Aspen2 (OEM aka SD11 from FIC)

[Kaiba]

For those that may have a FIC OEM version of the SD11 Motherboard this is called Aspen2, I'm looking for a BIOS upgrade. FIC no longer have the support link on their website. If you have any information that might help me please advise.

[Toby B.]

FIC SD11 BIOS Updates:- http://www.fic.com.tw/support/motherboa ... model_id=9

BEWARE the Aspen2 is An OEM version of the SD11 found in Compaq computers. Upgrade at your own risk. Let us know how it turns out..

[Kaiba]

Thanks for the information. I have visted that site for upgrades but that's the modified version of the Aspen2 motherboard. I have upgraded the BIOS with the file listed on the site but it does not solve the problem with the Maxtor harddrives. Hence, I experienced POST hangups that was a real pain in the butt! The best bet for those that want to install a larger harddrive is to get an IDE or EIDE card. EIDE is a feature that has a limitation on this motherboard. Example, the Maxtor that I used has 16383 cyc, 16 hds, and 63 sectors but the maximum capacity being read by the BIOS was 33Gb. If you can't afford a EIDE or IDE card it would be best to use the Cyc Limit Jmp which is j46 on the Maxtor drives. Good luck and I hope that my experience aids you in your modifications.

For those that have the compaq version of this motherboard I will not recomend the BIOS upgrade unless your motherboard has SD11 written on it. Note that after having contact with FIC they said that they do not provide upgrades for OEM motherboards. If you have choosen to upgrade please remember that you can backup the current BIOS file by running the Flash818.exe in DOS mode and choosing the "File" option with the return key. Specify the file path and name "a:\DFTBIOS.ROM" or "a:\DFTBIOS.EXT" and then hit the return key. Key note to remember is that you have to hold the END key when the system restarts until its passes the NVRAM check. This will install the default values for the newly installed BIOS.

For those that replied to this post I will like to thank you again.

[Kaiba]

The motherboards are compatible with the Micron DIMM 100 - 133 modules. It would be wise to use this make of SDRAM in these motherboards. I have played with different makers of SDRAM and often experience data transfer errors. The boards work under Windows 9x/NT/2000 Pro. I have not tested the board under Windows XP. FreeBSD has been installed without errors. Later I will test the board under Linux SuSE, redHat, and makdrake. I will keep this updated for those that may need the help.

[Hardware Junkie]

Fixes
1. Fix AMD Thunderbird CPU (A1 sample) internal cache information return size incorrect.
2. Fix HDD size exceeds 33GB report error, when in setup menu by press "AUTO" to get the HDD size.
3. Add setup item for user to select IDE cable size.
4. Fix all Maxtor UDMA 66 HDD copy files hang up.

http://mobokive.dyndns.org/Archive/Fic/ ... lota/sd11/

[Toby B.]

I am a tad bit confused here. Did the BIOS flash work ok beyond the "hang" at detecting the hard drive? (i.e. when you flashed the BIOS with the FIC version the board still functioned?)