80GB: 10/21/1999-i440BX-ITE867-2A69KH2EC-00

[Kirk Warren]

I have a Blaster PC and am trying to update my BIOS to enable 80 GB HD support. At startup it says 10/21/1999-i440BX-ITE867-2A69KH2EC-00 Award Plug & Play BIOS Extension v1.0A at the top of the screen and Award Modular BIOS v4.51PGM (M003BE45) Intel i440BX PCIset(TM) at the bottom.

Is the update to this "Creative M003 | 02/02/2001-i440BX-ITE867-2A69KH2EC-00 | (M003NL47) Intel i440BX PCIset(TM) | 128 GB | Rainbow", as is listed on http://wims.rainbow-software.org ?

I just want to double check since the date (02/02/2001) is different from mine (10/21/1999) and the M003xxxx is different as well. Is the difference due to it being an update or is it the wrong update for me? Thanks in advance.

-Kirk Warren

[Rainbow]

Should be OK for your board.

[blaster]

All M003 bios programs released by Creative Labs, but not supported by them, have the 32gig limitation "bug"--If you obtained a copy of M003NL47, dated 2/2/01, from anywhere else, it would have the 32 gig limitation---only at http://wims.rainbow-software.org can you find the same name and date that will support larger hard drives,because it has been patched by Rainbow for that purpose. Additionally, the earliest bios M003BE43, only contains cpu support for 66mhz cpu's--other ones that are newer will support 100mhz cpu's--some might support 133mhz cpu's ,but the speed will not be reported correctly.

[Aek]

Hoping to get a reply by Rainbow or another person who can answer this question. I have been following the threads here and I wanted to ask before trying this.

I have downloaded the Bios upgrade for the Creative M003 posted on http://wims.rainbow-software.org by Rainbow. I would like to ask if this bios upgrade applies to me. Current bios is as follows.

07/22/1999-i440BX-ITE867-2A69KH2EC-00
(M003BE43) Intel i440BX PCIset(TM)

Also wanted to ask that if this bios does apply to me then do I use the Uniflash program or can I use the bios file that Rainbow had linked a while ago from the TigerDirect site found at http://www.tigerdirect.com/downloads/bios.zip which seems to include the M003NL47.bin. Any difference?

Thanks tons in advance for any information.

[Rainbow]

The BIOS at TigerDirect is the original version which does not work with HDDs above 32GB. I patched it and put the patched version to http://wims.rainbow-software.org/. The BIOS and OEM IDs are the same but this one works with HDDs up to 128GB. You can use Awdflash (v7.xx) or UniFlash to flash it. It should be OK for your board.

[Aek]

Thanks Tons!!

[LinuxLikder]

I see this is an old thread, but it covers my board and the need for
a newer version of the BIOS.
I found the BIOS image and downloaded it (M003nl47.bin) and
the latest of the awdxx flash utilities (8 something?).
I've got a boot floppy with the image, the flash utility and an
autoexec.bat file that calls it. I'm ready to boot from the floppy and
have it autoexec the flash program.

My BIG question is, before I actually perform that step, is there
ANYthing else that needs to be done prior to make sure everything
works as expected.

I read somewhere that all the caching features needed to be disabled
in CMOS setup. Does that apply here?
Are there other gothcha's that need to be taken care of?
I certainly don't want to end up destroying a working BIOS and
trashing my motherboard as a result.
Please advise.

[NickS]

I would be tempted to use the version of Awdflash in the original file collection at TigerDirect rather than "the latest", as sometimes support for older flash chips falls out of the latest. Turn off BIOS caching and shadowing (in CMOS setup), it can't hurt to play safe. Remember, some BIOS chips get old and flakey and may not reflash; there's always a small element of risk.