[LinuxBIOS] Desktop computer use?

Bario bario2004 at yahoo.com
Fri Sep 8 05:06:22 CEST 2006


Hi,
I'm curious about a few things about LinuxBIOS. First
off, is LinuxBIOS usable (or intended to be) in a
standard desktop environment, or aimed solely at
embedded/cluster application? If the answer to that
question is the latter, ignore the rest of this post.

I'm looking to use linuxbios on an intel bi440zx, a P3
mobo with a 440zx chipset. I'm wondering if anyone has
worked on support for this motherboard, or even this
chipset, or if the code for the 440BX chipset works as
a drop-in replacement. 

Info as requested in FAQ:
CPU: I'm currently using this mobo with a 466MHz
Celeron (Mendocino core) due to BIOS limitations. The
chipset (440zx) supports 100MHz FSB, and I have a P3
1.0GHz (133*7.5), would it be possible to use this
chip with linuxbios and run it at 750MHz (100*7.5)?
The current BIOS doesn't allow this. This is one of my
main reasons for looking at linuxbios, the other being
that it will be a fileserver, and the faster the boot
time the better.

Other: 40gb hard drive and ATAPI cdrom connected to
built-in IDE, and possibly a PCI IDE controller with a
250GB hard drive (this wouldn't matter at boot time,
only after the kernel loads). Computer will most
likely be controlled mainly through ssh once it's
completely set up. ISA support is not needed, nor is
the built-in ES1371 audio controller.

root[~]# lspci -v
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX -
82443BX/ZX/DX Host bridge (rev 03)
        Subsystem: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX -
82443BX/ZX/DX Host bridge
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64
        Memory at f0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable)
[size=64M]
        Capabilities: [a0] AGP version 1.0

00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX -
82443BX/ZX/DX AGP bridge (rev 03) (prog-if 00 [Normal
decode])
        Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel,
latency 64
        Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01,
sec-latency=64
        I/O behind bridge: 0000d000-0000dfff
        Memory behind bridge: f6a00000-f6afffff
        Prefetchable memory behind bridge:
dc800000-de8fffff

00:07.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB
PIIX4 ISA (rev 02)
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0

00:07.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB
PIIX4 IDE (rev 01) (prog-if 80 [Master])
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64
        I/O ports at ffa0 [size=16]

00:07.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation
82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 USB (rev 01) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64,
IRQ 10
        I/O ports at ef80 [size=32]

00:07.3 Bridge: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4
ACPI (rev 02)
        Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 9

00:0c.0 Multimedia audio controller: Ensoniq ES1371
[AudioPCI-97] (rev 04)
        Subsystem: Intel Corporation ES1371, ES1373
AudioPCI On Motherboard BI440ZX
        Flags: bus master, slow devsel, latency 64,
IRQ 11
        I/O ports at ef00 [size=64]
        Capabilities: [dc] Power Management version 1

00:0e.0 VGA compatible controller: 3Dfx Interactive,
Inc. Voodoo 4 / Voodoo 5 (rev 01) (prog-if 00 [VGA])
        Subsystem: 3Dfx Interactive, Inc. Voodoo5 AGP
5500/6000
        Flags: 66MHz, fast devsel, IRQ 11
        Memory at f8000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable)
[size=64M]
        Memory at e8000000 (32-bit, prefetchable)
[size=128M]
        I/O ports at e800 [size=256]
        Expansion ROM at febf0000 [disabled]
[size=64K]
        Capabilities: [60] Power Management version 2

00:10.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor
Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
        Subsystem: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
RT8139
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64,
IRQ 10
        I/O ports at e400 [size=256]
        Memory at febefc00 (32-bit, non-prefetchable)
[size=256]
        Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies
Inc 3D Rage Pro AGP 1X/2X (rev 5c) (prog-if 00 [VGA])
        Subsystem: ATI Technologies Inc Rage Pro Turbo
AGP 2X
        Flags: stepping, medium devsel
        Memory at dd000000 (32-bit, prefetchable)
[disabled] [size=16M]
        I/O ports at d000 [disabled] [size=256]
        Memory at f6a00000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable)
[disabled] [size=4K]
        Expansion ROM at dc800000 [disabled]
[size=128K]
        Capabilities: [50] AGP version 1.0

If either the Rage or the Voodoo work, I'm happy, but
I have no need for both, I just installed had to flash
the voodoo's bios to get it working, and haven't
removed the rage yet.

Super I/O: I think this is the right chip: SMSC
FDC37B807

BIOS info: Intel E28F200 2Mbit Flash bios (info in
mobo docs) 

Online documentation:
Motherboard:
http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/bi440zx/
Northbridge:
http://www.intel.com/design/chipsets/440zx/
Southbridge (although this appears to be already
supported):
http://www.intel.com/design/intarch/datashts/290562.htm


Thanks for any help you can offer in giving this old
system a new life ;)

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