
involves a change to the system BIOS settings on the motherboard.
There were no revisions made to the drivers for the SiI3112A so
you may use the latest version posted on this website. Please
check the Related Articles link on the lower right.
Links to a few motherboard download sites are below:
Asus
Abit
Leadtek
Comments/Special Instructions:
Please get the system BIOS update from your respective motherboard manufacturer.
************
SiI3x12: Serial ATA (SATA) RAID/IDE BIOS - Released
The latest BIOS files for the SiI3x12 can be downloaded from the
links on the right. Both the RAID and IDE BIOS are contained in
the zip file. The rXXXX.bin file is the RAID BIOS and the bXXXX.bin
file is the IDE BIOS.
The third XXXX.bin file which has no letter in front of it is an
abbreviated BIOS intended for use by OEMs for integration into
system/motherboard BIOS. It is not intended for use by end-users.
Do NOT flash this file into an add-in card BIOS.
NOTE: BIOS version 4.2.xx is for the SiI3112A, while BIOS version
4.3.xx is for the SiI3512. Older versions of the SiI3112A BIOS
(4.1.35, 4.1.50), are also provided for reference.
Please go to the related articles link on the lower right for the
latest version of our BIOS flash utilities.
Comments/Special Instructions:
The BIOS files attached here are intended for use with ADD-IN cards,
not motherboards. To get the latest SiI3x12 BIOS for your
motherboard, please go to your motherboard manufacturer's website
for updates.
For the SiI3x12A, the IDE and RAID BIOS are the same size so you
should be able to use the same EPROM or Flash BIOS without a problem.
However, please note that the attached Flash utility will only work
with cards with Flash-based BIOS. EPROM-based BIOS will need to be
upgraded using and EEPROM programmer.
Changes in bios revision 4347 include:
1) Change init raid parameter to run code to fix AMI EBDA issue
and remove the "imcompleted raid set" message
2) Zero Bar5 address 0x014c and 0x1cc bit0 and bit1 for 3512
3) Change BIOS display for Sync and rebuild status.
4)Change the copyright year from 2003 to 2004 and remove smart
self test.
5)Change PIO data read handling and release the EPAD version of
3512 as public download and no-EPAD version as internal use.
Changes in 3112 bios revision 4250 include:
1) Address Identify data problem when more than single sector issue
2) Properly set watch dog timer
3) Change the HD size display when used in conjunction with the 3726
4) Change the drive size displayed in BIOS RAID GUI display correct
drive size
************
From the sidebar
Article Number 10443
Last Reviewed:
9/20/2004
Print Article
Attachments
3512_x86_ribios-4347.zip
3112_x86_ribios-4250.zip --- 4.2.50 06/25/2004
*************
Here is the current Asus BIOS situation:
If you download an Asus BIOS, unzip, load the .bin file
into a hex editor, then look for instances of "lh5" ascii
in the file, you'll find the module names inside the
BIOS. The SIL3112 RAID module is a four digit file name
like "4150" etc. This is what I found for A7N8X Deluxe
and A7N8X-E Deluxe (A7N8X has no SIL3112 and no module).
A7N8X_Deluxe_106_AN8D1009 Silicon Image RAID 4247
http://www.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/mb/s...e/AN8D1009.zip
A7N8X_Deluxe_2.0_c1005d02 Silicon Image RAID 4150
http://www.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/mb/s...e/c1005d02.zip
A7N8X-E_C18E1013 Silicon Image RAID 4247
http://www.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/mb/s...e/C18E1013.zip
No Asus BIOS contains 4250 that I can see. It is possible 4247
fixes the "imcomplete RAID set" error, but the release notes
above mention 4347, and I somehow doubt the two release
streams are synchronized.
If you wish to live on the bleeding edge, go here and search for
"A7N8X" and "4250". There is a good group of BIOS hackers here,
and they fix up Asus and other BIOS, to solve some of these problems.
http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/search.php
Click the "search for all terms" button. The search should return
just five links currently. The second link looks interesting:
Forum Topics Last Post*
ASUS "HOW TO ENABLE EMS SUPPORT ON A7N8X BASED BOARDS"
Nov 30, 2004 12:39 am
ASUS "A7N8X-D Rev.2.0 1008 with sata 4.2.50 by trats and RedDwarf!"
Nov 21, 2004 4:07 am
ASUS "A7N8X Deluxe Samsung SATA drive playdead"
Nov 17, 2004 6:29 am
ASUS "New BIOS for A7N8X Deluxe rev2.0 1008 and A7N8X rev2.0 1010"
Oct 22, 2004 8:29 am
ASUS "A7N8X Deluxe BIOS 1009 rev 1.0x über here!"
Oct 10, 2004 1:56 am
That should give you something to research. I am using
a Trats BIOS now, and it works OK.
As for the Microsoft end of things, the cache flushing issues,
these issues have existed for years, and I doubt I could find
as much on the issue, as is listed in the thread you posted.
If you were to do anything, it would be to encourage Asus to
continue to put the latest issued RAID BIOS module into their
BIOS files, as that is the only way for a normal end user to
get whatever fixes are available. The fact that SIL knows about
the "incomplete RAID set", means the problem had been reported
some time ago.
HTH,
Paul