This page is about the version of AMIBIOS that is based on the classic codebase and is officially called AMIBIOS 7. For the version based on the new AMIBIOS codebase and that also uses a similar version number, see AMIBIOS 07.00.xx.
AMIBIOS 7, also known as AMIBIOS 07.00.10, AMIBIOS 07.00T or AMIBIOS 040201, is a major version of AMIBIOS released by American Megatrends in April 2001. It is the first version of AMIBIOS with a boot menu for choosing a boot device for the current startup session without having to change the CMOS settings. Alongside this, it has generally also introduced quicker power-on tests compared to AMIBIOS 6, reducing the overall system startup time.
Although it was quickly replaced by AMIBIOS 8 in October 2001, AMIBIOS 7 saw a fair amount of use by various OEMs; especially MSI, ASRock and ECS Elitegroup/PCChips. It was also used long after its replacement, with the newest known platform it was compiled for being AMD's Socket 754 on the MSI K8T Neo and Neo-R motherboards[1]. Embedded/industrial systems using it are also known, such as the Acrosser AR-B1423 and AR-B1479A industrial computers based on the STPC Consumer-II platform[2].
POST screen
The POST screen of AMIBIOS 7 is almost identical to that of AMIBIOS 6 (especially its later revisions), with the exception that the BIOS setup hotkey prompt has been rewritten to be less descriptive in favor of displaying more hotkeys for other BIOS functions (e.g. the hotkey for entering the boot menu). As an additional feature, when a hotkey is pressed, and to indicate this, the corresponding hotkey name on the POST screen changes to a Go-> text.
Similar to later revisions of AMIBIOS 6, the POST screen of AMIBIOS 7 can be in either EGA (640x350, 64:35) or VGA (640x480, 4:3) resolution. However, unlike AMIBIOS 6, the latter is more common than the former (especially on consumer systems).
Also similar to the late AMIBIOS 6 revisions, the ROM compile date is displayed at the top of the screen next to the Released: text. With AMIBIOS 8 (and previously also with 07.00.xx) this section was removed from the POST screen, as it was no longer necessary, since its identification string format was changed to show the ROM compile date instead of the AMIBIOS version release date, which was shown in the older format.
Setup utility
Similar to AMIBIOS 6, AMIBIOS 7 offered various different setup utility layouts to OEMs. In fact, some of these utilities were ported directly from AMIBIOS 6 with no visual changes (except the year in the copyright string). Since both versions are based on the same codebase, this could be done with little or no changes to the utilities' source code.
Similar to the POST screen, AMIBIOS 7's setup utilities were offered in two resolutions: EGA (720x400 resolution, 9:5 aspect ratio) and VGA (640x480 resolution, 4:3 aspect ratio). Depending on the OEM's preference, either could be present in the BIOS ROM. Although the POST screen resolution type usually reflects that of the setup utility, this is not always the case, and in some cases they may differ. For example, the Boser HS-1000 motherboard has an AMIBIOS 7 ROM that has a VGA POST screen, but an EGA setup utility.
These utilities are listed below. However, it should be noted that they were commonly dubbed under generic names (such as "AMIBIOS NEW SETUP UTILITY") instead of their actual names.
EGA resolution (720x400, 9:5)
Easy Setup
- ↑ https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/msi-k8t-neo (NOTE: The latest BIOS release is based on AMIBIOS 8 and not 7) | https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/msi-k8t-neo-r
- ↑ https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/acrosser-ar-b1423 | https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/acrosser-ar-b1479a