First - I know what you did works - because I have been using your bios for over a year.
Second - I have to confess my techy skills fall short with what you are able to do, so please forgive me if this request is a waste of your time and simply un-necassery.
Since your last adapted bios there are new drivers for the 3x12 (v1.1.0.52) and a new bios for the 7N400 Pro2 (FK).
Please could you work your magic again so that I can use the latest driver?
If you think this isnt worth doing please say, and I will fully understand.
As a subnote - i read through all 13 pages of replies to your original 2004 post. I am now confusing myself between my motherboard bios, the driver I need to use with the bios - and wether i need to do anything to the SATA bios on my motherboard. I was simply going to use your adapted (if you can provide) FK bios with the 1.1.0.52 drivers. If i need to flash my Sata bios too please let me know, and I am sure i can figure it out as long as I know I need to do it. Cheers again!
As a note to volvoben - maybe try booting the machine with the SATA drives powered but not connected by SATA cord. The test is to see if your computer can not power this many devices. If it fails with all the drives powered but not plugged into the sata controller, then maybe it is your power supply unit that needs changing? Sorry I am not techy enough to help on your problem if it is software releated.
First of all, thx for this forum. I should have read it earlier
I have an Epox 8RDA3+ Mobo with latest bios and 4.2.27 Sil3112 bios version. I bought a Maxtor SATA DiamondMax Plus 10 200GB (6L200MO) which worked fine for 1 week: detected flawless by Sil3112 (embedded), installed Win XP Pro with no problems while partitioning/formatting. After the 1st week the system started to freeze while the HDD was making some strange noise (like reapeated power ups). I run PowerMax 4.22 which diagnosed the HDD as defect. So I went to the store to replace it. At the store they performed a full stress test on it. The HDD passed it with no problems :|. But they still replaced it. The new drive worked fine for 2 weeks. Now i have the same problem: XP starts booting and then a blue screen appears. The error is 0x00000024 which appears also when i boot from my ATA drive with the SATA MAxtor connected. It sais smth about the ntfs.sys driver. I tried to solve the problem using the instructions on the MS site related to this error. But before the winxp repair console to load i get the same error. I tried to boot the system form another SATA HDD (SeagateBarracuda 7200.7 120GB) and it works just fine. I tried to upgrage SIL3112 bios (from the driver tab and also with the updflash utility): no success . (running on coffee now ... 27h uptime and i'm desperate ). TMod's website seems to be on the move ... (
Please help. Thx!
After my last thanks for this post, I thought everything was sorted.
I have upgraded to two Raptor 74GB drives that I wanted to strip.
Again problems emerged when the Raptors were set to strip (or mirror) and I wanted to then install on the "stripped" drive.
My windows CD would not recognise this array, (or the previous WD 160G mirrored array), but only see individual drives. This is wierd, as I am sure it worked before.
After some further research (which brought me back here) I found the following (and also repeating what others have said).
Check the bios version and driver version are the same - I can verify that using the wrong drivers on a floppy to the bios version will not allow you to recognise the drives correctly.
Change WinXP disk - I have many disks - and the one I was using seems to be without the right driver (?)
I am going to see if I can ask nicely on the other board RE modded bios to see if I can ask for a bios including the new 1.1.052 driver and the latest release bios. If you have a 7n400 Pro2 rev2 may want to see if i get a reply.
First - I know what you did works - because I have been using your bios for over a year.
Second - I have to confess my techy skills fall short with what you are able to do, so please forgive me if this request is a waste of your time and simply un-necassery.
Since your last adapted bios there are new drivers for the 3x12 (v1.1.0.52) and a new bios for the 7N400 Pro2 (FK).
Please could you work your magic again so that I can use the latest driver?
If you think this isnt worth doing please say, and I will fully understand.
As a subnote - i read through all 13 pages of replies to your original 2004 post. I am now confusing myself between my motherboard bios, the driver I need to use with the bios - and wether i need to do anything to the SATA bios on my motherboard. I was simply going to use your adapted (if you can provide) FK bios with the 1.1.0.52 drivers. If i need to flash my Sata bios too please let me know, and I am sure i can figure it out as long as I know I need to do it. Cheers again!
Your motherboard BIOS contains the SATA controller BIOS for your 3512 controller. You can use whatever driver versions you like as long as they correspond with the mode your controller is set to run in. If you're running the controller in BASE mode you use the IDE version of the driver (e.g. 3x12 SATA IDE Windows Controller Driver v1.3.63.0) and if you're using the controller in RAID mode (as you should be regardless of whether you're using RAID or a single disk) you use the RAID version of the driver (e.g. 3x12 SATA RAID Windows Controller Driver v1.0.0.53, or the one from Microsoft Update carrying the version number v1.0.56.0.)
The v1.1.0.52 drivers are old IDE drivers and will not work with your controller when using RAID (or in RAID mode rather). You should be using the RAID version of your controller driver. There are two different types of drivers for your controller, an IDE version and a RAID version. As I've just indicated, the IDE version should only be used when the controller is in BASE mode (i.e. the controller BIOS dialogue doesn't show up on POST) and the RAID version of the driver should be used when running controller in RAID mode (essentially when the controller is fully enabled).
However, within those rules, even though it is recommended that you use the latest controller BIOS version and the latest driver version, it is not essential for you to have the latest version of both. You just need to be using the correct driver type (not version) e.g. IDE or RAID.
Now, to your problem...
1) Flash the attached BIOS for your motherboard (GA-7n400pro2[rev2.x] vFK modded with the latest SI3512 controller BIOS v4347).
2) Download these drivers: http://www.short-media.com/download.php?d=528 (3x12 SATA RAID Windows Controller Driver v1.0.0.53)
3) Extract the contents of the .zip file straight to a freshly formatted floppy disk.
4) In your motherboard BIOS (CMOS) make sure your controller is enabled and set to RAID mode (not BASE).
5) Upon POST (when your computer initially starts up) enter the SATA 3512 RAID controller BIOS and setup your RAID 0 array (striping). (Obviously make sure both your SATA hard drives are plugged in and have power.)
6) In your motherboard BIOS (CMOS) make sure CDROM is your first boot, in your boot order, and your RAID controller is second.
7) Insert your floppy disk (with the drivers on)
7) Run your Windows XP installation CD from POST.
8) At the very start of the installation press F6.
9) When prompted choose the Windows XP driver version.
10) You should then be prompted to partition and format your RAID array.
To sum up, I think the only problem you were having was that you were trying to use the IDE driver when you should have been using the RAID driver.
Let me know how you get on. Use the attached BIOS at your own risk.
Hi guys, I have problem with updating silicon image 3112A BIOS on giga-byte 8INXP motherboard, and I have no idea how to combine motherboard BIOS and Silicon BIOS. Can anyone help me?
Also having problems with the 8rda3+. I've had one sata diamondmax10 160 gb running fine for months. Now I've added a second one (not in raid or anything) and the darn controller only recognizes it once in a while and wont format it at all.
I downloaded one of the BIOSes from here. Specifically, the one for Gigabyte 7N400 Pro2 Rev2, with BIOS version FK.
I updated my BIOS using this modded version of FK from here and I have good news and bad news.
Good news:
- fixed my SATA HDD problem of "Delayed Write Failed"
Bad news:
- my overclock of Athlon XP-M @ 205x11.5 (2358Mhz) isn't stable anymore
Is there any way I could incorporate this new SATA BIOS into the 7N400 Pro2 Rev2 BIOS FD (instead of FK), because I was using FD before and my overclock was stable. Thanks in advance.
I'm not sure how to attack, but this is the BIOS I'm talking about (FD version).
It is possible, although your settings were fine before, that now a single component is not liking the 205mhz part of your overclock.
I overclock athlon 2500's. But i have problems overclocking them by increasing the FSB by 5mhz. I think this is because other things link into this FSB.
To explain what i am talking about an example - increasing the FSB to 203
FSB linked to AGP and PCI
Therefore instread of
200:66:33
It is now
203:68:34
These arent always linked, it depends on the motherboard.
What I worked out was that this raise could make an AGP or PCI card flip out. It may also be linked to the memory speed, and that can cause problems.
My 2500 overclocks from 166mhz to 200mhz. But I cant run it at 170mhz without something causing a system hang. I believe that is because of the above equation.
Additionally I never found much performance boost from the 5mhz increase (while it didnt hang). it is the major boost from 166mhz to 200mhz that increases the L1 cache, L2 cache and memory speed. The knock on here was very large.
Does this make any sense at all?
Apologies if you knew this already.
I have installed a Maxtor SATA-2 6V250F0 hdd with jumper set for 1.5Gbs, I suffer the slow copy and eventual hang under Win XP making the system unusable with the single sata drive installed as BASE and two x IDE drives also as Base on the GigaRaid connectors.
How do you create the slip-streamed bios? Would I be able to do it myself without any special software?
If customers have special hardware and BIOS related questions, then nearly all mainboard manufacturer and their technical support teams
+ do not know anything abrubtly
+ can not / want not help suddenly
+ act the fool / play possum
It is a really curious phenomenon.
Well, the differnece between version "FK" and "FKa" is the new added Silicon Image BIOS version 4.3.47.
It is just sad, how slowly and stupid some mainboard technical support teams are.
Hey!!! Gigabyte technical support team!!! There is already version 4.3.76
I overclock athlon 2500's. But i have problems overclocking them by increasing the FSB by 5mhz. I think this is because other things link into this FSB.
To explain what i am talking about an example - increasing the FSB to 203
FSB linked to AGP and PCI
Therefore instread of
200:66:33
It is now
203:68:34
These arent always linked, it depends on the motherboard.
Just to clarify on this. My motherboard supports independent FSB and AGP/PCI clock. I've been using the AGP/PCI at 66/33 for over 2 years since I've had the overclock at 205. Also, the FK bios wouldn't boot at 200 either.
There is something with the BIOS FD that my cpu/mobo combo likes. For example, back a long time ago (2 years ago) I updated my BIOS to "FE" from FD, and the 205x11.5 overclock didn't work. The FK bios doesn't work with this overclock either. FD does. And it IS stable since I've been using it for over 2 years now without chaning videocard/soundcard or memory. You'd think something would go wrong in these 2 years if it wasn't. And my computer crashes very very rarely.
Anyway, I'm just happy that the borg one posted the FD bios version with the newest SATA bios since my overclock still works fine and my HDD problems are gone.
Hello everyone
I have an Asus P4G8X Deluxe MB and I think I'm using the wrong driver for the Silicon Image SATA controller. My motherboard died (under warranty) and I had to reload the SATA drivers. I paused during reboot and it said Sil3112a ver. 4.2.24 and i see the new one is 4250. I will update.
Hello everyone
I have an Asus P4G8X Deluxe MB and I think I'm using the wrong driver for the Silicon Image SATA controller. My motherboard died (under warranty) and I had to reload the SATA drivers. The driver says Sil3112 with no "a" after it. --driver ver. 1.0.56.1 / driver date 3-14-2006-- I paused during reboot and it said Sil3112a ver. 4.2.24
What should I use?
The "a" doesn't matter, you are using the correct driver.
Found this thread/forum searching the internet...and it seems like a great place!
My problem:
Gigabyte GA-7VAXP Ultra board. I just bought a WD Cavier SE16 SATA drive. Currently the system is up and running in WinXP, with 2 IDE drives. Trying to get this SATA drive to work, but to no avail.
While reading through this thread, I found the modded bios for my board(F7) with the SIL3112 update. I flashed that to my bios, but it didn't seem to completely fix the problem. I certainly helped a bit, as the board recognizes the drive *more* often. But doesn't seem to work all the time, and it hangs when trying to load windows.
The goal here, is to get the SATA up and do a fresh install of XP on it, and transfer programs over from the IDE. I don't really need more than the 250GB SATA drive.
I have a Gigabyte GA-7N400 Pro2(Rev 1.x) F11 Bios. Mine is Stock! Has anyone ever intergraded ITE Tech IT8212 bios updates is there a link or download for it. I only see updates for the rev2 of this motherboard.
for the Current GA-7N400 Pro2(Rev 1.x) ITE Tech inc. v1.41
Gigabyte never intergrated ITE updates!
On ITE Tech. Inc. website (IT8212)
<For PCI Card> these are updated up to these versions now. Can these be intergraded into the rev1 F11 bios or Not?
RAID BIOS (for RAID, IDE) v1.7.1.94
ATAPI BIOS (for ATAPI device) v1.7.1.59 12
Controller bios updates
Can anyone make me an updated F11 (Rev 1.x) bios with these updates Please and or any other mods that are working for this type of motherboard would also be great. If Anyone is able to Help Please send to matrix@gainbroadband.com
PS: I would like to thank anyone for the help of an updated bios mod
Hello
I've just got an Adaptec 1210SA Serial ATA RAID PCI card, with a Silicon Image Sil3112A chipset.
I've read some comments of people reflashing their adapters with Silicon Image official BIOS and then using official drivers. A month ago I was using an Asus A7N8X motherboard with exactly the same Sil3112A chipset integrated on board, but its BIOS was completely different and its boot initialization was faster. I guess it was an official Silicon Image BIOS since I could use official drivers.
Has anyone reflashed a 1210SA succesfully? Are there real advantages? (I don't use RAID, just a single 300GB drive connected)
In the meantime I've booted from DOS and tried the UPDFLASH from SI, at least to see if it detects the chipset and the flash IC. But it fails with this message:
Use PCI BIOS to scan
No controller found
Current PCI Vendor ID is 1095 and Device ID is 0240 (instead of usual 3112). Flash memory IC is a ST M29W010B (same as M29F010B but "low power").
Thanks for the answer. I was about to reply that my UPDFLASH.EXE doesn't have that "-BOARDxxxx" and "-u" options, but now I've re-checked Silicon Image website and I've seen that last month they released a new version of UpdFlash (3.35) with those command-line options and with explicit support for my Flash IC.
However, this new version throws exactly the same error message. I think it doesn't like the different PCI Device ID of my Adaptec card (0240h).
Then I've tried UniFlash. OK, using -PCIROM option with the proper Bus-Device-Function numbers and it has worked fine. The boot initialization messages from Adaptec have disappeared. However, the re-flash hasn't changed the PCI Device ID, which is still 0240h instead of the needed 3112h in order to use Silicon Image drivers, so once under Windows nothing has changed. I've looked at the BIOS file and it contains the values 1095h and 3112h at the beginning, but seems this doesn't affect the IDs reported by the card on boot initialization and PnP enumeration.
I've looked at the card (phisically) and I'm afraid this will depend on the contents of a 2K EEPROM IC 24WC02J. The card just has the main SiI3112A IC, the Flash IC and that EEPROM, so it MUST be that. Any ideas on how to modify this data?
Oddly enough I've been unable to find the SiI3112A datasheet at SI website, but I've read the ones for SiI3132 and SiI3512. I think this is the answer:
"The SiI3132 supports an external Flash and/or EEPROM device for BIOS extensions and user-defined PCI configuration header data."
When SiI3112A initializes, it reads the PCI Configuration (Vendor ID, Device ID and Subsystem ID) from the highest Flash memory addresses. But it also supports an EEPROM for the same purpose, and then the document says:
"If both Flash and EEPROM are installed, the PCI Configuration Space registers will be loaded with the EEPROM’s data."
Then my solution will be to somehow disable the EEPROM IC. Or maybe the cleanest solution is just desolder it from the PCB. Any advice is welcome.
Oddly enough I've been unable to find the SiI3112A datasheet at SI website, but I've read the ones for SiI3132 and SiI3512. I think this is the answer:
"The SiI3132 supports an external Flash and/or EEPROM device for BIOS extensions and user-defined PCI configuration header data."
When SiI3112A initializes, it reads the PCI Configuration (Vendor ID, Device ID and Subsystem ID) from the highest Flash memory addresses. But it also supports an EEPROM for the same purpose, and then the document says:
"If both Flash and EEPROM are installed, the PCI Configuration Space registers will be loaded with the EEPROM’s data."
Then my solution will be to somehow disable the EEPROM IC. Or maybe the cleanest solution is just desolder it from the PCB. Any advice is welcome.
It's unusual. It sounds like that IC is working like a bootblock for the Flash memory.
Two *suggestions*
Try reloading the ESCD / clearing CMOS on the motherboard, it might 'refresh' the boot table. Unlikely to work, in my opinion, but worth a shot, just to see.
Can you not 'hack' the driver and change the instances where it refers to 3112 and replace it with 0240? Less invasive, some chance of success.
Desoldering the IC from the PCB may make the card useless. Zero-ing the IC with a dummy 'zero' value binary may have the same effect, but if it can be done, it can be undone. If Uniflash supports that EEPROM, use a hex editor to create a 2k zero value file then upload it into the IC.
Comments
First - I know what you did works - because I have been using your bios for over a year.
Second - I have to confess my techy skills fall short with what you are able to do, so please forgive me if this request is a waste of your time and simply un-necassery.
Since your last adapted bios there are new drivers for the 3x12 (v1.1.0.52) and a new bios for the 7N400 Pro2 (FK).
Please could you work your magic again so that I can use the latest driver?
If you think this isnt worth doing please say, and I will fully understand.
Links
Bios for 7N400 Pro2
http://www.giga-byte.co.uk/Support/Motherboard/BIOS_Model.aspx?ProductID=1756
Direct link for latest bios (download)
http://www.giga-byte.co.uk/Support/Motherboard/BIOS_DownloadFile.aspx?FileType=BIOS&FileID=11307
Drivers for 7N400 Pro2
http://www.giga-byte.co.uk/Support/motherboard/Driver_Model.aspx?ClassValue=motherboard&ProductID=1756&ProductName=GA-7N400%20Pro2
Direct link for latest 3x12 driver (download)
http://www.giga-byte.co.uk/Support/Motherboard/Driver_DownloadFile.aspx?FileType=Driver&FileID=909
As a subnote - i read through all 13 pages of replies to your original 2004 post. I am now confusing myself between my motherboard bios, the driver I need to use with the bios - and wether i need to do anything to the SATA bios on my motherboard. I was simply going to use your adapted (if you can provide) FK bios with the 1.1.0.52 drivers. If i need to flash my Sata bios too please let me know, and I am sure i can figure it out as long as I know I need to do it. Cheers again!
First of all, thx for this forum. I should have read it earlier
I have an Epox 8RDA3+ Mobo with latest bios and 4.2.27 Sil3112 bios version. I bought a Maxtor SATA DiamondMax Plus 10 200GB (6L200MO) which worked fine for 1 week: detected flawless by Sil3112 (embedded), installed Win XP Pro with no problems while partitioning/formatting. After the 1st week the system started to freeze while the HDD was making some strange noise (like reapeated power ups). I run PowerMax 4.22 which diagnosed the HDD as defect. So I went to the store to replace it. At the store they performed a full stress test on it. The HDD passed it with no problems :|. But they still replaced it. The new drive worked fine for 2 weeks. Now i have the same problem: XP starts booting and then a blue screen appears. The error is 0x00000024 which appears also when i boot from my ATA drive with the SATA MAxtor connected. It sais smth about the ntfs.sys driver. I tried to solve the problem using the instructions on the MS site related to this error. But before the winxp repair console to load i get the same error. I tried to boot the system form another SATA HDD (SeagateBarracuda 7200.7 120GB) and it works just fine. I tried to upgrage SIL3112 bios (from the driver tab and also with the updflash utility): no success
Please help. Thx!
Your motherboard BIOS contains the SATA controller BIOS for your 3512 controller. You can use whatever driver versions you like as long as they correspond with the mode your controller is set to run in. If you're running the controller in BASE mode you use the IDE version of the driver (e.g. 3x12 SATA IDE Windows Controller Driver v1.3.63.0) and if you're using the controller in RAID mode (as you should be regardless of whether you're using RAID or a single disk) you use the RAID version of the driver (e.g. 3x12 SATA RAID Windows Controller Driver v1.0.0.53, or the one from Microsoft Update carrying the version number v1.0.56.0.)
The v1.1.0.52 drivers are old IDE drivers and will not work with your controller when using RAID (or in RAID mode rather). You should be using the RAID version of your controller driver. There are two different types of drivers for your controller, an IDE version and a RAID version. As I've just indicated, the IDE version should only be used when the controller is in BASE mode (i.e. the controller BIOS dialogue doesn't show up on POST) and the RAID version of the driver should be used when running controller in RAID mode (essentially when the controller is fully enabled).
However, within those rules, even though it is recommended that you use the latest controller BIOS version and the latest driver version, it is not essential for you to have the latest version of both. You just need to be using the correct driver type (not version) e.g. IDE or RAID.
Now, to your problem...
1) Flash the attached BIOS for your motherboard (GA-7n400pro2[rev2.x] vFK modded with the latest SI3512 controller BIOS v4347).
2) Download these drivers: http://www.short-media.com/download.php?d=528 (3x12 SATA RAID Windows Controller Driver v1.0.0.53)
3) Extract the contents of the .zip file straight to a freshly formatted floppy disk.
4) In your motherboard BIOS (CMOS) make sure your controller is enabled and set to RAID mode (not BASE).
5) Upon POST (when your computer initially starts up) enter the SATA 3512 RAID controller BIOS and setup your RAID 0 array (striping). (Obviously make sure both your SATA hard drives are plugged in and have power.)
6) In your motherboard BIOS (CMOS) make sure CDROM is your first boot, in your boot order, and your RAID controller is second.
7) Insert your floppy disk (with the drivers on)
7) Run your Windows XP installation CD from POST.
8) At the very start of the installation press F6.
9) When prompted choose the Windows XP driver version.
10) You should then be prompted to partition and format your RAID array.
To sum up, I think the only problem you were having was that you were trying to use the IDE driver when you should have been using the RAID driver.
Let me know how you get on. Use the attached BIOS at your own risk.
Cheers
Thx.
1.)
In the attachment below, there is the GigaByte 8INXP BIOS file with updated Silicon Image 3112A BIOS module.
8INXP BIOS version F5 was used:
http://www.giga-byte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/BIOS_Model.aspx?ClassValue=Motherboard&ProductID=1597&ProductName=GA-8INXP
...and the Silicon Image BIOS (4.1.36C) was removed and the the Silicon Image BIOS (4.2.76) was inserted.
2.)
The GigaByte 8INXP BIOS also contains a FastTrak RAID Controller BIOS:
"FastTrak133 (tm) "Lite" BIOS Version 2.00.0.20 -- 1995-2001 Promise Technology"
If you whish, I can check for FastTrak RAID Controller BIOS updates too.
3.)
To update your BIOS you can take the flash utility from the original BIOS update package and here are the instructions for a BIOS update:
http://www.giga-byte.com.tw/FileList/NewTech/old_motherboard_newtech/tech_qflash.htm
http://www.giga-byte.com.tw/FileList/NewTech/old_motherboard_newtech/tech_a_bios.htm
http://www.giga-byte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/HowToReflashBIOS.aspx
Use the attached BIOS at your own risk.
Once again, Many thanks, really appreciated.
All is fine, for now....
Also having problems with the 8rda3+. I've had one sata diamondmax10 160 gb running fine for months. Now I've added a second one (not in raid or anything) and the darn controller only recognizes it once in a while and wont format it at all.
Read my thread to see my story :S
Hope your problem gets fixed
Many many thanks.
-Dream-
I updated my BIOS using this modded version of FK from here and I have good news and bad news.
Good news:
- fixed my SATA HDD problem of "Delayed Write Failed"
Bad news:
- my overclock of Athlon XP-M @ 205x11.5 (2358Mhz) isn't stable anymore
Is there any way I could incorporate this new SATA BIOS into the 7N400 Pro2 Rev2 BIOS FD (instead of FK), because I was using FD before and my overclock was stable. Thanks in advance.
I'm not sure how to attack, but this is the BIOS I'm talking about (FD version).
http://www.giga-byte.com/Support/Motherboard/BIOS_DownloadFile.aspx?FileType=BIOS&FileID=10906
It is possible, although your settings were fine before, that now a single component is not liking the 205mhz part of your overclock.
I overclock athlon 2500's. But i have problems overclocking them by increasing the FSB by 5mhz. I think this is because other things link into this FSB.
To explain what i am talking about an example - increasing the FSB to 203
FSB linked to AGP and PCI
Therefore instread of
200:66:33
It is now
203:68:34
These arent always linked, it depends on the motherboard.
What I worked out was that this raise could make an AGP or PCI card flip out. It may also be linked to the memory speed, and that can cause problems.
My 2500 overclocks from 166mhz to 200mhz. But I cant run it at 170mhz without something causing a system hang. I believe that is because of the above equation.
Additionally I never found much performance boost from the 5mhz increase (while it didnt hang). it is the major boost from 166mhz to 200mhz that increases the L1 cache, L2 cache and memory speed. The knock on here was very large.
Does this make any sense at all?
Apologies if you knew this already.
Something went wrong while posting.
Please check this link:
http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?p=399003#post399003
Hi Spinner,
Please would you build a FK bios with the latest SiI3512 BIOS Version 4.3.76
I have installed a Maxtor SATA-2 6V250F0 hdd with jumper set for 1.5Gbs, I suffer the slow copy and eventual hang under Win XP making the system unusable with the single sata drive installed as BASE and two x IDE drives also as Base on the GigaRaid connectors.
How do you create the slip-streamed bios? Would I be able to do it myself without any special software?
Thanks,
Peter
The Gigabyte GA 7n400pro2 rev2x BIOS file (ver. FK) with updated Silicon Image 3512 BIOS ver. 4.3.76 is attached below.
Use the modified BIOS file at your own risk.
Hi Borg,
Thanks, I will give that a try and post results here.
Gigabyte have an FKa Beta Bios available. I asked if it has an updated SiL bios included and what other issues it addresses.
Their reply:
That is reassuring :shakehead
If customers have special hardware and BIOS related questions, then nearly all mainboard manufacturer and their technical support teams
+ do not know anything abrubtly
+ can not / want not help suddenly
+ act the fool / play possum
It is a really curious phenomenon.
Well, the differnece between version "FK" and "FKa" is the new added Silicon Image BIOS version 4.3.47.
It is just sad, how slowly and stupid some mainboard technical support teams are.
Hey!!! Gigabyte technical support team!!! There is already version 4.3.76
There is something with the BIOS FD that my cpu/mobo combo likes. For example, back a long time ago (2 years ago) I updated my BIOS to "FE" from FD, and the 205x11.5 overclock didn't work. The FK bios doesn't work with this overclock either. FD does. And it IS stable since I've been using it for over 2 years now without chaning videocard/soundcard or memory. You'd think something would go wrong in these 2 years if it wasn't. And my computer crashes very very rarely.
Anyway, I'm just happy that the borg one posted the FD bios version with the newest SATA bios since my overclock still works fine and my HDD problems are gone.
I have an Asus P4G8X Deluxe MB and I think I'm using the wrong driver for the Silicon Image SATA controller. My motherboard died (under warranty) and I had to reload the SATA drivers. I paused during reboot and it said Sil3112a ver. 4.2.24 and i see the new one is 4250. I will update.
Cheers
My problem:
Gigabyte GA-7VAXP Ultra board. I just bought a WD Cavier SE16 SATA drive. Currently the system is up and running in WinXP, with 2 IDE drives. Trying to get this SATA drive to work, but to no avail.
While reading through this thread, I found the modded bios for my board(F7) with the SIL3112 update. I flashed that to my bios, but it didn't seem to completely fix the problem. I certainly helped a bit, as the board recognizes the drive *more* often. But doesn't seem to work all the time, and it hangs when trying to load windows.
The goal here, is to get the SATA up and do a fresh install of XP on it, and transfer programs over from the IDE. I don't really need more than the 250GB SATA drive.
Any ideas on what to try next here?
I have a Gigabyte GA-7N400 Pro2(Rev 1.x) F11 Bios. Mine is Stock! Has anyone ever intergraded ITE Tech IT8212 bios updates is there a link or download for it. I only see updates for the rev2 of this motherboard.
for the Current GA-7N400 Pro2(Rev 1.x) ITE Tech inc. v1.41
Gigabyte never intergrated ITE updates!
On ITE Tech. Inc. website (IT8212)
<For PCI Card> these are updated up to these versions now. Can these be intergraded into the rev1 F11 bios or Not?
RAID BIOS (for RAID, IDE) v1.7.1.94
ATAPI BIOS (for ATAPI device) v1.7.1.59 12
Controller bios updates
Can anyone make me an updated F11 (Rev 1.x) bios with these updates Please and or any other mods that are working for this type of motherboard would also be great. If Anyone is able to Help Please send to matrix@gainbroadband.com
PS: I would like to thank anyone for the help of an updated bios mod
Buy new motherboard
Why buy new if you can tinker with the old one?
Please post back with your findings GodSpeed
I'm going to try the update bios now....
I've just got an Adaptec 1210SA Serial ATA RAID PCI card, with a Silicon Image Sil3112A chipset.
I've read some comments of people reflashing their adapters with Silicon Image official BIOS and then using official drivers. A month ago I was using an Asus A7N8X motherboard with exactly the same Sil3112A chipset integrated on board, but its BIOS was completely different and its boot initialization was faster. I guess it was an official Silicon Image BIOS since I could use official drivers.
Has anyone reflashed a 1210SA succesfully? Are there real advantages? (I don't use RAID, just a single 300GB drive connected)
In the meantime I've booted from DOS and tried the UPDFLASH from SI, at least to see if it detects the chipset and the flash IC. But it fails with this message:
Current PCI Vendor ID is 1095 and Device ID is 0240 (instead of usual 3112). Flash memory IC is a ST M29W010B (same as M29F010B but "low power").
With this add-in card have you tried the UPDFLASH command line switches? i.e.
UPDFLASH r4279.bin -BOARD3112 -u
However, this new version throws exactly the same error message. I think it doesn't like the different PCI Device ID of my Adaptec card (0240h).
Then I've tried UniFlash. OK, using -PCIROM option with the proper Bus-Device-Function numbers and it has worked fine. The boot initialization messages from Adaptec have disappeared. However, the re-flash hasn't changed the PCI Device ID, which is still 0240h instead of the needed 3112h in order to use Silicon Image drivers, so once under Windows nothing has changed. I've looked at the BIOS file and it contains the values 1095h and 3112h at the beginning, but seems this doesn't affect the IDs reported by the card on boot initialization and PnP enumeration.
I've looked at the card (phisically) and I'm afraid this will depend on the contents of a 2K EEPROM IC 24WC02J. The card just has the main SiI3112A IC, the Flash IC and that EEPROM, so it MUST be that. Any ideas on how to modify this data?
"The SiI3132 supports an external Flash and/or EEPROM device for BIOS extensions and user-defined PCI configuration header data."
When SiI3112A initializes, it reads the PCI Configuration (Vendor ID, Device ID and Subsystem ID) from the highest Flash memory addresses. But it also supports an EEPROM for the same purpose, and then the document says:
"If both Flash and EEPROM are installed, the PCI Configuration Space registers will be loaded with the EEPROM’s data."
Then my solution will be to somehow disable the EEPROM IC. Or maybe the cleanest solution is just desolder it from the PCB. Any advice is welcome.
It's unusual. It sounds like that IC is working like a bootblock for the Flash memory.
Two *suggestions*
Try reloading the ESCD / clearing CMOS on the motherboard, it might 'refresh' the boot table. Unlikely to work, in my opinion, but worth a shot, just to see.
Can you not 'hack' the driver and change the instances where it refers to 3112 and replace it with 0240? Less invasive, some chance of success.
Desoldering the IC from the PCB may make the card useless. Zero-ing the IC with a dummy 'zero' value binary may have the same effect, but if it can be done, it can be undone. If Uniflash supports that EEPROM, use a hex editor to create a 2k zero value file then upload it into the IC.