AMIBIOS 6: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 08:35, 12 May 2024

AMIBIOS 6 is a family of various versions of AMIBIOS developed by American Megatrends between 1995 and 2001. These versions are mostly known with the core date 071595 (July 15, 1995) in the identification string, however some newer cores may also use other dates such as 071599 (July 15, 1999).

It was mainstream for a very long time. It was the newest AMIBIOS core version from July 1995 up until 1999 when the earliest known instances of AMIBIOS 07.00.xx were released, although it was still widely used by most manufacturers until April 2001 when it was finally replaced by AMIBIOS 07.00.10.

Early versions of AMIBIOS 6 still could only detect up to 32 GB hard drives, however in around 1999 this limit was increased to 64 GB. AMIBIOS 6 was also the first version of AMIBIOS to natively include built-in PnP (Plug and Play) support, a hardware detection technology standardized with Microsoft Windows 95. Although some later instances of AMIBIOS 5 also had add-on ROMs for PnP support.

POST screen

As AMIBIOS 6 was in use for a very long time, changes to the POST screen (along with other parts of the BIOS) were made over time. The EPA (Energy Star certification logo) can also change depending on the preference of OEMs and the core version.

POST screen with small EPA, same EPA also used by AMI WinBIOS, often used by ones that have WinBIOS Setup Utility
POST screen with EPA on right corner
POST screen with EPA on top right corner
POST screen in VGA resolution (640x480), also often used on Chinese and Japanese BIOSes
POST screen in VGA resolution and with different EPA, used by some Gigabyte motherboards

Setup Utility

Unlike AMI WinBIOS and AMIBIOS 5, AMIBIOS 6 included a variety of setup utilities for use by OEMs. Early versions only offered the WinBIOS (resembling the AMIBIOS 4 and 5 setup) and Hi-Flex (resembling the AMI Hi-Flex BIOS setup) setup utilities, while Easy Setup (resembling the Intel AMI Hi-Flex fork setup) and Simple Setup (resembling the Award EliteBIOS setup) were also introduced later, former in 1997 and latter in 1998.

Early Hi-Flex Setup Utility (1995), does not mention Hi-Flex
Later Hi-Flex Setup Utility (1996-2001), mentioning Hi-Flex
Hi-Flex Setup Utility in VGA resolution, often was used on versions with Chinese or Japanese language support.
WinBIOS Setup Utility
Easy Setup Utility
Early Simple Setup Utility
Late Simple Setup Utility
Setup Utility used by some Gateway 2000/Advanced Logic Research (ALR) motherboards, believed to be made by Intel for an internal development version of their AMIBIOS 6 fork

Bugs and quirks

NOTE: The following issues may not represent every instance of AMIBIOS 6 and may vary depending on the OEM's implementation and the core version.

People have reported Plug and Play related issues on early AMIBIOS versions with Plug and Play support (assumed to be AMIBIOS 6). However the issues were later said to be fixed in around 1997.^[1]

Early versions of AMIBIOS 6 also have a bug with their El Torito (CD boot) implementation where Windows NT 5.x (Windows 2000, XP etc.) disks may not be bootable. Attempting to boot such a disk on these versions will likely result in an NTLDR is missing error, regardless of used disc.

Thomas Pabst of Tom's Hardware has also reported issues regarding IRQ routing with AMIBIOS 6 (mistakenly referred to as "AMI WinBIOS" due to used setup utility) on various Intel 440BX chipset motherboards with it, calling it "a big disappointment".^[2]

Intel fork

Main page: List of BIOS and UEFI firmwares used by Intel motherboards

Intel forked AMIBIOS 6 subcore date 071595 in around 1998 and began using it on their motherboards. This fork sometimes also used an unusual 063200 core number (last for regular AMIBIOS 6 was 063100). It was later replaced with the AMIBIOS 8 fork in around 2003.

[1] ttps://forums.anandtech.com/threads/ami-or-award-any-preferences.345180/post-95507

[2] ttps://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/review-slot-1-motherboards-intel-440bx-chipset,67.html

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[File:AMIBIOS 6 POST screen.png|thumb|The POST screen used by early AMIBIOS 6, although some slight changes have occurred over years]]
-AMIBIOS 6 is a version of [[AMIBIOS]] made by [[American Megatrends]] and often known with the subcore date <code>071595</code> (July 15, 1995), although some few newer subcore dates such as <code>071599</code> (July 15, 1999) do exist. It was used for a very long time, from 1995 to around 2001 when it was replaced by [[AMIBIOS 07.00.10]] (which then quickly got replaced by [[AMIBIOS 8]]).
+'''AMIBIOS 6''' is a family of various versions of [[AMIBIOS]] developed by [[American Megatrends]] between 1995 and 2001. These versions are mostly known with the core date <code>071595</code> (July 15, 1995) in the identification string, however some newer cores may also use other dates such as <code>071599</code> (July 15, 1999).
-Early versions (cores) of AMIBIOS 6 could still only detect up to 32 GB hard drives, however in around 1999 this limit was bumped up to 64 GB. It was also the first version of AMIBIOS to include built-in PnP (Plug and Play) support, an easy hardware detection technology used by [[Microsoft Windows 95]] and newer versions.
+It was mainstream for a very long time. It was the newest AMIBIOS core version from July 1995 up until 1999 when the earliest known instances of [[AMIBIOS 07.00.xx]] were released, although it was still widely used by most manufacturers until April 2001 when it was finally replaced by [[AMIBIOS 07.00.10]].
+Early versions of AMIBIOS 6 still could only detect up to 32 GB hard drives, however in around 1999 this limit was increased to 64 GB. AMIBIOS 6 was also the first version of AMIBIOS to natively include built-in PnP (Plug and Play) support, a hardware detection technology standardized with [[Microsoft Windows 95]]. Although some later instances of [[AMIBIOS 5]] also had add-on ROMs for PnP support.
 == POST screen ==
-As AMIBIOS 6 was in use for a very long time, some changes to the POST screen (and the setup utilities and overall some features as well) have occurred. The EPA (Energy Star compliance logo, short for '''E'''nvironmental '''P'''rotection '''A'''gency, used by [[AwardBIOS]] and enthusiasts) can also change depending on OEM/motherboard manufacturer and core version.
+As AMIBIOS 6 was in use for a very long time, changes to the POST screen (along with other parts of the BIOS) were made over time. The EPA (Energy Star certification logo) can also change depending on the preference of OEMs and the core version.
-<gallery mode="packed" widths=180px heights=100px>
+<gallery mode="packed" widths="180px" heights="100px">
 File:AMIBIOS_6_POST_small_EPA.png|POST screen with small EPA, same EPA also used by AMI WinBIOS, often used by ones that have WinBIOS Setup Utility
 File:AMIBIOS 6 POST EPA on right.png|POST screen with EPA on right corner
@@ Line 15: / Line 17: @@
 == Setup Utility ==
-Unlike AMI WinBIOS and AMIBIOS 5, AMIBIOS 6 included a variety of setup utilities for use by OEMs/manufacturers. Early versions only had AMI WinBIOS Setup Utility or Hi-Flex Setup Utility, while later Easy Setup Utility (resembling the [[AMI Hi-Flex BIOS#Intel fork|Intel AMI Hi-Flex fork setup]]) and Simple Setup Utility (resembling the newer AwardBIOS setup) were also added.
+Unlike [[AMI WinBIOS]] and [[AMIBIOS 5]], AMIBIOS 6 included a variety of setup utilities for use by OEMs. Early versions only offered the WinBIOS (resembling the AMIBIOS 4 and 5 setup) and Hi-Flex (resembling the AMI Hi-Flex BIOS setup) setup utilities, while Easy Setup (resembling the [[AMI Hi-Flex BIOS#Intel fork|Intel AMI Hi-Flex fork setup]]) and Simple Setup (resembling the [[Award EliteBIOS]] setup) were also introduced later, former in 1997 and latter in 1998.
-<gallery mode="packed" widths=180px heights=100px>
+<gallery mode="packed" widths="180" heights="100">
 File:AMIBIOS 6 Hi-Flex Setup Utility (Early).png|Early Hi-Flex Setup Utility (1995), does not mention Hi-Flex
-File:AMIBIOS 6 Hi-Flex Setup Utility (Late).png|Later Hi-Flex Setup Utility (1996-2001), does mention Hi-Flex
+File:AMIBIOS 6 Hi-Flex Setup Utility (Late).png|Later Hi-Flex Setup Utility (1996-2001), mentioning Hi-Flex
-File:AMIBIOS 6 Hi-Flex Setup Utility (VGA).png|Hi-Flex Setup Utility in VGA resolution, also often used on Chinese and Japanese BIOSes
+File:AMIBIOS 6 Hi-Flex Setup Utility (VGA).png|Hi-Flex Setup Utility in VGA resolution, often was used on versions with Chinese or Japanese language support.
 File:AMIBIOS 6 WinBIOS Setup Utility.png|WinBIOS Setup Utility
 File:AMIBIOS 6 Easy Setup Utility.png|Easy Setup Utility
 File:AMIBIOS 6 Simple Setup Utility (Early).png|Early Simple Setup Utility
-File:AMIBIOS 6 Simple Setup Utility (Late).png|Later Simple Setup Utility
+File:AMIBIOS 6 Simple Setup Utility (Late).png|Late Simple Setup Utility
-File:AMIBIOS 6 Gateway Setup Utility.png|Setup Utility used by some Gateway 2000/Advanced Logic Research (ALR) computers/motherboards, believed to be made by Intel for [[AMIBIOS 6#Intel fork|their early AMIBIOS 6 fork]]
+File:AMIBIOS 6 Gateway Setup Utility.png|Setup Utility used by some Gateway 2000/Advanced Logic Research (ALR) motherboards, believed to be made by Intel for an internal development version of [[AMIBIOS 6#Intel fork|their AMIBIOS 6 fork]]
 </gallery>
 == Bugs and quirks ==
-[https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/ami-or-award-any-preferences.345180/post-95507 People have reported Plug and Play related issues] on early AMIBIOS versions with it (assumed to be AMIBIOS 6). The issues are said to be fixed in around 1997, however.
+'''''NOTE:''' The following issues may not represent every instance of AMIBIOS 6 and may vary depending on the OEM's implementation and the core version.''
+People have reported Plug and Play related issues on early AMIBIOS versions with Plug and Play support (assumed to be AMIBIOS 6). However the issues were later said to be fixed in around 1997.<ref>https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/ami-or-award-any-preferences.345180/post-95507</ref>
-AMIBIOS 6 also has a bug with it's CD-ROM boot option where it often can't boot into Windows XP ISOs. When attempted to, an NTLDR is missing error appears, regardless of used ISO.
+Early versions of AMIBIOS 6 also have a bug with their El Torito (CD boot) implementation where Windows NT 5.x (Windows 2000, XP etc.) disks may not be bootable. Attempting to boot such a disk on these versions will likely result in an NTLDR is missing error, regardless of used disc.
-Thomas Pabst of Tom's Hardware [https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/review-slot-1-motherboards-intel-440bx-chipset,67.html has also reported issues regarding IRQ routing with AMIBIOS 6 with WinBIOS Setup Utility], calling it "a big disappointment".
+Thomas Pabst of Tom's Hardware has also reported issues regarding IRQ routing with AMIBIOS 6 (mistakenly referred to as "AMI WinBIOS" due to used setup utility) on various Intel 440BX chipset motherboards with it, calling it "a big disappointment".<ref>https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/review-slot-1-motherboards-intel-440bx-chipset,67.html</ref>
 == Intel fork ==
@@ Line 38: / Line 42: @@
 ''Main page: [[List of BIOS and UEFI firmwares used by Intel motherboards]]''
-Intel forked AMIBIOS 6 subcore <code>071595</code> in around 1998 and began using it on their motherboards. This fork also used an unusual <code>063200</code> core number (last for regular AMIBIOS 6 was <code>063100</code>. It was also later replaced with [[AMIBIOS 8#Intel fork|their AMIBIOS 8 fork]] in early-2000s.
+Intel forked AMIBIOS 6 subcore date <code>071595</code> in around 1998 and began using it on their motherboards. This fork sometimes also used an unusual <code>063200</code> core number (last for regular AMIBIOS 6 was <code>063100</code>). It was later replaced with [[AMIBIOS 8#Intel fork|the AMIBIOS 8 fork]] in around 2003.