Flashing BIOS

Cow_160483 · Mar 20, 2009, 12:44 PM

Hi guys I need to flash the bios of my Motherboard (K9A2 Platinum) but i have no idea where to start ??

I have looked around the net but cant find anything current , they all talk about a floppy disk drive and i dont have one .

Here are a couple of sites i found ... but i really am a noob so i dont know much can any one assist?

How To Perform a BIOS Upgrade | Hardware Secrets
Guide to Upgrading/Flashing the Bios
Page 2 - Why and How to Flash Your BIOS
Flash Bios

and what is a "BIOS flashing utility"?? anyway and can it (bios flashing) be done with a flash disk instead ?

Tyrsonswood · Mar 20, 2009, 12:53 PM

Your mobo manufacturer should supply both the flash utility and the bios upgrade.

On older gear it was usually done via floppy as it had to be done from a bootable drive..... that tytpically did not include flash drives or any USB at the time. Newer systems don't have floppy usually so some have come up with flash utilities that run in windows.

It all depends on the mobo.

Cow_160483 · Mar 20, 2009, 01:02 PM

this is what came in the ziped file read both of the text docs. but they didnt make sence to me

is the .exe the flashing utility??

Tyrsonswood · Mar 20, 2009, 01:41 PM

Yep..... and the .170 file is the bios. Follow the .DOC instructions...... if that calls for a floppy you may have to add one temporarily and set the existing BIOS to boot floppy first.

What didn't make sense?

Cow_160483 · Mar 20, 2009, 02:14 PM

this is the part where i got lost:

Quote:

4. Boot your system from a Win98 or WinME boot-floppy.
How to make boot floppy in case your don’t have it ready:
For Win9X, You can type [C:\ format a:/s] from the DOS prompt.
For WinME, You can make a boot floppy from control panel--> add/remove program-->make boot floppy. Remove autoexec.bat & config.sys file if there's any.
For Win2000, there's no way to make boot floppy, so you have to either use Win9X or WinME boot floppy.
For WinXP, you can make a DOS boot disk. Go to Your Computer, right click drive A:, select Format, select copy system files.

5. When you get the A:\ prompt, type the following sequence:
C: <enter>
cd\test <enter>
C:\test> awdfl865 BIOS file
(To save or not to save old BIOS is the user’s decision)

6. Reboot your system when prompted

Judas · Mar 20, 2009, 05:35 PM

ignore 4. and go to www.bootdisk.com and download and run the Bootable disk for bios flashing

this will wipe everything on the floppy.. then format it with the files needed..

plop your exe and bios file on it.... reboot the computer and boot from the floppy.... when your presented with A:\ type: (this is what it should look like)

A:\AFUD4280 A7376AMS.170

then hit enter and follow the directions.. typically it'll load a screen with information pertaining to your current bios and the new bios and then start to load the bios, but before flashing it sometimes asks if you are sure you want to proceed. Continue at your own risk.... Personally i've never had a floppy/usbflash drive bios flash fail, but a "while in" windows flash has failed several times for me. Gaud i hate windows based flashers....

Remember, it's usually best to flash the bios ONLY when you are trying to resolve a problem or it's highly recommended to do it..... if your not having any issues.... sometimes it's not a good idea to attempt it.

Mac Daddy · Mar 21, 2009, 01:27 AM

I would suggest using a formatted floppy in the format Judas suggested. I didn't have a floppy drive here to update the BIOS on the MSI board for the AMD system and it was a f**King nightmare

I got this tidbit too before I read that my mobo did not support Win98 or WinMe ... so what is MSI smoking?

Quote:

4. Boot your system from a Win98 or WinME boot-floppy.
How to make boot floppy in case your don’t have it ready:
For Win9X, You can type [C:\ format a:/s] from the DOS prompt.
For WinME, You can make a boot floppy from control panel--> add/remove program-->make boot floppy. Remove autoexec.bat & config.sys file if there's any.
For Win2000, there's no way to make boot floppy, so you have to either use Win9X or WinME boot floppy.
For WinXP, you can make a DOS boot disk. Go to Your Computer, right click drive A:, select Format, select copy system files.

I ended up using Hirens to create a virtual drive to load the BIOS from my HD. Not fun but if you have a floppy use it and make sure you need this update !!

Tyrsonswood · Mar 21, 2009, 01:47 AM

Some bios flash utilities are set up to create the bootable floppy via the .EXE file. You run that in Windows and it formats the floppy, loads the files and you reboot. They often use a non MS disk operating system too that runs the flash utility from the floppy when they do this..... My Intel, Soltek and AsRock boards all work this way

I've never dealt with newer stuff with no floppy, only one of my boards allows for USB boot, so I've only ever done it this way....... Well once on an HP with a windows flash utility (I was expecting a BSOD on reboot but it was okay) I haven't flashed this HP I have now because it's fine as is... I have the new bios file if I need it, but no issues, I usually don't flash a bios unless I have a reason to.

Mac Daddy · Mar 21, 2009, 01:55 AM

Issue I had with the MSI board and Cow might as well is no support for boot on USB. I have ASUS and Gigabyte boards here that will update from BIOS and my ASrock that updated booting on a USB stick.

Never have I seen anything like what I have experienced with this MSI board. This is an older board and sure they have things corrected but it really turned me off MSI ...

Tyrsonswood · Mar 21, 2009, 02:04 AM

My asrock won't do usb boot, just the intel.... I don't even have a usb boot device anyways so it's a moot point for me. They will all have to go that way eventually because nothing has a floppy anymore.... or use a windows flash utility like the HP business systems.

I would imagine a bios flash will eventually "go away" we've been doing that the same way for, what, 20 years? Longer? I mean I was doing this back in '91-'92 when I was a tech.... hasn't changed much

Mac Daddy · Mar 21, 2009, 02:11 AM

20 years at least man and my last 3.5" floppy I trashed 4 years ago because it was clogged with dust from "non" use

Not sure where we are headed but see some peeps almost scared of doing this. I found a way it was a PITA but I got it done.

Tyrsonswood · Mar 21, 2009, 02:23 AM

I've seen it permently scramble a mobo, had to change the chip to fix it.... so a general user should be "scared".... the warnings are valid. Usually it goes as planned but still it's a pain.

I always keep an extra floppy or two on hand

Mac Daddy · Mar 21, 2009, 02:51 AM

Chaos · Mar 21, 2009, 03:06 AM

USB drives are great for flashing also just format it it be a Win98 startup disk and drop the flash app and bios file on the USB drive if you can boot from USB device

Mac Daddy · Mar 21, 2009, 03:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chaos

USB drives are great for flashing also just format it it be a Win98 startup disk and drop the flash app and bios file on the USB drive if you can boot from USB device

Yes they are Bro but since the authors MSI mobo preceeds mine we both can't use that

Or Win98 ...

Chaos · Mar 21, 2009, 03:49 AM

my bad

I remember the greif you just went through ... hehehe

Mac Daddy · Mar 21, 2009, 12:41 PM

No worries and one of your suggestions ultimately worked the virtual drive.

Anyway sorry to get a bit off topic Cow double check your BIOS to see if you can boot from a formatted USB stick but I don't think you will be able too. Use a floppy if you do need this update. BIOS updates effect everything in your system and are sometimes needed, my Giga GA-X38-DQ6 did not run memory properly without an update.

Judas · Mar 21, 2009, 06:37 PM

i told you.. the www.bootdisk.com website with the "bios flash bootable disk" will make the disk... far easier and faster then dealing with win98 making the boot.. you can run the bootdisk maker under even win7 without issue

I'll take a USB flash drive over a floppy any day.. but only the latest motherboards support that so i keep an extra floppy drive and cables sitting around as even todays new motherboards still have the floppy capabilities present.

Cow_160483 · Mar 23, 2009, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Judas

i told you.. the www.bootdisk.com website with the "bios flash bootable disk" will make the disk... far easier and faster then dealing with win98 making the boot.. you can run the bootdisk maker under even win7 without issue

I'll take a USB flash drive over a floppy any day.. but only the latest motherboards support that so i keep an extra floppy drive and cables sitting around as even todays new motherboards still have the floppy capabilities present.

Well then i guess am craped out since i dont have a floppy drive

and am not sure if this mobo supports booting off a usb been going through the manual this weekend but cant tell whether or not i can boot from a flash disk??

Mac Daddy · Mar 23, 2009, 12:28 PM

Actually I am looking at the product description on the MSI site and you should be able to boot to USB after all. Mine was supposed too but the option wasn't there in BIOS. If you go to boot order or boot devices see if USB is listed as an option.

Quote:

BIOS

• The mainboard BIOS provides "Plug & Play" BIOS which detects the peripheral devices and expansion cards of the board automatically. • The mainboard provides a Desktop Management Interface (DMI) function which records your mainboard specifications.

• Supports boot from LAN, USB Device 1.1 & 2.0 and SATA HDD

MSI Computer Corp. - Product

(Chaos just did a bunch of stuff involving booting from USB this weekend. I have to head to work but he may be able to help a bit further if you have questions)

Cow_160483 · Mar 23, 2009, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mac Daddy

Actually I am looking at the product description on the MSI site and you should be able to boot to USB after all. Mine was supposed too but the option wasn't there in BIOS. If you go to boot order or boot devices see if USB is listed as an option.

MSI Computer Corp. - Product

(Chaos just did a bunch of stuff involving booting from USB this weekend. I have to head to work but he may be able to help a bit further if you have questions)

Thanks man

Now how do i go about doing the actual flashing??? any ideas
I will PM "Chaos" for assistance but i think it would be helpful if its here on this thread just encase some one else reading has the same problem

Chaos · Mar 23, 2009, 03:58 PM

Ok what i do is format a USB drive to be a Win98 boot device. To determine if you can boot from USB I check my boot sequence in the BIOS with the chosen USB device plugged in. If it is one of the available boot devices I then make it the first device to boot from. I then copy the flash program and the updated bios to the USB drive and boot the system from the USB device.

Here is the tool I use to create my bootdisk. Grab it fast Rapidshare says only 10 downloads available

RapidShare: Easy Filehosting

When you extract the zip you will see HPUSBFW.exe and a DOS folder. Run the exe and choose to make an MS DOS startup disk but point to the DOS folder that was included in the zip file. When it's done you should be good to go

Cow_160483 · Mar 23, 2009, 06:42 PM

Thanks Chaos, am just wondering how big of a flash disk do i need will a 256 Mb do or do i need a bigger one ?? coz i have a 256, 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB

Edit : just formatted an old 128MB flash into a MS dos start up dish , do i copy the two bios files in the above post into it while still in windows ??

Tyrsonswood · Mar 23, 2009, 08:29 PM

Yes, that should be fine

Mac Daddy · Mar 24, 2009, 02:16 AM

Yep that should work and thanks to Chaos for watching my back as he always does

From there Cow should be boot to USB and one important thing ...

Save your old BIOS first !!

Then load the new one and both will be on your USB stick

Chaos · Mar 24, 2009, 02:40 AM

just happy to help

Cow_160483 · Mar 24, 2009, 07:37 AM

Thanks again guys will do the actual bios flashing this weekend and report back

+rep 4 every one on this thread for the help!!!!

Ps : sorry judas couldn't give you some rep , have to spread the love around before i can rep you again lol

Mac Daddy · Mar 24, 2009, 11:49 AM

Glad we could help and keep us posted

Cow_160483 · Mar 26, 2009, 06:42 AM

Hay guys quick update i tried to do the flashing yesterday and managed to boot from the flash disk into the windows 98 doss screen but i dont know what command to type there ??

Anyone know??

Mac Daddy · Mar 26, 2009, 11:55 AM

You should have the contents of the BIOS update folder on your USB stick (shown in your second post on this thread)

AFUD4280.exe is the flashing utility and there are options for it. If memory serves me correctly if you type AFUD4280 on the command line it will either list the options or ask you if you want to backup your current ROM and then ask for the name of the new one.

The .txt or .doc file in that folder should contain those options and A7376AMS.170 is the updated ROM file to flash. (name the other bios.bak or something).

Mar 20, 2009, 12:44 PM	#1
Cow_160483 HH's only cow moooooo... Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: BOTSWANA Posts: 6,687 Rep Power: 280 System Specs	Flashing BIOS Hi guys I need to flash the bios of my Motherboard (K9A2 Platinum) but i have no idea where to start ?? I have looked around the net but cant find anything current , they all talk about a floppy disk drive and i dont have one . Here are a couple of sites i found ... but i really am a noob so i dont know much can any one assist? How To Perform a BIOS Upgrade \| Hardware Secrets Guide to Upgrading/Flashing the Bios Page 2 - Why and How to Flash Your BIOS Flash Bios and what is a "BIOS flashing utility"?? anyway and can it (bios flashing) be done with a flash disk instead ? __________________ Decode! Muhahahahah!

Mar 20, 2009, 01:02 PM	Thread Starter #3
Cow_160483 HH's only cow moooooo... Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: BOTSWANA Posts: 6,687 Rep Power: 280 System Specs	Re: Flashing BIOS this is what came in the ziped file read both of the text docs. but they didnt make sence to me is the .exe the flashing utility?? __________________ Decode! Muhahahahah!

Mar 21, 2009, 01:55 AM	#9
Mac Daddy DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 7,950 Rep Power: 78 System Specs	Re: Flashing BIOS Issue I had with the MSI board and Cow might as well is no support for boot on USB. I have ASUS and Gigabyte boards here that will update from BIOS and my ASrock that updated booting on a USB stick. Never have I seen anything like what I have experienced with this MSI board. This is an older board and sure they have things corrected but it really turned me off MSI ... __________________ "My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance." - Tim Allen

Mar 21, 2009, 02:11 AM	#11
Mac Daddy DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 7,950 Rep Power: 78 System Specs	Re: Flashing BIOS 20 years at least man and my last 3.5" floppy I trashed 4 years ago because it was clogged with dust from "non" use Not sure where we are headed but see some peeps almost scared of doing this. I found a way it was a PITA but I got it done. __________________ "My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance." - Tim Allen

Mar 21, 2009, 02:51 AM	#13
Mac Daddy DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 7,950 Rep Power: 78 System Specs	Re: Flashing BIOS __________________ "My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance." - Tim Allen

Mar 21, 2009, 03:06 AM	#14
Chaos Number Nine Join Date: May 2002 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 5,269 Rep Power: 165 System Specs	Re: Flashing BIOS USB drives are great for flashing also just format it it be a Win98 startup disk and drop the flash app and bios file on the USB drive if you can boot from USB device

Mar 21, 2009, 03:49 AM	#16
Chaos Number Nine Join Date: May 2002 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 5,269 Rep Power: 165 System Specs	Re: Flashing BIOS my bad I remember the greif you just went through ... hehehe

Mar 21, 2009, 12:41 PM	#17
Mac Daddy DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 7,950 Rep Power: 78 System Specs	Re: Flashing BIOS No worries and one of your suggestions ultimately worked the virtual drive. Anyway sorry to get a bit off topic Cow double check your BIOS to see if you can boot from a formatted USB stick but I don't think you will be able too. Use a floppy if you do need this update. BIOS updates effect everything in your system and are sometimes needed, my Giga GA-X38-DQ6 did not run memory properly without an update. __________________ "My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance." - Tim Allen

Mar 23, 2009, 03:58 PM	#22
Chaos Number Nine Join Date: May 2002 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 5,269 Rep Power: 165 System Specs	Re: Flashing BIOS Ok what i do is format a USB drive to be a Win98 boot device. To determine if you can boot from USB I check my boot sequence in the BIOS with the chosen USB device plugged in. If it is one of the available boot devices I then make it the first device to boot from. I then copy the flash program and the updated bios to the USB drive and boot the system from the USB device. Here is the tool I use to create my bootdisk. Grab it fast Rapidshare says only 10 downloads available RapidShare: Easy Filehosting When you extract the zip you will see HPUSBFW.exe and a DOS folder. Run the exe and choose to make an MS DOS startup disk but point to the DOS folder that was included in the zip file. When it's done you should be good to go

Mar 23, 2009, 06:42 PM	Thread Starter #23
Cow_160483 HH's only cow moooooo... Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: BOTSWANA Posts: 6,687 Rep Power: 280 System Specs	Re: Flashing BIOS Thanks Chaos, am just wondering how big of a flash disk do i need will a 256 Mb do or do i need a bigger one ?? coz i have a 256, 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB Edit : just formatted an old 128MB flash into a MS dos start up dish , do i copy the two bios files in the above post into it while still in windows ?? __________________ Decode! Muhahahahah! Last edited by Cow_160483; Mar 23, 2009 at 06:55 PM.

Mar 24, 2009, 02:16 AM	#25
Mac Daddy DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 7,950 Rep Power: 78 System Specs	Re: Flashing BIOS Yep that should work and thanks to Chaos for watching my back as he always does From there Cow should be boot to USB and one important thing ... Save your old BIOS first !! Then load the new one and both will be on your USB stick __________________ "My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance." - Tim Allen

Mar 24, 2009, 02:40 AM	#26
Chaos Number Nine Join Date: May 2002 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 5,269 Rep Power: 165 System Specs	Re: Flashing BIOS just happy to help

Mar 24, 2009, 07:37 AM	Thread Starter #27
Cow_160483 HH's only cow moooooo... Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: BOTSWANA Posts: 6,687 Rep Power: 280 System Specs	Re: Flashing BIOS Thanks again guys will do the actual bios flashing this weekend and report back +rep 4 every one on this thread for the help!!!! Ps : sorry judas couldn't give you some rep , have to spread the love around before i can rep you again lol __________________ Decode! Muhahahahah!

Mar 24, 2009, 11:49 AM	#28
Mac Daddy DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 7,950 Rep Power: 78 System Specs	Re: Flashing BIOS Glad we could help and keep us posted __________________ "My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance." - Tim Allen

Mar 26, 2009, 06:42 AM	Thread Starter #29
Cow_160483 HH's only cow moooooo... Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: BOTSWANA Posts: 6,687 Rep Power: 280 System Specs	Re: Flashing BIOS Hay guys quick update i tried to do the flashing yesterday and managed to boot from the flash disk into the windows 98 doss screen but i dont know what command to type there ?? Anyone know?? __________________ Decode! Muhahahahah!

Mar 26, 2009, 11:55 AM	#30
Mac Daddy DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 7,950 Rep Power: 78 System Specs	Re: Flashing BIOS You should have the contents of the BIOS update folder on your USB stick (shown in your second post on this thread) AFUD4280.exe is the flashing utility and there are options for it. If memory serves me correctly if you type AFUD4280 on the command line it will either list the options or ask you if you want to backup your current ROM and then ask for the name of the new one. The .txt or .doc file in that folder should contain those options and A7376AMS.170 is the updated ROM file to flash. (name the other bios.bak or something). __________________ "My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance." - Tim Allen