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Eurosoft Pc Check V6.05 [F] 64 Bit



The POST checks at three levels, Early, Late and System Initialisation. Early POST failures are generally fatal and will produce a beep code, because the video will not be active; in fact, the last diagnostic during Early POST is usually on the video, so that Late failures can actually be seen. System Initialisation involves loading configuration from the CMOS, and failures will generate a text message. Consistent failures point indicate a bad battery backup system.




Eurosoft Pc Check v6.05 [F] 64 bit




The Reset command stops the current operation and begins fetching instructions from the BIOS, as if the power has just been switched on. The Shutdown command, on the other hand, just forces the CPU to leave protected mode for real mode, so the system behaves differently after each one. Before issuing the shutdown command, the BIOS sets a value into the shutdown byte in the CMOS, which is checked after a reset, so the BIOS can branch to the relevant code and continue where it left off.


One of the problems with shutdown handling is that the POST must do some handling before anything else, immediately after power-on or system reset. The path between the CPU and the BIOS ROM, as well as basic control signals, has to be working before the POST gets to its first diagnostic test (usually the CPU register test), so some of the circuitry that the CPU test is supposed to check will be checked by the shutdown handling instead, and you will get no POST indication if a critical failure occurs.


The phrase Check for Manufacturing Jumper in the tables refers to one on the motherboard that makes the POST run in a continuous loop, so you can burn in a system, or use repetitive cycling to monitor a failing area with an oscilloscope or logic analyzer. It usually forces a reset, so the POST has to start from the beginning every time. Compaq used to have the shorted jumper cause the POST to jump to another ROM at E000 just after power-on, which could have diagnostic code in it. IBM and NCR used a germanium or silicon diode to short together the keyboard connector pins 1 (cathode, bar) and 2 (5-pin DIN) or 1 (anode, arrow) and 5 (6-pin mini-DIN), so the POST checks the keyboard controller to see whether the jumper is installed.


A command is sent to the 8042 (keyboard controller) which performs a test and sets a buffer space for commands. After the buffer is defined the BIOS sends a command byte, writes data to the buffer, checks the high order bits (Pin 23) of the internal keyboard controller and issues a No Operation (NOP) command.


Shutdown byte in CMOS RAM offset 0F is tested, the BIOS checksum calculated and diagnostic byte (0E) updated before the CMOS RAM area is initialised and updated for date and time. Check RTC/CMOS chip or battery.


These differ with each version. Typically, the floppy and hard drives are tested and initialised, and a check made for serial and parallel devices. The information gathered is then compared against the contents of the CMOS, and you will see the results of any failures on the monitor.


BIOS checks for any extended information of the chipset and stores it in the extended RAM area. Failure is normally due to invalid information and can be corrected by setting CMOS defaults. Further failure indicates either the chipset or the CMOS RAM.


Test 8237 DMA controller page registerswrite/read/verify pattern AA, 55, FF and 00: use port addresses to check out address circuitry to select page registers. At this point, POST enables user reboot.


Test CMOS RAM checksumcheck CMOS RAM battery level again, calculate checksum of normal and extended CMOS RAM. Halt if low battery or checksum not 0; otherwise reinitialize motherboard chipset if necessary.


Test all base and extended memory found (except the first 64K) up to 16 Mb. Disable parity check but monitor for parity errors. Write/read/verify AA55 then 55AA pattern 64K at a time. On 386 systems use virtual 8086 mode paging system. Displays actual and expected data and failing address.


Test Extended CMOS. On motherboards supporting extended CMOS configuration such as C & T the BIOS tables of CMOS information configure the chipset which has an extended storage facility enabling you to keep the configuration with the power off. A checksum is used for verification.


Initialize chips: Disable NMI, PIE, AIE, UEI, SQWV; disable video, parity checking, and DMA: reset math coprocessor, clear all page registers and CMOS RAM shutdown byte: Initialize timers 0, 1 and 2, and set EISA timer to a known state: initialize DMA controllers 0 and 1: initialize interrupt controllers 0 and 1; initialise EISA extended registers.


Set up low memory; Initialize chipset early; test presence of memory; run OEM chipset initialization routines, clear lower 256K of memory; enable parity checking and test parity in lower 256K; test lower 256K memory.


Initialise Chips; Disable NMI/PIE/UEL/SQWV; video; parity checking; DMA; reset maths coprocessor. Clear all page registers and CMOS shutdown byte. Initialise timer 0 1 and 2 including set EISA timer to a known state. Initialise DMA controllers 0 and 1; interrupt controllers 0 and 1 and EISA extended registers.


Set EISA Mode. If EISA NVR checksum is good execute EISA initialisation. If not execute ISA tests and clear EISA mode flag. Test EISA configuration memory integrity (checksum and communication interface).


Floppy devices set in CMOS are checked and initialised. If a bootable floppy is found the fixed disks are tested and the BIOS will boot to the floppy disk. Check for defective controllers or an improper CMOS Setup.


Test mask register of master and slave interrupt controllers. Generate interrupt and monitor CPU to test success. Failure is normally down to the PIC but the interrupt test uses the BIOS clock (interrupt) and the RTC so check those.


Test keyboardcheck for interrupt, enable keyboard, initialize buffer pointers, verify keyboard unlocked, disable external interrupts mask A=F, turn on write protect for RAM E000-FFFF, write out subcommand (halt on error if loop jumper not installed).


The first checkpoint, 40, resets and initializes a test monitoring device on the parallel port. When an error occurs, the most recent checkpoint code sent to port 378 is exclusive-ored with 3F to complement the lower 6 bits, and then sent to 378, so if the refresh test fails (45), the POST card will show 7B because the most recent code sent before the failure was 44.


Check and verify shutdown coderead keyboard status from port 64. if shutdown bit is set, read the shutdown byte from CMOS RAM (and clear the location there), check it for an illegal shutdown condition, initialize the 8259s unless shutdown is 9 or A, and jump to the correct routine to handle the shutdown: 0= warm boot (go to next test), 1= return to advanced protected mode test, 2= return to memory test above 1 Mb, 3=return to protected mode test 2, 4=INT19, 5=send EOI to 8259 and return to user routine, 9=int15 block move, and A=return to user routine.


Test option ROMslook for signature AA5 each 2K beginning at C8000, run checksum and display error if it occurs. Otherwise pass control to the ROM so it can initialize, and display pass message when done.


8259 PIC test failed (halt)initialize stack to lower 64K RAM area just tested, init and disable 8259A, set up interrupt vectors in RAM, set up software then hardware diagnostic interrupt vectors, test software interrupts, then hardware interrupts. Disable interrupts via 8259 mask register, check for hot interrupts, convert hot mask to IRQ number, save any error code, install interrupt vectors, initialize video, and display any error messages (H:#, where # is the hot IRQ#).


Send beep to display and initialize all basic hardware. Init 8041 keyboard controller, determine parallel port configurations and test their registers, determine serial 8250 and Z8530 configurations, check for game card, set up interrupt controller, set all 4 Z8530 serial controllers to 9600 baud, no parity, 1 stop and 8 data. Set up interrupt vectors, initialize RAM variables, clear the screen, initialize the hard disk controller, test for and initialize option ROMs, verify ROM checksums okay, initialize floppy disk controller, allow user to select alternate Z8000 processor if installed and perform INT 19 cold boot. 2ff7e9595c


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