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New 5680 BIOS (possibly)

post #1 of 37
3/16/04 at 7:07pm
Thread Starter 
In my other thread, regarding the 5680 videocard overheating, I mentioned I'd been trying to contact Sager's tech support regarding the issue. They asked for my serial number so they could send me an RMA number.

However, instead of sending me an RMA number (Grr!), they sent me a BIOS update. They didn't say what version it was, so I replied asking.

Since it takes them a day or so to respond to each email (David Liu in this particular case), I thought I'd ask here if anyone knew whether this is the 1.00.02 or 1.00.03 BIOS version, which I already have installed.

Here're the contents of the .exe (which is an auto-uncompressing .zip):

568H8.04
568H8.933
PH8F_131.EXE
PHLASH.EXE
PLATFORM.BIN
D5_R07T3.SAG
AUTOEXEC.BAT


Can anyone tell from the filenames?


Thanks!
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post #2 of 37
3/16/04 at 10:06pm
Boot up and watch the BIOS screen at the beginning. Push the "Pause/Break" key if the screen flashes by too fast to read. You should see "BIOS Revision: x.xx.xx" on the 4th line. It could be 1.00.02 or 1.00.03 like you said, or even 1.00.05 or 1.00.07.

I had 1.00.05 originally, but stupidly "updated" to 1.00.02S posted on these forums to enable Pro Turbo clock settings. I'm just trying to get back to 1.00.05 because it artifacts like crazy now. I have emailed Sager twice in the last two months and never got a response regarding a BIOS update. Did you use the contact page on their website?

Oh, and can you update us with your results? Thanks
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post #3 of 37
3/17/04 at 12:50am
Thread Starter 
Well, even after asking Mr. Liu three times, I couldn't get an answer out of him regarding what BIOS version he'd sent me.

So, I took a gamble and installed it.

It's BIOS version 1.00.07T3. It seems to default to the old Radeon clock speed (340/240), but using ATITool to set the card to the supposed default 350/250, the artifacting and freezing I was seeing does seem to have disappeared.


Now, an annoyance: In order to install it, I had to find a Win95 or Win98 boot disk, because the installer doesn't work if there's any memory manager (including HIMEM.SYS) present. Thankfully, I'm a bit of an obsolete computer packrat, and managed to find an original Win95 install diskette, remove the HIMEM.SYS, and get the BIOS installed.

The archive's also passworded.

I've heard some people have 1.00.075. I wonder if this (.07T3) is newer or older than .075?
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post #4 of 37
3/17/04 at 2:11am
what is this ATI tool?

i think i need to throttle mine back a little as well.
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post #5 of 37
3/17/04 at 2:18am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by skattabrain
what is this ATI tool?

i think i need to throttle mine back a little as well.
You can download it from here.


It's a tool designed to automatically and empirically determine your highest effective GPU and memory clockspeed, and set them on startup. You can also use it to just manually set your GPU and memory clock speed.
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post #6 of 37
3/17/04 at 12:55pm
Looking for old boot disks? http://www.bootdisk.com

Does this version have the swapped Ctrl/Fn key capability (the only truely stupid thing about the laptop design)?
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post #7 of 37
3/17/04 at 1:07pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by CyberZombie
Does this version have the swapped Ctrl/Fn key capability (the only truely stupid thing about the laptop design)?

Nope.
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post #8 of 37
3/17/04 at 1:15pm
Flashing BIOS should not affect the Fn/Ctrl swap, as the swap is done via keyboard firmware..
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post #9 of 37
3/17/04 at 1:33pm
Unless my memory is failing me, the keyboard mapping is in the BIOS. I haven't heard of there being an EROM tied to the keyboard controller chip...
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post #10 of 37
3/17/04 at 1:44pm
The keyboard controller is indeed seperate, it's the Insyde H8 keyboard BIOS that's also responsible for ACPI management. Flashing the system bios wont affect keyboard mappings.

Edit: Wouldnt want to post without some facts to back me up, so I'll say that you can see this for yourself, the two seperate BIOS versions are the first things that come up when you boot up (on my 8890, and I'm fairly sure on the 5680 too).
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post #11 of 37
3/17/04 at 6:58pm
Yes, that is correct.
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post #12 of 37
3/18/04 at 2:21am
Damn. Things sure have changed a bunch since last I dwelled in the land of the assembler (early 90's)...
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post #13 of 37
3/18/04 at 10:41pm
mcl, I also have the artifacting problem... I was wandering if I could get the bios update/downgrade... off of you. or do I also have to call sager?
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post #14 of 37
3/18/04 at 11:16pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by diefool
mcl, I also have the artifacting problem... I was wandering if I could get the bios update/downgrade... off of you. or do I also have to call sager?

Get it here .

You'll need to create a new folder, put it in the folder, then open a DOS shell, cd to that folder, and execute

568bv7t3 -sager

and it'll extract all the files.

Copy those files to a non-boot floppy.

Then, get a Win95 or Win98 boot floppy (because you need something without HIMEM.SYS or any other memory manager running -- remove it if it's on there), boot with it, then switch floppies and execute

AUTOEXEC.BAT

and it'll do its thing.

Your card will default to the 340/240 GPU/mem clock speeds rather than the correct 350/250 speeds, but you can clock it back up with ATITool or some other utility, and the artifacting should go away.

It did for me, anyway.

I don't take any responsibility for anything that goes wrong with anyone using that file. I'm telling you what sager told me, but it's still at your own risk.
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post #15 of 37
3/19/04 at 6:45am
Do you know if there is any other change in that BIOS from the one from PCTorque? Maybe memory timmings or BIOS options. Thanks.

andres
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post #16 of 37
3/19/04 at 12:02pm
i dunno, somthing is definetely up with 5680 9600 pro videocards overheating.

i'm getting these annoying 3 second freezes when gaming... i shut off v-synch and it's happening a lot less (not completely gone)... so i'm thinking the drivers from sager are set too damn hot.

i'm definetely going to try this ati tool.

is there a way to increase the videocard cooling power on this bird?

i mean, my wife can dry her hair with this thing.
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post #17 of 37
3/19/04 at 12:08pm
can you use the normal sager ati drivers with this ATITOOL?
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post #18 of 37
3/19/04 at 1:11pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by andres
Do you know if there is any other change in that BIOS from the one from PCTorque? Maybe memory timmings or BIOS options. Thanks.

andres
Don't know, but the one from PCT is 1.00.02S. This one is 1.00.07T3. I'd say it's a bit newer.
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post #19 of 37
3/19/04 at 1:11pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by skattabrain
can you use the normal sager ati drivers with this ATITOOL?
Yes. It's for any Radeon card, desktop or notebook.
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post #20 of 37
3/19/04 at 11:33pm
thanks mcl... I have no artifacts now!

rule.
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