Gateway G6 233 4A4LL0X0.15A.xxxx.Pxx old bios needed

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fergal
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Dopey me upgraded the BIOS of his Gateway PII G6 233 PC without backing up the existing Phoenix BIOS. The latest version from the Gateway Site does not work (4A4LL0X0.15A.0023.P18 Astoria Motherboard) The new BIOS hangs at the "Entering System Setup..." when F1 is pressed. Trouble is, I can't remember the original BIOS version - I think it was 0015.P05. Though I'm not sure.

I tried various Intel versions for the AL440LX motherboard but they all hang at the "Entering Setup..." when F2 is pressed. I've been around the web for days and have read that Gateway modifies its BIOS's which can render Intel's own unusable for recovery. Unfortunately, Gateway does not archive all it's old BIOS's - it only supplies the latest.

I have also replaced the CMOS battery, did various combinations of moving the jumper pins to recovery/configuration/normal, etc. and booting up procedures. The BIOS I have recognises the keyboard, mouse and HDD but just hangs at the "Entering System setup....." (you can also see the progress bar very slowly progressing, after it reaches 100% it stops)

Can someone PLEASE PLEASE help. If you have a Gateway PII G6 233MHz manufactured around the 18/4/98 with an Astoria motherboard that has a BIOS version starting with 4A4LL0X0.15A and ends with P05, P06, P08, P10, P11 or P14 we may be in luck. Can you please tell me you have a copy and how I can contact you.

This motherboard also supports 266, 300 and 333 MHz Pentium II processors. After all this time I believe only an original BIOS can help me.

Thanks. F.
Rainbow
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Tried clearing CMOS?
What about original P14 BIOS from Intel:
http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scripts ... bmit=Go%21
Patched and tested BIOSes are at http://wims.rainbow-software.org
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fergal
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Thanks for that link, Rainbow. I gave it my best shot. It installed OK through the recovery procedure but on the reboot I am still stuck at "Entering Setup...." When F2 is pressed.

What exactly do you mean by clearing the CMOS?

Also, do you understand the beeps during the recovery process?

I hear one short beep immediately on boot up (I presume this is the standard "everything is OK" beep) then about half way through the installation there is one long beep. Then just at the very end two short beeps. The a: drive then stops reading and it is at this point that I eject the disk and reboot. It's an Award/Phoenix BIOS.

Fergal
Rainbow
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Intel says something about removing the battery for 20 minutes (of course with power cable disconnected).
Patched and tested BIOSes are at http://wims.rainbow-software.org
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NickS
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fergal wrote: The a: drive then stops reading and it is at this point that I eject the disk and reboot. It's an Award/Phoenix BIOS.
Do you not allow four minutes after the disk stops reading for the actual flash to take place ?
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fergal
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No, to both your questions.

I replaced the batteries with seconds of each other (though I did also read about leaving 20 minutes for the capacitors or something to discharge fully) And obviously with the power cable out. I'll give it a crack.

I'll try NickS's suggestion first about leaving the PC on for four minutes after a recovery before rebooting. I usually would have done the reboot fairly soon after the light went out in the a: drive.

I'm still wondering about that long beep during the middle of the recovery process (if I use the gatewya P18 bios (the one that caused this bloody problem in the first place) I get a short beep in the middle.

Also, I am worried about losing the boot block sector of the BIOS. Is this possible? Or is that flashed permanently to the EEPROM and the only thing that can be overwritten is the System sector of the BIOS? It is not a removable chip it's hardwired to the board.

Thanks for the replies lads.

Fergal
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