[Bits und Bolts] is in the process of restoring an old PC motherboard that has been plagued by faulty capacitors. While the video documenting the restoration may seem like standard fare, there was one peculiar feature that caught our attention – the ASUS Bios’ “Post Reporter.” This feature allowed the motherboard to audibly communicate error codes and status updates via an external speaker. (You can watch the video here.) To be honest, we’re not quite sure who would want such a feature. Judging from its lack of prevalence, we can assume that the demand for it was virtually non-existent.
We found the process of PCB rework to be quite fascinating. The presence of large internal ground plane layers made the task of unsoldering and soldering the capacitors surprisingly challenging. It’s a job that appears deceptively easy. However, if you’re only interested in the exotic BIOS feature, you can skip ahead to the 8:20 mark in the video.
It seems like there was a lot of effort put into this system. The motherboard had support for routing the system speaker through an onboard sound card, and there was even software available to customize the error messages. Imagine setting up your computer to deliver a Mr. T impression: “I pity the fool that didn’t seat the memory correctly!”
The pre-programmed voice, however, was not nearly as interesting. Nowadays, you could easily create a POST card and have a microcontroller handle the vocalization for you. If you prefer a Speak and Spell vibe over Mr. T, we’ve got just the library for you.
