Whizpro BIOS: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 16:28, 18 October 2024

Whizpro BIOS (sometimes referred to as WhizBIOS) is a computer BIOS developed by Whizpro Technology from the late-90s to the mid-2000s. It was mainly used by industrial and/or embedded computers. Its earliest known version is from 1999, while its latest known version is from around 2004-2005, as 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 no other information is available about it. 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 the year 2000. The 2000 release seems to have supported the following chipsets for desktop computers:

VIA 693 Family (Apollo Pro Plus and Apollo Pro 133, VT82C596B southbridge only)
VIA 694 Family (Apollo Pro 133A, 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 got cancelled by Intel in September 2000 before it got released.

Meanwhile, the following chipsets were supported with the Embedded version of the BIOS:

Intel 430TX
Intel 440BX and 440ZX
National Semiconductor Geode GXLC, SC1400 and 5530 series of processors
STMicroelectronics STPC chipsets

January 2002 Release

Same chipsets supported by the 2000 release were still supported, and according to the newer Whizpro website, support for the following chipsets/southbridges were already added at some point with the desktop version:

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

May 2002 Release

Support for ALi (Acer Labs Inc.), AMD and SiS (Silicon Integrated Systems) chipsets have been added at some point (exact models have not been listed), along with support for "any x86 architecture based processor".

June 2003 Release

Support for the following chipsets have been added at some point:

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

November 2003 Release

Support for the following chipsets have been added at some point:

VIA K8T800 and K8M800

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

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

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

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[File:Whizpro BIOS.png|thumb|Whizpro BIOS on the BCM BC845DL motherboard]]
-Whizpro BIOS (sometimes also called WhizBIOS) is a computer BIOS developed by Whizpro Technology from 1998 to the mid-2000s. It was mostly used in industrial or embedded computers. Earliest known release of the BIOS is from 1999, while the last known trace of the company is for a February 2005 version of WFLASH, a BIOS Flashing Tool made by Whizpro<ref>https://forums.mydigitallife.net/threads/bios-tools.529/page-13</ref>.
+'''Whizpro BIOS''' (sometimes referred to as ''WhizBIOS'') is a computer BIOS developed by Whizpro Technology from the late-90s to the mid-2000s. It was mainly used by industrial and/or embedded computers. Its earliest known version is from 1999, while its latest known version is from around 2004-2005, as 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 no other information is available about it. 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 the year 2000. The 2000 release seems to have supported the following chipsets for desktop computers:
 *VIA 693 Family (Apollo Pro Plus and Apollo Pro 133, VT82C596B southbridge only)