Failed Bios update! RG84510A - Gateway 500SE

[edwin]

Recommended by Wim's BIOS...

[edwin]

no files visible is because "show hidden/system files" is inactive. Nothing to worry about. Once you did the drflash bit, you have to coppy the other files to the disk.

I checked for hidden files as soon as the problem occurred and "show hidden files" was checked. I even unchecked and checked again to make sure.
Also, do I have to modify the autoexec.bat file, or was that only because gdblackthorn had a corruption?
Also, do I need to make the disc bootable, or does the file take care of this?
Thanks

[edwin]

you need to make sure you can see BOTH hidden files AND system files.

you did execute the drflash.exe, let it copy and format the disk? This would make the disk bootable. Then copy the contents of the DOS folder to A:\ per description above, this includes the autoexec.bat you need, no alterations needed.

Maybe you have to check what is listed in device manager and remove any USB ports with a in front of them, and let windows redetect them.

edwin, I checked that hoping to see a problem there, but I saw no problems.

The gateway site has an update for chipset and usb for our model. Are you game?
Do you believe your troubles came from using the windows path for bios rather than booting from a floppy?

I may take a look into it. Maybe if my drivers were reinstalled it would recognize the USB ports.

There's too many variables involved flashing from a mature windows install...

please explain why it was working once we got through the recovery procedure?

I believe it was because I tried to flash in a windows environment that caused the problem. I had software running in the background which most likely caused the problem. As Edwin recommends, so would I, flash it from the boot CD just as he had me do.

donfox, I appreciate the help, but that is exactly what I did do, when I got the successful recovery (as also described above, though I worded it differently).

Also, when I format the disc before copying, should I select make disc bootable, or does this file automatically boot from a

If you format it before copying, do not make the disc bootable, those files will be installed by the drdflash.exe onto your floppy when you run it. Though if drdflash.exe first formats the disk as Edwin states, and then installs the files on your floppy, it will erase any files you had on the disk and still work as it should. Just remember to copy the files as I described above.

If you cannot see the files after making the hidden system files visible, then I would recomend refreshing your screen. You can do this in several ways, but the easiest way is to just hit F5 on your keyboard while your A drive is selected. (Sometimes you have to refresh). If you still cannot see your files after all this, then get yourself another floppy. They have a nasty reputaion for being bad right out of the box. (I have literally had as many as 1/3 of the floppies from a box be bad, believe it or not). I really think that the manufacturer is the reason for this because I have also had several boxes where very few of them were bad.

As edwin stated you should not have to edit your autoexec.bat file, but mine looked like this when I flashed.

@echo off
cls
beep
iflash

The first two lines are really not important, but make sure that iflash is there. You can right click the file and use "open with" and then select notepad to do any editing or viewing of the file. If "open with" is not available on your system (that can be easily fixed), but just open notepad (start/all programs/accessories/notepad) and (then click file/open) and go to the location of your autoexec.bat file. In order to see your file when trying to select it, go to the bottom of the "open" box and change the "files of type" from 'text documents' to "All Files". Once you make your changes (if you wish to do so), then save before you close it. Please note that I put all the detailed steps in here for those who might not be aware of them.

I hoped this helped. I am going to look at the new chipset and usb drivers and post what I think about them a bit later. Maybe a simple reinstall of the drivers will force them to operate correctly.

Well, I was wrong about my USB ports working correctly. It seems that there is another issue here. Sometimes when I plug the flash drive in it flashes (which for my drive is not good) The light on my drive is supposed to remain lit when plugged in and when "safely remove hardware" is used then the light goes out.

Sometimes when I plug it in nothing happens. There isn't any light at all... nothing! I tried it in the front and rear ports and it is sort of like rolling dice if it will work or not. Most of the time (over 95%) of the time it does not work!

When I plug it into another computer, I have no problems. The problem may be with flash drives and not other devices since I have an external USB hard drive which seems to work fine with the new Bios. My printers also work correctly, so I think it is a problem more specific to flash drives. I have yet to find the courage to try another device in the front port since I really don't want to damage my USB devices.

Well, I did the Hard drive replacement and those errors went away. I put the old hard drive into another computer where I will test it further to find what the exact problem is with it...

If you are using a lot of USB devices I would hold off on flashing your Bios with this update until I can find what types of problems it is causing and if there is a work around.

GdBlackthorn:
That sounds a lot like my original problem with usb devices, which provoked my interest in updating bios and chipset in the first place. Please scroll back to my original post and see if our situations match.
What I did was sequentially uninstall the expanded usb list in device manager and rebooted to see if the new recognition helped. It did not, but perhaps it will work for you.
Then I installed a pci usb card and everything installed in the card works as it should, whether flash or hard drive.
You may recall I mentioned that gtwy has a chipset driver and updated usb drivers along with the bios. Don't you think the usb update is worth a try? After all, you can roll it back if it creates a problem.

rleescott,

Exactly what USB update are you referring to? If it is the 7513005.exe file, then that is exactly what I already have on my computer. It seems that is just one updates from the SP1 package which I already have on my computer.

If you are referring to something else please let me know.

I am now down to only 2 our of 6 working USB ports. The other four are very flaky and sometimes only work intermittently. One of the reasons I liked my computer so much was because it has 6 USB ports on it.

I am reallly angry that their Bios update did this to my computer. I had three reasons to update my Bios. One was to upgrade my CPU, another was to upgrade to resolve USB drive scanning issues that were caused by badly written Bios', and another was to get better SATA support when booting (which I think I did get through this update).

I am at this point not sure if I have really gained anything, but I know that I have lost 4 USB ports!

Yes, 7513005 is the one. If that is not an improvement, then we both will not gain. Are you saying that that usb update is included in sp1? I thought it was unique to gtwy.
Anyway, my extra pci usb card has 4 slots and they seem to work well. Cost < $10. By the way, I am not going to update the bios.