What's supposed to happen when I boot my new rig?

[Asparagus]

Hardware is A64 3500+, MSI Neo Plat2 with XP90 HSF, and 6800Ultra with NV5 silencer... WD Raptor, etc...

Did the first boot tonight and all was good. Fans ran, got a "beep" and was able to steer into the bios.

Now what?

2 questions...

1) How do I tell what bios version I have? I believe that I need to go to something new with this MoBo as it does well on 1.36 but how do I know what I'm starting with...?

2) To flash the bios, I need a floppy drive which is hooked up and has power? Once I get a blinking cursor, can I just do a: and flash the MoBo...?

What are my next steps?

I was thinking to flash the MoBo first, then add my next 512 RAM (I have 512 in now) and then my sound card, then IDE drive, etc...

 

[tiap]

You can get your current bios from the initial splash screen. Pause it if needed.
Your best bet is to check the msi site for the bios revision history. You might not have to flash at all. It will give intructions and alternatives methods if available.
Get into bios, turn off all options like onboard sound, serial ports, etc.
At least as important as the bios, install and update the latest mb drivers.
For my own boxes, I start with vid card, hdrive and install os, then add cards.
For customers boxes, put all cards in and adjust accordingly in bios first, then os.
Not much difference. Just make sure you uninstall and install drivers according to manufacturers recommendations.

 

[Caveman]

FYI: Asparugus is another alias...

Well... Odds are I will have to flash to a more recent bios. This is a great MoBo, but it's picky and requires the "right" bios. I'll check again for the bios number but I figured it would be on the splash screen but I couldn't find it... I didn't know I can press the pause button. Is there any way to know if my raptor is working before installing the OS?

Also, I assume the MoBo drivers can only be installed after installing the OS. I'll be using the latest nforce3 driver from the NV site... Is there one already loaded into the MoBo or is this somethign that happens only after the OS (XP Home) is installed. I ask because I need to know if I should uninstall any original (old) nforce3 driver before installling the latest one that I burned to a CD.

 

[FNC Jon]

the bios number is writtin on the first screen, however you may have the logo inabled so it only shows a picture for msi. GO into the bios and disable that, then you will eb able to see the version of the bios. I run 1.4 and it works perfectly fine. I sugest if you need to to update the bios after windows is installed as they have a much easier way of flashing the bios from windows.. i dobleive at least. I knwo i did that whith my igabyte board now i am just trying to remeber if they support that for MSI... yup they do its called live update wher eyou can update your bios form windows, much easier for peopel who have nto flashed a bios with a floppy and the utliltie in dos.

FNC JON

 

[Caveman]

Thanks for response. I plan to use 1.36... I did not have a problem with my 939 not booting so I must have something later than the first bios. But... I read about this board not running right if you install 1 Gig first and not 512.

Yes, I have the graphical display installed, I will shut that off. Thanks for the tip.

I still need to flash before installing the OS though...

 

[FNC Jon]

why do you need ot flash the bios before installign the OS?

FNC JON

 

[Caveman]

Well... I may not need to... but as a matter of houskeeping from most basic to superficial drivers, I like to follow this order... Maybe it doesn't matter, but it seems like it will give a "cleaner" system.