Arima NM46x AGESA upgrade?

[couponrick]

So how do I use this ROM 1.10, so for the newbie question

for example the 1.08 version is named NM46X.108 but yours has the expenstion of .ROM do I just rename NM46X110.ROM to NM46X.110 ?

Thanks in advance!

I have a number of these boards (they were very common in servers from Rackable, now SGI).

The last couple I bought off ebay came with the 1.10 BIOS. I figure they were probably some of the last NM46X boards produced.

Attached is the 1.10 BIOS extracted from one of these boards.

There are a ton of these systems out there and they seem to be well built boards. There's just no support left for them anymore. If we could get some of the bits upgraded in the BIOS to get some better processor support, it would extend the life of these boards quite a lot.

[agonsman]

So how do I use this ROM 1.10, so for the newbie question

for example the 1.08 version is named NM46X.108 but yours has the expenstion of .ROM do I just rename NM46X110.ROM to NM46X.110 ?

Thanks in advance!

You can rename it if you prefer. You can use it with the .rom extension too. The key is that you need to be familiar with the command line for phlash16 or at the very least be prepared to edit the batch file that comes with the 1.08 package on Arima/Rioworks' websites. That batch file kind of automates the basic flashing process, but I believe it's hard coded to look for the NM46X.108 image file. There are a number of command references for phlash16 floating around. Just Google it and you should be able to turn one up pretty easily.

Disclaimer: To the best of my knowledge, this is not a modified BIOS. This is a manufacturer's image that I extracted from a live board for the benefit of the community because it is newer than what is available on the manufacturer's defunct website and apparently anywhere else on the internet. I've used this image on a couple of my other NM46X boards to upgrade them from 1.08 to 1.10. I have not had any problems to date but I am not responsible for any problems that you may have and you do this at your own risk. I strongly caution you to have a contingency plan if this should fail to flash or cause problems once it is flashed on your board.

[couponrick]

Thanks! I will look at mod the batch file to indicate the new version .110. I'm going to upgrade to 1.08 from 1.07, if I see a need I may try 1.10 but I'm not going to unless it gives better bios options for virtualization.

Can you downgrade from 1.10 to 1.08 if needed?

Thanks again.

So how do I use this ROM 1.10, so for the newbie question

for example the 1.08 version is named NM46X.108 but yours has the expenstion of .ROM do I just rename NM46X110.ROM to NM46X.110 ?

Thanks in advance!

You can rename it if you prefer. You can use it with the .rom extension too. The key is that you need to be familiar with the command line for phlash16 or at the very least be prepared to edit the batch file that comes with the 1.08 package on Arima/Rioworks' websites. That batch file kind of automates the basic flashing process, but I believe it's hard coded to look for the NM46X.108 image file. There are a number of command references for phlash16 floating around. Just Google it and you should be able to turn one up pretty easily.

Disclaimer: To the best of my knowledge, this is not a modified BIOS. This is a manufacturer's image that I extracted from a live board for the benefit of the community because it is newer than what is available on the manufacturer's defunct website and apparently anywhere else on the internet. I've used this image on a couple of my other NM46X boards to upgrade them from 1.08 to 1.10. I have not had any problems to date but I am not responsible for any problems that you may have and you do this at your own risk. I strongly caution you to have a contingency plan if this should fail to flash or cause problems once it is flashed on your board.

[haakkern]

Thanks! I will look at mod the batch file to indicate the new version .110. I'm going to upgrade to 1.08 from 1.07, if I see a need I may try 1.10 but I'm not going to unless it gives better bios options for virtualization.

Can you downgrade from 1.10 to 1.08 if needed?

Thanks again.

So how do I use this ROM 1.10, so for the newbie question

for example the 1.08 version is named NM46X.108 but yours has the expenstion of .ROM do I just rename NM46X110.ROM to NM46X.110 ?

Thanks in advance!

You can rename it if you prefer. You can use it with the .rom extension too. The key is that you need to be familiar with the command line for phlash16 or at the very least be prepared to edit the batch file that comes with the 1.08 package on Arima/Rioworks' websites. That batch file kind of automates the basic flashing process, but I believe it's hard coded to look for the NM46X.108 image file. There are a number of command references for phlash16 floating around. Just Google it and you should be able to turn one up pretty easily.

Disclaimer: To the best of my knowledge, this is not a modified BIOS. This is a manufacturer's image that I extracted from a live board for the benefit of the community because it is newer than what is available on the manufacturer's defunct website and apparently anywhere else on the internet. I've used this image on a couple of my other NM46X boards to upgrade them from 1.08 to 1.10. I have not had any problems to date but I am not responsible for any problems that you may have and you do this at your own risk. I strongly caution you to have a contingency plan if this should fail to flash or cause problems once it is flashed on your board.

Hello pepole.. i got the same motherboard.. NM46X so this bios you made ore extractet from this motherbord this bios NM46X.110 is the newest ? i will try this bios couse i got som problems whit my raid controller when Intalling wmware..
this is fun! i hope ill try it today

greeatings from norway !


Edit: maby use this flash command ?

http://www.arimacorp.com/server/Product/...View=NM46X


Used the flash command on the arima corp site.... worked like a charm.. my motherboard is now whi a new bios.. thanks alot agonsman

[haakkern]

Thanks! I will look at mod the batch file to indicate the new version .110. I'm going to upgrade to 1.08 from 1.07, if I see a need I may try 1.10 but I'm not going to unless it gives better bios options for virtualization.

Can you downgrade from 1.10 to 1.08 if needed?

Thanks again.

So how do I use this ROM 1.10, so for the newbie question

for example the 1.08 version is named NM46X.108 but yours has the expenstion of .ROM do I just rename NM46X110.ROM to NM46X.110 ?

Thanks in advance!

You can rename it if you prefer. You can use it with the .rom extension too. The key is that you need to be familiar with the command line for phlash16 or at the very least be prepared to edit the batch file that comes with the 1.08 package on Arima/Rioworks' websites. That batch file kind of automates the basic flashing process, but I believe it's hard coded to look for the NM46X.108 image file. There are a number of command references for phlash16 floating around. Just Google it and you should be able to turn one up pretty easily.

Disclaimer: To the best of my knowledge, this is not a modified BIOS. This is a manufacturer's image that I extracted from a live board for the benefit of the community because it is newer than what is available on the manufacturer's defunct website and apparently anywhere else on the internet. I've used this image on a couple of my other NM46X boards to upgrade them from 1.08 to 1.10. I have not had any problems to date but I am not responsible for any problems that you may have and you do this at your own risk. I strongly caution you to have a contingency plan if this should fail to flash or cause problems once it is flashed on your board.

Hello pepole.. i got the same motherboard.. NM46X so this bios you made ore extractet from this motherbord this bios NM46X.110 is the newest ? i will try this bios couse i got som problems whit my raid controller when Intalling wmware..
this is fun! i hope ill try it today

greeatings from norway !


Edit: maby use this flash command ?

http://www.arimacorp.com/server/Product/...View=NM46X


Used the flash command on the arima corp site.... worked like a charm.. my motherboard is now whi a new bios.. thanks alot agonsman

hey peeps.. i got som problem whit my arcea raid card in this motherboard

this.. ARC-1220
http://www.areca.com.tw/products/pcie.htm

Any sugestions ?

[haakkern]

For people trying to run ESXi and having problems, there is a fairly easy fix. Check this page for the fix: http://vmwise.com/2010/06/03/things-i-want-to-remember/

I've been running 5.0 on my Barcelona CPUs/nm-461 (BIOS version 1.08) for 6 months without any problems.

Thanks a ton for the bios update agonsman!

Glad I could help out with the BIOS.

That link is also very interesting. I'll have to try this when I get home from band practice tonight.

Have you come across any stability issues or bad behavior in ESXi? I'm just curious. ESXi must be requiring this level of microcode for some reason or another.

The system in question (one of soon to be two hosts) is only being used for my home servers/lab, but so far it has been 100% rock solid with anything I've thrown at it. The suggestion on the microcode thing is that VMware essentially blacklists the Barcelona core CPUs due to concerns over the TLB issue of the B2 stepping. I know that my CPUs (8350 HE) are stepping B3 which doesn't have the TLB problem. I just noticed that after I flashed the 1.10 BIOS, I now have the option to disable the TLB. So if you are unlucky enough to have the affected stepping, at least you can disable that to ensure stability.

Dude im just Curius! You know what this bios 1.10 updates? is there a "readme" file for what this bios 1.10 really update?

2: regarding wmware i will try this! ive been trying to get my http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K10/AMD-Th...OF%29.html Amd to work but no luck.. i will see if this does the trick

[shirya]

be careful - the 110 bios bricked my mb

[JAWS]

The last couple I bought off ebay came with the 1.10 BIOS. I figure they were probably some of the last NM46X boards produced.

Attached is the 1.10 BIOS extracted from one of these boards.

Hey I just want to say thanks for uploading the 1.10 bios. I've had this setup for a long time and just recently decided to buy more ram. (since it's cheap) long story short no matter how much I tried the mobo would not boot with 4 dimms populated on each cpu. I ran memtest on each 1gb dimm for 2 passes.

After I flashed bios 1.10 it seems to be working fine.

btw for others that might want to flash: Phlash16 NM46X.110 /MODE=3/BBL/C

just rename the 110 bios = NM46X.110

[halomez]

I got the 1.10 to work with WinPhlash(much easier to use)! However it still doesn't correctly recognize my Shanghai Opteron 2376 HEs. It boots, but runs at 1.8GHz. Oh well.

[KateTheGreat]

halomez- if you're still watching this, could you post a screenshot of CPUz on your NM46+Shanghai setup? I suspect that perhaps because the BIOS doesn't have microcode for Shanghai chips, it's defaulting to the lowest recognized multiplier, which IIRC was 9x for Socket F chips. I'm curious about support for those too, since I'm maxed out with 8356s at the moment.