IBM NetVista A40 6578 Invalid BIOS

[KLund1]

Hi ALL,
I am now getting the pictured error on every boot.
After a good cleaning, it booted with this error, and asked for F# to get to the BIOS to set things up. I did not change anything , just saved what was there. it them moved on to boot WIN2K. After proper shut down, I removed just the CPU fan, not the sink. It need a little more cleaning.
When I rebooted about ten minutes later, I get this error. I can't get past this splash screen with this error. I press F1, F2,F10, or F12 many times during POST and I can not get to the bios screen. The the CMOS battery has been removed the whole time.
Retroweb has this board, but the service manual is for slightly different boards. Those have Clear CMOS pins. The pictured board, also is what I have, seems to not have clear cmos pins.

IBM NetVista A40 Types 6568, 6578, 6648

IBM NetVista A40 Types 6568, 6578, 6648 is a motherboard based on the Intel 815E (Solano-2) chipset. Get specs, BIOS, documentation and more!

theretroweb.com

Error 00CE is a DMA error in channel 7 transfer count register. (whatever that means)
So, I kind think the bios is now corrupted? And there is no way to boot it to load a bios file. (also, I can not find any bios files this range of computers online)
Is board and PC no a door stop?
Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[booboo]

Try reviewing the Hardware Maintenance Manual : https://www.manualslib.com/download/75471/Ibm-Netvista-6058.html
Are you sure your board doesn't have the jumper 12? Clear CMOS /Recovery?

Seems the Vital Product Data is corrupted. Try these procedures:

Vital product data
Each computer has a unique Vital Product Data (VPD) code stored in the nonvolatile memory on the system board. After you replace the system board, the VPD must be updated. To update the VPD, see “Flash (BIOS/VPD) update procedure” on page 88.

Flash (BIOS/VPD) update procedure
Attention:
Refer to the information label located inside the system unit cover for any model-specific information.
1. Power-off the computer.
2. Insert the flash update diskette into drive A.
3. Power-on the computer.
4. When the Update Utility appears; select the country/keyboard, then press Enter.
5. If the computer serial number was previously recorded, the number is displayed with an option to update it. Press Y to update the serial number.
6. Type the 7-digit serial number of the computer you are servicing, then press Enter.
7. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the flash (BIOS/VPD) update procedure.

Does the computer boot from floppy at all? If so, find the flash update floppies and boot with the update disk. If it doesn't boot, you might attempt the flash recovery process. See if it has the flash recovery boot block jumper, then:
Flash recovery boot block jumper
Attention:
If an interruption occurs during a Flash/BIOS upgrade, the BIOS might be left in an unusable state. The Boot Block jumper enables you to restart the system and recover the BIOS.
To perform a Flash/BIOS recovery using the recovery jumper, use the following procedure.
1. Power-off the computer and remove the cover.
2. Move the system board recovery jumper to the clear position. Refer to “A20 system board layout (Type 6269)” on page 146, “A40/A40P system board layout (Types 6058/6059/6578/6579)” on page 148, or to the label inside the computer for more information.
3. Insert the upgrade diskette into the diskette drive.
4. Power-on the computer. The IBM Logo will appear.
5. When the Flash Update Utility appears, select the country/keyboard, then press Enter.
6. If the computer serial number was previously recorded, the number is displayed with an option to update it. Press Y to update the serial number.
7. Type the 7-digit serial number of the computer you are servicing, then press Enter.
8. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the flash (BIOS/VPD) update procedure.
9. When you are instructed to reboot the computer, power-off the computer and move the recovery jumper to the normal position. Then replace the cover and power-on the computer.

 

[booboo]

Here are the BIOS update files and instructions.

 

[Plasma]

Hi ALL,
I am now getting the pictured error on every boot.
After a good cleaning, it booted with this error, and asked for F# to get to the BIOS to set things up. I did not change anything , just saved what was there. it them moved on to boot WIN2K. After proper shut down, I removed just the CPU fan, not the sink. It need a little more cleaning.
When I rebooted about ten minutes later, I get this error. I can't get past this splash screen with this error. I press F1, F2,F10, or F12 many times during POST and I can not get to the bios screen. The the CMOS battery has been removed the whole time.
Retroweb has this board, but the service manual is for slightly different boards. Those have Clear CMOS pins. The pictured board, also is what I have, seems to not have clear cmos pins.

IBM NetVista A40 Types 6568, 6578, 6648

IBM NetVista A40 Types 6568, 6578, 6648 is a motherboard based on the Intel 815E (Solano-2) chipset. Get specs, BIOS, documentation and more!

theretroweb.com

Error 00CE is a DMA error in channel 7 transfer count register. (whatever that means)
So, I kind think the bios is now corrupted? And there is no way to boot it to load a bios file. (also, I can not find any bios files this range of computers online)
Is board and PC no a door stop?
Any thoughts or suggestions?

The CMOS data may just be corrupted. Install a working battery and then go from there.

 

[KLund1]

Thanks everyone. I very much appreciate the replies and the effort to help!!
booboo, Please note that the pictured MB(on retroweb) is not exactly the same as the one listed in the service manuals, and the picture above. The battery orientation is different, and there is no large IC on the lower right of my board, among many other smaller differences.
Next the board freezes at the screen shown above. It never gets to POST where it initializes floppy drivers. SO there is no way to boot a bios update floppy.
I also get a WIN10 error msg when trying to run the above zipped file. It says it needs a different version of windows to run.
Plasma, I have put a new battery in, as noted above, and I still get the the same screen and the board freezes.

I also found bios files here

Index of /pccbbs/netvista_bios/

But the one for this aboard generates 1.58mb set of files that can't fit on a standard floppy. (not that the MB can boot it, anyway)
What next to try?
Again thanks

 

[Plasma]

Here is the BIOS update disk image. You can write it to a floppy with WinImage.

Since it can't boot normally, you need to attempt recovery with the boot block. Does your board have the circled jumper? That should be the recovery jumper.

 

[KLund1]

Plasma,
Yes it does. It is labeled J35. All the docs I could find say the cmos jumper is J12. I think this is what was confusing me.
I have never used a recovery jumper.
I assume that I short it, and boot from floppy?
This doc says short pins closest to the battery. Y/N ??

A40/ A40P Processor Speed Settings; A40/A40P Diskette Write Access - IBM NetVista 6058 Hardware Maintenance Manual [Page 82]

IBM NetVista 6058 Manual Online: a40/ a40p processor speed settings, A40/A40P Diskette Write Access. Processor Speed For Type 6568/6569/6648/6649 Computers Are Fixed And Are Determined By The Processor. There Are No Settings Required. A40/A40P Diskette Write Access Diskette Write...

www.manualslib.com

The file attached makes a floppy that should be bootable. I loaded up my win98 laptop and made the floppy. Thanks for the file, by the way!
I connected a known working 3.5" drive, and power the MB. The FD made a very short initializing buzz, but that was it. The screen says blank, no vga signal. It let it sit a few minutes, but no change.
I tried this process with and without the cmos battery installed. No change.
My MB di not have any jump on these pins when I got it.

 

[Plasma]

Yes, that should be correct. You can try modifying config.sys on the floppy to force unattended mode:

shell=flash2.exe /U /B:[serial] /M:[machine] /R

Where [serial] is your system serial number and [machine] is the machine type. But it sounds like it's not even trying to boot. If you have verified the floppy is bootable in another system, then the BIOS boot block is probably also corrupted.

It is possible to desolder the chip and program it directly, but it takes some skill. You will also need a programmer capable of handling a PLCC32 4Mb chip. It may be more cost effective to replace the whole board.

 

[KLund1]

Thanks, I tried your config.sys line.
No joy.
I think the bios is fully gone.
I'm a thru hole soldering person, SMD's are something I do not do well with.
I'll leave this to the next person. I'll put this nicely cleaned system back together, and other it up with notes from this thread.
Again, all the helpful input is much appreciated!

 

[KLund1]

WOW HOLD ON !!!!
IT BOOTED !! Loaded out to WIN 2K !!!

After I decided to give up on this, I put everything back together.
This included reconnecting the original FD, HD, CD-rom, NIC card, and PSU,
I did a quick power on to take a pic of the error with the system rebuild,
But it booted normally !!!
Now I needed to know what parts this MB needed to work normally.
I removed one item at a time until it booted to the screen on post 1
Looks like it wants its original FD, HD, NIC, and the PSU to boot normally. The CD-rom is the only 'optional' item. I guess that is IBM
The serial number and model number were still wrong in the BIOS,. SO I ran the disk I made and reflashed the BIOS with the correct numbers.
This system run quite fast for a PIII 866mhz. W2K loads from power to desktop in about 22 seconds !!!
All is now good with the world!!

 

[Plasma]

So if you remove the NIC it won't boot? Very strange...

 

[KLund1]

That is correct. I thought is strange!, but then a glanced the case front, and remembered the name of the system. NetVista