BIOS Flashing - Newbie questions

[EliZ]

Well, for the first time here I found out that you can update the BIOS, and I have a few questions.

1) How important is it to update the bios?

2) Is this as common procedure as, dor example, driver updates?

3) What can go wrong while Flashing? And why?

4) How often stuff go wrong?

5) How do I fix it?

6) I bought the A7A266 motherboard, and I already downloaded the "aa261005.awd" file from the Asus site. Is it the correct file? And the most updated one?

7) I know that you need to use the Bios Flash utility, but there are numerous such utilities on the Asus site. Which one should I use?

8) Any information I didnt ask about the issue? Any more tips on how to do it better than what described in the Asus guide that explains how to flash?

 

[phalanx]

1) Don't do it unless your BIOS is causing problems, e.g. harddrive not correctly recognised due to large capacity.

2) It's actually easier than updating drivers and takes less time.

3) If your PC would stop functioning while flashing your BIOS, say because of power failure, your BIOS will be only half programmed and your PC won't boot anymore.

4) Don't know, if you know what you're doing and know what to do nothing will go wrong.

5) If your BIOS was being flashed when the power fell out, you have to get it reprogrammed using a hardware programmer, those things aren't that hard to find but are very expensive. Maybe you can get a PC store to do that for you, if they have one.

6) See ASUS site

7) Most BIOS are from AWARD, you have to use AWDFLASH.EXE for Award bios or you can probably use the one by Asus.

8) Just make sure you understand what you're doing and don't do it unless you're having problems with your PC that could be BIOS related.

 

[EliZ]

Ok, so I wont do it.

One more question...

8) What BIOS version comes with the A7A mobo? Is there a need to update it?

 

[bozo1]

The latest A7A266 BIOS is dated 8-10-2001. What you have depends on when your board was manufactured. When you first turn it on you should see the BIOS version and date at either the top or bottom of the screen when it is counting memory. The latest BIOS does this:

Change CPU temperature limit to new standard for K7 processor.
Add "System Acceleration Mode" option.
Revise DRAM refresh time.
Accelerate BIOS boot sequence.
Fix system cannot enter Tekram SCSI BIOS setup menu.
Enhance compatibility with USB devices

Whether you flash or not is up to you. Many of us do it when some feature is added or problem fixed. If you decide to do it, just be very careful and read the BIOS flash procedure in Asus's website thoroughly before you do it. Also, go to www.bootdisk.com and grab their BIOS flashing bootdisk and use that to boot your system with. This ensure that nothing is loading on boot while you flash that may cause problems.

 

[cmaMath13]

Flashing your BIOS the first time is a scary thing. I would not recommend flashing UNLESS there is a good reason to do so. For example, you want to install a fast cpu that needs a new flash to be recognized, etc.

"If it ain't broke, then don't fix it."