Many users don't know the name of their clone motherboard.
This is because the company name is not mentioned anywhere in the manual, or on
the motherboard. If you want to upgrade your BIOS you really have to know the motherboard
manufacturer, because if you flash the wrong BIOS upgrade your system could
stop booting.
Luckily, Award and AMI BIOS have a unique BIOS ID (= BIOS
Number) which identifies the manufacturer and chipset of the board. Phoenix
BIOSs, in most cases, do NOT.
The AMI or Award BIOS id appears at the bottom of
your screen after power on, during memory count up. The PAUSE key
should work at that point, allowing you to write down the BIOS number, the BIOS
date, and the version. You must copy it exactly.
A much easier way to get the Award/AMI BIOS number &
possible manufacturer is by using CTBIOS v 1.5. Run it and
it'll give you the BIOS number, possible manufacturer and more. If you want to
know the name of your chipset you can also download ctpci330.zip.
The first 5 characters identify the
chipset. 2A59I stands for the Intel Triton TX chipset.
You can find an extensive list of chipsets if you scroll down a
bit.
The sixth & seventh character identify
the manufacturer: in this case it's Z1. If you look at
the Award Hardware Vendors list (see below) you'll find that the
manufacturer is Zida/Tomato
The 8th character (most of the times, not
always!) identifies the model. I say 'most of the times' because the
manufacturer can use the same 8th character for all models based on a
particular chipset!.
The C-00 at the end doesn't mean
much.
The numbers are categorized on Chipset basis. If you don't
know the chipset, just use Edit/Find in your browser and search for your BIOS
Number. This page is more extensive than Award's (Phoenix) own publicized
list!
If you know BIOS ids that are not yet on the list,
please mail them ONLY
when you know the manufacturer AND model!
Note: I'm NOT RESPONSIBLE for possible
mistakes in this list ! Use this info at your own risk!
Identifying the chipset:
As noted above the first part of the Award BIOS Number identifies the
chipset used. The following is a list of all the ids and their corresponding
chipsets. Follow the links to get a list of known BIOS numbers for a
particular chipset.
Note that when the BIOS begins with a 2 then the Award BIOS core version
is 4.50 or 4.51. If it starts with a 3 this means the BIOS core is version 4.60.
BIOS Numbers that start with a 6 have a Award BIOS V6.00 core
Identifying the
chipset
213V1
SARC RC2018
21480
HiNT SC9204 (Sierra),
HMC82C206
214D1
HiNT SC9204 (Sierra),
HMC82C206
214I8
SiS 85C471
214I9
SiS 85C471E
214L2
VIA VT82C486A
214L6
VIA Venus
VT82C486A/VT82C495/VT82C496G
214W3
VD 88C898
214X2
UMC 491 Chipset
215UM
OPTi 82C546/82C597
21917
ALD Chipset
219V0
SARC RC2016
2A431
Cyrix MediaGx Cx5510
chipset
2A432
Cyrix GXi Cx5520
Chipset
2A433
Cyrix GXm Cx5520
Chipset
2A434
Cyrix GXm Cx5530
Chipset
2A496
Intel Saturn
Chipset
2A498
Intel Saturn II
Chipset
2A499
Intel Aries Chipset
2A4H2
Contaq 82C596-9
Chipset
2A4IB
SiS 496/497 Chipset
2A4J6
Winbond W83C491(SL82C491
Symphony Wagner)
2A4KA
ALi ?
2A4KC
ALi 1439/45/31
Chipset
2A4KD
ALi 1487/1489
Chipset
2A4L4
VIA 486A/482/505
Chipset
2A4L6
VIA 496/406/505
Chipset
2A4O3
EFAR EC802GL, EC100G
chipset
2A4UK
OPTI-802G-822
Chipset
2A4X5
UMC 8881E/8886B
Chipset
2A4Z0
?
2A597
Intel Mercury
Chipset
2A59A
Intel Natoma
(Neptune) Chipset
2A59B
Intel Mercury
Chipset
2A59C
Intel Triton
FX chipset (Socket 7 based m/b)
2A59F
Intel Triton
II HX chipset (also kwown 430 HX PCIset) (Socket 7 based m/b)
2A59G
Intel Triton VX chipset
(Socket 7 based m/b)
2A59H
Intel Triton VX chipset
(Socket 7 based m/b) with an illegal BIOS
2A59I
Intel Triton TX chipset
(Socket 7 based m/b)
2A5C7
VIA VT82C570
Chipset
2A5G7
VLSI VL82C594
Chipset
2A5GB
VLSI Lynx
VL82C541/VL82C543 Chipset
2A5IA
SiS 501/02/03
Chipset
2A5IC
SiS 5501/02/03
Chipset
2A5ID
SiS 5511/12/13
Chipset
2A5IE
SiS 5101-5103
Chipset
2A5IF
SiS 5596/5597
Chipset
2A5IH
SiS 5571 Chipset
2A5II
SiS 5582/5597/5598
Chipset
2A5IJ
SiS 5120 Mobile
Chipset
2A5IK
SiS 5591 Chipset
2A5IM
SiS 530 Chipset
2A5KB
Ali 1449/61/51
Chipset
2A5KE
ALI 1511 Chipset
2A5KF
ALI 1521/23 Chipset
2A5KI
ALI IV+ M1531/M1543
Chipset (also known as Super TX chipset)
2A5KK
Ali Aladdin V Chipset
2A5L5
VIA ?
2A5L7
VIA VT82C570
Chipset
2A5L9
VIA VT82C570M
Chipset
2A5LA
VIA Apollo VP1 Chipset
(VT82C580VP) (sometimes relabeled as VXPro chipset)
2A5LC
VIA Apollo VP2 Chipset
(sometimes relabeled as AMD640 chipset)
2A5LD
VIA VPX Chipset (sometimes
relabeled as VXPro+ chipset)
2A5LE
VIA Apollo (M)VP3
Chipset
2A5LH
VIA Apollo VP4
Chipset
2A5R5
Forex FRX58C613/601A
chipset
2A5R6
Forex
FRX58C613A/602B/601B
2A5T6
ACC Micro 2278/2188
(Auctor) chipset
2A5UI
Opti 82C822/596/597
Chipset or OPTi 596/546/82
2A5UL
Opti 82C822/571/572
Chipset
2A5UM
Opti 82C822/546/547
Chipset
2A5UN
Opti Viper-M
82C556/557/558 Chipset or Opti Viper 82C556/557/558
2A5UP
Opti Viper Max
2A5X7
UMC 82C890 Chipset
2A5X8
UMC
UM8886BF/UM8891BF/UM8892BF Chipset
2A5XA
UMC 890C Chipset
2A69H
Intel 440FX chipset
(Pentium II/Pentium Pro based
chipset)
2A69J
Intel 440LX/EX chipset
(Pentium II based
chipset)
2A69K
Intel
440BX/ZX chipset (Pentium II/III based chipset)
2A69L
Intel 'Camino' 820
Chipset
2A69M
Intel 'Whitney' 810
Chipset
2A69N
Intel Banister Mobile
ChipSet with C&T 69000 Video
2A6IL
SiS 5600 Chipset
2A6IN
SiS 620 Chipset
2A6KL
Ali 1621/1543C
Chipset
2A6KO
ALi M1631/M1535D
2A6LF
Via Apollo Pro (691/596)
Chipset
2A6LG
Via Apollo Pro Plus
(692/596) Chipset
2A6LI
Via MVP4 VIA 601(Trident
video on-chip)/686A (Modem on-chip, Sound on-chip)
2A6LJ
VIA 694X/596B and VIA
694X/686A(Modem on-chip, Sound on-chip)
2A9KG
ALi M6117/M1521/M1523
chipset
2AG9H
Intel Neptune ISA
Chipset
2B496
Intel Saturn I EISA
chipset
2B597
Intel Mercury EISA
chipset
2B59A
Intel Neptune EISA
Chipset
2B59F
Intel 430HX EISA
chipset
2B69D
Intel Orion EISA
Chipset
2C460
UNIchip U4800-VLX
chipset
2C470
HYF82481 chipset
2C4D2
HiNT SC8006 (Sierra),
HMC82C206
2C4I7
SiS 461 Chipset
2C4I8
SiS 85C471B
chipset
2C4I9
SiS 85C471B/E/G
chipset
2C4J6
Winbond W83C491(SL82C491
Symphony Wagner)
2C4K9
ALI 14296 Chipset
2C4KC
Ali 1439/45/31
Chipset
2C4L2
VIA 82C486A Chipset
2C4L6
VIA VT496G Chipset
2C4L8
VIA VT425MV chipset
2C4O3
EFAR EC802G-B
Chipset
2C4S0
AMD Elan 470
2C4T7
ACC Micro 2048
(Auctor)
2C4UK
OPTI
82C895/82C602
2C4X2
UMC UM82C491/82C493
chipset
2C4X6
UMC
UM498F/496F
3A6LF
Via Apollo Pro (691/596)
Chipset with Award BIOS v4.60PGA
6A450
STMicroelectronics PC
Client ST86 processor
6A69L
Intel 'Camino' i820
chipset with Award BIOS v6.00
6A69M
Intel i810(E) chipset with
Award BIOS v6.00
6A69R
Intel 'Solano' i815(E) chipset with Award BIOS v6.00
6A69S
Intel i850 chipset with
Award BIOS v6.00
6A6IS
SiS 730 chipset with Award
BIOS v6.00
6A6IU
SiS 733 chipset with Award
BIOS v6.00
6A6LJ
VIA 694X/686A (Apollo Pro
133A) chipset with Award BIOS v6.00
6A6LK
VIA VT8371 (KX-133)
chipset with Award BIOS v6.00
6A6LM
VIA VT8363 (KT-133)
chipset with Award BIOS v6.00
6A6LN
VIA VT8365 (KM-133)/VT8364
(KL-133) chipset with Award BIOS v6.00
6A6LU
VIA Apollo Pro266 chipset
with Award BIOS v6.00
6A6LV
VIA VT8366/VT8233 chipset
with Award BIOS v6.00
6A6S2
AMD 751 chipset with Award
BIOS v6.00
6A6S6
AMD 760 chipset with Award
BIOS v6.00
JA6LM
VIA VT8363 (KT-133)
chipset (only used on Matsonic
m/b)
Identifying the motherboard
manufacturer:
The two characters following the last character of the chipset
identification identify the motherboard manufacturer.The following is a list of
all the ids and their corresponding manufacturers. Follow the links to go to the
individual company pages on my website. Those individual company pages will list
all Award BIOS Numbers for that company. (Note: At this moment we are in the
process of moving the BIOS Numbers to the individual company pages. Please be
patient)
Award Hardware Vendors
Code
Name
00
E-mail Support @ Unicore (subsidiary of
Award Software) with BIOS ID data, plus any board ID codes you can
find
What follows is a list of BIOS Numbers:
please note that we are in process of moving this information to the
manufacturer pages, so please also visit those pages if you can't find your BIOS
Number here.
SiS 496/497
Chipset
2A4IB000-00: Wintec (Edom) MP046-A
2A4IB000C-00: Kaimei Electronic
Corp. KM-S4-1 PCI Rev: 5.1 or Azza 4SIG or Rectron RT-4s3
2A59FS2AC-00: Soyo SY-5TF (on board; in
manual: 5TF0/F2/F5)
2A59FS29C-00: Soyo 5TF0/F2/F5
2A59FS9AC-00: Spring Cirlce ST586 rev.p571
2A59FS9BC-00: Spring Circle P571-3
2A59FSC9: Sukjung SJ-PTM HX
2A59FSN9C-00: Soltek (model: ???)
2A59FT4AC-00: Taken (model: ???)
2A59FT59C-00: Tyan Tomcat I or Tyan
Tomcat II or Tyan tomcat III single S1563s or Tyan Tomcat III
Dual S1563D
2A59FT5GC-00: Tyan S1562S
2A59FT5JC: Tyan S1563D (Tomcat III Dual)
2A59FU29C-00: ??? (54TPI-PCI/ISA)
2A59FU69C-00: Unitron U7908
2A59FW0BC-00: Wintec MP070
i430HX-W877-(P5HX-B)C-00: ECS (Elitegroup) P5HX-B
05/21/96-82430HX-PI55T2P4C-00: Asus
PI55T2P4C
Intel Triton VX
chipset
_AI5TV__C-00: TMC AI5TV
i430vx-p5vx-be: ECS (Elitegroup) P5VX-Be
i430VX-P5VX-B-00: ECS (Elitegroup) P5VX-B
I430VX-02071997C-00: Houston Technologies or
PcChips or Mastonic 5500 or Zida (tomato board) 5SVX or MG (Microgram) or
Eurone matsonic ms-5010
i430VX-02271997C-00: Eurone model
EM-5100V,EM-5200V, EM-5300V, EM-5400V, EM-5500V, EM-5600V, EM-5700V... all the
same BIOS
i430VX-12051996C-00: PcChips A101 (V1.4)
i430VX020295C-00: PcCHips A101 (V1.1)
03/03/97-i430VX-10031996C-00: Eurone model
EM-5100V,EM-5200V, EM-5300V, EM-5400V, EM-5500V, EM-5600V, EM-5700V... all the
same BIOS..... or
Chicony motherboard or PCChips M530 or Concord COA-530 or Alton Model:
MBPTRVX256MB,P5,Triton VX,256K PCB,EID or Houston Technologies Part
No.MB-M535PC-256K or Elpina or Pine PT-7502 (rev. 5.0)
02/19/97-i430VX-02151997C-00: Amptron PM7900 or Eurone EM-5300
You don't know which one to choose ? Then take
this advice: Go to all the companies websites and compare specs, pictures,
manuals with your board. It is possible that some of the above models are
the SAME board but I can't garantuee you that a BIOS from another brand will
work on your board.
The above BIOS numbers have bad BIOS encoding
(it seems more like a date to me) so it's not that simple to find the
manufacturer.
These boards are real cheap so you'll have to
live with less support then a brand like e.g. Abit, Shuttle, Asus,...
08/15/97-i430VX-05051197C-00:
???
2A59G000C-00: ACORP INTERNATIONAL model:
PT-5IVL
2A59G009C-00: Tekram Model: P5V30-B4 rev. 1
2A59GAD9C-00: ??? (Dayton Micro) or
Anson Group AL576
2A59GAT9C-00: ??? (Model: AVX55C)
2A59GB1AC-00: ??? (model: BEK-5731)
2A59GB3A: BCM SQ 593 or SQ 594
2A59GB3AC-00: BCM SQ593
2A59GB3D: BCM SQ591 or SQ594
2A59GB3DC-00: BCM SQ594 or SQ591
2A59GB3JC-00: BCM (model:
???)
2A59GD0CC-00: Dataexpert EXP8661
2A59GD09C-00: Dataexpert EXP8661
2A59GD49-00: Crusader C586VX Rev B+ (or DFI
?)
2A59GD49C-00: Crusader C586VX Rev
B+ or DFI G586IPV
Rev B+
2A59GD4F: DFI G586IPV - Rev. C+
2A59GD4FC-00: Crusader C586VX Rev C+ or DFI
G586IPV Rev. C+
2A59GD4GC-00: Crusader G586IPV System board
Rev. C+ or DFI G586IPV Rev. C+
2A59GSMBC-00: San-Li
SL-586V-PLUS or Acorp 5VX32 ver:B
2A59GSMEC-00: ??? (SD-P5VD)
2A59GSN9: ???
2A59GSN9C-00: Soltek SL-52B2 or SL-52D/E
2A59GSNAC: Soltek SL-54A2/A5
2A59GT19C-00: FENTECH/TAEMUNG KBT5A-1 or
KBT5A-2
2A59GT1AC-00: ??? (CTX-508) (TRANG
BOW)
2A59GT4BC: Taken (TW) PCI 597
2A59GT53: ??? (TM-586IV2) (Tyan
?)
2A59GT5JC-00: Tyan S1470 Titan VX
AT
2A59GTBC-00: Totem TM-586IV2A
2A59GTG9C-00: Tekram P5V30-b4
2A59GU49C-00: ??? (Model: 586IL)
2A59GV3CC-00: Vtech/PCPartner (model:
???)
2A59GV3EC-00: Vtech/PCPartner MB520NH or
Aristo AM-439VX
2A59GV5EC-00: ???
2A59GV5GC-00: Prime VT 586 VXB (MAYBE?)
(also called Otto)
2A59GV5F: Prime VT 586 VXC (also called
Otto)
2A59GV5FC: Prime VT 586 VXC (also called
Otto)
2A59GV59-00: Prime VT586VX (also called
Otto)
2A59GV5EC-00: Prime VT 586 VXB VER:2.4G
(also called Otto)
2A59GV5FC-00: Prime VT 586 VX (also called
Otto)
2A59GV79C: Company Called Artek or from a
company Called PCDC???? Model: 0527 mainboard or AOpen (model :???)
2A59GW09C-00: WinTec (Edom) MP071
2A59GW0AC-00: WinTec (Edom) MP071B
2A59GW0FC-00: WinTec (Edom) MP076
2A59GW0GC-00: WinTec (Edom) MP082
2A59GW59C: Mercury W586VX
2A59GW5AC: Mercury W586VXL
2A59GWS9C-00: "Mercury" Model: w586vx rev
1.2
Note:
The following BIOSs have bad BIOS number encoding: All Triton VX BIOS numbers
should start with 2A59G ! This is what Award
Software/Unicore Software says about it:
"Thank you for your interest in a bios upgrade by Award
Software/Unicore Software. Unfortunately your motherboard manufacturer is using
an illegal copy of Award Software bios which we can not provide support nor any
information on."
2A59H75BC-00: ???
2A59HC5B: Chaplet (model: ???)
2A59HE5BC: ???
2A59HL5BC-00: ???
2A59HT4BC-00: ???
2A59Ht5A: MG (Microgram) (model:
???) or PcChips (model: ???)
2A59Ht5AC-00: Amptron PM-7900 or PcChips M520 or Atima MB586FGCVX
2A59HT5AC: Concord COA-520.
2A59Ht5AC-80 : MG (Microgram) (model:
???)
2A59HT5B: CHAINTECH (?) 5VGM (?)
2A59Ht5B: MG (Microgram) model: ???
2A59Ht5BC-00: PCCHIPS Manufacturing Limited
(Fugutech) M520 or M525 or Elpina - Amptron PM7900 orMG
Microgram (model:??) or PM-8815A VX-PCI Board or ALTON Aries +
or Elpina Topsearch TS-M-8VOC or ASEAGATE VXor Amptron
PM-8800 or Concord COA-520 or Pine PT-7502 or EL-J19
or Eurone EM-5100V or Amptron PM8900
You don't know which one to choose ? Then take
this advice: Go to all the companies websites and compare specs, pictures,
manuals with your board. It is possible that some of the above models are
the SAME board but I can't garantuee you that a BIOS from another brand will
work on your board.
These boards are real cheap so you'll have to
live with less support then a brand like e.g. Abit, Shuttle, Asus,...
2A59HT5BC-00: Amptron ? Model: PM-8800A
VX-PCI or ASEAGATE VX
2A59Ht5BC-0G: Amptron PM-8815A VX-PCI Board
2A59Ht58C-00: Aristo (?) AM-435VX
2A59HT5BC-00: AMPTRON PM-8816A or Elpina
Note: Normally T5 should correspond to a Tyan
board, but it does not (bad BIOS encoding). t5 doesn't correspond to a Tyan
board too.
All Asus BIOS ID numbers at the top of the screen,
just above where the system memory count occurs, contain # 401A0 -
XXXX. The A0 indicates ASUS as the manufacturer the four digits following
the dash indicates the BIOS revision level. Thus it is easy to identify
whether or not you have the latest BIOS version or not. At the bottom of
the same screen you have more information, in the following order; A date,
which is the date of the motherboard manufacture, then the Chipset used, the
model of ASUS motherboard and finally the revision of the
motherboard.
Acer motherboard
numbers
Identification Acer BIOS string: eg.
ACR6BE00-M00-940825-R02-CO : ACR6BE00-M00 is the name of the motherboard;
940825 is the date; R02-CO is the version.
