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Q: Why doesn't the BIOS (Option ROM) for my PCI device show
during boot up?
A: The cause of the problem is that in order to be PC Compatible,
the Option Rom space is limited to 128K. This is true for any
motherboard with PC compatible BIOS'.
In the common configurations, a newer AGP card (such as any
GeForce4) will require 64K of Option Rom space, so you have only
64K of Option Rom space left to work with for other devices.
Many SCSI, NIC (w/ PXE), IDE Raid and etc., can easily use
another 40 to 64K of Option Rom space for their needs.
By design the Option Rom should shrink down to a smaller run time
code after the initialization code has run. For example, some Adaptec
cards will require 32K to initialize. Then they shrink down to
12K at run time; whereas some GeForce4 cards require 64K to initialize
and never release to a smaller amount. Please check with the device
manufacturer for the latest firmware upgrade or ask if they have a
smaller Option Rom available. Again this is a limitation of the
PC compatible specification and not a failure of the motherboard
BIOS itself.
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