CAN I UPDATE THE MOTHERBOARD'S BIOS? WHY ARE NEW VERSIONS RELEASED FOR? WHEN SHOULD I UPDATE MY MOTHERBOARD'S BIOS? WHY SHOULD I DO IT WHENEVER IT IS REALLY NECESSARY? COULD I CAUSE ANY KIND OF DAMAGE? WHAT CAN GO WRONG? WHAT SHOULD I DO TO FIND THE PROPER BIOS IMAGE FILE? I HAVE DONE ALL THESE AND I AM NOW READY TO PERFORM THE UPDATE. WHAT SHOULD I DO NEXT? I HAVE HEARD THAT SOME MANUFACTURERS HAVE WINDOWS-BASED FLASH UTILITIES OTHERS UPDATE THE BIOS VIA THE INTERNET. SHOULD I TRY IT?
CAN I UPDATE THE MOTHERBOARD’S BIOS?
Yes, you can. All the Motherboard manufacturers release new BIOS versions for their products.
WHY ARE NEW VERSIONS RELEASED FOR?
There are some issues that need to be corrected or improved since the release of the product. Manufacturers update their product BIOS to correct some bugs or possible incompatibility issues with the newer Hardware Devices, or even add some extra options on the CMOS Setup. Things which had not been added on the original version.
WHEN SHOULD I UPDATE MY MOTHERBOARD’S BIOS?
My personal opinion, is to do this only when this is really necessary! Although some end-users do it every time a new version is released, I strongly recommend not doing it unless you are dealing with one of the following situations:
WHY SHOULD I DO IT WHENEVER IT IS REALLY NECESSARY? COULD I CAUSE ANY KIND OF DAMAGE?
Unfortunately, yes. You might cause a serious damage to the Motherboard. The BIOS (Basic Input-Output System) is being loaded before anything else. Besides the basic system control options, BIOS loads another built in routine which is called POST (Power On Self Test). POST performs a check on the basic Hardware to verify that it is working properly. If the BIOS is corrupt or not present the machine cannot start.
If one of the following goes wrong, the System may not start again:
WHAT SHOULD I DO TO FIND THE PROPER BIOS IMAGE FILE?
First of all, a wise thing to do before anything else is to enter the CMOS Setup and take some notes. When you flash the BIOS with a newer version, CMOS Setup automatically loads the Setup Default settings. The only thing that remains the same is the system time and date and the previously detected IDE devices. This means that you will have to set your customized settings again when the flash procedure is over. Some end-users find it a hard thing to do because they do not know which options need to be chosen and which settings need to be changed.
So, before doing anything else, take a piece of paper, enter the BIOS and take some notes. Write down which options are enabled and which are not. Also, write down the IRQ and the Memory Range values the Integrated Peripherals use and which are enabled and disabled. This can be a very useful resource afterwards.
Another thing you can do, is to simply turn on your printer and print the CMOS Setup instead of writing it down yourself. Use the “Print Screen” key on your keyboard.
When done, you can then start searching for the proper BIOS version via the Internet.
Go to the Motherboard Manufacturer’s homepage and locate the “Support” or the “Downloads”, or any similar section to this. This is where most of the Manufacturers have their new files, Device Drivers, patches etc.
Be very careful about the version you need to download. Turn on your machine and write down everything displayed before the Operating system logo. These are some very useful codes and strings that indicate the exact modem of the Motherboard, its Serial Number and its BIOS version. You can use your printer and press the “Print Screen” key as mentioned above. Pressing the “Pause” button you can pause the system, until you press any key, so that you can print the screen you see. Keep your attention on the proper revision of the Motherboard. Some of them have different revisions of the same model. For example, Soyo 5EHM. There are various revisions of this Motherboard: Soyo 5EHM v.1.0, 5EHM v.1.1, 5EHM v.1.2 and 5EHM v.1.3.
Flashing a v.1.3 one with the image file made for the v.1.0 one would cause some problems, or even damage the Motherboard.
Another thing to have in mind is the Integrated Peripherals built in your Motherboard.
For example, Asus CUV4X. There is one with an Integrated Sound Chip and another one without it. Updating the BIOS with the version which is made for the one with the Integrated Sound Chip while yours doesn’t have it, can cause some problems too.
When you are absolutely sure you found the proper image file, download the latest version available. Most of the manufacturers describe on their webpage what is new about each version. What are the changes and which new Hardware is supported by each version.
Also, do not forget to download the Flash Utility available on the manufacturer’s webpage. This utility is the program which performs the update. It is a simple EPROM software programming utility. It loads a binary (.BIN) file into the ROM or saves a previously loaded version from the ROM to a file.
If there is a help text file (.TXT) or document (.DOC) available, download it too. It has some very useful detailed instructions you might need to read before proceeding with the update.
When done, create a temporary folder on your HDD and copy all those files into it.
For example, c:\temp.
Do not forget to uncompress any compressed files.
I HAVE DONE ALL THESE AND I AM NOW READY TO PERFORM THE UPDATE. WHAT SHOULD I DO NEXT?
In order to update the BIOS, the Flash Utility must work under clean Command Prompt (DOS). Any memory managers, such as HIMEM.SYS or EMM386.EXE should not be loaded. Just reboot the machine and do the following:
A. For Windows 95-based machines:
When you see the “Starting Windows 95” message, press the “F8” key on your keyboard, several times until you see the Startup Menu. Windows 95 waits for up to 2 seconds before loading. This is plenty of time, provided that you pay attention on the screen and press the “F8” key in time. Otherwise you have to restart your machine.
B. For Windows 98-based machines:
When you see the “Starting Windows 98” message, press and hold the “Ctrl” key on your keyboard until you see the Startup Menu. You can also use the “F8” key, but the time Windows waits for your choice is now a lot shorter than 2 seconds. That is why we prefer the first way.
On the Startup Menu, select the “Safe mode Command Prompt Only” option. Most of the times, it is the 6th one in the row.
Then go to the temporary folder where you copied the necessary files and type the proper command to start the procedure. First, type the name of the Flash Utility, leave a space and then type the name of the BIOS image file. Then press the “Enter” key on your keyboard.
Like this:
(Flash utility) (image file) <enter>
For example: c:\temp>awdflash 5ehm-d5
The Flash Utility loads and asks you whether you want to save the current version of your BIOS. I advise you to save and name it as old.bin. This would help you if you will have to load it back for any reason in the future.
When done, it asks you to verify if you are sure you want to perform the update. Answer “Yes” only when you are sure about it. The procedure then starts.
Be very careful! Wait as long as it takes (normally it takes only a few seconds) and do not turn the machine off or restart it without first verifying that the procedure has completed successfully. There is an indicator which shows the percentage done.
When finished, restart the machine. This is it. The Motherboard’s BIOS has been updated. Boot into Windows to verify that everything is working properly. Sometimes, Windows detects new Hardware Devices on the Motherboard. This is due to the update and it is normal.
I would not recommend it, although this is an easier way to update the BIOS. The way described above may be harder, but it is safer.