Bios flash-Fail on an A7V333

[Mannycc]

^%%(^*)&^(_ is what i said and now i have a dead Mobo. What can i do? Is there a way i can fix it without sendint it in for repairs?

 

[Barrei]

Did you put your first bios on floppy before you flashed?

 

[jamesbond007]

You might want to give http://www.badflash.com a look. I know this site has helped many people here before.

Good luck!

 

[jdutra]

NO......Why??

I am on the same problem..........

 

[IndyJaws]

Did you use EZFlash (the Windows-based update) to flash your BIOS? If you did and were updating 1004, you've toasted the BIOS.

 

[Mannycc]

Thanks for the link. Newegg acceted the RMA tough, but i'll try that website in the future f i ever need it.

 

[Kovu]

Funny, both a friend an I have done exactually then same, then after a few hours of hunting about the ASUS website, we find this:

Fix the Problem on Ez-Flash.

Q: I have Asus A7V333 motherboard with bios version 1003. When I used the Ez-Flash to update my bios, it showed "fail" message during the process, and then the board could not boot up any more. I do not know what happened?

A: The A7V333 motherboard with Ez-Flash function may cause some boot up problem, but with BIOS 1005 or later version will solve it.

For Microsoft Win95, Win98, WinMe and WinXP users:
(Download Aflash utility from: http://cgi.asus.com.tw/cgi-bin/dl.asp?filename=mb/flash/aflash22.zip)

To be able to fix the Ez-Flash, please use the Aflash utility with bootable disk to update the BIOS to version 1005 or later.

For Microsoft Win2000 users:
(Download Asus Update utility from: http://cgi.asus.com.tw/cgi-bin/dl.asp?filename=mb/flash/asusupdt3.29.05.zip)

To be able to fix the Ez-Flash, please use AsusUpdate or Aflash utility with bootable disk to update the BIOS to version 1005 or later, and be careful not to use the Ez-Flash function to update BIOS with BIOS version 1004 or earlier versions.

Oh Good! Well *NEXT* time I will bear this in mind.

 

[Derango]

<< Did you use EZFlash (the Windows-based update) to flash your BIOS? If you did and were updating 1004, you've toasted the BIOS. >>



Flashing from within windows...never a good idea.

 

[IndyJaws]

You're right, that is kind of a scary proposition, but people that use it seem to have few problems (assuming they're already at 1005 or higher). Asus could do a better job, IMHO, of warning people that this feature is not usable until they're at 1005, although there is a warning in the software - who reads those things?

 

[DFisherman]

Just fried my 1004 bios and sent away for a badflash.com replacement. Will get in touch in a few days after I've received it, installed it and (hopefully) everything is back on track. Thanks in advance for the link.

 

[Kovu]

After my experience, I now have an EPROM programmer, and the relevant tools to fix such problems. If anyone in the UK gets stuck, then contact me, and I will fix it, and post it back (only takes a day then!) Have no re-flashed with 1006 bios, and all is well *phew*

 

[dbal]

<< Flashing from within windows...never a good idea. >>



I ve gone from 1005 to 1006beta with ASUS Live update Windows utility (on a P4T-E) and worked like a charm...No hassle with floppies and stuff like that...
Just keep a good version on a floppy for backup as u do with CDRW when backing up your HDD. But only for security reasons anymore.....

 

[Kovu]

The problem lies that the version 1004 bios, has a MAJOR bug in the EZ-Bios flash utility (the thing you press Alt-F2 to access on boot). This mean all the people out there with there brank spanky down 1006 dowload, do what it says in the manual, type the file name, hits enter, and it says "failed." There is NO come back, no way to restore a bios, OR to have read and saved the original first. This is why I had to remove my Bios Chip (standard 49LP020) and re-flash it, using an EPROM programmer (I am an eletrical and Elecontric Engineering Student in the UK, with lots of toys!) - after popping it back in, all was fine. Obviously, now it is no longer the buggy 1004 version, the EZ-FLASH program, and all the other utils for flashing the bios work absolutely fine. The chip does not get damged in any way, nor is the board rendered useless, it is just that the BIOS becomes curupted, and needs to be reloaded (or preferabily upgraded to 1005 or later). You could even boot someone's machine that had 1006 on, go into ez-flash, REMOVE their chip (when still on!) and place your one it, and flash it that way, but due to the type of PLCC package the chips is in, I would not recomment it AT ALL!!!

 

[DFisherman]

Thanks Bond for the badflash.com link. They sent me a new chip very quickly and everthing is now fine.

 

[jamesbond007]

No problem guys. I'm glad I could be of assistance.

Enjoy your computers!