How do I Update my BIOS?

[Sear...@mail.con2.com]

I have an Epia-M Mini-ITX motherboard on which I'd like to upgrade the BIOS because of some problems I've exhausted all options on fixing. (See "Poor or no Video Performance").

I have a hard drive with fresh XP install attached to it, along with a DVD player, on the primary and secondary IDE connections, respectively.

Nothing else outside of the monitor, keyboard, mouse, and floppy drive are connected to the system.

The problem is that I've never updated a BIOS before, the instructions in the manual are poorly written, and they appear to be for someone using Windows 98 anyway. (I also know nothing at all about DOS or Command lines).

This is my hardware:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811153113
http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/store/motherboards/EPIA_M10000

And I got the drivers and manual from this site: http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/mainboards/downloads.jsp?motherboard_id=81

Some something like the BIOS clear step-by-step instructions are necessary, but these seem difficult to come across for individual systems.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

[Bob H]

First of all, go to the motherboard manufacturers website and choose
your board from a probable list, then see if there is a BIOS update
available.
If so, download and follow any instructions as for updating the BIOS on
your motherboard

[Searcher7]

On Mar 16, 2:15 pm, Bob H <b...@despammer.com> wrote:

> On 16/03/2013 17:51, Search...@mail.con2.com wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > I have an Epia-M Mini-ITX motherboard on which I'd like to upgrade the BIOS because of some problems I've exhausted all options on fixing. (See "Poor or no Video Performance").
>
> > I have a hard drive with fresh XP install attached to it, along with a DVD player, on the primary and secondary IDE connections, respectively.
>
> > Nothing else outside of the monitor, keyboard, mouse, and floppy drive are connected to the system.
>
> > The problem is that I've never updated a BIOS before, the instructions in the manual are poorly written, and they appear to be for someone using Windows 98 anyway. (I also know nothing at all about DOS or Command lines).
>
> > This is my hardware:
> >http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811153113
> >http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/store/motherboards/EPIA_M10000
>

> > And I got the drivers and manual from this site:http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/mainboards/downloads.jsp?motherboar...

>
> > Some something like the BIOS clear step-by-step instructions are necessary, but these seem difficult to come across for individual systems.
>
> > Any help would be appreciated.
>
> > Thanks.
>
> > Darren Harris
> > Staten Island, New York.
>
> First of all, go to the motherboard manufacturers website and choose
> your board from a probable list, then see if there is a BIOS update
> available.
> If so, download and follow any instructions as for updating the BIOS on
> your motherboard

?!? I've done all that.

[Bob H]

Ok, so if you have the instructions on how to update the BIOS ,
could you put the instructions which are 'poorly written' in a post so
that someone can see what they say and maybe 'translate' for you.

[SC Tom]

<Sear...@mail.con2.com> wrote in message
news:5c38eda3-9008-45f0...@googlegroups.com...

I tried to DL the manual so I could take a look at it, but the site keeps
telling me ALL the links listed on that page are not correct, so . . . Going
by other flash programs that were that old, you have to create a boot floppy
disc with the BIOS file and the flash program on it. But as old as that BIOS
is (2004), I would almost assume you are already at that level. Have you
booted to BIOS to see what the current version is now? If it's less than
1.16, then that's what you'll have to do- create the bootable floppy to
flash it with.
--
SC Tom

[Flasherly]

On Sat, 16 Mar 2013 19:52:08 +0000, Bob H <b...@despammer.com> wrote:

>Ok, so if you have the instructions on how to update the BIOS ,
>could you put the instructions which are 'poorly written' in a post so
>that someone can see what they say and maybe 'translate' for you.

You'll need a DOS boot disc.

Minimum is Command.com (and two hidden system files on it)

No directories. Copy to that disc the two files for your MB: 1) the
Flash.exe utiltiy 2) the BIOS.udt update file

at the blinking white cursor, you type:

flash bios

(follow directions, read what's available concerning the process, and
don't destroy your MB)

[Mike Easter]

Sear...@mail.con2.com wrote:
> I have an Epia-M Mini-ITX motherboard on which I'd like to upgrade
> the BIOS because of some problems I've exhausted all options on
> fixing. (See "Poor or no Video Performance").

The Via site doesn't have the BIOS tool or BIOS, but the Epia site does.
See below.

However, the only BIOS there is 2004, along with a Via BIOS DOS flash
tool dated 2010. Those are the same BIOS and tool which are 'portrayed'
but unavailable at the Via site.

I haven't read your previous video problems, but it doesn't look to me
like those problems are going to be solved with a newer BIOS because I
suspect your current BIOS is the same as the 2004 BIOS at Epia .

BIOS 1.16 2004/10/14 I0100116.bin (257KB)

... but maybe not and maybe you can benefit from both the Epia 2004 bios
and VGA driver.

> I have a hard drive with fresh XP install attached to it, along with
> a DVD player, on the primary and secondary IDE connections,
> respectively.
>
> Nothing else outside of the monitor, keyboard, mouse, and floppy
> drive are connected to the system.
>
> The problem is that I've never updated a BIOS before, the
> instructions in the manual are poorly written, and they appear to be
> for someone using Windows 98 anyway. (I also know nothing at all
> about DOS or Command lines).
>
> This is my hardware:
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811153113
> http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/store/motherboards/EPIA_M10000
>
> And I got the drivers and manual from this site:
> http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/mainboards/downloads.jsp?motherboard_id=81
>
> Some something like the BIOS clear step-by-step instructions are
> necessary, but these seem difficult to come across for individual
> systems.

At the Epia site, there are also video drivers for XP in addition to the
BIOS and tool and Epia says:

Integrated VGA 16.94.39.14 2004/11/03 *[Note] Please update this driver
with above latest BIOS v.116* EPIA M VGA Driver for Windows 2000/XP
2kxp.zip (6.66M)

Inside the .zip at the Epia site is an instructional .pdf explaining how
to use the DOS tool.

The first things I recommend that you do is determine the date of your
current BIOS and the date of your current VGA driver.

Epia page
http://www.viaembedded.com/en/products/boards/81/1/EPIA_M_(EOL).html

Click the Downloads button to see the bios bin, the tool .zip and the
VGA .zip.



--
Mike Easter

[Mike Easter]

Sear...@mail.con2.com wrote:

> Nothing else outside of the monitor, keyboard, mouse, and floppy
> drive are connected to the system.

For some reason I tho't that system didn't have a floppy, but since it
does the flash task is easier.

> The problem is that I've never updated a BIOS before, the
> instructions in the manual are poorly written, and they appear to be
> for someone using Windows 98 anyway. (I also know nothing at all
> about DOS or Command lines).

The .pdf in the flashtool .zip spends a lot of time talking about Win98
which is unnecessary. You can just make a DOS boot floppy with your
WinXP and boot with that and use it to flash the BIOS.

People who don't have a floppy have to use some 3rd party tools to make
a USB boot DOS.

But... flashing a BIOS should not be done just for the fun of it. There
should be some pretty good indication that the flash is 'necessary' or
indicated or appropriate for solving a problem.

The Epia docs indicate that if your VGA driver and BIOS are older than
the ones at the Epia site, and you are having video problems that don't
solve by appropriate configuration of your OS, then maybe the VGA and
BIOS upgrade should be done.

BIOS 'accidents'/incidents/misadventures during flash can render your
mobo inop.


--
Mike Easter

[Paul]

Before you start, or even do any of the following, start the
EPIA-M, and examine the "BIOS string" printed on the screen.
Some numbers on there, should indicate the BIOS revision.
If the BIOS revision is the same as the downloadable file,
then you don't need to do any of this! BIOS flashing is
dangerous, and only do it, if the BIOS really needs to be
upgraded. I think if the EPIA-M is running some older version
(i.e. less than 1.16), then it's worth a shot bringing it up
to 1.16 . Based on the comments VIA placed next to the driver files.
Normally, I would not assume a BIOS update would make any difference
to a driver in Windows. But if VIA says it makes a difference,
who am I to argue with them ?

If the BIOS chip is socketed, and you manage to "brick" the EPIA-M
with your efforts, for a small sum of money, badflash.com can flash
a chip for you, to recover it. As long as the flash chip is say,
a PLCC in a socket, you can pull it out and replace it. So it is
possible to get out of a "bricking", if it happens.

*******

MSDOS came two ways. People used to install MSDOS to the hard drive.
It would include things like a text editor. Or, a subset of MSDOS
could be copied onto a boot floppy. (If you need a reference to
some of the MSDOS commands, and how to do stuff, try the following.)

http://www.vfrazee.com/ms-dos/6.22/help/

For BIOS flashing, all we need is the floppy version of MSDOS.
Means also exist, for putting MSDOS files on a USB key or onto a CD,
for computers which no longer have a floppy drive. For example, this
guy made a CDROM version (which would not be very convenient for
this exercise, so just bookmark this and move on).

http://infocellar.com/CD/Boot-CD.htm

For a DOS BIOS flasher, the first thing you make is an MSDOS boot floppy.

1) In Win98, "sys A:" or the like, copies the basic DOS boot files
onto a floppy. That's how I made my "good" floppy, that I use for
a lot of different DOS type tasks. My "good" floppy has over a dozen
files on it, things like CDROM drivers, SMARTDRV and the like. And
also, a DOS extender of some sort. I don't think any of that is
relevant to this exercise.

2) You can get MSDOS or FreeDOS floppy images off the Internet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedos

"FreeDOS is also used to create bootable media for
updating the BIOS firmware.[17]"

HP offers that from this download page. HP has a number of packages
like this, and they're mainly "custom made" for a particular flashing
job. You use just a portion of one of these downloads, as most
of the download is irrelevant to making your MSDOS floppy.

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=321957&prodSeriesId=3442832&swItem=ob-88522-1&mode=4&idx=3

Now, that one would be a FreeDOS image plus ROMPak files for
updating a Compaq. So you're getting more "stuff" than you really
want. But still, at its core, you get stuff to make your floppy.

Rather than using that one though (which was on that Wikipedia page),
this is another one I've used. SP33221 from HP. This one puts
FreeDOS on a USB key.

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=12454&prodSeriesId=459226&prodNameId=459220&swEnvOID=1093&swLang=13&taskId=135&swItem=wk-41329-1

( Might also be at ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp33001-33500/sp33221.exe )

That seems like a relatively large download, and it is (9,028,248 bytes).

Using 7ZIP, you examine the contents of sp33221.exe .

Look for the USB_BOOT folder.

In there, you'll find

FREEDOS
COMMAND.COM \___ Copy to a floppy, to be able to "boot MSDOS"
KERNEL.SYS /
HPUSBFormatter.exe <--- This one formats small USB flash keys for you
If the USB key is larger than the max size that
FAT16 can handle, this won't work. I use my
1GB flash key with this program.

When you run the HPUSBFormatter.exe, it installs HPUSBFW.EXE . It places
the tools in C:\DriveKey. The HPUSBFW.EXE is used to erase and format
a small USB flash key, to be booted as if it was a boot floppy. You don't
have to use that if you don't want to. Notice as well, the FREEDOS folder
with the two files in it, is stored next to the program. I may have
put that there myself. And that's because the HP tool has an option to
"copy some files", after the formatting is complete. Since the tool is
supposed to be making a FreeDOS boot floppy, what better thing than
to have it copy the two FreeDOS files ? :-) So the FREEDOS folder is
kept there, so I'll remember that's where the files are for it. This
is what my installed folder looks like today.

http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/5250/sp33221.gif

If your EPIA-M has a floppy, then you could just copy COMMAND.COM and
KERNEL.SYS to a floppy and try that. If not, you can try a small USB
key, format with HPUSBFW.EXE (FAT12 or FAT16 formatter), and it will
copy the folder of your choosing, such as the two FREEDOS files.
Then, insert the USB key to the EPIA-M and verify it boots into DOS
OK.

Once you've verified the DOS part, then you can copy the VIA flasher
vf-102.exe to the USB key, and run that. The first test you make,
of the vf-102.exe flasher, is making a *backup* copy of the original
BIOS flash chip contents. If you run into trouble during the flash, and
the new flashing attempt fails, immediately try to flash using the
archived flash image! Do not reboot the EPIA-M until you're absolutely
sure that *some* flash image is successfully flashed into it. If
the flash fails, you don't want to turn off the power, until you've
exhausted all recovery possibilities (such as flashing the archived copy).

So, take your time, and have fun.

Oh, one other thing. BIOS flash files of the type you'll be doing,
should be a power_of_two in terms of file size. If I download the
I0100116.bin file, it is 262144 bytes, which is a power_of_two (2**18).
Flash chips physically are a power_of_two size as well. So the
flash chip that file is going into, will also be 262144 (256KB)
in size.

BIOS flash files generally use 8.3 naming convention, because
they're going to be used on an MSDOS floppy. You copy the BIOS file
over to your boot media. Notice how all the files here, conform
to 8.3 naming (i.e. no longer than 8.3).

COMMAND.COM
KERNEL.SYS
vf-102.exe <--- VIA BIOS flasher for DOS
I0100116.bin <--- New BIOS to flash (262144 bytes)
archived.bin <--- This is the BIOS backup you'll make on the first run
(should also be 262144 bytes)

With some newer motherboards, the BIOS chip is 1048576 (1024K) in
size. If you're using a floppy, then the archived.bin no longer fits.
In such cases, I use two floppy diskettes. Or, as long as the MSDOS
floppy supports FAT32, I put my new BIOS file on a FAT32 partition
of the hard drive. That's another way to handle the "too big" file
problem. But for your flashing exercise, a 1440K floppy should
easily hold everything.

Don't expect to successfully do all this stuff in an hour.
It takes time to get this crap running :-( It's meant to
be a learning exercise, not a slam-dunk. I'm no MSDOS expert,
so every step for me, means pain.

The reason MSDOS is used for flashing, is so no other software
can be running at the time. MSDOS only does one thing at a time.
There are also Windows BIOS flashers, and occasionally a user
"bricks" their computer, because some other software interferes with
the process, half way through the flash operation. The most
trustworthy environment is the MSDOS floppy. At least, as long
as you can make a working MSDOS boot floppy.

*******

On my Core2 system with VIA chipset, to get the MSDOS floppy to
run there, I had to add some special stuff to one of the MSDOS
files (autoexec.bat or config.sys). That's because I was using
extended memory or something. The added stuff was to prevent DOS from
using a certain range of memory. That's just meant as a warning,
as to how complicated this stuff can get at times. I had to
*guess* as to what memory range the boot process did not like,
so it took a number of boot attempts until I got that one right.
My current motherboard, didn't cause any problems like that, when
I ran my "good" floppy image. And based on the file names here, you
can see I "acquired" a number of other files, besides the
basic ones. Using this floppy diskette, allows me to bootstrap
the installation of WinXP, using nothing more than a hard drive,
and no CD drive. What this also shows you, is the existence of
config.sys (a text file for configuring the boot process), and
autoexec.bat (sort of like autoplay). After the autoexec.bat
runs, you'll likely see the A:\ prompt next.

config.sys

DEVICE?=HIMEM.SYS /TESTMEM:OFF
;DEVICE?=EMM386.EXE /RAM
DEVICE?=EMM386.EXE NOEMS X=A000-CFFF
DEVICE?=XCDROM.SYS /D:MSCD001
FILES=20
BUFFERS=20
DOS=HIGH,UMB
STACKS=9,256

autoexec.bat

mscdex /D:MSCD001 /L:R
pause
a:\smartdrv.exe /V 32768 32768 /E:32768

So there are a lot of other things you can add to your MSDOS
floppy. For your first attempt though, perhaps the five files
mentioned above, will be all that end up on the floppy. Time
will tell.

Paul

[Patrick]

Sear...@mail.con2.com wrote:
> I have an Epia-M Mini-ITX motherboard on which I'd like to upgrade
> the BIOS because of some problems I've exhausted all options on
> fixing. (See "Poor or no Video Performance").
>
> I have a hard drive with fresh XP install attached to it, along with
> a DVD player, on the primary and secondary IDE connections,
> respectively.
>
> Nothing else outside of the monitor, keyboard, mouse, and floppy
> drive are connected to the system.
>
> The problem is that I've never updated a BIOS before, the
> instructions in the manual are poorly written, and they appear to be
> for someone using Windows 98 anyway. (I also know nothing at all
> about DOS or Command lines).
>

Go to: http://www.bootdisk.com/
See 'Driver Free Disk For BIOS Flashing' and Click 1,2 or 3 (mirrors to same
file) and download the file (drdflash.exe)
Click 'About' to see instructions, etc. as to the file.
Put a formatted floppy in its drive, run (DoubleClick) 'drdflash.exe', a
bootable floppy will be created.


Now got to;
http://www.viaembedded.com/en/products/boards/81/1/EPIA_M_(EOL).html
Check by the picture and text that this is your MOBO

Click 'Downloads'
Under 'BIOS/BIOS flash Utility', download; 'IO100116.bin' and 'VIA FlashTool
1.02.zip'

Now;
Extract the contents from 'VIA FlashTool 1.02.zip'
Copy the extracted file 'vf-102.exe' to the floppy.
Also copy the downloaded file 'IO100116.bin' to the floppy.

(Presuming BIOS set to boot from floppy first),
Reboot the Computer with the floppy in place, at DOS Prompt, type
'vf-102.exe' and prees 'Enter'
You should now see options as described in the (outdated) PDF file.

When the BIOS has been Flashed (if needed) then (at Original site) see the
Driver-Section for 'Integrated VGA' and download the file pertinent to XP
(2kxp.zip). Download this file, delete any other VGA-drivers via
Device-Manager, reboot and 'Extract All' from 2kxp.zip 'then run 'Setup.exe'
in resulting folder.

> This is my hardware:
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811153113
> http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/store/motherboards/EPIA_M10000
>
> And I got the drivers and manual from this site:
> http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/mainboards/downloads.jsp?motherboard_id=81
>

I've not checked wether the files at above address are the same as the
address I have given you.

[Sear...@mail.con2.com]

My present BIOS I believe is shown here:
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll257/Statenislander/Computer/BelarcAdvisor.jpg

The BIOS flashing instructions are in PDF format, so I can’t copy and paste here. It is located in the flashing tool download I linked to.

I have the BIOS and flash tool already and had also made a boot disk using that site. (But all three files would fit on one disk).

I’ll have to read the above a few times until it is clear.

[Mike Easter]

Sear...@mail.con2.com wrote:

> My present BIOS I believe is shown here:
> http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll257/Statenislander/Computer/BelarcAdvisor.jpg

No. That is not what this thread started with.

That isn't an Epia Via board, that is a Dell Intel/Pentium III board
with a 2000 Aug 29 BIOS.

> The BIOS flashing instructions are in PDF format, so I can’t copy and
> paste here. It is located in the flashing tool download I linked to.

Yes I've seen those instructions. I don't like them.

The .pdf installs Win98 from a Win98 CD to an entire hdd, then it
proceeds to make 3 DOS disks from the Win98 install. You don't need to
do that.

Unless we are looking at different .pdf/s. My .pdf came from the Epia
site file Via FlashTool 1.02.zip that I described earlier.

> I have the BIOS and flash tool already and had also made a boot disk
> using that site. (But all three files would fit on one disk).

I don't think the VGA will go onto the same boot floppy with the tool
and the .bin if that is what you mean by 3 files.

I saw 3 useful files at Epia's site; the VGA, the flash tool, and the
BIOS bin. It isn't necessary to put the VGA on a floppy.

> I’ll have to read the above a few times until it is clear.

There is some confusion here. That Belarc is not for a Via Epia.



--
Mike Easter

[Patrick]

Sear...@mail.con2.com wrote:
> On Sunday, March 17, 2013 7:55:32 AM UTC-4, Patrick wrote:
>> Sear...@mail.con2.com wrote:
>>
>>> I have an Epia-M Mini-ITX motherboard on which I'd like to upgrade
>>> the BIOS because of some problems I've exhausted all options on
>>> fixing. (See "Poor or no Video Performance").

>>> The problem is that I've never updated a BIOS before, the
>>> instructions in the manual are poorly written, and they appear to be
>>> for someone using Windows 98 anyway. (I also know nothing at all
>>> about DOS or Command lines).
>>

>>> This is my hardware:
>>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811153113
>>> http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/store/motherboards/EPIA_M10000
>>> And I got the drivers and manual from this site:
>>> http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/mainboards/downloads.jsp?motherboard_id=81
>>
>

> My present BIOS I believe is shown here:
> http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll257/Statenislander/Computer/BelarcAdvisor.jpg
>

As mentioned, above must be a mistake, it is not the MoBo originally
referred to.

> The BIOS flashing instructions are in PDF format, so I can�t copy and
> paste here. It is located in the flashing tool download I linked to.

I have seen the PDF file (VIA_Flash_tool_V1.02__User_Guide.pdf) and agree
that the stuff about W98 is not helpfull, however it is usefull from Page 6,
showing what to expect to see when you run 'vf-102.exe'

>
> I have the BIOS and flash tool already and had also made a boot disk
> using that site.

Are you sure that you executed the file 'drdflash.exe' from your XP, rather
than copying it to the floppy
If you have executed 'drdflash.exe' you should have a FloppyDisk that will
boot-up to a DOS-prompt when you Reboot the Computer.

> (But all three files would fit on one disk).

You should only have copied the files, 'I0100116.bin' and 'vf-102.exe' to
the Floppy

> I�ll have to read the above a few times until it is clear.

Sorry, I may have confused matters by talking about theVGA-driver.

From your previous/original BelarcAdviser picture it appears by the date of
the BIOS, that it can be updated!
>

[Loren Pechtel]

On Sat, 16 Mar 2013 16:55:08 -0400, Flasherly <Flas...@live.com>
wrote:

And make sure your power is stable when you do it. If you have a UPS
use it. A power failure during a flash will likely brick the
motherboard.

[DevilsPGD]

In the last episode of <mom9k85v57uvovvv3...@4ax.com>,

Flasherly <Flas...@live.com> said:

>On Sat, 16 Mar 2013 19:52:08 +0000, Bob H <b...@despammer.com> wrote:
>
>>Ok, so if you have the instructions on how to update the BIOS ,
>>could you put the instructions which are 'poorly written' in a post so
>>that someone can see what they say and maybe 'translate' for you.
>
>You'll need a DOS boot disc.

On an older motherboard, maybe. Modern ones can often read BIOS updates
directly from USB or optical media, without restoring to booting from
said media.


--
The nice thing about standards, there is enough for everyone to have their own.

[Flasherly]

On Sun, 17 Mar 2013 19:55:52 -0700, Loren Pechtel >

>And make sure your power is stable when you do it. If you have a UPS
>use it. A power failure during a flash will likely brick the
>motherboard.

Along with HD backups, at least the file it's on when power goes down.
UPS may be twice the cost of a cheap computer and then the battery
dies on it after a couple of years. Nice if you've got the money;- if
not, join the 1/1000th chance it'll brown/black- out, and happen
exactly when flashing a BIOS. (Yep, it's happened to me, lost stuff,
when I've left it running a HD defragger over extended periods).

[Flasherly]

On Sun, 17 Mar 2013 21:08:12 -0700, DevilsPGD
<booga...@crazyhat.net> wrote:

>In the last episode of <mom9k85v57uvovvv3...@4ax.com>,
>Flasherly <Flas...@live.com> said:
>
>>On Sat, 16 Mar 2013 19:52:08 +0000, Bob H <b...@despammer.com> wrote:
>>
>>>Ok, so if you have the instructions on how to update the BIOS ,
>>>could you put the instructions which are 'poorly written' in a post so
>>>that someone can see what they say and maybe 'translate' for you.
>>
>>You'll need a DOS boot disc.
>
>On an older motherboard, maybe. Modern ones can often read BIOS updates
>directly from USB or optical media, without restoring to booting from
>said media.

I'm going on how he sounds for the concept, keep it simple. (Real
simple: Don't do it without reason.) Me, I usually use a boot DVD
with an arbitrator for various boot configurations, including USB
support. I think out of all the many times I've flashed MB BIOSes,
there's once where I actually derived concrete results to a problem I
was having - rest, well, I simply could have gotten along fine without
a BIOS update.

[Loren Pechtel]

On Mon, 18 Mar 2013 00:32:26 -0400, Flasherly <Flas...@live.com>
wrote:

A BIOS flash is a special case, you lose power and you can't boot it
to try again. Unless you have a board with a spare BIOS an
interrupted flash nukes the hardware.

[Searcher7]

On Mar 17, 5:24 pm, Mike Easter <Mi...@ster.invalid> wrote:

> Search...@mail.con2.com wrote:
> > My present BIOS I believe is shown here:

> >http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll257/Statenislander/Computer/Bela...

>
> No.  That is not what this thread started with.
>
> That isn't an Epia Via board, that is a Dell Intel/Pentium III board
> with a 2000 Aug 29 BIOS.
>
> > The BIOS flashing instructions are in PDF format, so I can’t copy and
> > paste here. It is located in the flashing tool download I linked to.
>
> Yes I've seen those instructions.  I don't like them.
>
> The .pdf installs Win98 from a Win98 CD to an entire hdd, then it
> proceeds to make 3 DOS disks from the Win98 install.  You don't need to
> do that.
>
> Unless we are looking at different .pdf/s.  My .pdf came from the Epia
> site file Via FlashTool 1.02.zip that I described earlier.
>
> > I have the BIOS and flash tool already and had also made a boot disk
> > using that site. (But all three files would fit on one disk).
>
> I don't think the VGA will go onto the same boot floppy with the tool
> and the .bin if that is what you mean by 3 files.
>
> I saw 3 useful files at Epia's site; the VGA, the flash tool, and the
> BIOS bin.  It isn't necessary to put the VGA on a floppy.
>
> > I’ll have to read the above a few times until it is clear.
>
> There is some confusion here.  That Belarc is not for a Via Epia.
>
> --
> Mike Easter

Sorry about that. I'm flying blind here because the computers where
I'm at block the Photobucket site I have the images, but I think I got
it right this time:
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll257/Statenislander/Computer/BelarcAdvisor1.jpg

[DevilsPGD]

In the last episode of <376dk8168gq18fp8b...@4ax.com>,

Flasherly <Flas...@live.com> said:

>On Sun, 17 Mar 2013 21:08:12 -0700, DevilsPGD
><booga...@crazyhat.net> wrote:
>
>>In the last episode of <mom9k85v57uvovvv3...@4ax.com>,
>>Flasherly <Flas...@live.com> said:
>>
>>>On Sat, 16 Mar 2013 19:52:08 +0000, Bob H <b...@despammer.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>>Ok, so if you have the instructions on how to update the BIOS ,
>>>>could you put the instructions which are 'poorly written' in a post so
>>>>that someone can see what they say and maybe 'translate' for you.
>>>
>>>You'll need a DOS boot disc.
>>
>>On an older motherboard, maybe. Modern ones can often read BIOS updates
>>directly from USB or optical media, without restoring to booting from
>>said media.
>
>I'm going on how he sounds for the concept, keep it simple. (Real
>simple: Don't do it without reason.) Me, I usually use a boot DVD
>with an arbitrator for various boot configurations, including USB
>support.

That's not nearly as simple as having the BIOS update itself, without
any OS (and it's potential bugs) being involved.

[DevilsPGD]

In the last episode of <eu9ek8l4nfqhj8m1g...@4ax.com>,

That depends on the motherboard, many modern motherboards have a
dual-BIOS implementation of some sort, so that if one half fails, you
can recover from the other half.

One of my systems has a physical button involved, the second BIOS only
knows how to boot, initialize one USB port and load a BIOS from that USB
port to the main BIOS.

An older system I have here has two actual BIOS chips, IIRC either can
flash the other, and I can swap which is in control with a jumper, so if
an upgrade fails, I can flip to the second and recover.

Certainly not all systems have these capabilities, but we've come a long
way from the dark days of needing a chip replacement or external tools
to recover from a failed upgrade.

Still not something I'd recommend your average user do unless there's a
need, but...

[Flasherly]

On Mon, 18 Mar 2013 07:43:33 -0700, Loren Pechtel

>
>A BIOS flash is a special case, you lose power and you can't boot it
>to try again. Unless you have a board with a spare BIOS an
>interrupted flash nukes the hardware.

Well, I'm not spending money on extra BIOS chips. And, stop that.
You're making the hairs on my neck stand up. I'm beginning to feel
queasy and nauseous just thinking about it. All those little boxes in
a DOS BIOS update utility moving along, filling up, and all a sudden
the power goes off. Jesus. I'm telling your mom.

[Flasherly]

On Mon, 18 Mar 2013 12:02:47 -0700, DevilsPGD >

>That's not nearly as simple as having the BIOS update itself, without
>any OS (and it's potential bugs) being involved.

Next best thing to the site's DOS utilities, if you've got it. Dunno.
I'd have to check my newest Gigabyte MB if it has a
hot/keyboard>BIOS>routine .

[Paul]

Searcher7 wrote:
> On Mar 17, 5:24 pm, Mike Easter <Mi...@ster.invalid> wrote:

>>

>>> I�ll have to read the above a few times until it is clear.

>> There is some confusion here. That Belarc is not for a Via Epia.
>>

>> Mike Easter
>
> Sorry about that. I'm flying blind here because the computers where
> I'm at block the Photobucket site I have the images, but I think I got
> it right this time:
> http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll257/Statenislander/Computer/BelarcAdvisor1.jpg
>
> Darren Harris
> Staten Island, New York.

In that Belarc, the BIOS is dated "05/19/2004", but there is
no release number. You can try correlating the date, with the
BIOS dates from the web site.

If I look at the Oct.12 and Dec.4 pages on the archive...

http://web.archive.org/web/20040701000000*/http://www.viaembedded.com/product/Download.jsp?motherboardId=81

the BIOS release jumps from

1.13 (12/16/2003)

to

1.16 (10/14/2004)

Your BIOS could be one of the in-between versions.

*******

You also have the option of looking at the physical
motherboard, and reading the paper label on top of the
BIOS chip. If the BIOS has never been flashed before,
the paper label will still be accurate as to what
revision is present.

Paul

[Mike Easter]

Searcher7 wrote:

> http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll257/Statenislander/Computer/BelarcAdvisor1.jpg

Yes that is the Epia and its BIOS in Belarc says 2004 May 10

The BIOS at the Epia site is

BIOS 1.16 2004/10/14 I0100116.bin (257KB)

The EPIA site has a VGA driver

Integrated VGA 16.94.39.14 2004/11/03 *[Note] Please update
this driver with above latest BIOS v.116* EPIA M VGA Driver for Windows
2000/XP 2kxp.zip (6.66M)

So Epia's 'newest' 2004 Nov VGA driver needs Epia's newest 2004 Oct
BIOS, but your BIOS is 2004 May, if I'm interpreting this correctly.

If whatever your vid problem is were known to be improved by the newer
VGA (which isn't necessarily true), then it would be worth the risk to
upgrade your BIOS.

The method I would use to upgrade the BIOS on your XP system with floppy
support would be to make a floppy boot disk with XP using My Computer/
File/ (select floppy)/ Format (options) Create a MS-DOS startup disk.

I would use that MS-DOS in the manner described in the .pdf for the
flash bios tool and ignore everything in that .pdf that has anything to
do with installing Win98 to make a boot dos floppy.

Here's the Epia site that I'm referring to:

http://www.viaembedded.com/en/products/boards/81/1/EPIA_M_(EOL).html

Use the downloads tab

There is also a manual there dated 2012; also the Via 4in1 drivers which
on that page are dated 2002 have some video function.

I would assume that you already installed such 4in1 drivers using the
Via CD which came with the mobo/unit.


--
Mike Easter

[Loren Pechtel]

On Mon, 18 Mar 2013 12:02:47 -0700, DevilsPGD

<booga...@crazyhat.net> wrote:

>>A BIOS flash is a special case, you lose power and you can't boot it
>>to try again. Unless you have a board with a spare BIOS an
>>interrupted flash nukes the hardware.
>
>That depends on the motherboard, many modern motherboards have a
>dual-BIOS implementation of some sort, so that if one half fails, you
>can recover from the other half.

Yeah, on boards meant for the enthusiast who builds their own system
you'll often see such features. I haven't seen such recovery stuff on
the average boards, though.

[Sear...@mail.con2.com]

On Sunday, March 17, 2013 7:55:32 AM UTC-4, Patrick wrote:

> Sear...@mail.con2.com wrote: > I have an Epia-M Mini-ITX motherboard on which I'd like to upgrade > the BIOS because of some problems I've exhausted all options on > fixing. (See "Poor or no Video Performance"). > > I have a hard drive with fresh XP install attached to it, along with > a DVD player, on the primary and secondary IDE connections, > respectively. > > Nothing else outside of the monitor, keyboard, mouse, and floppy > drive are connected to the system. > > The problem is that I've never updated a BIOS before, the > instructions in the manual are poorly written, and they appear to be > for someone using Windows 98 anyway. (I also know nothing at all > about DOS or Command lines). > Go to: http://www.bootdisk.com/ See 'Driver Free Disk For BIOS Flashing' and Click 1,2 or 3 (mirrors to same file) and download the file (drdflash.exe) Click 'About' to see instructions, etc. as to the file. Put a formatted floppy in its drive, run (DoubleClick) 'drdflash.exe', a bootable floppy will be created. Now got to; http://www.viaembedded.com/en/products/boards/81/1/EPIA_M_(EOL).html Check by the picture and text that this is your MOBO Click 'Downloads' Under 'BIOS/BIOS flash Utility', download; 'IO100116.bin' and 'VIA FlashTool 1.02.zip' Now; Extract the contents from 'VIA FlashTool 1.02.zip' Copy the extracted file 'vf-102.exe' to the floppy. Also copy the downloaded file 'IO100116.bin' to the floppy. (Presuming BIOS set to boot from floppy first), Reboot the Computer with the floppy in place, at DOS Prompt, type 'vf-102.exe' and prees 'Enter' You should now see options as described in the (outdated) PDF file. When the BIOS has been Flashed (if needed) then (at Original site) see the Driver-Section for 'Integrated VGA' and download the file pertinent to XP (2kxp.zip). Download this file, delete any other VGA-drivers via Device-Manager, reboot and 'Extract All' from 2kxp.zip 'then run 'Setup.exe' in resulting folder. > This is my hardware: > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811153113 > http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/store/motherboards/EPIA_M10000 > > And I got the drivers and manual from this site: > http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/mainboards/downloads.jsp?motherboard_id=81 > I've not checked wether the files at above address are the same as the address I have given you. > Some something like the BIOS clear step-by-step instructions are > necessary, but these seem difficult to come across for individual > systems. > > Any help would be appreciated. > > Thanks. > > Darren Harris > Staten Island, New York.

Ok. I'm going to try and follow your instructions because they seem simple enough.

But starting on page 6 of that PDF mmanual it gets a little confusing. (They really should have someone from the U.S.A. go over all their printed instructions).

So let's see if I got this right.

1) After I insert a formatted floppy disk, I double click "drdflash", which is on my desktop in order to create a bootable floppy disk.

2) I then double click "vf-102", which is is on my USB flash drive, and copy whatever it produces to the floppy.

3) I also copy "I0100116" from my USB flash drive to the floppy.

4) When I reboot from the floppy, I type "vf-102.exe", and press "Enter".

5) This will start me at the screen shown on page 6, where I type "1" and press "Enter".

6) Then I type in "bak1.bin" and press "Enter".

7) Then I type "2" and press "Enter".

8) Then I type "I0100116" and press "Enter". (The PDF indicates that I should type in the *original* BIOS file name, but I'm assuming that is incorrect).

9) Then I type "0" and press "Enter".

Then it loses me when it says, "Execute vf-102, with the following command line parameters." :(

[Patrick]

>
> Ok. I'm going to try and follow your instructions because they seem
> simple enough.
>
> But starting on page 6 of that PDF mmanual it gets a little
> confusing. (They really should have someone from the U.S.A. go over
> all their printed instructions).
>
> So let's see if I got this right.
>
> 1) After I insert a formatted floppy disk, I double click "drdflash",
> which is on my desktop in order to create a bootable floppy disk.

Yes!

>
> 2) I then double click "vf-102", which is is on my USB flash drive,
> and copy whatever it produces to the floppy.

(Confusion) you should have a 'zip' file (that you downloaded) called 'VIA
FlashTool 1.02'
Double click this file and you should see this;
https://www.dropbox.com/s/r8ovh6usj38ji6x/p1.jpg?m

Double click the folder thus shown and you should see this;
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2xr7e1kxghv9tbe/p2.jpg?m

Now copy (only) the file 'vf-102' to the floppy.
Ignore or copy to your Desktop, the PDF file 'VIA_Flash_tool_User_Guide

>
> 3) I also copy "I0100116" from my USB flash drive to the floppy.

Correct, the file is actually called "I0100116.bin" which you will see by
the 'DIR'command when you you boot from the floppy.

>
> 4) When I reboot from the floppy, I type "vf-102.exe", and press
> "Enter".

Yes

>
> 5) This will start me at the screen shown on page 6, where I type "1"
> and press "Enter".

I'm not sure you need to press "Enter", I suspect the Input line will occur
when you press the '1'

>
> 6) Then I type in "bak1.bin" and press "Enter".

Yes, Your old (previous) BIOS will now be saved to the floppy in case you
want to put it back.

>
> 7) Then I type "2" and press "Enter".

I'm not sure you need to press "Enter", I suspect the Input line will occur
when you press the '2'

>
> 8) Then I type "I0100116" and press "Enter"

Correction; Type "I0100116.bin" and press "Enter"
Wait until it says that it's finished.

>
> 9) Then I type "0" and press "Enter".

I'm not sure you need to press "Enter", I suspect the Input line will occur
when you press the '0'

>
> Then it loses me when it says, "Execute vf-102, with the following
> command line parameters." :(

The command line parameters are so that instead of doing the 1, 2, 0, thing
you could have done;

"vf-102.exe -s bak1.bin -p I0100116.bin -r"

I have only a rough idea as to the -c and -b Command-Line-Parameters. one of
these would have reset all the user parameters in the BIOS to defaults.

At this point the BIOS should have been updated and you can remove the
floppy and boot into the BIOS to check all is well.

[Sear...@mail.con2.com]

Ok, that is what I did.

So you are saying that I don't have to do anything else after #9, correct?

BTW. I booted with that floppy and typed in "DIR" and received the following:
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll257/Statenislander/Computer/FloppyDIR_zpsd5310a3d.jpg

Darren Harris
Staten Island,New York.

[Patrick]

Go in to the BIOS and check that all is well and that you can see reference
to the new BIOS update. The new BIOS update is required by the Video-driver
at the VIA site.

>
> BTW. I booted with that floppy and typed in "DIR" and received the
> following:
> http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll257/Statenislander/Computer/FloppyDIR_zpsd5310a3d.jpg

Precisely, you see the 2 files that you put there and the others are the DOS
OS files that are normally hidden in XP.

[Sear...@mail.con2.com]

Ok. For some reason it appears that even though I "updated" the BIOS version hasn't changed.

Belarc still says it is "BIOS: Award Software International, Inc. 6.00 PG 05/19/2004". (Perhaps I mistakenly downloaded the same version I already have?).

I checked the floppy again and this is what I got:
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll257/Statenislander/Computer/FloppyDIR2_zpsbf0427ca.jpg

Also, for some strange reason, when I go to "Device Manager" and uninstall "VIA/S3G UniChrome IGP", which is under "display Adaptors, my system immediately re-install it. Installing the driver "2kxp" afterwards does nothing.

When I uninstall "VIA AC'97 Enhanced Audio Controller (WDM)", which is under Sound, video and game controllers", the system makes me re-install it before I can install the audio drivers I downloaded also.

Anyway, I'll download the BIOS and try again, but after the BIOS update I assume I'm supposed to install the Windows XP Service Pack first. And then the drivers.("2kxp", "audio", "4in1_v_443", "usb2", "FIR for M", and "Lan for M").

[Mike Easter]

Sear...@mail.con2.com wrote:

> Ok. For some reason it appears that even though I "updated" the BIOS
> version hasn't changed.

I was wondering why you didn't show a graphic of the result of the flash
at the time you showed us a graphic of the floppy files.

I'm speaking of the screens seen in the .pdf accompanying the Via Flash
Tool in the .zip on page 7 which says

BIOS Updated!
Please power off or reset system

> Belarc still says it is "BIOS: Award Software International, Inc.
> 6.00 PG 05/19/2004". (Perhaps I mistakenly downloaded the same
> version I already have?).

The date on the BIOS I'm looking at on the Via Epia page
http://www.viaembedded.com/en/products/boards/81/1/EPIA_M_(EOL).html

BIOS 1.16 2004/10/14 I0100116.bin (257KB)

has an older date by 5 days than yours.

> I checked the floppy again and this is what I got:
> http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll257/Statenislander/Computer/FloppyDIR2_zpsbf0427ca.jpg

I see the backed up bak1.bin on your floppy.

That backup step is described on p.6 of the .pdf. The next step after
backing up is the flashing which says/chooses

(2) Update BIOS

which leads to p.7 BIOS Updated! Poweroff or reset as described. That
was the graphic I expected to see when you posted the graphic of the
floppy files before backup was done.

> Also, for some strange reason, when I go to "Device Manager" and
> uninstall "VIA/S3G UniChrome IGP", which is under "display Adaptors,
> my system immediately re-install it. Installing the driver "2kxp"
> afterwards does nothing.

Once you are sure you have updated the BIOS, then you would update the
VGA. I would assume that the initial installation would have done all
of that business about the 4 in 1, LAN, audio, USB, and other drivers.
All of those drivers on the Via Epia page are old; I wouldn't replace
all that you have with those drivers. Possibly your current XP drivers
are newer.

> When I uninstall "VIA AC'97 Enhanced Audio Controller (WDM)", which
> is under Sound, video and game controllers", the system makes me
> re-install it before I can install the audio drivers I downloaded
> also.

We haven't discussed any reason why you should be uninstalling your
audio drivers.

> Anyway, I'll download the BIOS and try again, but after the BIOS
> update I assume I'm supposed to install the Windows XP Service Pack
> first. And then the drivers.("2kxp", "audio", "4in1_v_443", "usb2",
> "FIR for M", and "Lan for M").

If you are due to update Win, I would definitely do that first. I don't
see why you would need to 're-download' the BIOS .bin. If the user
error were that you only backed up but you didn't update the BIOS, then
that is all you should need to do.

- try to recall if you failed to do the update BIOS step after you did
the backup BIOS step
- if so, use your existing floppy and its files to update the BIOS;
you needn't do the backup step as it is already done
- update your Windows if it is lacking an update
- examine your currently installed drivers such as 4in1 and LAN etc;
it would be my expectation that all of that stuff has already been done
with your initial install
- once you have some kind of confirmation that you have updated the
BIOS, I would update the VGA.

Apparently the .zip file for the VGA which is a 5 meg file is a big
Setup.exe package, so it, the VGA driver, isn't handled with XP's Device
Manager Update or Uninstall function, the .exe does everything for you
like a black box.



--
Mike Easter

[Paul]

Save off the files from the floppy to a safe place.

Make *another* backup copy of the BIOS (call it BAK2.BIN).
See if that backup copy is now the same as BAK1.BIN,
assuming BAK1.BIN was created by making your safety backup
copy of the BIOS.

You will need a means to compare the two files. I use
a checksum program, as a quick means to compare them.
Other means, would be an actual comparison program.

Note that, BIOS files are not "plaintext" by default.

BIOS files are far from monolithic. They're a small file
system. The tools available, don't even do a good job of
taking a BIOS file apart properly.

When a virgin BIOS starts for the first time, the DMI and
ESCD sections of the BIOS get updated. This prevents the
*new* backup copy, from matching byte-for-byte the
I0100116.bin file. So don't expect BAK2.BIN to match
I0100116.bin. But if BAK1.BIN matches BAK2.BIN, then
you know your attempt to flash the BIOS has failed to "take".

*******

So what can we check ?

Does BAK1.bin equal BAK2.bin ? If so, nothing got flashed.
We can't compare checksums on I0100116.bin and BAK2.bin
and expect the files to be the same. I0100116.bin is an
image of a virgin file, while BAK2.bin could contain the
now updated DMI and ESCD segments.

Without showing all the details, you could consider the
BIOS looks like this. I have a tool that handles the
second section.

Boot block
Main BIOS section <--- inside this are eight files
DMI
ESCD

*******

On your BIOS, the main BIOS section breaks down into
individual files. To disassemble the BIOS, I use CTMC10.zip
package from heise (CT magazine).

ftp://ftp.heise.de/pub/ct/ctsi/ctmc10.zip

Amazingly, that download file is still available after all
these years.

Inside the file, the two useful files are "splitawd.exe"
and "lha255e.exe".

The lha255e.exe file is a self-extracting file. I could not
open it with 7ZIP. Place the lha255e.exe file in a *separate* folder.
Execute it, and you should get something like "lha.exe" plus
eight other useless files. Don't move the lha.exe file just
yet.

To take the I0100116.bin file (262144 bytes) apart,
I used "splitawd.exe" and "lha x somefile.lha" type commands.

If you run

splitawd.exe I0100116.bin

it will complain it cannot find lha.exe, but it will
still extract the files from the main portion of the BIOS.
It places the files in a folder $MCTEMP. It will create
the folder for you, and put these files in it.

00000000.bin
00000001.bin
00000002.bin
00000003.bin
00000004.bin
00000005.bin
00000006.bin
00000007.bin

Now, transfer the "lha.exe" file (not the lha255e.exe archive),
into the $MCTEMP folder. Using the "cd" command, change
directories to $MCTEMP. Now you can run commands like this:

cd $MCTEMP
lha x 00000000.bin
lha x 00000001.bin
lha x 00000002.bin
lha x 00000003.bin
lha x 00000004.bin
lha x 00000005.bin
lha x 00000006.bin
lha x 00000007.bin

You get extracted files. This is the BIOS file system,
without the boot block.

I0100116.BIN 131,072 bytes
AWARDEXT.ROM 44,304 bytes
ACPITBL.BIN 12,473 bytes
AWARDBMP.BMP 5,772 bytes
_EN_CODE.BIN 21,712 bytes
AWARDEYT.ROM 19,056 bytes
VPSD.BMP 307,980 bytes
MCLECOMB.ROM 60,416 bytes

Notice that, I0100116.BIN 131,072 bytes has the same
name as the original BIOS download file I0100116.BIN 262,144 bytes.
Be careful, when extracting the eight files in the $MCTEMP
folder, to not have the original I0100116.BIN file present,
because it could get overwritten.

When people use decompression tools, they sometimes
manage to extract I0100116.BIN 131,072 bytes over top
of the original BIOS. Then, when they flash the BIOS,
the flasher tool only has half the byte-count it is
supposed to have. I believe people have bricked their
board, by using that smaller file (i.e. when a BIOS
flasher tool without extensive self-checks is used
for the flashing exercise).

Anyway, I present the above method, using CTMC10 for
Award BIOS, if you're interested in reading actual
English text inside the BIOS. The eight named files
above, are now in plaintext form. Some of the files
contain executable code, and some contain text.
The BMP files are not "standard BMP" and are a
special format (more research required, but I have
managed to view those files in the past). When the
BIOS POST commences, the BMP files display in color
on the BIOS screen (such as the Energy Star logo perhaps).

For example, _EN_CODE.BIN contains English text that
is displayed on the BIOS screen. These are some examples
extracted with my hex editor.

CMOS battery failed
Override enabled - Defaults loaded
An Energy Star Ally
Press F1 to continue

The MCLECOMB has a date string 04/08/04 showing.
Guess they're not worried about Y2K. That could
be something specific for the EPIA chipset.

Now, you don't need a hex editor. You could use
Sysinternals "strings.exe" program. That is what
I used, to convert the eight files, into a big
glob of text.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/bb897439

strings I0100116.BIN >> alltext.txt
strings AWARDEXT.ROM >> alltext.txt
strings ACPITBL.BIN >> alltext.txt
strings AWARDBMP.BMP >> alltext.txt
strings _EN_CODE.BIN >> alltext.txt
strings AWARDEYT.ROM >> alltext.txt
strings VPSD.BMP >> alltext.txt
strings MCLECOMB.ROM >> alltext.txt

Out of that mess, I get this. The first interesting
line seems to contain the BIOS string:

c. Awar$05/19/2004-VT8623-8235-CLE26I01C-00
are Inc.
tware ICLE26I01

Also, I see this in my alltext.txt file

Model: EPIA-M BIOS revision: 1.16

You might just see that BIOS string, displayed
on the first screen of the BIOS POST. Maybe
you'll see something like this, if your BIOS
was flashed to 1.16.

05/19/2004-VT8623-8235-CLE26I01C-00 <--- the "BIOS string"

Sometimes, when a BIOS maintainer updates their
BIOS, they forget to update the string. If
that date doesn't match the purported BIOS
release date, then that could be what has happened.

I think that's enough trivia for now :-)

Have fun,
Paul

[Sear...@mail.con2.com]

On Sunday, March 24, 2013 5:49:02 PM UTC-4, Mike Easter wrote:
> Sear...@mail.con2.com wrote: > Ok. For some reason it appears that even though I "updated" the BIOS > version hasn't changed. I was wondering why you didn't show a graphic of the result of the flash at the time you showed us a graphic of the floppy files. I'm speaking of the screens seen in the .pdf accompanying the Via Flash Tool in the .zip on page 7 which says BIOS Updated! Please power off or reset system > Belarc still says it is "BIOS: Award Software International, Inc. > 6.00 PG 05/19/2004". (Perhaps I mistakenly downloaded the same > version I already have?). The date on the BIOS I'm looking at on the Via Epia page http://www.viaembedded.com/en/products/boards/81/1/EPIA_M_(EOL).html BIOS 1.16 2004/10/14 I0100116.bin (257KB) has an older date by 5 days than yours. > I checked the floppy again and this is what I got: > http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll257/Statenislander/Computer/FloppyDIR2_zpsbf0427ca.jpg I see the backed up bak1.bin on your floppy. That backup step is described on p.6 of the .pdf. The next step after backing up is the flashing which says/chooses (2) Update BIOS which leads to p.7 BIOS Updated! Poweroff or reset as described. That was the graphic I expected to see when you posted the graphic of the floppy files before backup was done. > Also, for some strange reason, when I go to "Device Manager" and > uninstall "VIA/S3G UniChrome IGP", which is under "display Adaptors, > my system immediately re-install it. Installing the driver "2kxp" > afterwards does nothing. Once you are sure you have updated the BIOS, then you would update the VGA. I would assume that the initial installation would have done all of that business about the 4 in 1, LAN, audio, USB, and other drivers. All of those drivers on the Via Epia page are old; I wouldn't replace all that you have with those drivers. Possibly your current XP drivers are newer. > When I uninstall "VIA AC'97 Enhanced Audio Controller (WDM)", which > is under Sound, video and game controllers", the system makes me > re-install it before I can install the audio drivers I downloaded > also. We haven't discussed any reason why you should be uninstalling your audio drivers. > Anyway, I'll download the BIOS and try again, but after the BIOS > update I assume I'm supposed to install the Windows XP Service Pack > first. And then the drivers.("2kxp", "audio", "4in1_v_443", "usb2", > "FIR for M", and "Lan for M"). If you are due to update Win, I would definitely do that first. I don't see why you would need to 're-download' the BIOS .bin. If the user error were that you only backed up but you didn't update the BIOS, then that is all you should need to do. - try to recall if you failed to do the update BIOS step after you did the backup BIOS step - if so, use your existing floppy and its files to update the BIOS; you needn't do the backup step as it is already done - update your Windows if it is lacking an update - examine your currently installed drivers such as 4in1 and LAN etc; it would be my expectation that all of that stuff has already been done with your initial install - once you have some kind of confirmation that you have updated the BIOS, I would update the VGA. Apparently the .zip file for the VGA which is a 5 meg file is a big Setup.exe package, so it, the VGA driver, isn't handled with XP's Device Manager Update or Uninstall function, the .exe does everything for you like a black box. -- Mike Easter

Yes, I did everything I was supposed to do to get to the screen that said, "BIOS Updated! Please power off or reset system".

That said, there is no question about it. The imbeciles must predominate over at VIA.

It would take common sense to create a motherboard that supports the minimum ability of playing video files. DVD or other. (And I'm not talking about doing high end stuff that a dedicated video editing machine does).

They couldn't learn english well enough to write manual instructions that made sense or get someone do who could do it. What happens on screen is definitely not exactly what is shown in the manual. And now they have a BIOS version posted for download that is the same as what ships on their motherboard. It is the same that is on the enclosed CD. And it is the same that is posted on their site, even though it is falsely labled a later version. (I'm not sure there was even more than one version).

These are the only instructions I needed:
Type "vf-102.exe", press "Enter".
Type "1", press "enter".
Type "back1.bin", press "Enter".
Type "2", press "Enter".
Type "I0100116.bin, press "Enter".

I went through the above three times. The second time I got the message that "I0100116.bin" wasn't recognized, but the third time took like the first.

Two out of four USB ports never worked. Only the front and not the rear audio ports work.(Somewhat). I haven't tried the TV out, but even the printer I have that has worked with every machine over the years is flaky at best when attached to this pc.

I *again* downloaded the BIOS update that had the date, 10/14/2004, but after updating twice Belarc still gives me the 5/19/2004 date for my installed BIOS. (I doubt two versions were relaeased on the same day).

Perhaps it's not the BIOS and the chips are going bad going by the intermittant and progressive changes in the video/audio issues. Perhaps the BIOS is not really being updated despite what it says. Either way the quality of this hardware is terrible.

Not one video file on my hard drive or DVD will work without either the video not working, the audio not working, or both not working. And that's if opening up a media player doesn't crash my system.

So since these problems cannot be solved any other way, it obviously means this motherboard was a big waste of time and money.

Perhaps I can find a different brand ITX motherboard that will fit into my ITX case.

[Sear...@mail.con2.com]

On Sunday, March 24, 2013 6:19:09 PM UTC-4, Paul wrote:
> Sear...@mail.con2.com wrote: > On Friday, March 22, 2013 5:07:29 PM UTC-4, Patrick wrote: >> Sear...@mail.con2.com wrote: >> >>> On Thursday, March 21, 2013 7:36:22 PM UTC-4, Patrick wrote: >>>>> Ok. I'm going to try and follow your instructions because they seem >>>>> simple enough. >>>>> But starting on page 6 of that PDF mmanual it gets a little >>>>> confusing. (They really should have someone from the U.S.A. go over >>>>> all their printed instructions). >>>>> So let's see if I got this right. >>>>> 1) After I insert a formatted floppy disk, I double click >>>>> "drdflash", >>>>> which is on my desktop in order to create a bootable floppy disk. >>>> Yes! >>>>> 2) I then double click "vf-102", which is is on my USB flash drive, >>>>> and copy whatever it produces to the floppy. >>>> (Confusion) you should have a 'zip' file (that you downloaded) >>>> called 'VIA >>>> FlashTool 1.02' >>>> Double click this file and you should see this; >>>> https://www.dropbox.com/s/r8ovh6usj38ji6x/p1.jpg?m >>>> Double click the folder thus shown and you should see this; >>>> https://www.dropbox.com/s/2xr7e1kxghv9tbe/p2.jpg?m >>>> Now copy (only) the file 'vf-102' to the floppy. >>>> Ignore or copy to your Desktop, the PDF file >>>> 'VIA_Flash_tool_User_Guide >>>>> 3) I also copy "I0100116" from my USB flash drive to the floppy. >>>> Correct, the file is actually called "I0100116.bin" which you will >>>> see by >>>> the 'DIR'command when you you boot from the floppy. >>>>> 4) When I reboot from the floppy, I type "vf-102.exe", and press >>>>> "Enter". >>>> Yes >>>>> 5) This will start me at the screen shown on page 6, where I type >>>>> "1" >>>>> and press "Enter". >>>> I'm not sure you need to press "Enter", I suspect the Input line >>>> will occur >>>> when you press the '1' >>>>> 6) Then I type in "bak1.bin" and press "Enter". >>>> Yes, Your old (previous) BIOS will now be saved to the floppy in >>>> case you >>>> want to put it back. >>>>> 7) Then I type "2" and press "Enter". >>>> I'm not sure you need to press "Enter", I suspect the Input line >>>> will occur >>>> when you press the '2' >>>>> 8) Then I type "I0100116" and press "Enter" >>>> Correction; Type "I0100116.bin" and press "Enter" >>>> Wait until it says that it's finished. >>>>> 9) Then I type "0" and press "Enter". >>>> I'm not sure you need to press "Enter", I suspect the Input line >>>> will occur >>>> when you press the '0' >>>>> Then it loses me when it says, "Execute vf-102, with the following >>>>> command line parameters." :( >>>> The command line parameters are so that instead of doing the 1, 2, >>>> 0, thing >>>> you could have done; >>>> "vf-102.exe -s bak1.bin -p I0100116.bin -r" >>>> I have only a rough idea as to the -c and -b >>>> Command-Line-Parameters. one of >>>> these would have reset all the user parameters in the BIOS to >>>> defaults. >>>> At this point the BIOS should have been updated and you can remove >>>> the >>>> floppy and boot into the BIOS to check all is well. >>> Ok, that is what I did. >>> So you are saying that I don't have to do anything else after #9, >>> correct? >> >> >> Go in to the BIOS and check that all is well and that you can see reference >> >> to the new BIOS update. The new BIOS update is required by the Video-driver >> >> at the VIA site. >> >>> BTW. I booted with that floppy and typed in "DIR" and received the >>> following: >>> http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll257/Statenislander/Computer/FloppyDIR_zpsd5310a3d.jpg >> >> >> Precisely, you see the 2 files that you put there and the others are the DOS >> >> OS files that are normally hidden in XP. >> >> >> >>> Darren Harris >>> Staten Island,New York. > > Ok. For some reason it appears that even though I "updated" the BIOS version hasn't changed. > > Belarc still says it is "BIOS: Award Software International, Inc. 6.00 PG 05/19/2004". (Perhaps I mistakenly downloaded the same version I already have?). > > I checked the floppy again and this is what I got: > http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll257/Statenislander/Computer/FloppyDIR2_zpsbf0427ca.jpg > > Also, for some strange reason, when I go to "Device Manager" and uninstall "VIA/S3G UniChrome IGP", which is under "display Adaptors, my system immediately re-install it. Installing the driver "2kxp" afterwards does nothing. > > When I uninstall "VIA AC'97 Enhanced Audio Controller (WDM)", which is under Sound, video and game controllers", the system makes me re-install it before I can install the audio drivers I downloaded also. > > Anyway, I'll download the BIOS and try again, but after the BIOS update I assume I'm supposed to install the Windows XP Service Pack first. And then the drivers.("2kxp", "audio", "4in1_v_443", "usb2", "FIR for M", and "Lan for M"). > > Thanks. > > Darren Harris > Staten Island, New York. Save off the files from the floppy to a safe place. Make *another* backup copy of the BIOS (call it BAK2.BIN). See if that backup copy is now the same as BAK1.BIN, assuming BAK1.BIN was created by making your safety backup copy of the BIOS. You will need a means to compare the two files. I use a checksum program, as a quick means to compare them. Other means, would be an actual comparison program. Note that, BIOS files are not "plaintext" by default. BIOS files are far from monolithic. They're a small file system. The tools available, don't even do a good job of taking a BIOS file apart properly. When a virgin BIOS starts for the first time, the DMI and ESCD sections of the BIOS get updated. This prevents the *new* backup copy, from matching byte-for-byte the I0100116.bin file. So don't expect BAK2.BIN to match I0100116.bin. But if BAK1.BIN matches BAK2.BIN, then you know your attempt to flash the BIOS has failed to "take". ******* So what can we check ? Does BAK1.bin equal BAK2.bin ? If so, nothing got flashed. We can't compare checksums on I0100116.bin and BAK2.bin and expect the files to be the same. I0100116.bin is an image of a virgin file, while BAK2.bin could contain the now updated DMI and ESCD segments. Without showing all the details, you could consider the BIOS looks like this. I have a tool that handles the second section. Boot block Main BIOS section <--- inside this are eight files DMI ESCD ******* On your BIOS, the main BIOS section breaks down into individual files. To disassemble the BIOS, I use CTMC10.zip package from heise (CT magazine). ftp://ftp.heise.de/pub/ct/ctsi/ctmc10.zip Amazingly, that download file is still available after all these years. Inside the file, the two useful files are "splitawd.exe" and "lha255e.exe". The lha255e.exe file is a self-extracting file. I could not open it with 7ZIP. Place the lha255e.exe file in a *separate* folder. Execute it, and you should get something like "lha.exe" plus eight other useless files. Don't move the lha.exe file just yet. To take the I0100116.bin file (262144 bytes) apart, I used "splitawd.exe" and "lha x somefile.lha" type commands. If you run splitawd.exe I0100116.bin it will complain it cannot find lha.exe, but it will still extract the files from the main portion of the BIOS. It places the files in a folder $MCTEMP. It will create the folder for you, and put these files in it. 00000000.bin 00000001.bin 00000002.bin 00000003.bin 00000004.bin 00000005.bin 00000006.bin 00000007.bin Now, transfer the "lha.exe" file (not the lha255e.exe archive), into the $MCTEMP folder. Using the "cd" command, change directories to $MCTEMP. Now you can run commands like this: cd $MCTEMP lha x 00000000.bin lha x 00000001.bin lha x 00000002.bin lha x 00000003.bin lha x 00000004.bin lha x 00000005.bin lha x 00000006.bin lha x 00000007.bin You get extracted files. This is the BIOS file system, without the boot block. I0100116.BIN 131,072 bytes AWARDEXT.ROM 44,304 bytes ACPITBL.BIN 12,473 bytes AWARDBMP.BMP 5,772 bytes _EN_CODE.BIN 21,712 bytes AWARDEYT.ROM 19,056 bytes VPSD.BMP 307,980 bytes MCLECOMB.ROM 60,416 bytes Notice that, I0100116.BIN 131,072 bytes has the same name as the original BIOS download file I0100116.BIN 262,144 bytes. Be careful, when extracting the eight files in the $MCTEMP folder, to not have the original I0100116.BIN file present, because it could get overwritten. When people use decompression tools, they sometimes manage to extract I0100116.BIN 131,072 bytes over top of the original BIOS. Then, when they flash the BIOS, the flasher tool only has half the byte-count it is supposed to have. I believe people have bricked their board, by using that smaller file (i.e. when a BIOS flasher tool without extensive self-checks is used for the flashing exercise). Anyway, I present the above method, using CTMC10 for Award BIOS, if you're interested in reading actual English text inside the BIOS. The eight named files above, are now in plaintext form. Some of the files contain executable code, and some contain text. The BMP files are not "standard BMP" and are a special format (more research required, but I have managed to view those files in the past). When the BIOS POST commences, the BMP files display in color on the BIOS screen (such as the Energy Star logo perhaps). For example, _EN_CODE.BIN contains English text that is displayed on the BIOS screen. These are some examples extracted with my hex editor. CMOS battery failed Override enabled - Defaults loaded An Energy Star Ally Press F1 to continue The MCLECOMB has a date string 04/08/04 showing. Guess they're not worried about Y2K. That could be something specific for the EPIA chipset. Now, you don't need a hex editor. You could use Sysinternals "strings.exe" program. That is what I used, to convert the eight files, into a big glob of text. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/bb897439 strings I0100116.BIN >> alltext.txt strings AWARDEXT.ROM >> alltext.txt strings ACPITBL.BIN >> alltext.txt strings AWARDBMP.BMP >> alltext.txt strings _EN_CODE.BIN >> alltext.txt strings AWARDEYT.ROM >> alltext.txt strings VPSD.BMP >> alltext.txt strings MCLECOMB.ROM >> alltext.txt Out of that mess, I get this. The first interesting line seems to contain the BIOS string: c. Awar$05/19/2004-VT8623-8235-CLE26I01C-00 are Inc. tware ICLE26I01 Also, I see this in my alltext.txt file Model: EPIA-M BIOS revision: 1.16 You might just see that BIOS string, displayed on the first screen of the BIOS POST. Maybe you'll see something like this, if your BIOS was flashed to 1.16. 05/19/2004-VT8623-8235-CLE26I01C-00 <--- the "BIOS string" Sometimes, when a BIOS maintainer updates their BIOS, they forget to update the string. If that date doesn't match the purported BIOS release date, then that could be what has happened. I think that's enough trivia for now :-) Have fun, Paul

This is getting too much for me. (I'll have to read that over several more times).

I can't see why backing up a BIOS twice using the exact same steps would result in any differences between the files unless there was some corruption involved. (That at least would make sense).

[Paul]

Sear...@mail.con2.com wrote:
>
> This is getting too much for me. (I'll have to read that over several more times).
>
> I can't see why backing up a BIOS twice using the exact same steps would result in any differences between the files unless there was some corruption involved. (That at least would make sense).
>
> Darren Harris
> Staten Island, New York.

The making of BAK1.bin is for emergencies. It is for, if you
get half way through flashing 1.16 and you're having problems.
You must not shut down, until you know a good BIOS flash has happened.
You could flash BAK1.bin back into the BIOS chip, if the 1.16 version
of file was not working.

The making of BAK2.bin, is for comparison to BAK1.bin. If both
files were the same, then you know the BIOS flash operation
did not happen. If BAK1.bin and BAK2.bin are different, then
something got updated.

I gave instructions as well, as to how to analyse a BIOS and
extract any text inside it. The text will include attempts
to place a date inside the BIOS. That's if you wanted to
do a more detailed analysis of any of the BIOS files you have
on hand.

Award 6.00 is not the BIOS revision. You look for information
presented on the first BIOS screen (POST), for information
about the version. In odd cases, the BIOS developer forgets to
change the version strings. There should be a "BIOS string"
on the screen, which contains unique identification.

Paul

[Mike Easter]

Sear...@mail.con2.com wrote:

> Yes, I did everything I was supposed to do to get to the screen that
> said, "BIOS Updated! Please power off or reset system".

Why are you stating it like that? In those particular words instead of
a more straight-forward report that the tool reported BIOS updated?

Why are you saying 'I did everything blah blah' instead of saying:

"Yes, after I typed 2 and Enter and I0100116.bin and the tool went into
action I saw the flash tool report - BIOS Updated! Please power off or
reset system -"

At no time have you stated nor shown a graphic which convinces me that
you have seen the flash tool give you that BIOS updated report.

> These are the only instructions I needed: Type "vf-102.exe", press
> "Enter". Type "1", press "enter". Type "back1.bin", press "Enter".
> Type "2", press "Enter". Type "I0100116.bin, press "Enter".

But why don't you say here the tool reported:

BIOS Updated!
Please power off or reset system

> I went through the above three times. The second time I got the
> message that "I0100116.bin" wasn't recognized, but the third time
> took like the first.

The first which what? Which you have never stated said

BIOS Updated!
Please power off or reset system

--
Mike Easter

[Sear...@mail.con2.com]

On Monday, March 25, 2013 1:23:08 PM UTC-4, Mike Easter wrote:
> Sear...@mail.con2.com wrote: > Yes, I did everything I was supposed to do to get to the screen that > said, "BIOS Updated! Please power off or reset system". Why are you stating it like that? In those particular words instead of a more straight-forward report that the tool reported BIOS updated?

*** ?!? Because that is *exactly* what I saw on the screen. It's the same quote shown on page 7 of the manual.

Why are you saying 'I did everything blah blah' instead of saying: "Yes, after I typed 2 and Enter and I0100116.bin and the tool went into action I saw the flash tool report - BIOS Updated! Please power off or reset system -"

*** ?!? I listed the steps I took when I reached the part that said, "BIOS Updated! Please power off or reset system". I said I went through those steps three times, and the second time I got the message that "I0100116.bin" wasn't recognized, but the third time took like the first. (Provided you want to believe, "BIOS Updated! Please power off or reset system").

At no time have you stated nor shown a graphic which convinces me that you have seen the flash tool give you that BIOS updated report.

*** ?!? So you are saying that me saying that I saw the "BIOS updated report" is not proof enough. You have to see a picture?

> These are the only instructions I needed: Type "vf-102.exe", press > "Enter". Type "1", press "enter". Type "back1.bin", press "Enter". > Type "2", press "Enter". Type "I0100116.bin, press "Enter". But why don't you say here the tool reported: BIOS Updated! Please power off or reset system > I went through the above three times. The second time I got the > message that "I0100116.bin" wasn't recognized, but the third time > took like the first. The first which what? Which you have never stated said BIOS Updated! Please power off or reset system -- Mike Easter

*** ?!? I'll try again. I took all the steps necessary to update the BIOS. (Which weren't *exactly* the steps indicated in the manual). Two out of three times I did this I got to the message, "BIOS Updated! Please power off or reset system".

Now whether the BIOS was really updated or not I don't know, but that is what it said on the screen. And that is why I made the following statement: "...after updating twice Belarc still gives me the 5/19/2004 date for my installed BIOS."

[Patrick]

Something that I checked, I booted to the Floppy and did this (at the 'A:/'
prompt);
"vf-102.exe /?" (press 'Enter')
Which gives the help dialog for 'vf-102.exe'
Below is the transcript of the result;

usage: A:\VF-102.EXE [-s backup.bin] [-p newbios.bin] [-r] [-c] [-b]
-s | --read: read flash and save into file
-p | --write: write file into flash
-r | --reboot: reboot after programming
-c | --clear cmos: clear cmos after programming
-b | --update bootblock: update BootBlock when programming
Note: When update AMI BIOS, you should add parameter '-b -c' !

Which is muchly the same as the Stuff shown in the PDF but illustrates the
'Usage' (Syntax).
I believe that the actual 'Usage: would be to remove the square brackets,
said brackets being to illustrate the usage of the 'switches' (-s,-p,-r,-c,
and -b) with thiere parameters (if any).

Thus (for instance) to do a Backup ('1') you would do;
A:\VF-102.EXE -s backup.bin
(and press 'Enter')

[Sear...@mail.con2.com]

Via evidently thought it unnecessary to include such information, just like there is not a label on the BIOS chip, there is not reference to the version in BIOS.

I'll study what you wrote about analyzing the BIOS to see if I can do that.

But the bottom line is that either way, the issues with this motherboard will not be corrected, since it will either still have the same BIOS version because it A) doesn't really update or B) there is no later BIOS version than what I already had.

Or

The motherboard did get updated with a newer BIOS version that still has not corrected the problems.

Thanks.

[Paul]

If I had your mini-ITX, I'd have to weigh...

1) Does the CPU have enough horsepower to *ever* be the multimedia
machine you hope for ?

2) The built-in GPU is marginal in terms of feature set. You know
that already.

3) You might try a PCI video card, which has support for decoding
acceleration for video. I see some HD5450 cards for PCI for example.
(Assuming you have an open PCI slot. HD5450 doesn't draw much power.)
But before spending the money, you'd need to do a bit of research
to see how much CPU is needed. The latest video decoders on
Nvidia and ATI video cards are pretty good (almost complete decoder),
so for *popular* movie formats, they should do most all of the work.
For some other non-Hollywood standards, I wouldn't be able to offer
any guarantees (DIVX?).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UVD

Cedar Radeоn HD 5400 Series UVD 2.2

(The HD5450 kinda gets kicked to the curb here... Pick something better,
if you can afford the power dissipation.)

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2931/4

If you had a PCI Express slot, you'd have more choices for video cards.

As far as the form factor goes, I think there were some mini-ITX sized
designs, with non-VIA hardware on them (from Zotac), which might make
a pretty decent base for an HTPC. Some of those had Intel processors,
and could likely decode completely in software (i.e. more horsepower).

HTH,
Paul

[Sear...@mail.con2.com]

On Monday, March 25, 2013 7:46:30 PM UTC-4, Paul wrote:
> Sear...@mail.con2.com wrote: > On Monday, March 25, 2013 1:05:56 PM UTC-4, Paul wrote: >> Sear...@mail.con2.com wrote: >> >>> This is getting too much for me. (I'll have to read that over several more times). >>> I can't see why backing up a BIOS twice using the exact same steps would result in any differences between the files unless there was some corruption involved. (That at least would make sense). >>> Darren Harris >>> Staten Island, New York. >> >> >> The making of BAK1.bin is for emergencies. It is for, if you >> >> get half way through flashing 1.16 and you're having problems. >> >> You must not shut down, until you know a good BIOS flash has happened. >> >> You could flash BAK1.bin back into the BIOS chip, if the 1.16 version >> >> of file was not working. >> >> >> >> The making of BAK2.bin, is for comparison to BAK1.bin. If both >> >> files were the same, then you know the BIOS flash operation >> >> did not happen. If BAK1.bin and BAK2.bin are different, then >> >> something got updated. >> >> >> >> I gave instructions as well, as to how to analyse a BIOS and >> >> extract any text inside it. The text will include attempts >> >> to place a date inside the BIOS. That's if you wanted to >> >> do a more detailed analysis of any of the BIOS files you have >> >> on hand. >> >> >> >> Award 6.00 is not the BIOS revision. You look for information >> >> presented on the first BIOS screen (POST), for information >> >> about the version. In odd cases, the BIOS developer forgets to >> >> change the version strings. There should be a "BIOS string" >> >> on the screen, which contains unique identification. >> >> >> >> Paul > > Via evidently thought it unnecessary to include such information, just like there is not a label on the BIOS chip, there is not reference to the version in BIOS. > > I'll study what you wrote about analyzing the BIOS to see if I can do that. > > But the bottom line is that either way, the issues with this motherboard will not be corrected, since it will either still have the same BIOS version because it A) doesn't really update or B) there is no later BIOS version than what I already had. > > Or > > The motherboard did get updated with a newer BIOS version that still has not corrected the problems. > > Thanks. > > Darren Harris > Staten Island, New York. If I had your mini-ITX, I'd have to weigh... 1) Does the CPU have enough horsepower to *ever* be the multimedia machine you hope for ? 2) The built-in GPU is marginal in terms of feature set. You know that already. 3) You might try a PCI video card, which has support for decoding acceleration for video. I see some HD5450 cards for PCI for example. (Assuming you have an open PCI slot. HD5450 doesn't draw much power.) But before spending the money, you'd need to do a bit of research to see how much CPU is needed. The latest video decoders on Nvidia and ATI video cards are pretty good (almost complete decoder), so for *popular* movie formats, they should do most all of the work. For some other non-Hollywood standards, I wouldn't be able to offer any guarantees (DIVX?). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UVD Cedar Radeоn HD 5400 Series UVD 2.2 (The HD5450 kinda gets kicked to the curb here... Pick something better, if you can afford the power dissipation.) http://www.anandtech.com/show/2931/4 If you had a PCI Express slot, you'd have more choices for video cards. As far as the form factor goes, I think there were some mini-ITX sized designs, with non-VIA hardware on them (from Zotac), which might make a pretty decent base for an HTPC. Some of those had Intel processors, and could likely decode completely in software (i.e. more horsepower). HTH, Paul

The Mini-ITX only has a single PCI slot, but I definitely won't be buying anything else for this machine. (Cheap low profile pci cards are difficult to come by anyway).

I don't knwow what you mean by multimedia machine, but I only want to be able to do the basics that any pc should be able to do. (Play DVDs and a variety of video file formats from my hard drive. (Stuff I could do with a 450Mhz machine 15 years ago).

I'll be attempting to figure out the BIOS version as per your instructions.

Someone also gave me this link: http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000234.htm

[Patrick]

Wondering why you are haveing such difficulty finding your BIOS version, I
thought to check how I would find out my own!
I rebooted, tapped away on the Pause/Break key, until the first Printing
occured on the Screen, said printing (screen) freezes.

My BIOS string was shown at the bottom, thus;
11/03/2004-i865PE-WA79AA1IC-19

All BIOS version for this MoBo run from 'ai711' to 'ai719' and I know that I
have Flashed the latest version, so therefore the '19' at the end of the
String, is my BIOS version (I'm pretty sure that I have checked this
previously when I updated the BIOS).
Further, I went into the BIOS setup, there was similar String (without date
but enclosed in round brackets), thus;
(i865PE-WA79AA1IC-19)

BTW, To continue from when the screen is froze(n), press the 'AnyKey' :)
(Space, Enter, whatever) :)

BTW, above BIOS string relates to an Abit-AI7.

BTW, here is another way (apparently) to get your BIOS-string, I've not
checked it myself but seems interesting;
http://www.ehow.com/how_7614096_look-up-bios-string.html

[Patrick]

Here is a more reliable slant on the above method;
http://www.ami.com/Support/amibiossupport/

[Sear...@mail.con2.com]

On Tuesday, March 26, 2013 1:39:11 PM UTC-4, sear...@mail.con2.com wrote:
> On Monday, March 25, 2013 7:46:30 PM UTC-4, Paul wrote: > Sear...@mail.con2.com wrote: > On Monday, March 25, 2013 1:05:56 PM UTC-4, Paul wrote: >> Sear...@mail.con2.com wrote: >> >>> This is getting too much for me. (I'll have to read that over several more times). >>> I can't see why backing up a BIOS twice using the exact same steps would result in any differences between the files unless there was some corruption involved. (That at least would make sense). >>> Darren Harris >>> Staten Island, New York. >> >> >> The making of BAK1.bin is for emergencies. It is for, if you >> >> get half way through flashing 1.16 and you're having problems. >> >> You must not shut down, until you know a good BIOS flash has happened. >> >> You could flash BAK1.bin back into the BIOS chip, if the 1.16 version >> >> of file was not working. >> >> >> >> The making of BAK2.bin, is for comparison to BAK1.bin. If both >> >> files were the same, then you know the BIOS flash operation >> >> did not happen. If BAK1.bin and BAK2.bin are different, then >> >> something got updated. >> >> >> >> I gave instructions as well, as to how to analyse a BIOS and >> >> extract any text inside it. The text will include attempts >> >> to place a date inside the BIOS. That's if you wanted to >> >> do a more detailed analysis of any of the BIOS files you have >> >> on hand. >> >> >> >> Award 6.00 is not the BIOS revision. You look for information >> >> presented on the first BIOS screen (POST), for information >> >> about the version. In odd cases, the BIOS developer forgets to >> >> change the version strings. There should be a "BIOS string" >> >> on the screen, which contains unique identification. >> >> >> >> Paul > > Via evidently thought it unnecessary to include such information, just like there is not a label on the BIOS chip, there is not reference to the version in BIOS. > > I'll study what you wrote about analyzing the BIOS to see if I can do that. > > But the bottom line is that either way, the issues with this motherboard will not be corrected, since it will either still have the same BIOS version because it A) doesn't really update or B) there is no later BIOS version than what I already had. > > Or > > The motherboard did get updated with a newer BIOS version that still has not corrected the problems. > > Thanks. > > Darren Harris > Staten Island, New York. If I had your mini-ITX, I'd have to weigh... 1) Does the CPU have enough horsepower to *ever* be the multimedia machine you hope for ? 2) The built-in GPU is marginal in terms of feature set. You know that already. 3) You might try a PCI video card, which has support for decoding acceleration for video. I see some HD5450 cards for PCI for example. (Assuming you have an open PCI slot. HD5450 doesn't draw much power.) But before spending the money, you'd need to do a bit of research to see how much CPU is needed. The latest video decoders on Nvidia and ATI video cards are pretty good (almost complete decoder), so for *popular* movie formats, they should do most all of the work. For some other non-Hollywood standards, I wouldn't be able to offer any guarantees (DIVX?). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UVD Cedar Radeоn HD 5400 Series UVD 2.2 (The HD5450 kinda gets kicked to the curb here... Pick something better, if you can afford the power dissipation.) http://www.anandtech.com/show/2931/4 If you had a PCI Express slot, you'd have more choices for video cards. As far as the form factor goes, I think there were some mini-ITX sized designs, with non-VIA hardware on them (from Zotac), which might make a pretty decent base for an HTPC. Some of those had Intel processors, and could likely decode completely in software (i.e. more horsepower). HTH, Paul The Mini-ITX only has a single PCI slot, but I definitely won't be buying anything else for this machine. (Cheap low profile pci cards are difficult to come by anyway). I don't knwow what you mean by multimedia machine, but I only want to be able to do the basics that any pc should be able to do. (Play DVDs and a variety of video file formats from my hard drive. (Stuff I could do with a 450Mhz machine 15 years ago). I'll be attempting to figure out the BIOS version as per your instructions. Someone also gave me this link: http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000234.htm Thanks. Darren Harris Staten Island, New York.

In the registry I still see the same date(5/19/04).

Other information is as follows: VT9174-42302e31 Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG PH...

Ok. I read what you wrote several times and correct me if I'm wrong but this method of comparing the BIOS back ups don't reveal whether a BIOS was updated. But it confirms whether or not the updating process works.

So to make this simple, I have to A) make a back-up copy the BIOS. B) Update" the BIOS. Re-boot and make a second copy of the BIOS. (Bascially, I'm comparing BIOS #1 to BIOS #2, which should be different is there is an update and reboot between them).

Is this right?

[Paul]

Yes, this is one way to do it.

Viewing the BIOS string on the screen, during POST, is also
about as effective.

But we're always at the mercy of the BIOS writer - if that
person doesn't update the identifiers inside the file, and
re-issues the BIOS without changing them, then we'll never
know what it is.

Paul

[Sear...@mail.con2.com]

On Wednesday, March 27, 2013 8:07:41 PM UTC-4, Paul wrote:
> Sear...@mail.con2.com wrote: > On Tuesday, March 26, 2013 1:39:11 PM UTC-4, sear...@mail.con2.com wrote: >> On Monday, March 25, 2013 7:46:30 PM UTC-4, Paul wrote: > Sear...@mail.con2.com wrote: > On Monday, March 25, 2013 1:05:56 PM UTC-4, Paul wrote: >> Sear...@mail.con2.com wrote: >> >>> This is getting too much for me. (I'll have to read that over several more times). >>> I can't see why backing up a BIOS twice using the exact same steps would result in any differences between the files unless there was some corruption involved. (That at least would make sense). >>> Darren Harris >>> Staten Island, New York. >> >> >> The making of BAK1.bin is for emergencies. It is for, if you >> >> get half way through flashing 1.16 and you're having problems. >> >> You must not shut down, until you know a good BIOS flash has happened. >> >> You could flash BAK1.bin back into the BIOS chip, if the 1.16 version >> >> of file was not working. >> >> >> >> The making of BAK2.bin, is for comparison to BAK1.bin. If both >> >> files were the same, then you know the BIOS flash operation >> >> did not happen. If BAK1.bin and BAK2.bin are different, then >> >> something got updated. >> >> >> >> I gave instructions as well, as to how to analyse a BIOS and >> >> extract any text inside it. The text will include attempts >> >> to place a date inside the BIOS. That's if you wanted to >> >> do a more detailed analysis of any of the BIOS files you have >> >> on hand. >> >> >> >> Award 6.00 is not the BIOS revision. You look for information >> >> presented on the first BIOS screen (POST), for information >> >> about the version. In odd cases, the BIOS developer forgets to >> >> change the version strings. There should be a "BIOS string" >> >> on the screen, which contains unique identification. >> >> >> >> Paul > > Via evidently thought it unnecessary to include such information, just like there is not a label on the BIOS chip, there is not reference to the version in BIOS. > > I'll study what you wrote about analyzing the BIOS to see if I can do that. > > But the bottom l ine is that either way, the issues with this motherboard will not be corrected, since it will either still have the same BIOS version because it A) doesn't really update or B) there is no later BIOS version than what I already had. > > Or > > The motherboard did get updated with a newer BIOS version that still has not corrected the problems. > > Thanks. > > Darren Harris > Staten Island, New York. If I had your mini-ITX, I'd have to weigh... 1) Does the CPU have enough horsepower to *ever* be the multimedia machine you hope for ? 2) The built-in GPU is marginal in terms of feature set. You know that already. 3) You might try a PCI video card, which has support for decoding acceleration for video. I see some HD5450 cards for PCI for example. (Assuming you have an open PCI slot. HD5450 doesn't draw much power.) But before spending the money, you'd need to do a bit of research to see how much CPU is needed. The latest video decoders on Nvidia and ATI video cards are pretty good (almost complete decoder), so for *popular* movie formats, they should do most all of the work. For some other non-Hollywood standards, I wouldn't be able to offer any guarantees (DIVX?). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UVD Cedar Radeоn HD 5400 Series UVD 2.2 (The HD5450 kinda gets kicked to the curb here... Pick something better, if you can afford the power dissipation.) http://www.anandtech.com/show/2931/4 If you had a PCI Express slot, you'd have more choices for video cards. As far as the form factor goes, I think there were some mini-ITX sized designs, with non-VIA hardware on them (from Zotac), which might make a pretty decent base for an HTPC. Some of those had Intel processors, and could likely decode completely in software (i.e. more horsepower). HTH, Paul The Mini-ITX only has a single PCI slot, but I definitely won't be buying anything else for this machine. (Cheap low profile pci cards are difficult to come by anyway). I don't knwow what you mean by multimedia machi ne, but I only want to be able to do the basics that any pc should be able to do. (Play DVDs and a variety of video file formats from my hard drive. (Stuff I could do with a 450Mhz machine 15 years ago). I'll be attempting to figure out the BIOS version as per your instructions. Someone also gave me this link: http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000234.htm Thanks. Darren Harris Staten Island, New York. > > In the registry I still see the same date(5/19/04). > > Other information is as follows: VT9174-42302e31 Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG PH... > > Ok. I read what you wrote several times and correct me if I'm wrong but this method of comparing the BIOS back ups don't reveal whether a BIOS was updated. But it confirms whether or not the updating process works. > > So to make this simple, I have to A) make a back-up copy the BIOS. B) Update" the BIOS. Re-boot and make a second copy of the BIOS. (Bascially, I'm comparing BIOS #1 to BIOS #2, which should be different is there is an update and reboot between them). > > Is this right? > > Darren Harris > Staten Island,New York. Yes, this is one way to do it. Viewing the BIOS string on the screen, during POST, is also about as effective. But we're always at the mercy of the BIOS writer - if that person doesn't update the identifiers inside the file, and re-issues the BIOS without changing them, then we'll never know what it is. Paul

My machine doesn't show any BIOS information during POST.

Anyway, it looks as though I won't be able to do this after all. Not without some sort of *video* tutorial. There are just too may unanswered questions about the process as far as what I should be seeing and what to do.