Whizpro BIOS: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 16:16, 28 October 2024

Whizpro BIOS (sometimes referred to as WhizBIOS) is a discontinued computer BIOS that was developed by Whizpro Technology from the late-90s to the mid-2000s. It was mainly used by industrial and/or embedded computers, mainly the ones made by BCM Advanced Technology and Iwill. Its earliest known instance is from 1999, while its latest known version is from around 2004-2005, seen on the BCM IN915GV and IN915GVR motherboards.

The last known trace of Whizpro Technology is a February 2005 version of WFLASH, a BIOS flashing tool developed by the company.^[1].

Known versions

COMDEX Fall '99 Demo Release

This version was mentioned in the "News" section of the defunct whizpro.com website^[2]. It is the earliest known version of Whizpro BIOS. A demo of it was supposedly showcased at COMDEX Fall '99 in Las Vegas in November 1999, however nothing else is known about this version. It is also uncertain whether the demo was for a pre-release or final version of the BIOS.

2000 Release

Based on information from the same website, Whizpro BIOS was already available for desktop and embedded computers in 2000. The desktop version supported the following chipsets by that point:

VIA 693 Family (Apollo Pro Plus and Apollo Pro 133, with VT82C596B southbridge only)
VIA 694 Family (Apollo Pro 133A, with VT82C596B southbridge only)
VIA KX133 and KT133
Intel 810 and 810E
Intel 815E

Support for VIA's DDR-based chipsets and Intel's "Timna" processor was also announced, neither of which were released at the time, although the latter got cancelled later in 2000 and therefore was likely never supported.

Meanwhile, the embedded version supposedly supported the following chipsets:

Intel 430TX
Intel 440BX and 440ZX
National Semiconductor Geode GXLC, SC1400 and 5530 series of processors
STMicroelectronics STPC chipsets (exact models unclear, but likely all models released until that point)

January 2002 Release

According to the newer Whizpro website, the desktop version already supported the following platforms by January 2002 (along with the platforms already supported by the 2000 Release), although it is unclear when each platform exactly began being supported:^[3]

Intel 845 northbridge
VIA P4X266 and P4M266 northbridges
VIA KT133A and KM133 northbridges
VIA PM133 northbridge
VIA PRO266 and KT266 northbridges
VIA "VT82C593A" (assumed to be a typo for VT82C596A), VT82C686A and VT82C686B southbridges
Transmeta Crusoe TM3xxx and TM5xxx processors
National Semiconductor Geode GX1 and GXM processors

May 2002 Release

According to the same website, Whizpro BIOS already supported various ALi (Acer Labs Inc.), AMD and SiS (Silicon Integrated Systems) chipsets by May 2002, although exact models of the supported chipsets are unknown. The website also claimed support for any x86 architecture based processor.

June 2003 Release

According to the same website, the following platforms were already supported by June 2003.

Intel 875P northbridge
Other variants of the Intel 845 northbridge (845D, 845G, 845GL, 845E, 845GE, 845PE and 845GV)
VIA CLE266 northbridge
VIA P4X266A, P4X333 and P4M333 northbridges
VIA KT266A, KM266, KT333, KT400 and KM400 northbridges
VIA PLE133, PLE133A, PLE133T and PM133 northbridges

November 2003 Release

According to the same website, the following platforms were already supported by November 2003:

VIA K8T800 and K8M800 northbridges

November 2003 was also the last time the website was updated.

Later Releases

Although the Whizpro website has never been updated after November 2003, it is known that BCM's IN915GV and IN915GVR motherboards (both with the Intel 915GV northbridge and the ICH6 southbridge) shipped with Whizpro BIOS, although no ROM updates or dumps are available for either. These are likely one of the last instances of Whizpro BIOS, as the Intel 915 series chipsets were introduced in 2004, months after the Whizpro website was abandoned. They are also the only known instances of Whizpro BIOS for a PCIe-based platform.

[1] ttps://forums.mydigitallife.net/threads/bios-tools.529/page-13

[2] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20010401185040/http://www.whizpro.com/

[3] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20020126000257/http://www.whizpro.com.tw/

[1]

[2]

[3]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-Whizpro BIOS was a computer BIOS developed by Whizpro Technology Co. Ltd. in late-90s and early/mid-2000s. It was mostly used with embedded and/or industrial computer motherboards. Earliest known release of it is from 1999, while the last known trace of the company copyright is for [https://forums.mydigitallife.net/threads/bios-tools.529/page-13 a BIOS flashing tool dated 2005].
+[[File:Whizpro BIOS.png|thumb|Whizpro BIOS on the BCM BC845DL motherboard]]
+'''Whizpro BIOS''' (sometimes referred to as ''WhizBIOS'') is a discontinued computer BIOS that was developed by Whizpro Technology from the late-90s to the mid-2000s. It was mainly used by industrial and/or embedded computers, mainly the ones made by BCM Advanced Technology and Iwill. Its earliest known instance is from 1999, while its latest known version is from around 2004-2005, seen on the BCM IN915GV and IN915GVR motherboards.
-== List of known versions ==
+The last known trace of Whizpro Technology is a February 2005 version of WFLASH, a BIOS flashing tool developed by the company.<ref>https://forums.mydigitallife.net/threads/bios-tools.529/page-13</ref>.
+== Known versions ==
 === COMDEX Fall '99 Demo Release ===
-This release is mentioned [https://web.archive.org/web/20010401185040/http://www.whizpro.com/ in one of the Whizpro websites] and is the earliest known release of Whizpro BIOS. A demo of it was apparently showcased at COMDEX Fall '99 in Las Vegas in November 1999. Nothing else is known about this demo release.
+This version was mentioned in the "News" section of the defunct whizpro.com website<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20010401185040/http://www.whizpro.com/</ref>. It is the earliest known version of Whizpro BIOS. A demo of it was supposedly showcased at COMDEX Fall '99 in Las Vegas in November 1999, however nothing else is known about this version. It is also uncertain whether the demo was for a pre-release or final version of the BIOS.
 === 2000 Release ===
-According to the same website, Whizpro BIOS was already finished and released in 2000. The 2000 release seems to have supported the following chipsets for desktop computers:
+Based on information from the same website, Whizpro BIOS was already available for desktop and embedded computers in 2000. The desktop version supported the following chipsets by that point:
-*VIA 693 Family (Apollo Pro Plus and Apollo Pro 133, VT82C596B southbridge only)
+*VIA 693 Family (Apollo Pro Plus and Apollo Pro 133, with VT82C596B southbridge only)
-*VIA 694 Family (Apollo Pro 133A, VT82C596B southbridge only)
+*VIA 694 Family (Apollo Pro 133A, with VT82C596B southbridge only)
 *VIA KX133 and KT133
 *Intel 810 and 810E
 *Intel 815E
-Support for VIA's DDR RAM supported chipsets and Intel's Timna codenamed processors were also announced (neither was released at the time), although the latter processors got cancelled by Intel in September 2000 before they got released.
+Support for VIA's DDR-based chipsets and Intel's "Timna" processor was also announced, neither of which were released at the time, although the latter got cancelled later in 2000 and therefore was likely never supported.
-Meanwhile, the following chipsets were supported with the Embedded version of the BIOS:
+Meanwhile, the embedded version supposedly supported the following chipsets:
 *Intel 430TX
 *Intel 440BX and 440ZX
-*Machines with National Semiconductor Geode GXLC, SC1400 and 5530 series of processors
+*National Semiconductor Geode GXLC, SC1400 and 5530 series of processors
-*STMicroelectronics STPC chipsets
+*STMicroelectronics STPC chipsets (exact models unclear, but likely all models released until that point)
+=== January 2002 Release ===
+According to the newer Whizpro website, the desktop version already supported the following platforms by January 2002 (along with the platforms already supported by the 2000 Release), although it is unclear when each platform exactly began being supported:<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20020126000257/http://www.whizpro.com.tw/</ref>
+*Intel 845 northbridge
+*VIA P4X266 and P4M266 northbridges
+*VIA KT133A and KM133 northbridges
+*VIA PM133 northbridge
+*VIA PRO266 and KT266 northbridges
+*VIA "VT82C593A" (assumed to be a typo for VT82C596A), VT82C686A and VT82C686B southbridges
+*Transmeta Crusoe TM3xxx and TM5xxx processors
+*National Semiconductor Geode GX1 and GXM processors
+=== May 2002 Release ===
+According to the same website, Whizpro BIOS already supported various ALi (Acer Labs Inc.), AMD and SiS (Silicon Integrated Systems) chipsets by May 2002, although exact models of the supported chipsets are unknown. The website also claimed support for any x86 architecture based processor.
+=== June 2003 Release ===
+According to the same website, the following platforms were already supported by June 2003.
+*Intel 875P northbridge
+*Other variants of the Intel 845 northbridge (845D, 845G, 845GL, 845E, 845GE, 845PE and 845GV)
+*VIA CLE266 northbridge
+*VIA P4X266A, P4X333 and P4M333 northbridges
+*VIA KT266A, KM266, KT333, KT400 and KM400 northbridges
+*VIA PLE133, PLE133A, PLE133T and PM133 northbridges
+=== November 2003 Release ===
+According to the same website, the following platforms were already supported by November 2003:
+*VIA K8T800 and K8M800 northbridges
+November 2003 was also the last time the website was updated.
+=== Later Releases ===
+Although the Whizpro website has never been updated after November 2003, it is known that BCM's IN915GV and IN915GVR motherboards (both with the Intel 915GV northbridge and the ICH6 southbridge) shipped with Whizpro BIOS, although no ROM updates or dumps are available for either. These are likely one of the last instances of Whizpro BIOS, as the Intel 915 series chipsets were introduced in 2004, months after the Whizpro website was abandoned. They are also the only known instances of Whizpro BIOS for a PCIe-based platform.