brief bios comparison w/ hexshop:
m9800 vs mx800 bios
m9800
insertion at row 00001998 -> 910080000000D29FA50E2503FF0201030300E01F00000000000000000000
insertion at row 0000326C -> 90
mx800
insertion at row 000056BC -> D201D301D401D501D601
as w1zzard found yesterday, the bios supports 16 pipes, so he believes the lock out is probably caused by something else. the insertions in the 9800 bios maybe those locks. the insertion in the x800 bios implies a deletion in the 9800 bios and maybe the key for those locks. this is all the time i can spend on this now. work is killing me. good luck to all.