Firmware - Novel ready firmware

[mac29]

Got a few boards the boss was throwing out and cobbled together some components and things.
Cheap boards but I only want to use them to learn some Linnex. Should be fine if I can get past
2 problems: 1) On one system I can get to the BIOS but it 'starts' w/screen Novel Netware ready
firmware v1.00 and VIA Rhine II fast ethernet adapter v4.11, then below 'Analyzing network media
type, this will take a few seconds' and then several lines - RPL-ROM-ADR: 000A EGA1 07B2 and
RPL-ROM-IRQ: 11, RPL-ROM-PIO: DC00 and RPL-ROM-FFC: __ and here is where it counts to 50.
At 50 it then gives me a blank screen.

I've installed a harddrive w/has an OS but after this countdown - nothing. How can I disable this
firmware feature and get an OS to boot?

2) I have the same board in another case, again no harddrive for now, and I cannot get to BIOS.
Now neither of these has wires to the front speaker so I get no POST beep and I think that would
remedy this problem whereby no beep would tell me the board is dead (unless it's the cpu). The
power supply and ram are new. It's weird but I hear the cpu working on this second system.

Any and all help would be appreciated as my Christmas involves getting these working for some
home and work projects.

Thanks in advance,

Mac29

 

[GhislainG]

Perhaps your boss had a good reason to throw them out instead of trying to make them work. If you can access the BIOS, can you disable RPL? If not, you should be able to remove the RPL-ROM from its socket. Have you checked if it's possible to change the boot order so that it will try the hard disk before the RPL?

The one that you can't even get to the BIOS probably is defective. You can't hear a CPU working, but you can sometimes hear the noise that blown caps can make.

 

[mac29]

Thanks ghislaing, I'll try all of the above. My boss didn't have any idea by the way...