Updating a BIOS? Safe to do?

TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
edited January 2004 in Science & Tech
I just installed an ASUS CUW-FX motherboard (from 1998) in a computer case for someone else. We're running a Socket 370 1000 Mhz Celeron chip in it, and it says it needs a newer BIOS version.

He went to the ASUS website and downloaded some BIOS version to floppy disks.

But I'm not sure it's a good idea to try and install it ourselves, because of possibly screwing up the entire MB or BIOS chip.

We were trying to save BIOS files to the hard drive today and they would not download.

What's the best way to do this? I told him to take it to a computer shop and let them do it. I've never done any BIOS flashing and don't want to start now.

Comments

  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    Taking it to a PC shop has the same chance of failing as doing it yourself.

    Make a bootable floppy disk, download the extracted files to that, and follow the instructions.
  • TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    ***This is not Tim. This is the other guy.***


    How do you flash a BIOS? We tried downloading the Bios from ASUS and its hard to tell which one to use. Then we tried to copy one of them to a floppy disk and it would not copy. WHAT'S UP ?
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited January 2004
    Tell us the exact model# of your MB, including what revision (if any), and what BIOS you have currently.

    We'll be able to tell you exactly what to do.
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited January 2004
    First of all, you will need a bootdisk that is stripped of everything. You can get a program that makes a flashing bootdisk from www.bootdisk.com and download the program. You will stick the floppy in the drive and run the bootdisk program and it will make you a flashing bootdisk. Then, you will need to copy the bios file that you have downloaded, along with the flashing program, which will probably be aflash.exe with Asus boards. Also, be sure to copy down the bios file name on something because you might have to type it in when running the flashing program. After booting up with the floppy disk, run the flashing program and if needed, type in the name of the new bios file. I also save a copy of the old bios during the flashing procedure in case something goes wrong during the flash so I can revert back to it, if needed.

    Be sure that the bios file you download is the correct one for your mobo because you can render the board unbootable if you flash the wroong file to it.

    The bootdisk program you want to use to make your boot disks is the one labeled "DrDOS 7.x disk for Bios Flashing Basic-No Drivers".

    One other thing I make sure to do for safety when flashing a bios is to have the computer on a UPS in case the power would happen to go out in the middle of flashing the bios.
  • TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    profdlp wrote:
    Tell us the exact model# of your MB, including what revision (if any), and what BIOS you have currently.

    We'll be able to tell you exactly what to do.


    It's a ASUS CUW-FX. It says on the startup screen asus cuw-fx ACPI Bios Revision 1015. Then it describes the CPU as Intel Celeron 1000 Mhz(which it is). Then to add more confusion to the excitement it says secondary floppy fail(40).

    This is not Tim, it is his friend.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited January 2004
    According to ASUS' page for that board you already have the latest BIOS.

    As far as the second floppy error, (assuming you only have one floppy drive), go into the BIOS and set the second floppy drive to "NONE".
  • TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    Not Tim for the rest of this episode, just a heads up.

    In the bios , I don't see anything entitled "second floppy drive", but I do see a title of "other boot device" should I disable that one?
  • TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    should I hit F5 to set all BIOS to defaults then change the details
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited January 2004
    Your BIOS will undoubtedly look a little different, but see if you have something which resembles the picture I've attached.

    Changing boot devices or boot order won't fix it. Your computer thinks it is supposed to have a drive which isn't really there - that's why you need to change it to "NONE". (Or "Not Installed", as in the picture.)
  • TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    IT says Legacy diskette B, which is currently set to none.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited January 2004
    Tim wrote:
    should I hit F5 to set all BIOS to defaults then change the details
    Not yet. You would likely end up having to change LOTS of stuff. Let's just try to fix the few things that are incorrect first.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited January 2004
    Tim wrote:
    IT says Legacy diskette B, which is currently set to none.
    Is the floppy drive you actually have in there hooked to the floppy cable after the funky twist in the cable? Is the light on solid?
  • TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    Here is some more info, It's only a 1.58 gig Hd on it starting fresh, formatted to NTFS.
    I can install WIN 98 or Win XP. It the startup it says BIOS update data incorrect then a number which flys by to ast to read. It gives me the option of pressing F1 to continue but it just bounces to a screen with a blinking cursor, I hit a key (any key) and it starts over again
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited January 2004
    Tell me how the floppy is hooked up: before or after the twist in the cable.

    W98 isn't going to go onto an NTFS partition. WinXP can be installed by booting from the cdrom.

    If you are quick (and somewhat lucky) pressing the "Pause" key when the error flashes might freeze the screen and let you get a good look at what the error actually says. Write it all down.
  • TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    the light on the floppy never came on, try another floppy from my working computer
  • TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    I changed the floppy to before the twist in the cable.
    The BIOS update data incorrect says CPU ID 000068A.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited January 2004
    Tim wrote:
    I changed the floppy to before the twist in the cable.
    The BIOS update data incorrect says CPU ID 000068A.

    The floppy should come after the twist. (The twist is how the MB knows which is Drive A: and which is Drive B: - A: is the one after the twist).

    Make sure your FSB is set to 100 and the multiplier is set to 10

    10 X 100 = 1000MHz

    You should find these settings in the bios. Have you downloaded the manual for your board? It should have all the settings for the BIOS described there.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited January 2004
    Floppy: Make sure the drive is hooked up after the twist. The colored wire on the cable means pin 1 - make sure you have it right at both ends.

    CPU: Set it to MANUAL with the FSB at 100 and the Multiplier at 10.

    I've marked the areas of concern in RED
  • TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    THE 100 and 1000 are set, but what exactly do you mean by "twist" in the cable I'm assumming you mean the positon of the cable like that on a cd-rom and cd-rw, how it bows around when the one is on the correct way.

    This is still not Tim
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited January 2004
    Tim wrote:
    THE 100 and 1000 are set, but what exactly do you mean by "twist" in the cable I'm assumming you mean the positon of the cable like that on a cd-rom and cd-rw, how it bows around when the one is on the correct way.

    This is still not Tim
    "Not Tim" - why don't you register so we can call you something besides "Not Tim"? :vimp:

    This is what I mean:
    (Your cable almost certainly won't have the extra connectors for old-time 5.25" drives)
  • TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    This IS the real Tim.

    On the floppy cable, some of the insulated wire strands in the middle of the cable are seperated from the others and do a 180 degree twist, then rejoin the other wires. The cable you're using does not have that.

    Time to make your own short-media I.D. maybe? I shouldn't have left my user name and password logged in on your system.

    His name is Brian.

    And the cable you're using also does not have those locator tabs that let it be plugged in only one way. We had some confusion with that part.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited January 2004
    Tim wrote:
    This IS the real Tim.

    On the floppy cable, some of the insulated wire strands in the middle of the cable are seperated from the others and do a 180 degree twist, then rejoin the other wires. The cable you're using does not have that.
    Some BIOS's have a setting for "Swap Floppy Drive". If you use a cable w/o a twist you can set that to "Yes". Then A: and B: are reversed. Since you don't have the twist, your drive want to think it's B: . Doing the swap will make it A: . I like to do this anyway. I cut off the last connector (since I haven't had two FDD's in a machine since 1995) and use the shortest piece. It makes the case look tidier.

    Time to make your own short-media I.D. maybe? I shouldn't have left my user name and password logged in on your system.

    His name is Brian.
    We're happy to have new members - show him how to sign up. This is a great place for a beginner to learn. :)

    And the cable you're using also does not have those locator tabs that let it be plugged in only one way. We had some confusion with that part.
    There are 34 pins on a FDD connector. Look for a "1" or a "34" on the motherboard and on the drive. Make sure the colored wire is on the "1" side of both.

    Nothin' to it. :thumbsup:
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    Floppy cables have a cable that is straight to first connector and if it got stuck in tail backward, you will see it as straight to second connector also. Then, if this is so, look at end now connected to motherboard. THAT end might have a twist, but it needs to be connected to the floppy and not the motherboard. You need floppy connected to end where there are a pair of wires that you can see a twist in , and the ohter end of cable hooked to motherboard. Putting floppy cable backward with WRONG end on motherboard can do this thing big time-- floppy never gets a signal it knows to send a signal back saying I am here that way, so BIOS gets confused and you get things like what you are getting.

    OH!!! just a failsafe, putting floppy end of cable upside down can do this too BUT you will see a cable with two wires twisted so they go into cable part of connector upside down about 1\3 of way from one edge of cable.... Lots of floppies do NOT have notched cowls(the thing that sticks up around pins on mobo where floppy cable goes is a cowl, notch is hole in thing that sticks up, and another way to say this is a keyed and cowled male connection) around them to force a correct connect at floppy. It none of thes things work, then bad floppy cable highly probable.

    It is a common novice thing, and I have even gotten careless and done this exact thing once or twice after 3 decades of fixing boxes.... :D at self going too fast once in a while. New style HD cables actually like to be connected with long part between connectors usually, one exception is what Kanezfan discovered and explained in anothr thread but that was an exception. I am throwing this in as you might want to remember to try that HD cable way first for HD cable also.

    (Sorry mods, had to explain clock in SIMPLE AND PLAIN words which means many words NEEDED.)

    John.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    BANNED!

    Your post is too big! ;D
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    Thrax wrote:
    BANNED!

    Your post is too big! ;D

    :D -- yeah, yeah, the usual pick-on-when-RIGHT thing..... (I know, it would not outline and was obvious to a resident genius(LITERALLY), but.... :D)

    Novices fun, but if they know they pass it on and become real good enthusiasts and valuable here if treated nice.... So, try to fill in knowledge gaps.... :D:D

    John.
  • HawkHawk Fla Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    Oh No! I'm scr*wed, My cables are all round! :) And my eyes are not as good as they used to be.
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    Hawk wrote:
    Oh No! I'm scr*wed, My cables are all round! :) And my eyes are not as good as they used to be.

    Naw, the mfr'd round ones are usually keyed and labelled.... Floppy end, Motherboard end, etc. But, be happy you did not try what has happened to some friends of mine-- take a Compaq econo box floppy drive (Mitsumi or Mitsubishi or Chicony, SOME Panasonic OEM floppies also), stick on a twisted cable, no workum-- until it is on a single floppy-ONLY cable with no twist, they are hard-wired to be A drive. If you look close, many "normal" floppy drive pins missing.... Another Compaq EXCLUSIVE. :(:scratch:

    John.
  • HawkHawk Fla Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    Ageek, oooouuu, That sucks. Compaq no go in my house. I check my cables real close now when I set it up. Had a small CC light wire under one of the HD boxes that slide in and out for easy access, and when I started up it went zz--zz-zz and I pulled the plug--which I had my hand on--just in case. Found the wire had a little skin on it. Taped it up, put it back without pinching and everthing ran fine. Whew.
    I burned a floppy drive up by connecting it wrong once. Long time ago though. I look very close now at pin one and which way the power connector fits! :)
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