Anyone tried this BIOS for the AN50R?

[Fried_Spam]

As the subject reads I was just curious if anyone has tried this (http://www.shuttle.com/hq/support/download/download_site.asp?url=~ftp://ftp.shuttle.com/BIOS/an50r/an50s034.bin&ope=0) an50s034.bin BIOS for the AN50R. I am (like most people) still using the 10/30/03 BIOS but I would like a BIOS that actually worked properly when disabling onboard devices while not screwing up other things. I don't really want to be a guinea pig on this so let me know if you have used it and how you feel about it.

Thanks. :D

[HKPolice]

Wow, looks promising.... It says it supports Mobile chips with this bios! :eek:

http://www.shuttle.com/share/fae/hq/download/bios_rdm/readmean50.htm

[HKPolice]

THIS BIOS RULES!
I can finally set CAS2 beyond 220Mhz using Clockgen!! It might be cuz I'm using A64Tweak to disable the dimm slots I'm not using now, but I'll try booting at 235Mhz CAS2-2-2-10 'n see what happens.....

As for the PCI devices, you CANNOT disable them, only their BIOS, but whatever, they don't affect performance anyways.

Update: Just booted up fine at 235Mhz 2-2-2-10, this BIOS is a god send for the AN50R! (Maybe shuttle fixed the bios to disable unused ram slots) Unfortnately, sandra shows NO difference between CAS2.0 and 2.5 :( which is not unexpected...

The other good thing is that changing AGP/Chipset/LDT voltages does not require a reboot anymore. With the older BIOSes, when changing chipset voltage to 1.9v, and LDT to 1.5v, or basically any other setting that stock, it won't boot after saving.

I had to hold the power button, let it shut down, then turn it back on. After that, everything would be peachy as long as the power supply doesn't get disconnected. (in which case I had to do the manual reboot again) I can now change the voltage settings without having to manually reboot.

I think this is the first PROPER BIOS for the AN50R :D

[Nomjr]

Great news, thanks HK!

[oqvist]

It support mobiles!!! Awesome news anyone tested it on one? I have a mobile 3400+ DTR shipping overseas at the moment :D

[HKPolice]

One thing that I should point out about this BIOS, it seems to be less stable when the nVidia 100Mbit LAN is enabled. I had to disable it 'n use the Onboard PCI Intel Gigabit LAN instead :(

Symptoms: Playing games online kept resulting in kmixer.sys causing an error, but playing games single player was fine. Disabling the nVidia LAN seems to solve the problem.

Still a good BIOS overall though.

[HKPolice]

Another thing I should add, the CPU temp readings seem to have dropped around 5C. I used to load at 53C, idle at 45, now I load at 48C, idles at 40..

Anyone else notice this?

[Fried_Spam]

Originally posted by HKPolice
I think this is the first PROPER BIOS for the AN50R :D

That is certainly great news. I will have to try this out when I get home later today.

Thanks HKPolice!

[cowpuppy]

Originally posted by oqvist
It support mobiles!!! Awesome news anyone tested it on one? I have a mobile 3400+ DTR shipping overseas at the moment :D

Hey my friend, wuz up. I was going to PM you this thread but you already beat me to it. I would stick with the 10/30 bios unless you hear that this bios just plain kicks (_}_) as you won't get over 265x11 @ 1/1 That board is like a rock, stable.

It's good to see Shuttle picking up the support for the DTR's and Mobiles. I tried contacting them for support and got a reply that is posted in a thread around here that I started, anyways they replied that the AN50R didn't and wouldn't ever support the DTR (but I was running 1) and they had no intentions of working on it.

[Fried_Spam]

Well, all seems to be about the same as previous attempts to me. The drop in reported temps is nice as I always figured that the Shuttle reported higher than actual temps. A couple of the BIOS options will freeze the comp and force a reset though. They were agp/pci frequency and cpu ratio. Use the + and - signs accordingly to set these options as desired and all should be fine. No performance differences either. Oh well, at least I can feel better about the lower reported temps.

[HKPolice]

Originally posted by Fried_Spam
Well, all seems to be about the same as previous attempts to me. The drop in reported temps is nice as I always figured that the Shuttle reported higher than actual temps. A couple of the BIOS options will freeze the comp and force a reset though. They were agp/pci frequency and cpu ratio. Use the + and - signs accordingly to set these options as desired and all should be fine. No performance differences either. Oh well, at least I can feel better about the lower reported temps.

Well I think finally being able to run CAS2.0 and 3 is a big plus for a lot of people. I don't get any freezing while adjusting the CPU ratio or AGP frequency... Might be something wrong with your board? :confused:

[Fried_Spam]

Originally posted by HKPolice
Well I think finally being able to run CAS2.0 and 3 is a big plus for a lot of people. I don't get any freezing while adjusting the CPU ratio or AGP frequency... Might be something wrong with your board? :confused:

True on the latencies I guess for some people. My ram can't run CAS 2 anyway and I refuse to run CAS 3.

As far as the freezing when I hit enter at PCI/AGP frequency I expect to see a list of numbers to select from but the box is empty and escape will not get me out of it. I can adjust both of these settings with the plus and minus keys though and the board has been rock solid now for about 5 months or so so I don't think there is anything wrong with it. Maybe I just need to reflash. Did you flash with any switches? I know with my previous IS7 you had to flash with switches to get the ICH5R raid to work properly but I haven't heard anyone mention this with the AN50R.

[Naughtyboy]

Flashed to this bios..about an hour ago...anf I can confirm possibility to run CL3...witch was impossible before.
I can also confirm about 5-7 degree drops in temps ...both load and idle.

Works great for me.....!!!

[HKPolice]

They work fine for me...

I used award winflash, all done in windows :)

Ok one BIG problem I noticed with this bios.... the multipliers seem to be fubar'd. I set it to 9x, and after windows loads, it's 4x.... then when I try to change it with clockgen, it freezes about 80% of the time, but sometimes it works...

It doesn't affect me since I use stock 10x multplier anyways, but it might affect others with DTR.


Originally posted by Fried_Spam
True on the latencies I guess for some people. My ram can't run CAS 2 anyway and I refuse to run CAS 3.

As far as the freezing when I hit enter at PCI/AGP frequency I expect to see a list of numbers to select from but the box is empty and escape will not get me out of it. I can adjust both of these settings with the plus and minus keys though and the board has been rock solid now for about 5 months or so so I don't think there is anything wrong with it. Maybe I just need to reflash. Did you flash with any switches? I know with my previous IS7 you had to flash with switches to get the ICH5R raid to work properly but I haven't heard anyone mention this with the AN50R.

[Ragnarok]

so is this bios worth flashing? i am happily running 10/30..

Previous bioses :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:ed my HTT speed over hardcore :(

[HKPolice]

I don't see why people are hesitant to try it.

YOU CAN FLASH IT BACK IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT.
Does anybody realize this?? :confused:

[Ragnarok]

I am lazy, I dont like wasting time :)

[Fried_Spam]

Originally posted by HKPolice
I don't see why people are hesitant to try it.

YOU CAN FLASH IT BACK IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT.
Does anybody realize this?? :confused:

I think that if you are reading xtremesystems forums then you most likely know that you can flash back to a more stable BIOS if a new one isn't to your liking - MOST of the time. I am sure that I am not the only one who knows someone unlucky enough to have a mobo fubar'd by a crap BIOS and Shuttle hasn't exactly earned a great rep with the previous BIOS offerings for this board. I am usually in agreement with you but after a very picky Gigabyte SIS655 based board and these crappy Shuttle offerings I am just a little leary since I need this pc for more than just gaming.

[HKPolice]

I've worked with computers for over 10 years and have never had a bios totally mess up any hardware, I could ALWAYS flash it back to normal. It might be that some people are flashing incorrectly, like in your case where the AGP and Multiplier screens cause hangs.

[Ragnarok]

Well this bios doesnt work with Clockgen multiplier changing option, and the bios one is :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:ed

I am going back to 10/30

[Fried_Spam]

Originally posted by Ragnarok
Well this bios doesnt work with Clockgen multiplier changing option, and the bios one is :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:ed

I am going back to 10/30

So I guess I am not the only one that it isn't working correctly for. Ragnarok, did you flash through Windows or through DOS?

[Ragnarok]

windows, it doesnt matter

the bios is just fubared as usual

[HKPolice]

I don't see what all the fuss is about, it's impossible to change the multi in clockgen if you're using 2 dimms on this mobo. It freezes ALL the time. :confused:

[crazyIV]

hi
what bios can i use to change mult.?:(
mine is working at 10x200, 260fsb... but i want try the 9x:)
thanks...

[crazyIV]

no one knows?:(
need help.... please:)

[crazyIV]

thanks a lot guys....:(

[eva2000]

Originally posted by Ragnarok
Well this bios doesnt work with Clockgen multiplier changing option, and the bios one is :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:ed

I am going back to 10/30 clockgen works fine for my 3400+ Newcastle CGs :)

AN50R rev1.3 unmodded an50s034 bios

http://fileshosts.com/AMD/boards/Shuttle/AN50R/3400_2/OCZ/PC3700EB/1x512/LDT2/8x/319-213-2.5226-1T-1.7-2.9-1.6-1.5/cpuz.jpg

http://fileshosts.com/AMD/boards/Shuttle/AN50R/3400_2/OCZ/PC3700EB/1x512/LDT2/8x/319-213-2.5226-1T-1.7-2.9-1.6-1.5/superpi-1m.jpg

http://fileshosts.com/AMD/boards/Shuttle/AN50R/3400_2/OCZ/PC3700EB/1x512/LDT2/8x/306-244-3328-1T-1.7-2.9-1.6-1.5/cpuz.jpg

http://fileshosts.com/AMD/boards/Shuttle/AN50R/3400_2/OCZ/PC3700EB/1x512/LDT2/8x/306-244-3328-1T-1.7-2.9-1.6-1.5/superpi-1m.jpg

in bios multipliers only work with low HTT settings i.e. can easily in bios set 10x, 11x, 12x * 200-213HTT but higher it's flaky

Just use clockgen to change multipliers or crystalCPUID