Can you identify my motherboard?

[TVC15]

Hello People.

I have recently acquired a socket 7 motherboard and I need a bit of advice. The board has the bios chip missing so what I was intending to do was take one off another board and fit it to this one. (it has one of the removable bios sockets.) I was then going to get an updated bios for my board and flash the substitute chip.

There are 2 things I need to know first.

1. Is what I have just suggested possible? I have several spare bios chips which will fit the socket on my board. But will inserting a bios chip from a foreign board still allow my system to boot?

2. Assuming I can get the system to boot, I still need to find the manufacturer and model of my board. While this may seem like looking for a needle in a haystack, the board has some unusual features which may make it a bit easier. Anway here goes:

2 ISA slots
3 PCI slots
1 AGP slot
AT and ATX power
AT and PS2 keyboard connector (I have not seen this before)
4 simms and 2 Dimms
SIS 5595 chipset
On board sound pro PCI
Socket 7
In the corner next to the power supply it says "V1.3"

The unusual thing (for me anyway) is that it only has 2 sets of jumpers. They are for clearing the CMOS and adjusting the DIMM voltage.

Please remember that I enjoy playing around with old PC parts so if there is the slightest chance I can get this board working then I would like to know about it. If on the other hand you think I am wasting my time then let me know and I'll just chuck it in the bin (after all I got it for free)

Cheers,

Andy

[This message has been edited by TVC15 (edited 09-10-2000).]

[ixl]

Hi Andy,
It seems vanishingly unlikely to me that this will work--unless you find another identical board to get the BIOS chip from, which defeats the purpose. Alternately, if you know someone with an EEPROM writer they could burn you a new BIOS chip.
You can't expect to do it within the PC because you have a "chicken and egg" problem: you can't get the PC to boot up to DOS to flash the BIOS chip if you put the wrong BIOS chip in to start with. And you could conceivably fry something, because not all BIOS chips are the same hardware-wise.
As for identifying the board, are there no labels or identifying marks on it anywhere? They can sometimes be tricky to spot, search carefully...

------------------
Charles M. Kozierok ( ixlubb@PCGuide.com )
Webslave, The PC Guide (http://www.PCGuide.com)
Comprehensive PC Reference, Troubleshooting, Optimization and Buyer's Guides...

[Static-X]

Andy
Before I would try a BIOS from another manufacturer I think the key is to identify that motherboard. One thing that is on ALL motherboard with the exception of test and review board is the FCC ID. The FCC ID should tell you the company or manufacturer of the board or at least narrow things down. Look on your board and get the FCC ID and go here to research. (work with other items such as modem, NIC cards etc) http://www.fcc.gov/oet/fccid/
While this most likely will not answer your question will a bios from one manufacturer work in a board of another manufacturer, you may however be able to purchase the correct bios from the manufacturer for a very small cost. Alternatively you may try a Mr BIOS they make 3rd party BIOS’s that will work in a variety boards.
At one time American Megatrends offered a chart that would tell you if the bios is a generic from the manufacturer or if it was a modified BIOS from the manufacturer. Anyway good luck.
-=X=-