[Cross] Digital Prioris XL ECU won't save EISA configuration

[Bubba]

Greetings to all,

machine is Digital Prioris XL 5200, dual P200 P54C (Socket 5), Intel
Neptune (NX) chipset, 256MB RAM (8x32MB).

I'm unable to properly configure EISA slots to accommodate ISA cards. The
cards are Digital Ethernet Controller (DE205), 3Com 3C509-TP Network
Adapter and (two) 3Com 3C509-Combo Network Adapter. I have all the
original EISA CFG files for all four cards (there are, once again, two
3Com 3C509-Combo NIC's).

The story follows - BIOS is version 2.08, ECU is for appropriate version.
All the cards are set to EISA mod (Digital via jumpers, 3Com via
software). I enter the ECU, add all the cards, set up IRQ's and stuff,
lock them and it all seems great - until the machine is restarted, that
is, configuration saved. Just after the POST, I get the error about
misconfigured EISA configurations in Slot 1,2,3,4, and when I enter ECU
once again - there is not a single card installed (IOW, the slots seem to
be empty).

I followed the manual, tried fiddling with options myself, however, I
can't seem to find a sane way enable those cards.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you in advance!

 

[Ben Myers]

Greetings to all,

machine is Digital Prioris XL 5200, dual P200 P54C (Socket 5), Intel
Neptune (NX) chipset, 256MB RAM (8x32MB).

I'm unable to properly configure EISA slots to accommodate ISA cards. The
cards are Digital Ethernet Controller (DE205), 3Com 3C509-TP Network
Adapter and (two) 3Com 3C509-Combo Network Adapter. I have all the
original EISA CFG files for all four cards (there are, once again, two
3Com 3C509-Combo NIC's).

The story follows - BIOS is version 2.08, ECU is for appropriate version.
All the cards are set to EISA mod (Digital via jumpers, 3Com via
software). I enter the ECU, add all the cards, set up IRQ's and stuff,
lock them and it all seems great - until the machine is restarted, that
is, configuration saved. Just after the POST, I get the error about
misconfigured EISA configurations in Slot 1,2,3,4, and when I enter ECU
once again - there is not a single card installed (IOW, the slots seem to
be empty).

I followed the manual, tried fiddling with options myself, however, I
can't seem to find a sane way enable those cards.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you in advance!

It's been a while, but I recall that the Prioris XL 5200 used a black
lego-sized CMOS/clock chip. If that chip has failed, this might explain
the problem. The other possibility is that the flash memory in the BIOS
chip has failed, which would imply replacing it if you can find one.

Honestly, I cannot remember whether the ECU data is saved in CMOS or in
flash memory. It's one or the other. The more I think about it, the
more I suspect that the flash memory has failed after all these years.
I saw something similar a number of years ago with Intel motherboards
failing because stupid Windows insisted on rewriting data to flash
memory, evn if the memory contents were unchanged. Flash memory can only
withstand a finite number of write operations before it fails... Ben Myers

 

[Bubba]

Ben Myers's log on stardate 20 lis 2008

Greetings Ben,

It's been a while, but I recall that the Prioris XL 5200 used a black
lego-sized CMOS/clock chip. If that chip has failed, this might
explain the problem. The other possibility is that the flash memory
in the BIOS chip has failed, which would imply replacing it if you
can find one.

Yes, this also did occur to me too. Though, changing other options
resulted in no such failure. I will try to identify the chip and replace
it, perhaps it might help...

Honestly, I cannot remember whether the ECU data is saved in CMOS or
in flash memory. It's one or the other. The more I think about it,
the more I suspect that the flash memory has failed after all these
years. I saw something similar a number of years ago with Intel
motherboards failing because stupid Windows insisted on rewriting
data to flash memory, evn if the memory contents were unchanged.
Flash memory can only withstand a finite number of write operations
before it fails...

Since this is not a production machine, I have no time for prompt action
about changing the chip; however, I will certainly consider that option
as well. It is only that I fear I am doing something terribly wrong
about that, yet, I fail to see what it might be...

In any case, many thanks for your kind reply.

Regards,

Bubba