OEM Bios crossing

**ratdude747** · 06-11-2013, 09:20 PM

Quick question:

Is it possible (via BIOS updates or BIOS chip swapping) to convert an OEM board, such as the Board from a HP XW9300, to the clone of the the board, in this case a Tyan K8WE?

They're the exact same board except the HP one has one less LAN port and also has SCSI (suppossedly an option on the tyan's version).

Reason I ask is i recently found a XW9300 board for cheap and I was really wanting a K8WE... and if it was convertible by way of a BIOS flash or fresh BIOS chip, then I'd go for it.

**c_hegge** · 06-11-2013, 11:04 PM

You can on some boards, but that doesn't mean you can do it on all boards.

**Evil Lurker** · 06-11-2013, 11:47 PM

In theory you can, but the boards have to be identical meaning all the IC's have to be the same... usually there are some minor differences between boards. Also, the flash software does a PID check before flashing and if the board is an OEM model it terminates the flashing process.

What you would probably have to do for a successful bios de-nerfing is to desolder the bios chip and put it on a dedicated programmer to change the PID values. One other possible option would be to figure out a way to put bios chips in some sort of socket adapter and do a hot flash... had to do that a couple times in the past with some boards and it actually does work. Basically you boot up the PC off one bios, yank out the bios chip and replace it with the board still running. That way when the bios flashing utility loads it will read one bios, and right before it flashes you simply swap out ICs.

**Uranium-235** · 06-12-2013, 12:59 AM

there are some flashers that are dos based and you can use some kind of /f to force a flash

I did such thing on an HP s939 board a year ago. bricked it good

**ratdude747** · 06-12-2013, 01:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uranium-235

there are some flashers that are dos based and you can use some kind of /f to force a flash

I did such thing on an HP s939 board a year ago. bricked it good

Yeah, I better not.

**japlytic** · 06-12-2013, 01:32 AM

Another thing to consider is the General Purpose Input/Output (GPIO) pin usage on the chipset - the use of these pins is at the discretion of the manufacturer.

**ratdude747** · 06-12-2013, 01:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by japlytic

Another thing to consider is the General Purpose Input/Output (GPIO) pin usage on the chipset - the use of these pins is at the discretion of the manufacturer.

The boards are literally the same PCB... Exact same PCB.

**Topcat** · 06-12-2013, 07:34 AM

I have one of those boards here somewhere, completely forgot about it.....it donated the IO shield to the Frankenserver way back when. That board has a few other differences as well, it has no case header for the buttons, lights, etc, the pins were never soldered in. You could put them in, you'd have to clear the holes and add them.

FWIW, the HP BIOS has the same features and functions as the OE.....just has the HP splash, which you can disable.... I wouldn't worry too much about the BIOS.

06-11-2013, 09:20 PM	#1
ratdude747 Black Sheep Join Date: Nov 2008 City & State: Madison, IN My Country: USA Line Voltage: 120VAC 60Hz I'm a: Professional Tech Posts: 16,216	OEM Bios crossing Quick question: Is it possible (via BIOS updates or BIOS chip swapping) to convert an OEM board, such as the Board from a HP XW9300, to the clone of the the board, in this case a Tyan K8WE? They're the exact same board except the HP one has one less LAN port and also has SCSI (suppossedly an option on the tyan's version). Reason I ask is i recently found a XW9300 board for cheap and I was really wanting a K8WE... and if it was convertible by way of a BIOS flash or fresh BIOS chip, then I'd go for it. __________________ (Insert witty quote here)

06-11-2013, 11:04 PM	#2
c_hegge Badcaps Veteran Join Date: Sep 2009 City & State: North Coast, NSW My Country: Australia Line Voltage: 240V 50Hz I'm a: Professional Tech Posts: 5,052	Re: OEM Bios crossing You can on some boards, but that doesn't mean you can do it on all boards. __________________ I love putting bad caps and flat batteries in fire and watching them explode!! No wonder it doesn't work! You installed the jumper wires backwards Main PC: Core i7 3770K 3.5GHz, Gigabyte GA-Z77M-D3H-MVP, 8GB Kingston HyperX DDR3 1600, 240GB Intel 335 Series SSD, 750GB WD HDD, Sony Optiarc DVD RW, Palit nVidia GTX660 Ti, CoolerMaster N200 Case, Delta DPS-600MB 600W PSU, Hauppauge TV Tuner, Windows 7 Home Premium Office PC: HP ProLiant ML150 G3, 2x Xeon E5335 2GHz, 4GB DDR2 RAM, 120GB Intel 530 SSD, 2x 250GB HDD, 2x 450GB 15K SAS HDD in RAID 1, 1x 2TB HDD, nVidia 8400GS, Delta DPS-650BB 650W PSU, Windows 7 Pro

06-11-2013, 11:47 PM	#3
Evil Lurker Warranty Voider Join Date: Feb 2011 City & State: West Tennessee, USA Posts: 452	Re: OEM Bios crossing In theory you can, but the boards have to be identical meaning all the IC's have to be the same... usually there are some minor differences between boards. Also, the flash software does a PID check before flashing and if the board is an OEM model it terminates the flashing process. What you would probably have to do for a successful bios de-nerfing is to desolder the bios chip and put it on a dedicated programmer to change the PID values. One other possible option would be to figure out a way to put bios chips in some sort of socket adapter and do a hot flash... had to do that a couple times in the past with some boards and it actually does work. Basically you boot up the PC off one bios, yank out the bios chip and replace it with the board still running. That way when the bios flashing utility loads it will read one bios, and right before it flashes you simply swap out ICs.

06-12-2013, 12:59 AM	#4
Uranium-235 Muffins Join Date: Aug 2007 City & State: tehas My Country: US Line Voltage: 120VAC 60Hz I'm a: Professional Tech Posts: 3,523	Re: OEM Bios crossing there are some flashers that are dos based and you can use some kind of /f to force a flash I did such thing on an HP s939 board a year ago. bricked it good __________________ Cap Datasheet Depot: http://www.paullinebarger.net/DS/ ^If you have datasheets not listed PM me

06-12-2013, 01:32 AM	#6
japlytic Badcaps Veteran Join Date: Oct 2005 City & State: Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia My Country: Australia Line Voltage: 240VAC 50Hz I'm a: Hobbyist Posts: 1,977	Re: OEM Bios crossing Another thing to consider is the General Purpose Input/Output (GPIO) pin usage on the chipset - the use of these pins is at the discretion of the manufacturer. __________________ My first choice in quality Japanese electrolytics is Nippon Chemi-Con, which has been in business since 1931... the quality of electronics is dependent on the quality of the electrolytics.

06-12-2013, 07:34 AM	#8
Topcat The Boss Stooge Join Date: Oct 2003 City & State: Salem, MO My Country: United States Line Voltage: 240V @ 60Hz I'm a: Professional Tech Posts: 13,415	Re: OEM Bios crossing I have one of those boards here somewhere, completely forgot about it.....it donated the IO shield to the Frankenserver way back when. That board has a few other differences as well, it has no case header for the buttons, lights, etc, the pins were never soldered in. You could put them in, you'd have to clear the holes and add them. FWIW, the HP BIOS has the same features and functions as the OE.....just has the HP splash, which you can disable.... I wouldn't worry too much about the BIOS. __________________ <--- Badcaps.net Founder & Owner Badcaps.net Services: Premade Capacitor Kits Badcaps.net Capacitor Master List Motherboard Repair Services If you've come here in search of replacement capacitors or repair services, please use the links above. ---------------------------------------------- Badcaps.net Forum Members Folding Team http://folding.stanford.edu/ Team : 49813 Join in!! Team Stats

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