Phoenix Technologies Working on SCT 2.2 System Firmware for Windows 8

[btarunr]

BIOS developer Phoenix Technologies announced its latest SecureCore Tiano (SCT) version 2.2 UEFI firmware that will be designed for PCs running Windows 8 operating system. The desktop client motherboard BIOS industry is currently dominated by AMI with its AMIBIOS and AMI-UEFI solutions, although Phoenix' AwardBIOS is still found on certain channel PC motherboards. It's with mobile computing devices that Phoenix' firmware solutions get a lot more prevelent. SCT 2.2 is looking to mark the company's bid to return to competitiveness in the PC motherboard BIOS market.

SecureCore Tiano 2.2 is a UEFI BIOS/firmware that conforms to UEFI 2.3.1 specifications, TCG 2.0, 1.2 (Trusted Computing Group) specifications, ACPI 4.0 and 5.0, SMBIOS 2.7, NIST-SP800-147, and USB 3.0 native, making it a feature-packed solution. In addition to Windows on x86 PC platforms (Win32, Win64, WoW64), Phoenix will develop firmware support for the upcoming Windows on ARM (WoA) platform. It is collaborating with ARM majors Qualcomm and Texas Instruments in this regard.

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[Nemesis881]

AKA, BIOS that can't be modified or gotten into to change anything except for boot disks..
My computer would be a LOT better if I didn't have a pheonix BIOS. I can get to a 2.6ghz OC easy with Nvidia system tools (can't anymore because it breaks the nvidia control panel with the new drivers...) Just imagine what I could do in the BIOS..I never get above 44C overclocked.

 

[btarunr]

AKA, BIOS that can't be modified or gotten into to change anything except for boot disks..
My computer would be a LOT better if I didn't have a pheonix BIOS. I can get to a 2.6ghz OC easy with Nvidia system tools (can't anymore because it breaks the nvidia control panel with the new drivers...) Just imagine what I could do in the BIOS..I never get above 44C overclocked.

Actually, OC options are at board vendor's discretion, not BIOS vendor's. Stroll through Gigabyte's higher-end motherboards. They use AwardBIOS, and are literally vomiting with options. That's also because Gigabyte backs those options up with a ton of legacy controllers, sensors, and "tweaking" circuits in the higher-end boards.

 

[Nemesis881]

The main problem is my board is from an OEM HP desktop. The BIOS is by Phoenix and the board itself is an ASUS.
There are tons of M2N boards, but they don't list the M2N-LA on their site. Is it possible to take one of the M2N boards BIOS with the same chipset and flash it to my board?
Asus software (AI suite, probe, etc.) doesn't work with my board either.

 

[Static~Charge]

The main problem is my board is from an OEM HP desktop. The BIOS is by Phoenix and the board itself is an ASUS.
There are tons of M2N boards, but they don't list the M2N-LA on their site. Is it possible to take one of the M2N boards BIOS with the same chipset and flash it to my board?
Asus software (AI suite, probe, etc.) doesn't work with my board either.

Unfortunately, you can't use the OEM's BIOS on the board. I ran into this problem a while back trying to update the BIOS on Intel motherboards in Gateway PCs. There is a vendor ID string in the BIOS. The ASUS flash program won't update an HP-flagged motherboard, and HP's flash program won't load an ASUS-flagged BIOS.

 

[Nemesis881]

That's just pathetic...
If someone is smart enough to know what the BIOS is and does, they should be able to flash it...I can understand not wanting inexperienced people to screw up their settings, but to not allow ANYONE in is just absurd.

 

[Static~Charge]

That's just pathetic...
If someone is smart enough to know what the BIOS is and does, they should be able to flash it...

I won't argue with that. But once ASUS sells the board to HP, it becomes HP's property, and HP is responsible for the warranty. It wouldn't be so bad if HP would simply update their BIOS when ASUS releases a newer version. This is why I always build my PCs.

I can understand not wanting inexperienced people to screw up their settings, but to not allow ANYONE in is just absurd.

Many vendors are like that. They don't want to have to deal with the extra support problems if someone hoses their BIOS config, so they lock-down the BIOS and disable a lot of the advanced features.

 

[RoutedScripter]

"certain channel PC motherboards" = gigabyte

 

[Nemesis881]

I won't argue with that. But once ASUS sells the board to HP, it becomes HP's property, and HP is responsible for the warranty. It wouldn't be so bad if HP would simply update their BIOS when ASUS releases a newer version. This is why I always build my PCs.

This explains why ASUS and the model number aren't visible on the board itself..

I really want to rebuild mine but I have lack of funds at the moment. Since I have had this computer for about 4 years now, I have removed it from its HP case and put it into one of my own, added ram, and been through 2 or 3 video cards.