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Publisher3.4 Upgrading the System BIOS
When
you upgrade an existing system without replacing the motherboard, the
BIOS version it uses can be a critical issue. Some system
featuresnotably support for faster or more recent processors,
large hard disks, high-speed transfer modes, and AGPare
BIOS-dependent, so an in-place upgrade often requires a BIOS upgrade
as well. Fortunately, recent systems use a Flash BIOS, which can be
upgraded simply by downloading a later version of the BIOS to replace
the existing BIOS.
a Flash BIOS requires two files. The first is the upgraded BIOS
itself in binary form. The second is the
"flasher" program provided by the
BIOS manufacturer, e.g., awdflash.exe . The exact
steps you follow to upgrade a Flash BIOS vary slightly according to
the BIOS manufactureand the version of the flasher program you
are using, but the following steps are typical:
- Before proceeding, record all current
BIOS settings, using either pencil and paper or a utility program
that writes BIOS settings to a disk file. If you have a UPS, connect
the system to it for the duration of the BIOS update. Losing power
during a BIOS update can result in a motherboard that is unusable and
must be returned to the maker for repair. Determine the manufacturer, version,
date, and identifying string of the existing BIOS. You can do this by
using a third-party diagnostics program such as CheckIt, or by
watching the BIOS screen that appears briefly each time the system
boots. With most systems, pressing the Pause key halts the boot
screen, allowing you to record the BIOS information at your leisure.
With other systems, the Pause key does nothing, so you may have to
reboot the system several times to record all the relevant
information. It is important to record exactly
what appears. Completely different BIOS versions are often
differentiated by very minor changes in the BIOS identifying string. Locate a Flash BIOS patch file
that is intended to upgrade the exact BIOS
version you have. Close isn't good enough. Begin
your search on the PC manufacturer's web site. If
you can't find an appropriate BIOS update there,
check Wim's BIOS page (http://www.wimsbios.com). While you are
searching for the proper BIOS update file, keep the following points
in mind:
- Having a particular PC model is no guarantee that it uses the
same BIOS as another PC with the same model number. High-volume PC
manufacturers often sell systems that use different motherboards
under the same model designation, and the BIOS update file intended
for one motherboard used in that model cannot be used to upgrade the
same model with a different motherboard. A particular
motherboard and BIOS may be available in several versions that cannot
use the same Flash update file. For example, Micron produced several
systems using the popular Intel SE440BX Seattle motherboard, but with
a slightly customized BIOS. The SE440BX Flash update available on the
Intel web site can only be used to update an unaltered SE440BX, not
the Micron version of that motherboard. Even a
motherboard supplied directly by the manufacturer may have shipped in
several revisions which require different BIOS patches. For example,
one of our systems uses an EPoX KP6-BS dual-CPU motherboard, which
was made in two versions, one with a 1 MB BIOS chip and the other
with a 2 MB BIOS chip. The BIOS patches for these two versions are
different and incompatible. Sometimes the only way to know for sure
which BIOS patch you need is literally to take off the cover and
examine the identifying numbers on the Flash BIOS chips themselves. BIOS
patches are cumulative. That is, if your existing BIOS is version
4.003, you may find that the web site has versions 4.004, 4.005, and
4.006 available. You need not apply each of those patches
sequentially. Instead, update your 4.003 BIOS directly to 4.006 in
one step by applying the 4.006 patch to it. BIOS patch
files are usually supplied in .bin ,
.exe , or .zip form. The
.bin files can be used directly by the flasher
utility. When run, the .exe files automatically
extract the BIOS patch in .bin form. If the BIOS
update is supplied as a .zip file, use WinZip or
a similar zip utility to extract the .bin file.
manufacturer's web site or directly from the BIOS
manufacturer's web site. Note that some motherboard
manufacturers supply BIOS updates as an archive file
(.zip or .exe ) that
contains both the BIOS update .bin file and the
flasher utility. These distributions sometimes take the form of an
executable file that when run automatically creates a bootable floppy
diskette and copies the .bin BIOS update file
and the flasher utility to it. Unless the BIOS update you've downloaded is
one of those that automatically creates a boot floppy, format a
bootable floppy disk. If you are using MS-DOS, Windows 3.X, or
Windows 9X, use the command format a: /s to
create the bootable floppy. If you are updating the BIOS on a system
that runs Windows NT/2K/XP, Linux, or another non-DOS operating
system, format a bootable DOS floppy on another computer. Copy the
flasher utility and the .bin file to this
floppy. Enable Flash BIOS update
mode on your motherboard. To prevent viruses from altering the system
BIOS, most motherboards have a jumper that must be set in one
position to enable Flash BIOS updates and in another position to
re-enable normal system operation. Set this jumper to BIOS update
mode. Boot the system using the
DOS boot floppy you created earlier. At the DOS prompt, type the
command line specified in the documentation for your flasher utility.
For example, the command to update an Abit BH-6 motherboard using the
Award flasher and the bh6_gy.bin BIOS update
file while saving a copy of the old BIOS and clearing the CMOS
settings is Awdflash bh6_gy.bin Oldbios.bin /cc .
Oldbios.bin specifies the filename that the old
BIOS will be saved as, and the /cc argument
clears CMOS settings. When the
Flash BIOS update completes, restart the system and enter BIOS setup
mode. Depending on the BIOS manufacturer, the flasher version you
use, and the command-line arguments you specified, the CMOS settings
may or may not be cleared. Even if they weren't,
it's always a good idea to clear and re-enter them
after a flash BIOS update, and for many BIOS updates
it's mandatory. To do so, load the default BIOS
settings and then enter the correct settings for time and date, hard
disk type, etc., that you recorded in step 1. Once you have entered
the correct settings for all values, restart the system again. It
should display the updated BIOS version in the boot screen.
Although most recent systems use some
variant of the method just described, some systems allow you to
update the BIOS simply by copying a .bin file to
a floppy diskette, which needn't be bootable, and
restarting the system with that floppy in the drive. The obvious
danger with this method is that you might unintentionally update your
BIOS from a floppy disk that contains an older or hacked version.
Accordingly, most recent systems require you to explicitly move a
jumper to enable BIOS update mode.
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intimidating operation the first time you try itor the 10th
time, for that matterBIOS updates usually complete
successfully if you do everything by the numbers. But if you
accidentally apply the wrong patch or if the flash update process
fails through no error of your own, the PC can end up nonbootable. If
this happens, there may not be an easy way to recover. Depending on
the BIOS, one of the following methods to recover from a failed Flash
BIOS update may be usable:
- A
few motherboards have dual BIOS chips. If you corrupt one BIOS during
an update, you can boot the system from the other BIOS and reflash
the corrupted BIOS.Recent Award
BIOSs have a small permanent boot-block BIOS. This portion of the
BIOS is not overwritten during a Flash update, and is sufficient to
allow the computer to boot to a floppy disk. Unfortunately, this BIOS
supports only the floppy disk and an ISA video card. If a Flash
update fails on a system with such a BIOS and a PCI or AGP video
card, you can reflash the BIOS by using another system to create a
bootable floppy disk that contains the
awdflash.exe utility and the proper BIOS
.bin file, with an
Autoexec.bat file that automatically executes
the flasher utility with the proper command-line arguments. With a
PCI or AGP video card, you will not be able to view the progress of
the update, but once the update completes and you restart the system,
everything should operate properly. With an ISA video card, you can
view the update procedure as it occurs.The Flash BIOS chip on some systems is socketed rather than
soldered. If a failed Flash BIOS update renders such a system
unbootable, you can contact the system manufacturer to request a
working BIOS chip. Most manufacturers will supply a replacement chip
that contains the current version of the BIOS on request. Some even
do so for no charge, although they often require that you return the
original nonfunctional BIOS chip. If you can get a replacement BIOS
chip, simply pull the original chip, replace it with the new chip,
and restart the system.As a last
resort, if you have an identical system that works, you can
temporarily install the BIOS chip from the good system into the
nonworking one and reboot that system using the good BIOS chip. Once
the system boots, pull the good BIOS chip and replace it with the
nonworking BIOS chip without powering down the system. Then, with the
system still running, execute the flasher utility from diskette to
reapply the Flash BIOS update to the damaged BIOS chip. As a general
rule, of course, removing and installing chips while the system is
running is a good way to fry a motherboard. We've
never tried this and can't guarantee that you
won't fry your motherboard if you try it, but some
people claim to have done it successfully. If you try it, do so at
your own risk.
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