VGA left disabled by BIOS ?

Hi all,

I have bought a second hand "Windows based Terminal" (RWT200 -- see
www.relisys.com for details). Hardwarewise, it' basically a small
form factor, Cyrix MediaGx Cx5510 chipset-based PC with a DiskOnChip
(DOC) replacing the Harddisk, but it also has connectors to attach
a floppy disk and IDE disk. It has a 4.51 Award BIOS and it comes
with a customized Windows CE which it boots off the DOC.

I'm trying to convert this thing into a general-purpose diskless client.

After removing the DOC and attaching a floppy drive, it actually boots
DOS off a floppy disk. I can enter DOS commands, but I don't see
anything on the screen. Instead the screen shows a full-screen Logo
and that's it.

I have been able to dump the BIOS to disk using awdflash.exe and
analyze it off line. Here is what I get from cbrom biosfile /d:

CBROM V2.07 (C)Award Software 2000 All Rights Reserved.

******** relisys.bin BIOS component ********

No. Item-Name Original-Size Compressed-Size Original-File-Name
================================================== ==============================
0. System BIOS 20000h(128.00K) 103B4h(64.93K) 083099cc.BIN
1. XGROUP CODE 03EB0h(15.67K) 02B01h(10.75K) awardext.rom
2. EPA pattern 0168Ch(5.64K) 0030Dh(0.76K) AwardBmp.bmp
3. VGA ROM[1] 08000h(32.00K) 04229h(16.54K) gxivideo.208
4. VSA driver 20000h(128.00K) 06040h(24.06K) CE.VSA
5. LOGO BitMap 2443Ch(145.06K) 00997h(2.40K) 002.bmp

Total compress code space = 303B4h(192.93K)
Total compressed code size = 1DDC2h(119.44K)
Remain compress code space = 125F2h(73.49K)

** Micro Code Information **
Update ID CPUID | Update ID CPUID | Update ID CPUID | Update ID CPUID
------------------+--------------------+--------------------+-------------------

I deleted the "LOGO BitMap" and the "EPA pattern", reflashed the
so-modified BIOS. Now I get the initial Award screen (the one where
it says "Hit DEL to enter setup") instead of the full-screen logo, but
still after that, the screen stays frozen.

I even managed to etherboot into the flash and boot Linux on the thing,
telnetted into the box and took a dump of the VGA video RAM (0xb8000..).
No indication that anything is there! (i.e. I cannot see the Award
messages in Video RAM while they are still showing on the screen).
It seems like the BIOS somehow leaves the VGA disabled.

Interestingly, the dialog of awdflash.exe *does* appear on the screen,
however it looks somewhat garbled.

I'm pretty sure that the "VGA ROM" can't be the cause of the problem,
because I have another similar box from MSI
(see http://www.msi.com.tw/program/produc...ail.php?UID=68)
which has almost identical hardware and an *exactly
identical* VGA BIOS that doesn't show this weird behavior.

So far, I have tried removing/replacing anything in the flash except
for the "System BIOS" and the "XGROUP CODE" (BTW: what is the purpose
of the latter?)

I was even desperate enough to attempt flashing the BIOS from the MSI board
in full, but that failed (Message: "The program file's part number does
not match with your system") although I did an "awdflash biosfile /py".

The BIOS ID is: "08/30/1999-GXm-Cx5530-2A434TN9C-00", the ID of the MSI
board's BIOS is "08/30/1999-GXm-Cx5530-2A434M4AC-00" -- almost identical

(BTW: "TN" seems to denote Teco/Relisys as manufacturer, this is not
yet on the Award Hardware vendor's ID list on the otherwise *very helpful*
"Wim's BIOS" page).

Does anyone have an idea how I could get the VGA enabled?


Thanks in advance for any reponse

Rob

--
Robert Kaiser email: rkaiser AT sysgo DOT com
SYSGO AG http://www.elinos.com
Klein-Winternheim / Germany http://www.sysgo.com

(Robert Kaiser) wrote in
t:

I was even desperate enough to attempt flashing the BIOS from
the MSI board in full, but that failed (Message: "The program
file's part number does not match with your system") although I
did an "awdflash biosfile /py".

try uniflash, but only if you can remove the bios chip in case of a
failture and reflash it in the msi board

Does anyone have an idea how I could get the VGA enabled?

try also the biospatcher, it can repair some ugly bios errors


Pozdrawiam.
--
RusH //
http://kiti.pulse.pdi.net/qv30/
Like ninjas, true hackers are shrouded in secrecy and mystery.
You may never know -- UNTIL IT'S TOO LATE.

In article 0,
RusH writes:
(Robert Kaiser) wrote in
t:

I was even desperate enough to attempt flashing the BIOS from
the MSI board in full, but that failed (Message: "The program
file's part number does not match with your system") although I
did an "awdflash biosfile /py".

try uniflash, but only if you can remove the bios chip in case of a
failture and reflash it in the msi board

Thats the problem: the chip is in a TSOP package, while it is in a
DIP on the MSI board. I even have a prommer, but it also only supports
DIP devices :-(


Does anyone have an idea how I could get the VGA enabled?

try also the biospatcher, it can repair some ugly bios errors

Tried it, but it didn't help.

Thanks anyway.

Cheers

Rob

--
Robert Kaiser email: rkaiser AT sysgo DOT com
SYSGO AG http://www.elinos.com
Klein-Winternheim / Germany http://www.sysgo.com

(Robert Kaiser) wrote in
:

try uniflash, but only if you can remove the bios chip in case
of a failture and reflash it in the msi board

Thats the problem: the chip is in a TSOP package, while it is in
a DIP on the MSI board. I even have a prommer, but it also only
supports DIP devices :-(

get another TSOP board, sis boards use those sockets lately (and many
more) or get ana adaptor .. you even can make one (i did after seeing
them for $10)

Does anyone have an idea how I could get the VGA enabled?

try also the biospatcher, it can repair some ugly bios errors

Tried it, but it didn't help.

ok, there is a trick with awardflash when it says that he doesnt like
the particular file
write awardflash /? and look at the bottom, there should be an
example command line, write it eactly how it is and it will flash
your chip, but remember that its your no return point without a tsop
adapetr: )

mm its something like
AWDFLASH yourbios.bin /py/sn/cd/cp/F

I think the /F switch is the key here.
Pozdrawiam.
--
RusH //
http://kiti.pulse.pdi.net/qv30/
Like ninjas, true hackers are shrouded in secrecy and mystery.
You may never know -- UNTIL IT'S TOO LATE.

In article ,
(Robert Kaiser) writes:

CBROM V2.07 (C)Award Software 2000 All Rights Reserved.

******** relisys.bin BIOS component ********

No. Item-Name Original-Size Compressed-Size Original-File-Name
================================================== ==============================
0. System BIOS 20000h(128.00K) 103B4h(64.93K) 083099cc.BIN
1. XGROUP CODE 03EB0h(15.67K) 02B01h(10.75K) awardext.rom
2. EPA pattern 0168Ch(5.64K) 0030Dh(0.76K) AwardBmp.bmp
3. VGA ROM[1] 08000h(32.00K) 04229h(16.54K) gxivideo.208
4. VSA driver 20000h(128.00K) 06040h(24.06K) CE.VSA
5. LOGO BitMap 2443Ch(145.06K) 00997h(2.40K) 002.bmp


Actually, I'd love to learn what some of these modules are used for.

(I think) I have a pretty good idea what the "System BIOS", the
"VGA ROM[1]", the "EPA pattern" and the "LOGO BitMap" are, but
what are the "VSA driver" and the "XGROUP CODE"? What is their
purpose/relevance, at what point during system boostrap are they
invoked?

Rob

RusH wrote:

try also the biospatcher, it can repair some ugly bios errors

I don't think bp will correct this problem. But you can try to contact
the developer of this useful utility - maybe he can help you (he seems
to know a lot about BIOS).

p