flashing bios question

[JCROCCO]

I have a jumper on my MOBO to clear the cmos.

I am going to attempt to flash the bios. If I have problems with flashing the bios, does clearing the cmos help any? I am not sure how the cmos and the bios interact, if at all.

I am worried that if I go to flash the bios, and it cause the computer to no longer work, I wanted the next step ready to perform.

 

[SorryImLate]

No it just clears the settings of the bios and once done all settings will go back to default. If the flash is bad you could be screwed and the computer wont post. Sometimes this can be fixed but it depends on the motherboard.

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

don't flash unless you're having issues, or know the bios update you're applying is very stable and provides a performance increase. and DON'T USE WINDOWS FLASHING UTILITIES. only use post/boot flashers.

 

[JCROCCO]

I am upgrading, or trying to ugrade, my CPU on my MOBO, and according to the MFR website, I need a certain Bios date to use that chip. Their page gave me the Bios and the flash program. I would assume it works.

I have never flashed the bios before, so I am a little skeptical.

 

[Cheex]

Originally posted by: Comdrpopnfresh
don't flash unless you're having issues, or know the bios update you're applying is very stable and provides a performance increase. and DON'T USE WINDOWS FLASHING UTILITIES. only use post/boot flashers.

I concur.

 

[AstroGuardian]

It sounds like a safe situation for you to flash. And be sure to flash it exactly the way the instructions say. By the what, what kind of mobo is that>?

 

[JCROCCO]

The FLASH bios did not work. UUGGHHHH!!!

I downloaded the files it told me on the website, made the bootable disk, ran it, and the program came up. It told me to hit enter. When I did it said the "chipset/flash part isnt available. The function will be invalid".
It also says the chip, code, brand, type, romsize, bootblock, navram, and voltage are all unknown. This is with the CPU the mobo came with.

I thought it would do this automatically, instead it came up with a dos program with options and I had to hit enter to start. It didnt screw up the computer at least.

The utility is a flash EPROM Programming utility V8.27.01P.

Does anyone know what this means? Could I possibly have the wrong bios update? I went off of what it said to use online, My mobo is a PCCHIPS M922LU V5.0.

I have 4 identical computers, and I only tried in on 1, in case it screwed up. Can it be the Chip, I do have a 2.4 chip but supposedly wont work unless I have the proper Bios that I am trying to install.

Is there a problem installing the new chip to see what happens without updating the bios? I could always put the old chip back, but can that screw something up?

 

[o1die]

No. It won't screw up anything to try the new cpu. Pcchips is the worst company for support. Read their flash instructions carefully before trying again. I used winflash on an ecs board, and it was a little tricky to work with.

 

[MadScientist]

I'm assuming you are using a floppy to flash from. Is it bootable? Go here and in the "Driver Free Disk for BIOS Flashing" download drdflash.exe. Put a floppy in and run drdlash.exe.
Download the latest bios (030310s -2/18/04) for your MB and the AMI flash utility aminf342.exe.
Unzip the 030310s.exe file and copy/move the 030310s.rom file and the aminf342.exe file to the bootable floppy.
Reboot your computer and at the A:\ prompt type in aminf342 030310s.rom
Hit enter.

Good Luck!!

 

[JCROCCO]

Thanks, I did exactly that and what I stated above is what happens. I even did it to another computer, and got the exact same result.

Now, I inserted the 2.4 Northwood CPU into the computer, and it took it just fine. I may not need to flash the bios at all. My concern is that I want to really put in the 3.0 Northwood. I would think if the 2.4 Northwood worked, so would the 3.0.

I verified the computer is running at 133 bus at 533 FSB rated speed and at 2.4 ghz. Before it was a 100 bus at 400 speed, how does it know to quadruple it? CPUZ said it is a 133 bus with a MAX FSB of 533. I just want to make sure I am really running at 533, not 133.

 

[OCChronic]

I've run into the exact same problem and had to use an older flash program than AMINF342.exe to get around it. I believe it was AMInf336.exe to flash it. I think it has to do with the utility can't read from the ROM chip to compare size, checksum, etc. and hangs there.

Try using AMInf336.exe and see if it works. Just google 'download AMInf336.exe' to find a link to the program. Don't forget to boot using a Windows '98 startup disk and flash in DOS.

Try that and see if it works and let us know, either way. Good Luck! =)