[LinuxBIOS] Tyan Tiger 100 S1832

[Mark Longridge]

Hi folks,

I've heard interesting things about linux bios so I figured I'd
ask about my motherboard.

I have a Tyan Tiger 100 S1832 board with two P3 550 cpus.

Some specs:

·Intel 440BX AGPset.
·Intel PIIX4e controller.
·National 309 Super I/O chipset.

Guess it's pretty old but I'd still like to try to put a linux bios
on it.

I have a pdf of the manual so if there's any other info
needed please let me know.

Thanks,
Mark

[Richard Smith]

> ·Intel 440BX AGPset.
> ·Intel PIIX4e controller.
> ·National 309 Super I/O chipset.
>
> Guess it's pretty old but I'd still like to try to put a linux bios
> on it.

How are your hacking skills?

LinuxBIOS V1:
Supports the 440BX but it dosen't know anything about SMP or AGP and
you would probally need ADLO to make the video bios work.
By 309 I'm guessing that the pc87309 superIO?  V1 seems to have really
basic support for enableing that on boot but the comments say its
specific to a particular mainbord.  So some work is needed there as
well.

LinuxBIOS V2
I have a set of patches vs an old version of V2 that add the framework
for 440BX and was enough to make our product come up and say stuff out
of the serial port. (pc87351)  However I got stopped trying to read
the RAM info via the SMbus.  For some reason I always got back zeros
(or FF's I dont' remember).  Unfortunatly that product never made it
beyond prototype and so I didn't continue to try and transition from
V1 to V2.

If you are interested in working on it I can fixup my patches against
the latest SVN tree and submit them.  There's a lot of coding work
that still needs to be done after that though.

I have somewhat of an interest in this as I have a Dual P3 machine
with a 440 chipset on it that can't use newer larger hardrives because
the BIOS chokes and I also have some of the prototypes from our
product that could be used for something.  I just don't have a lot of
time to allocate to this.  But I could test things in the evenings and
weekends.

It would be really nice to have full V2 support for the 440 family. 
There are tons of old cheap mainboards with these chips on them and
would be great for hobbiest or personal type stuff.

[Mark Longridge]

Hi Richard,

I still have a lot to learn, but the idea of a speedy boot process 
appeals to me.

The problem is the motherboard manual doesn't really tell me
exactly which chip(s) the "National 309 Super IO chipset" is or
where it's located on the board.

The manual does refer to LM75 and LM79 chips which I believe
are temperature sensors. I can read them via the lm-sensors package.
For some reason the LM79 sensor was put beside PCI slot #5.
Oops, looks like it's actually a "lm79-isa-0290" and it's reporting a
nice cool 24 degrees C. I don't have any ISA cards anyways :)

ChipDocs has datasheets for the pc87309 and it's described as
 "Super I/O Plug and Play Compatible Chip in Compact 100-Pin 
VLJ Packaging" but I have to subscribe to download the datasheets.

Checking on tyan.com I can see that Tyan does test it's boards to 
work with Redhat and SUSE and I must say the old Tiger 100 board
has worked great on my Linux server. It would be really nice if
some manufacture shipped boards with Linux BIOS on them... I 
wonder if anyone actually does that.

On December 16, 2005 11:25 am, Richard Smith wrote:
> > ·Intel 440BX AGPset.> ·Intel PIIX4e controller.> ·National 309 Super I/O
> > chipset.>> Guess it's pretty old but I'd still like to try to put a linux
> > bios> on it.>
>
> How are your hacking skills?

Meager but improving ....
> LinuxBIOS V1:Supports the 440BX but it dosen't know anything about SMP or
> AGP andyou would probally need ADLO to make the video bios work.By 309 I'm
> guessing that the pc87309Oo superIO?  V1 seems to have reallybasic support
> for enableing that on boot but the comments say itsspecific to a particular
> mainbord.  So some work is needed there aswell. LinuxBIOS V2I have a set of
> patches vs an old version of V2 that add the frameworkfor 440BX and was
> enough to make our product come up and say stuff outof the serial port.
> (pc87351)  However I got stopped trying to readthe RAM info via the SMbus. 
> For some reason I always got back zeros(or FF's I dont' remember). 
> Unfortunatly that product never made itbeyond prototype and so I didn't
> continue to try and transition fromV1 to V2. If you are interested in
> working on it I can fixup my patches againstthe latest SVN tree and submit
> them.  There's a lot of coding workthat still needs to be done after that
> though. I have somewhat of an interest in this as I have a Dual P3
> machinewith a 440 chipset on it that can't use newer larger hardrives
> becausethe BIOS chokes and I also have some of the prototypes from
> ourproduct that could be used for something

A couple of years back I flashed the BIOS so I haven't had any
problems with big hard drives on the Tiger 100. My server runs a 
20 gig and a 40 gig.

If you want to upload your patches I'll keep plugging away at it although
perhaps there are already cheap Tyan boards on ebay that are well supported
already?
> I just don't have a lot 
> oftime to allocate to this.  But I could test things in the evenings
> andweekends. It would be really nice to have full V2 support for the 440
> family. There are tons of old cheap mainboards with these chips on them
> andwould be great for hobbiest or personal type stuff. --Richard A. Smith

Maybe I can buy another Tiger 100 to experiment on. I'm still running 
my server 24/7 with the one I have now.

Mark