AwardBIOS v6.00PG (codenamed Medallion), also known as Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG and Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG, is the last version of AwardBIOS. It was released in 1998, same year Award Software and Phoenix Technologies merged, although was not common until late-1999. It replaced its predecessor, EliteBIOS.
POST screen
The POST screen is (most of the time) in VGA resolution (640x480), however it can also be in EGA (640x400) resolution. A new Energy Star certification logo (also called an EPA) was also introduced, removing the green "EPA POLLUTION PREVENTER" text seen on the older EPA, however a few instances still used the older EPA.
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4.51xx EPA, Award copyright
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6.00PG EPA, Award copyright
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No EPA, Phoenix copyright
Setup Utility
Unlike EliteBIOS, 6.00PG was offered with two setup utilities: An updated version of the traditional EliteBIOS setup utility with menus, and a new setup utility with tabs (instead of menus) inspired by the new PhoenixBIOS setup utility.
Very early releases of 6.00PG (development releases and retail versions from circa 1998) likely only included the new Phoenix-inspired setup utility. However by 1999 the traditional utility can also be seen.
Traditional Setup
Note: This is not the official name of this setup utility.
The Traditional Setup on 6.00PG is based on the older setup utility introduced with EliteBIOS. It has the menus as before, although with a single line title (compared to the three-line title in the EliteBIOS setup) and the ability to change and view available values for each option (by pressing enter). It also now uses cyan text (hex code #00AAAA) for disabled setup options. The (Shift)F2 shortcut for changing the color set has also been removed and now only the common blue set is offered, although some Fatal1ty series motherboards from ABIT use a fully red traditional setup for 6.00PG[1]. However this is likely a modification done by ABIT and it is unlikely Phoenix ever offered different color sets for the setup.
Early instances of Traditional Setup (and the Gigabyte code fork) used the older Award Software copyright (CMOS Setup Utility - Copyright (C) 1984-xxxx Award Software) for the title. In circa 2001, the copyright was removed and the title now often says "Phoenix - AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility" instead.
New/Phoenix Setup
Note: This is not the official name of this setup utility.
The New Setup is based on the PhoenixBIOS 4.0x/4.0 Release 6.x setup utility. Very early releases of 6.00PG, along with development releases and the ASUS "Medallion" code fork, used this setup. However, after Traditional Setup was introduced the New Setup was still offered as an option.
Like Traditional Setup, New Setup lacks the (Shift)F2 color set change shortcut. However unlike Traditional Setup, New Setup was sometimes offered with different color options to OEMs/manufacturers. Although the color set still can't be changed by the end user.
Forks
