Athlon / Phenom (II) support on EPoX MF4-Ultra3

[presola]

Hello,

Is it possible to add new microcode to this mobo's bios? Since EPoX shut down and SUPoX doesn't want to support the older models, we (the users) have been frankly f*cked in terms of cpu upgrading...

I've seen a MF570-SLI bios mod for supporting AM2+/AM3 CPUs, so I think it's possible for MF4-Ultra3 too. Unfortunately, I've got no experience in MB bios modding...

In the zip file I've attached the latest bios available for this mobo. I'd also appreciate it if you "unlock" any useful hidden options (if any).

Thank you in advance.

[TheWiz]

If you post a link to the next version that has the CPU support you want, Ill simply extract and replace the CPU from that code into your bios.

TheWiz

[presola]

Unfortunately, there never was such a bios released by EPoX / SUPoX. Can't new CPU support be added by replacing the agesacpu.rom module?

[TheWiz]

yes, so what Im saying is find the mobo that has the CPU support you want, can be any mobo, and Ill replace the microcose, or I can just pick a random one and do it.

TheWiz

[presola]

Ok, I've attached the modified MF570-SLI bios I mentioned in the first post. Any chance of getting a SLIC2 addition too (if there's enough space left)? Pretty please?

[TheWiz]

After some trial and error, i think I got it. I added the latest SLIC 2.1 and I added the CPU support from the other board. Seseming as how I never trust any bios, I reccomend a form of backup/recovery always.

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1525839/Bios/mf4-ul3mod.BIN

If you are happy with my work, please consider a small donation to help keep the forums running.

Thanks,
TheWiz

[presola]

Thanks, I'll test it as soon as possible

---

Well, it DID flash properly... The first thing I noticed was it didn't recognize my Brisbane, also it refused to boot, unless I gave it the Fail-Safe / Optimized Defaults treatment. Even if it booted, it took ages to get to the desktop (kinda like when the L2's disabled and DMA is off, but according to CPUz & Everest, they were ok ). Another thing is - the integrated NIC wasn't working. I reflashed to the original bios, and everything is OK.

P.S. I noticed a *NEWER* bios from SUPoX, so I've attached it. The description was in Chinese, it mentioned some kind of fix, but I couldn't get the meaning using a web translator. Maybe you'd want to try and mod the new one...?

Edit: The fix was adding DOL support.

[TheWiz]

Okay I will try to work with this bios. Just to clarify, were you able to recognize the added CPU support at all? I may have to add something else if it didnt that Im thinking of in my head, but I didnt think I had to.

Thanks,
TheWiz

[presola]

Actually, I don't have an AM2+/AM3 CPU at the moment, so I figured I'd test with my current one - X2 Brisbane 6000+ (revision G2, that is). Instead of showing "Dual-Core Athlon X2 6000+ @ xxxx MHz, 2 cores" (or something like that) string, this exact line was empty. Windows didn't recognize the CPU either - x86 Compatible Family F, etc., and as I mentioned in my previous post, the NIC wasn't working.

[TheWiz]

Well it seems they're definitely a couple things that could be messing around with me. First off, I am now using the newest bios for the mod work. It seems like there's a 1B module in the bios that has to be hooked to the agesarom for it to pick up the CPU code. I do have an agesa independent ROM 3.1.1.0 we could try, or I could try to redo the same mod without adding the ACPI tables. In the first mod I gave you I replaced the agesarom and the ACPI tables from the bios with proper support, maybe its possible it only needs the agesarom.

TheWiz