ASUS P5A-B BIOS UPDATE PROBLEM

Recommended by Wim's BIOS...

Did successful Bios update but now modem is not recognized by W-98, shutdown freezes, and Add New Hardware freezes. Reload W-98 - same result. Reload original Bios - same result. Used Aflash.exe. Asus
P5A-B MB had Bios dated 101999 rev. 1008 Award. Anyone have a holy hand gernade or know how to fix this problem? Thanks!

[Denniss]

Try latest Bios from here :
ftp://ftp.asuscom.de/pub/ASUSCOM/BIOS/S ... LI_V/P5A-B
select the correct Version(with or without OnBoard Sound) and load Setup Defaults in Bios right after the flash procedure !

Ok thanks! I will give this a try.
Bios I tried was from Asus's site
with much older date and .AWD suffix. Does a Bios update require
reloading OS? We got system back using Norton Ghost image reload of boot drive C: from CD. We made backup Ghost image of C: before attempting this procedure. Norton is da man!

[soupy]

No, you won't need to reload OS. You will need to reconfigure CMOS settings after you clear it though.

Bios settings were recorded and set back to original values after flashing Bios. Rebooted and did load Setup Defaults in Bios right after the flash procedure but system did not recognize modem or mouse. MOdem was set to Com2 for Procomm originally. Even returning
original Bios did not fix problem
after flashing Bios. Have ordered bios chip from http://www.unicore.com. Original reason for Bios update attempt was
HD larger than Bios recognized.

[Rainbow]

Don't do that - better buy new board. Many people have problems with Unicore BIOSes and they're VERY expensive.

Well can anyone tell me why what I did failed to work? Or has anyone seen similar problem after updating Bios? I'd like to get MB back to useable state regardless of whether
I must buy another MB for 80gig HD
use or get Bios chip from Unicore.
thanks!

[Denniss]

Try to Clear CMOS and then again load Setup Defaults .
Set memory timings to safe values for example CAS Latency to 3 instead of 2 .
Do you have a mouse in Win9x safe mode ?

How do I Clear CMOS? Board has no jumper on it as far as I know. And
yes, I do have mouse in safe mode W-98. thanks!

[edwin]

Check the manual, page 15

ftp://ftp.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/sock7/al ... ab-107.pdf

[Denniss]

If you have a mouse in safe mode the COMs are working - seems to be some sort of driver conflict in normal mode .
The Board has two solderpoints to be connected to CLEAR CMOS or remove Battery and connect both contacts with a screwdriver .
Remove Power cord before doing that !!

[edwin]

That is exactly what is written on page 15 of the manual including a picture WHERE to do that.

The thing about my method is that the person in question gets the proper manual for the board...

well Rainbow, you were correct about Unicore BIOSes. It did not work properly and actual documentation did not match actual Bios settings on chip. Water landing with that plan. We went with a Maxtor PCI hard drive controller card from Comp-USA. It recognizes drives up to 120 gig and works like a charm. Using Norton Ghost we were able to move 12 gig from old drive to new 80 gig HD with no problems. And C-mos clear using solder joints on MB worked too. Thanks for all your help!