I AM LOST upgrading my BIOS!
Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2002 11:10 am
I admit right up front: 97.8% of the people that will read this post are more knowledgeable than me, and 97.7% are smarter (but I run into that 0.1% in between with alarming frequency). Okay, stupid jokes aside, I will be very detailed and hope that one of you 97.7% answers with some solid advice or links. Here's my problem (and my inexperience will probably REALLY jump out at you beginning now)...
I want to update my BIOS, you know, flash it, as you 97.8% say. According to the Sandra program, I have a BIOS ID of 62-0920-001437-00101111-040201-SiS735. Sandra says ECS made my Mainboard (which I assume means mother board), and my model is supposed to be K7S5A. I can't even remember how I approached this at that point... I ended up deciding I really had a 830LR model, and PC-Chips made the mobo. Yeah, whatever... When I boot up, I see "American Megatrends, AMD Athlon, 1000 MHz, AMIBIOS, K7S5A, Release 9/20/2001 S... and when I run setup, it says version 1.21.06. Well, being my first time messing with this (and overclocking is next... just as soon as I save enough $$ to replace whatever I fry), I just wanted to try something... I downloaded (I think from PC-Chips) a BIOS (.rom file, right), and from another place I downloaded a ,rom and an executable. I figure, based on what I've read, I need to boot with a disk then flash the BIOS by running the .exe file, which will utilize the .rom file. Well PCChips wants me to run one AMIFL###.exe file, while other web sites say to use another program with different ### (one was ###=807 and one was ###=335). Then I see the PC-Chips lottery! Good grief!
Some smart people may want to ask me why I want to flash the BIOS anyway. Well, I just do. If I fry it, I'll buy it. I don't even remember why now. It all started when I bought a high end game (Morrowind, which I can play fine now, after tweaking). I saw so many web pages talking about BIOS settings that I simply don't seem to have. I don't have anything talking about an AGP aperture size! Grrrr. Plus Sandra recommends stuff like that, and my BIOS seems so simple and lacking. Even if flashing the BIOS does nothing, at least I will have learned how to do it.
Get this, somewhere in my surfing I ended up downloading an AMIBBIOS utility (to identify my mobo manufacturer)... It says that based on my BIOS ID that I have a Pentium Pro, PII, PIII, or Celeron processor. I have an AMD Athlon. I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that when I boot up, I have to press reset after pressing the power on... Then I replace the memory stick (256) and it works fine a while, and then I have the same problem. Probably nmothing but their silly utility reporting the wrong thing. But what if the "other" wrong thing is that I need the 830LR (or K7S5A) BIOS? Hmmmm?
I know full well I will not get a response unless I happen across a smart guy who happens to be bored, but if you read everything I wrote, I appreciate you.
Take care, merry Christmas, and if you need more info, I can give it. Thanks.
I want to update my BIOS, you know, flash it, as you 97.8% say. According to the Sandra program, I have a BIOS ID of 62-0920-001437-00101111-040201-SiS735. Sandra says ECS made my Mainboard (which I assume means mother board), and my model is supposed to be K7S5A. I can't even remember how I approached this at that point... I ended up deciding I really had a 830LR model, and PC-Chips made the mobo. Yeah, whatever... When I boot up, I see "American Megatrends, AMD Athlon, 1000 MHz, AMIBIOS, K7S5A, Release 9/20/2001 S... and when I run setup, it says version 1.21.06. Well, being my first time messing with this (and overclocking is next... just as soon as I save enough $$ to replace whatever I fry), I just wanted to try something... I downloaded (I think from PC-Chips) a BIOS (.rom file, right), and from another place I downloaded a ,rom and an executable. I figure, based on what I've read, I need to boot with a disk then flash the BIOS by running the .exe file, which will utilize the .rom file. Well PCChips wants me to run one AMIFL###.exe file, while other web sites say to use another program with different ### (one was ###=807 and one was ###=335). Then I see the PC-Chips lottery! Good grief!
Some smart people may want to ask me why I want to flash the BIOS anyway. Well, I just do. If I fry it, I'll buy it. I don't even remember why now. It all started when I bought a high end game (Morrowind, which I can play fine now, after tweaking). I saw so many web pages talking about BIOS settings that I simply don't seem to have. I don't have anything talking about an AGP aperture size! Grrrr. Plus Sandra recommends stuff like that, and my BIOS seems so simple and lacking. Even if flashing the BIOS does nothing, at least I will have learned how to do it.
Get this, somewhere in my surfing I ended up downloading an AMIBBIOS utility (to identify my mobo manufacturer)... It says that based on my BIOS ID that I have a Pentium Pro, PII, PIII, or Celeron processor. I have an AMD Athlon. I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that when I boot up, I have to press reset after pressing the power on... Then I replace the memory stick (256) and it works fine a while, and then I have the same problem. Probably nmothing but their silly utility reporting the wrong thing. But what if the "other" wrong thing is that I need the 830LR (or K7S5A) BIOS? Hmmmm?
I know full well I will not get a response unless I happen across a smart guy who happens to be bored, but if you read everything I wrote, I appreciate you.
Take care, merry Christmas, and if you need more info, I can give it. Thanks.