BIOS Updates forum

hi
system:865pe neo2 fis2r board
p4 2.4ghz cpu
antec true 430w psu
80gb ibm hdd
iiyama pro 454 monitor
win xp sp1
1mb ram kvr
msi dvd rom
dvd rw
ati radeon 9800 video card
bios ami 1.3

just fitted a barracuda 320gb hdd which is not recognised by my mobo
found a bios update - to recognise large drives - 1.4 and there is also update 1.5 for another problem which i don't have (yet).
is it better to flash (if this is the problem) to 1.4 by floppy or 1.5 by MSI's live update?
does 1.5 also include 1.4 and a floppy flash of this therefore advisable?
i have tried to get this info from msi, their "help" is both difficult to access and the replies have left a lot to be desired in terms of clarity and the somewhat fractured english!
final question - in the event of a problem, i have seen references to re-installing the original bios by a forced flash from floppy - how do you make a back up of your existing bios? i suspect the answer to this is blindingly obvious as i can't find it anywhere!
thnx phil

thnx phil

I'd go for the floppy version and use Uniflash. actually i've never tried any winflash application and i don't really trust them ;)
about the HDD problem: if you're going to keep your 80GB hdd anyways you could hook up the new hdd and don't even bother about the BIOS. just boot Windows XP and get SP2 + all recent updates (your system is a security risk just with SP1..and you'll get LBA48 support with SP2, too). the hdd will be detected automagically with full size even without being listed in the BIOS.

hi
the on-line flash was tempting because it seems easier - probable pitfall there for a start
i did post on the msi forum, but every response i got was different - use the flash utility provided by msi, do it under windows, etc.
i checked on the ami site and their utility told me it was a nec bios! it isn't - still waiting to hear back from them
but ............ how do you make a copy of the existing bios? this seems the only topic i can find no answers on - i did go into bios today and copy it to hard drive but all i can find is a text file, i would have thought it should be an .exe
phil

Download Uniflash. It offers a nice menu when started..it does allow you to make a nice clean 1:1 copy of your existing bios.

hi
thanks i'll try that - can you just run it to back up bios without also flashing?
i think i'll try your suggestion of sp2 and seeing if barracuda works ok that way first - less invasive!
the only reason i don't run sp2 is because my usb printer won't run under it and neither microsoft nor hp seemed interested in doing a patch
phil