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Bios rom checksum error "drive A error, system halted"

I was thinking about an empty chip for diy programming but pre-programmed would do too.
 
Neither of the two CPUs you mention are on the compatibility list for that Motherboard.
Was it running prior with one of them?


AMD Athlon XP3000+ (333MHz)
AMD Athlon XP2600+ (266MHz)
AMD Athlon 1.4GHz
AMD Duron 1.8GHz (266MHz)
AMD Duron 1.3GHz
 
RyzenMaster.sys said:
I don't have a desktop IDE hard drive at the moment. I am waiting on a laptop ide to desktop ide adapter to come from china.

Maybe I can write a floppy with a program that will allow it to boot to CD when the bios doesn't support it?
Click to expand...
I forgot the name but you just need a bootloader seperate to the OS - load it on the IDE drive via another machine, but tell it to boot from disk 2 (or whatever number you think it'll be in the system)

Years ago i used a USB bootloader to boot my laptop from an SSD in the DVD bay, as the main slot had been snapped off by a previous owner
 
Caring1 said:
Neither of the two CPUs you mention are on the compatibility list for that Motherboard.
Was it running prior with one of them?


AMD Athlon XP3000+ (333MHz)
AMD Athlon XP2600+ (266MHz)
AMD Athlon1.4GHz
AMD Duron1.8GHz (266MHz)
AMD Duron1.3GHz
Click to expand...
3200+ was the CPU it was running when it posted initially.
20211030_173133.jpg
it showed up as a 2200+, though, probably because the fsb wasn't set properly. This board does not support 400mhz fsb, which is likely why the 3200+ isn't listed as supported.

Although I have others, the only 2 working Socket A CPUs I have are this Athlon XP 3200+ and an Athlon XP 2800+
 
Yeah from ancient memories, they do in fact read as a lower model number if the FSB is set lower than default - but still work fine

I cant help but think you may need a new BIOS chip or SPI flasher here
 
I have been communicating with a preprogrammed bios chip seller that advertises they sell bios chips for biostar socket A boards specifically.

They wouldn't comment on whether they thought a replacement bios chip would fix the issue and simply told me to contact the manufacturer for support on a 20 year old board. Lol! But after providing them with the information and photos of the chip, sticker on top, and physical engraving on the chip beneath the sticker, they told me they have a compatible chip that they could flash, so I purchased the item.

Big downside is that they are based in the Netherlands, which meant communication was a bit difficult and most importantly, shipping might take awhile. But this board is just for a retro system and I'm in no rush.
 
RyzenMaster.sys said:
Hello. I was assembling a socket A system and was doing some troubleshooting. Turned out my first athlon 3200+ was faulty. Luckily I had 2. Popped in the second and boom, it posted. (CPU shows incorrectly I think since the fsb is set improperly by default) View attachment 223045
As I only had 1 stick of ram in for testing and wanted to install the rest now, I needed to shut the PC off. Because my screwdriver was having issues bridging the power pins (painted) I decided to do the lazy thing and just yank the power cable from my PSU. This has never really been an issue before but apparently it corrupted my bios.
View attachment 223046
I'm stuck here. No USB power nor PS2 power. Can't go anywhere.

Athlon XP 3200+
Biostar M7VIT Pro

How do I fix this? I don't have an idea floppy drive. I have a USB one, but there is no power to USB at this point.

Do I need a floppy? Any other solution?
Click to expand...
Hit delete key go in bios and disable floppy port
 
I can't get into the bios.
 
As soon as you hit the power button, tap delete over and over in rapid succession.
 
Doesn't work.
 
RyzenMaster.sys said:
Big downside is that they are based in the Netherlands, which meant communication was a bit difficult and most importantly, shipping might take awhile. But this board is just for a retro system and I'm in no rush.
Click to expand...
Takes like 10 days from NL to US. I just sent some hardware there. ;)
 
Just plain old USPS international. Nothing fancy.

The small package you're getting will probably go first class international. Might be quicker because it's smaller.
 
i hope the price of the bios chip wasnt too much exagerated,to the point of buying another compatible motherboard instead :)
 
rslayerr said:
i hope the price of the bios chip wasnt too much exagerated,to the point of buying another compatible motherboard instead :)
Click to expand...
$10 shipped. Most of that price is probably shipping.

Mr.Scott said:
Just plain old USPS international. Nothing fancy.

The small package you're getting will probably go first class international. Might be quicker because it's smaller.
Click to expand...
they told me "will ship by standard post/lettermail (without Track & Trace)..."

And I'll get it in 10-40 business days.

If I wanted faster shipping with tracking it would be 20 euros more. Definitely not paying for that.
 
RyzenMaster.sys said:
$10 shipped. Most of that price is probably shipping.


they told me "will ship by standard post/lettermail (without Track & Trace)..."

And I'll get it in 10-40 business days.

If I wanted faster shipping with tracking it would be 20 euros more. Definitely not paying for that.
Click to expand...
I totally understand. It's expensive to ship there. The motherboard I sent was 60 bucks to ship.
 
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