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Micro Star Motherboard

Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2004 3:40 am
by JDAVIS
Hello,
I am trying to install a new HDD on my PC but my bios won't recongnize anything over 32 gig. I would like to update ( flash ) my bios but can't identify my motherboard. The MB # is MS 6156 Ver 1.0 BX by Microstar and my bios is AMI # 9130n290446201va ( this was under the sticky on the chip ). When I go to the MSI site, they seem to have every other MB listed but the MS - 6156, what gives??

Please help,

Thanks in advance

John

Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2004 10:08 am
by edwin
AMI bioses cannot be patched.

http://www.msi.com.tw/program/support/b ... 259&kind=1

version 1.1 was the latest and still has this bug. You can cross-flash to Award 1.6 including bootblock with uniflash

http://www.uniflash.org

first check the award upgrade procedure on how to obtain the .bin flash file from the archive and make a bootable floppy to copy it to. Then copy uniflash to the floppy as well and use that for flashing including bootblock.

Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2004 3:17 pm
by Denniss
Please post your FULL Bios-ID including Bios OEM Message !!

The MS-6156 come in three flavours : Intel i440BX / i440ZX and VIA chipset

Correct identification is vital to survive a Biosflash operation

Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2004 5:15 pm
by JDAVIS
Denniss,

I ran your utility wizard to look at the bios but the OEM info was blank. However, on the motherboard itself was ver 1.0 BX... Is that what you meant?

Thanks,

John

Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2004 5:25 pm
by JDAVIS
Denniss,

In my last reply I mentioned that on the motherboard it was identified as " ver 1.0 bx " but from the the Wizard utility it identified the following " 61-0503-001169-00101111-0715795-44BX/ZX-1440B000.

I'm sorry for any confusion this may have caused and please pardon my ignorance. I very much appreciate your site but am quite new to these updates and I don't want to screw it up.

Thanks again in advance,

John

Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2004 1:14 am
by Denniss
When you fire up your computer you'll see the screen with CPU recognition/Memory test and HDD detect .
Press PAUSE/BRAK key on your keyboard .

On the bottom you shold see the Bios-ID you posted and on the top left just below the AMI Logo you should see somthing like this :
A6156ZXO1 V1.3

This OEM-message is needed as your posted ID says 440BX/ZX and not BX OR ZX

Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2004 5:09 pm
by JDAVIS
Problem solved.
Thanks very, very much EDWIN for your help. I cross flashed the AWARD 1.6 bios into my AMI bios as use suggested using the AMI flsah utility and it's working fine. I did try the same using the UNIFLASH utility but got an error. I still don't know why the extracted file I flashed didn't have the .BIN extension ( it had a .160 extension ) but it doesn't matter. My new drive is completely recognized and I'm very appeciative of your help and patience.

John :D

Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2004 5:45 pm
by uknown1234
edwin wrote:AMI bioses cannot be patched.

http://www.msi.com.tw/program/support/b ... 259&kind=1

version 1.1 was the latest and still has this bug. You can cross-flash to Award 1.6 including bootblock with uniflash

http://www.uniflash.org

first check the award upgrade procedure on how to obtain the .bin flash file from the archive and make a bootable floppy to copy it to. Then copy uniflash to the floppy as well and use that for flashing including bootblock.
What is cross flashing?
Can it be done to any bios or just some bios?
Could you explain a bit or point me to a few links that will explain this well.

Thanks

Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2004 12:07 am
by edwin
crossflashing is where you flash aother bios (not just another revision) on your board. In this case both an AMI and an Award bios exist for the same board.

In general it is NOT a good idea to do this with a bios for a different board than the one you currently have. In almost every case the result will be a dead board.