Option ROM seems to have no effect. Asus Pundit-S

Started by cb12, June 06, 2011, 19:45:59 PM

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cb12

Hi, I have a little bit of a problem creating a Award BIOS ROM for my asus pundit-s with onboard nic.
Plop doesn't seem to be hooked by the bios, regardless of the bios boot options I use.

This is the way i created the rom:
0. Downloaded plpbt-5.0.12.zip
1. Creating the rom.
plpbtrom -vendorid 0x14E4 -deviceid 0x4401 -INT18 plpbtrom.bin plpbt.rom
INT18  - is used because the bios explicitly states "Boot Other: Network (INT18h)"
But I also tried without.

2. I continue with acbrom and release my vga rom and epa logo. (Seems to work fine without)
3. inserting the rom:
acbdrom /NET plpbt.rom

4. Then I flash the file via aflash.
5. Reboot, System comes up, without plop :(

Some questions I have:
How can I determine what is happening?
How does a PCI device place its boot rom in C0000h-EFFFFh? (according to BIOSBootSpecs)
How can I determine which space in C0000-EFFFF is not used?

bomz


Golffies

Hello,

Quote from: cb12 on June 06, 2011, 19:45:59 PM
4. Then I flash the file via aflash.
5. Reboot, System comes up, without plop :(


After having flashed your enhanced BIOS, have you been thinking about switching the boot device order, in the Award BIOS setup ?

I guess that once you inserted the Plop option rom in place of the genuine boot-from-the-network module, nothing may happen until you would actually instruct the BIOS... to boot from the "network" (i.e. to chain to the Plop rom).


I know that the thread is old, but I would be interested to share observations and results with you, as a P4S8L motherboard owner. I try to install the Plop option rom to the same Bios as yours. The goal here is to give USB booting capability to the machine and make of it a very nice platform for Lakka retro-gaming distribution.


Hope to see you online in the future.

Golffies

#3
Coming back to your thread after a few readings (among others the BIOS Boot Specification, see attachment :) I see two issues:


       
  • we may let plpbtrom be invoked by the BIOS through the "PnP Expansion Headers" mechanism, without forcing it to hook the INT 19h/INT 18h (cf. ยง 3.4 Legacy IPL Devices on page 12 of the aforementioned B.B.S.). That way, plpbtrom would be seen by the BIOS as one of the available devices to boot from, according to the boot order chosen by the user in the BIOS setup.


       
  • the BIOS of the P4S8L Asus motherboard does not show any network option rom in the list of modules (see the acbrom output on the attached screenshot); so there is no module to be released, for plpbtrom to be later inserted  as a NIC option rom at the same place into the BIOS; I wonder if this might not be the reason of the trouble you were facing.

More investigation is needed.

jackjohn

Quote from: cb12 on June 06, 2011, 19:45:59 PMHi, I have a little bit of a problem creating a Award BIOS ROM for my asus pundit-s with onboard nic.
Plop doesn't seem to be hooked by the bios, regardless of the bios boot options I use.

This is the way i created the rom:
0. Downloaded plpbt-5.0.12.zip free iq test with instant results
1. Creating the rom.
plpbtrom -vendorid 0x14E4 -deviceid 0x4401 -INT18 plpbtrom.bin plpbt.rom
INT18  - is used because the bios explicitly states "Boot Other: Network (INT18h)"
But I also tried without.

2. I continue with acbrom and release my vga rom and epa logo. (Seems to work fine without)
3. inserting the rom:
acbdrom /NET plpbt.rom
4. Then I flash the file via aflash.
5. Reboot, System comes up, without plop :(

Some questions I have:
How can I determine what is happening?
How does a PCI device place its boot rom in C0000h-EFFFFh? (according to BIOSBootSpecs)
How can I determine which space in C0000-EFFFF is not used?
It seems Plop isn't loading. Check BIOS settings for network boot options and look for logs during boot. PCI ROMs use C0000h-EFFFFh, and tools like memmap can help check used memory areas. Consider seeking help in BIOS modding forums for more insights.