Packard Bell NEC P5S800-VM/S failed BIOS update

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qaws
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Hi,
I have a desktop with the NEC logo on the front. There's a sticker on the mobo inside which says P5S800-VM/S, and directly under this is printed "Asus" on the motherboard.

I have a copy of the BIOS before I flashed it. If I open it in Notepad it gives me the strings "$ASUSAMI$ P5S800-VM 0170 07/11/2005-18:56:38 SIS661FX PACKARDBELL".

You'll note the BIOS string doesn't have the "/S" on the end - after searching the internet it seems that this means it is proprietory (see http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id= ... uage=en-us).

Since the mobo is branded Asus, I went to the Asus site and downloaded the latest BIOS (rev 1023 from http://uk.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_S ... /#download), and used their Windows flashing util (in Asusupdt60701.zip) to take a backup of the BIOS and then flash it with the new one. It flashed just fine with no errors or messages, then said I needed to reboot.

When it rebooted, it gave me the message something like:
Bad BIOS Checksum. Starting Recovery
Checking for floppy..
Floppy not found
Checking for CD ROM..
CD ROM not found

and it keeps doing this. The PC has no floppy drive so following some advice (http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id= ... uage=en-us) I renamed the original backup ROM file as P5S800VM.ROM, burnt it to a CD and put it in. It now gives me the message "CD ROM found, checking for P5S800VM.ROM" and then a "File not found!"-type message.

I don't know if I need a bootable CD, if it needs to have autoexec.bat on with a flasher and the ROM file - I've tried creating a bootable CD with AFUDOS.EXE and P5S800VM.ROM in the bootable part, one just with P5S800VM.ROM in the bootable part, a non-bootable CD with just P5S800VM.ROM and another with AFUDOS.EXE and P5S800VM.ROM, and finally an old DOS boot floppy I had containing stuff like IBMBIO.COM & HIMEM.SYS aswell as the flasher and the ROM file, still it gives me the file not found message.

The BIOS I flashed it to was S8VM1023.ROM and has the string "$ASUSAMI$ P5S800-VM 1023.003 01/04/2007-10:35:05 SIS661FX ASUS".


So...how do I restore the original BIOS ROM image that I have?
edwin
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sounds like the bootblock is looking for a different file then. since the bios chip is soldered onto the board I think you are SOL and ready for a new board...
edwin/evasive

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System error, strike any user to continue...
Huckster
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Got the same issue here, I have the Packard Bell iMedia 1507 series desktop and recently I had to exchange drives since the original became non responsive, and so after re-installing Windows XP (tight budget, and I think this will only be played on by the kids!) I have a new issue that i think/suspect will be resolved by updating the BIOS.

My issue is that upon boot up, no matter if i select the original defunct settings for the BIOS, the computer upon booting enters straight to BIOS. No skipping, just straight into BIOS. I have to escape without changing anything and then it continues to boot into my fresh windows installation.

So as the thread starter 'qaws' did, I tried to update via the ASUS desktop update program which should allow a BIOS update whilst in Windows. However, when I tried it stated that the values didn't match and that I cannot continue. So rather than forcing the issue, I tried to research a bit more...

Upon further reading, I have discovered that the only method for updating this BIOS is to use the NEC configured update which is no longer available from the Packard Bell website but is available here:

ftp://ftp.packardbell.com/pub/itemnr/6960040400/

OK, so I haven't done this so far because of me being a chicken :oops: , I thought i'd come and get some advice and read if anyone else has had this issue...
edwin
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http://www.nec-computers.com/support2/p ... ource=2006

But maybe you should replace the CMOS battery first (CR2032 3V lithium coin cell battery) with a brand new one.
edwin/evasive

Do not assume anything

System error, strike any user to continue...
iceman
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Going from proprietary to retail is possible with the P5S800VM

You need the engineers AFUDOS flasher and need to flash the bootblock too, if you do not flash the bootblock you will encounter the bad checksum error because the bootblock is packardbell.
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