Asus P4B266 BIOS Flash?

[boObYtRap]

Should i use the flash utility that comes with the P4B266 CD?
If so, should i flash in Windows or in DOS?

Or just tell me how u flashed your P4B266 mobo

 

[Uclagamer_99]

i've flashed successfully with ASUSupdate numerous times BUT many people insist that the safest way to do it would be to boot into dos and do it from the prompt there :\

 

[Garet Jax]

Originally posted by: HenHowC
i've flashed successfully with ASUSupdate numerous times BUT many people insist that the safest way to do it would be to boot into dos and do it from the prompt there :\

I happen to be one of those people.

boObYtRap,

Before you flash anything, you need to understand that there is the possibility that your flash may not happen successfully. If this is the case, then the only way I have seen to recover it is to get a new BIOS chip inserted in your MB. You can do this yourself by buying the chip from an online service like BadFlash and installing it yourself. Or you can take it to an ASUS dealer and have them do it. The problem I found is that a lot of dealers have little or no experience doing this.

Short of doing this, you may have an expensive paper weight.

Having said this, there are lots of people who flash successfully. I recommend doing it out of windows and only from a boot disk because there are fewer things that can go wrong.

The best way to do it is to create a boot disk and start the computer using the disk. You will need to make sure that you put ASUS' flash utility and the new BIOS onto the disk before booting. I think ASUS' utility is called "AFLASH.EXE": it and the new BIOS should be available from their website.

Before overwriting the old BIOS, it is a good idea to save it on the disk. It will be the same size as the new BIOS so make sure that much space is available on the disk. The reason why you do this is because you are more likely to be able to recover from problems this way.

If the flash fails, then you will need to restore the old BIOS before rebooting. If not then your MB will need a new BIOS chip.

If something goes wrong with the new flash, you should do whatever possible to not reboot the machine. Because if you do, you will not POST.

Hope this helps.

 

[flawedexistence]

On the other hand.......................I am currently running three ASUS boards and flashing the BIOS for each one from within windows using ASUS update. A bad BIOS flash can certainly occur regardless of the method used, but ASUS update appears to be a very stable and reliable utility! JMHO.

 

[Lioness]

I read the directions in the Asus P4B266 book regarding flashing the BIOS. Hopefully you can help me with these few rookie questions.

I have not saved the current BIOS. I am running windows XP pro. I would like to save the current BIOS and then flash to the latest BIOS. In the Asus book it states:

"To determine your current BIOS version of your motherboard check the last four numbers of the code displayed on the upper left-hand corner of my screen during bootup." I'm pressing pause during bootup to look for these numbers where indicated. I can't find them. However my XPpro system information shows BIOS version: ASUS - 42302e31 and Award Software Inc Asus P4B266 ACPI BIOS Revision 1002. Are the last four number that ASUS is referring to 2e31? Is it safe to assume that XPpro BIOS version is accurate? And then later somehow by using these numbers as I guide, I should be able to determine what the latest update BIOS flash I need to download from the Asus site?


"Create a bootable system floppy disk by typing [format A:/S] from the DOS prompt without creating "AUTOEXEC.BAT" and 'CONFIG.SYS" files."
1. How do I get into DOS?
2. How do I make sure I don't create the AUTOEXEC.BAT etc.?


Type: "Copy D:\AFLASH\AFLASH.EXE A:\ (assuming D is my CD-ROM drive) to copy AFLASH.EXE to the boot disk I just created."
1. Copy "D" this is referring to my CD-ROM number, is that correct? I change this to my E CD-ROM right?
So I would type at the prompt: "Copy E:\AFLASH\AFLASH.EXE A:\E" Is this correct?

2. Can I safely assume my AFLASH is somewhere in my system to be copied? How do I know it's available for me to copy?

"Save the current BIOS to File from the main menu and press enter." "Type a filename and the path, for example: A:\XXX-XX-XXX then press enter" Any suggestion what I should replace the X's with?

During installation of new BIOS should I press 1. "save current BIOS to file" or 2. "Update BIOS including Boot Block and ESCD?" In the book it shows choice 1. This tells me I'm saving the new BIOS is that correct?

"You have flashed the EPROM. It is recommended that you turn off the power, enter setup and load setup defaults to have cmos updated with the new bios when exits" I enter the BIOS to load setup defaults....how do I setup defaults after I enter the BIOS?

I believe I have the AFLASH utility on my Asus disk. I don't know how old the version is. I've been hesistant to see what's on this disc due to the fact I didn't want to get caught up in flashing or saving a BIOS without some knowledge. For those of you who have this disc, does it contain an interactive tutorial on flashing the BIOS?

thanks for your help

 

[jsm0net]

sorry if this ressurects a post from the dead, but i just want to set minds at ease. I've used the asusUpdate prog numerous times. I made sure to backup the old bios to the root directory (because i'm too lazy and forgetful to find it anywhere else).

xp pro + asus prog = simple goodness.