BIOS Updates forum

Hi - I'm new to this message board. I posted this topic on a different message board and someone suggested I look on this message board for the answer. I have read the rules, checked the FAQ and collected wisdom, and have scanned some other topics on this message board and could not find an answer. Hopefully someone can help me.

Anyway, I recently flashed a Socket 7 VX board and am basically not 100% happy with the result. I want to go back to a previous version but the manufacturer does not provide any versions except for the one I flashed, and I am unable to locate my backup - I had two - one got destroyed.

A friend I was talking to suggested the USE ORIGINAL FLASH ROUTINES (or an option called thereabouts) in the AWARD flash programmer. According to him, in some versions of AWARD FLASH this restores the original runtime code to the BIOS, in other versions it also restores all the capabiltiies of the original BIOS (eg: HDD detection capabilties, options available within setup, etc.). He also said that sometimes this option works and sometimes it does not work. What I am trying to find out is:

* Does this option work the way my friend describes?
* What version does this option restore back to (first version, factory version, previous version, etc.)?
* What happens when the option does not work? Is the BIOS corrupted or destroyed for example?
* What versions of the flash programmer restore runtime code, what versions restore capabilties also?

Thanks in advance for responses.

There is an option awdflash /F to use the flash routines from the Bios file and not from the Bios already installed .
But this has nothing to do with restoring the Bios to its original older Bios .
Try awdflash /? for all possible options of the Award flashprogram .
Another option is /CC to clear CMOS after flashing but this can be done with a jumper too .
Tried to Clear CMOS and then Load Setup or Performance Defaults in Bios ?
What's your Board ? > Maybe someone has an older file for you .
What's the problem with your Board ?

The board is a PC Partner 520NH, Socket 7, VX chipset. Although the board still runs fine, I think the BIOS handles the CD-ROM differently after the flash as I need real mode drivers in AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS to get the CD-ROM to appear in Windows - otherwise the sec. controller is disabled. Also the BIOS just reports FOUND in post messages, whereas I am sure it used to report FOUND: CD-ROM. Unfortunately I can only find one update on the PC Partner web site, which I have flashed, and my backup I have lost.

Sounds like BIOS settings need to be reset, as Denniss mentioned. The Secondary Controller may have been turned off for some reason during the flash...

BIOS ID string...???

Question - I was looking at the INTEGRATED PERIPHERALS section for this particular (AWARD) BIOS and noticed that where it has the PRIMARY and SECONDARY controller options for enable and disable, it also has a third option for a PCI SLOT 2ND IDE channel, enable or disable. I don't think I would have changed this third value myself, it is enabled just as the other two are and must have been enabled by default when I loaded the BIOS default values.

The system does not have an add-on IDE controller board; the primary hard disk is on the primary channel and the CD-ROM drive on the secondary channel. Therefore as far as I can see I should not need this PCI SLOT 2ND IDE channel option enabled.

My question is though, even without the add-on board, can having both secondary IDE controller options enabled as mine currently is cause conflicts, and the problems I am describing (such as POST incorrectly reporting CD-ROM detection, secondary controller not being enabled under Windows, etc.). What problems, if any, is this known to cause. Or will the BIOS simply not allocate resources to the add-on board because it does not exist and therefore generate no conflicts?