Identical motherboards...different BIOS?

[pentium]

Okay, so MSI really screwed up a few years ago.

When they released the 865PE Neo2 line they decided in a few models to silkscreen them identically. As a result, the Neo2-P I thought I was getting (I needed it because it has support for two floppy drives for a very specific task) but turned out to be a Neo2-PLS (which lacks support for the second floppy drive).
Thus I blew $120.
I have been googling around and I stumbled upon something interesting.

Image search the MSI 865PE Neo2-PLS and you will see a black board like this:

Also, please not how the PLS also came in red. the board I have is black.

Now image search the MSI 865PE Neo2-P:

Note here how you got a lot more results with black boards.

Anyways, go look at the owners manual for the Neo2-P and on the first page...


Anyways, so I'm guessing that the -PLS and the -P boards are the exact same thing, just with a different BIOS.
Would it be safe to assume that if I flashed this -PLS board with the -P BIOS I will not have any problems AND get the ability to use two floppy drives again?

[pfrcom]

Re: Identical motherboards...different BIOS?

Depends whether you want to take a risk on MSI's filing system for downloads

Both files named 6728v3A.zip downloaded from each of the following URLs are identical

865PE Neo2-P Platinum Edition

865PE Neo2-PLS/ PFS/ PFISR

For peace of mind, get yourself a spare 4Mbit (512kb) FWH chip like a SST 49LF004A from a scrap board, use hot swap method to program it with correct BIOS, then once you have your board working with the spare chip, try updating it with the other BIOS

[NxB]

Re: Identical motherboards...different BIOS?

Unless it turns on features based on what the board actually is; in which case you have to edit the bios.

[pentium]

Re: Identical motherboards...different BIOS?

Are you sure I would have to edit the BIOS? I would assume that different BIOSs only allowed certain devices to be seen by the system.
Also, I can't do the hotswap method as the chip is soldered to the board unfortunately.

[pentium]

Re: Identical motherboards...different BIOS?

D|
Now I see where the problem lies.
The manual says that I can support up to two floppy drives but I looked over the online spec sheet again and low and behold, it says that I can only support one floppy drive.
Well, I guess this means I will have to put the term RTFM a bit more lightly now.

I only have one other alternative and it's not pretty.
I have a single .com file here as well as a crude tutorial video. It is essentially a BIOS editor and I'll go and add the second floppy drive and hope that it works. In theory the wiring for the second drive IS there (pins 4, 5 and 6 are missing but they are either not connected or just ground) and the tutorial video shows the editor working on an AMI BIOS.

[ratdude747]

Re: Identical motherboards...different BIOS?

why do you need 2 floppy drives?

[lucky13]

Re: Identical motherboards...different BIOS?

Pentium,

You need to have 2 floppies in DOS or Windows.

You know there are USB floppy drives right? Would that help....

[ratdude747]

Re: Identical motherboards...different BIOS?

Pentium,

You need to have 2 floppies in DOS or Windows.

You know there are USB floppy drives right? Would that help....

unless he is using win95 or lower , the usb should work fine. Linux supports them as well. also good for travel if needed.

[pfrcom]

Re: Identical motherboards...different BIOS?

What happens if you connect two floppy drives to it, using a 34 wire cable with a twisted section before the A: drive connector

[pfrcom]

Re: Identical motherboards...different BIOS?

In BIOS settings you'll need to change Floppy Drive B under Standard CMOS Features from Not Installed to Whatever

Suggest you also change Floppy Drive Seek to Enabled under Advanced BIOS Features

Then see if you get an error about Floppy Drive B not found after it boots

[pentium]

Re: Identical motherboards...different BIOS?

why do you need 2 floppy drives?

I was expecting someone to say this.
I need the system to be capable of reading and writing both 3 1/2" and 5 1/4" floppies and to do so without the need of any external devices. If the constraints I have let me use a USB floppy drive, I would care less right now about what the BIOS was doing.

What happens if you connect two floppy drives to it, using a 34 wire cable with a twisted section before the A: drive connector

The Epson combo drive I use has a single 34 pin edge connector on it. I have a specailly made ribbon cable that I built that without any twist in it goes from the motherboard to the floppy drive and assigns the 3 1/2" floppy drive as drive A.

In BIOS settings you'll need to change Floppy Drive B under Standard CMOS Features from Not Installed to Whatever

Unfortunately, there is no option for Floppy Drive B which I am here.

Suggest you also change Floppy Drive Seek to Enabled under Advanced BIOS Features

Then see if you get an error about Floppy Drive B not found after it boots

I have been enabling the boot up floppy seek ever since I got my first 486 well over a decade ago. I can't seem to stand a POST without that grinding noise of the floppy drive also, if the BIOS does not know of a second floppy drive you won't get anything out of it.

On a related note, it appears that there is a pretty common fix for this where essentially all you must do is switch a few bytes around in the CMOS.
It's described on Youtube a few times actually and in the latter video I have the single .com file that simplifies the job for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9YXyfG0Vf0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HbB-Yfa29Q

[370forlife]

Re: Identical motherboards...different BIOS?

Hmm, this is interesting because I ran both a 3 1/2 and a 5 1/4 drive on my old ECS RS482-M754 with no problem. Still have the black painted 5 1/4 drive.

[NxB]

Re: Identical motherboards...different BIOS?

I remember having a combo floppy a long time ago. I think I used it last on my ecs k7s5a (before the board died). I don't remember doing anything special to get it to work but it was ages ago.

[pfrcom]

Re: Identical motherboards...different BIOS?

Unfortunately, there is no option for Floppy Drive B which I am here

Manuals I downloaded for each of the boards above shows a Floppy Drive B option - maybe you can't rely on MSI's downloads

[pentium]

Re: Identical motherboards...different BIOS?

Manuals I downloaded for each of the boards above shows a Floppy Drive B option - maybe you can't rely on MSI's downloads

I'm not trusting the manual at all :/. So far it's telling me the opposite in regards to the floppy drive both from their online specs and what I have personally seen.