BIOS Updates forum

I have a Fic VB601 motherboard version 1.3 with the next BIOS:

Award Modular v4.60pgma,
1.15ME132 bios, alltough a sticker next to the Bios states 1.15ME11s
ID 03/08/199 i440BX-2A69KF09C-00,
IO Winbond 977TF-AW.

On this site I have found several Bin and Awd files, from 1.15ME10 up to 1.15ME130 but do'nt know wich to choose. Also I found 1.15ME4118 can I use this last one to? Which is the latest version. I understand I can't use the files of the series MI, MC or somewhat else.

My first concern for upgrading is to use a slot 1 Pentium III 800MHz.

Plse HELP!

ME is the Bios revision indicator - only ME Bios types are usable on your board so ME4118 is the latest one

Denniss wrote:ME is the Bios revision indicator - only ME Bios types are usable on your board so ME4118 is the latest one

Denniss, many thanks.

But I also see ME5131d23f, ME5132987a, ME5133567d. What about these?
Are they compatible with PCB version 1.3?

Where did you see these version ?

ME indicates they are compatible .

To find out the newest version download all of them and use Modbin to compare the Bios release dates - ME4118 should be the newest one (name indicates a newer Bios version)

Denniss wrote:Where did you see these version ?

ME indicates they are compatible .

To find out the newest version download all of them and use Modbin to compare the Bios release dates - ME4118 should be the newest one (name indicates a newer Bios version)

I found them at: ftp://ftp.fica.com/BIOS/motherboards/slot1/VB601/award/

But you are right, ME4118 IS the latest one but it has W977EF added to the Bios ID, while my IO chip is Winbond 977TF can this do any harm?
Thanks for showing me the way to Modbin.

ftp://ftp.fica.com/BIOS/motherboards/sl ... d/beta.txt

FIC often switched I/O chips but they all get a different Bios revision (and PCB) .
ME-type Bios must be correct

GREAT!!

I upgraded my Bios with ME4118.bin with success.

Many, many thanks to all of you specially to Denniss.

First of all: thank you for this excellent forum, and... thank you in advance for your help.

Here's my problem. My PC has a FIC VB-601 mainboard, similar to curacao's one. The board's version is 1.3 (...this is what is written on a board's corner, near to ISA2 slot, as on FIC site's FAQ). During POST I can see:

Bios: Award Modular Bios v4.60PGMA
Version: 1.15ME11 ("1.15ME11s" is also written on a label, near flash chip);
07/03/1998-i440BX-2A69KF09C-00
...so, it's an Intel chipset-based board.

The I/O chip is a Winbond 977TF-AW.

My PC is very old, as you can see ... but it always did what I asked for, and it still works fine. In other words, I would like to keep it running; but now I need to install a 40GB hard drive, and the bios doesn't recognize it.

Reading this forum, I have understood that:
- many people had my same problem on the same mobo, and fixed it by upgrading the BIOS;
- MIxxx bios family is for 1.4 boards;
- MExxx bios family is for 1.3 boards;
- MCxxx bios family is for 1.1 boards;
... but on FIC's site I found a BIOS file (mi413) which seems to be released for both versions (1.3 & 1.4)... so I'm no more sure to be on the right way

Anyway, I tried to upgrade the BIOS, using:

- me4118;
- mi413;
- mi415 (...yes, it's wrong... but I tried it also).

None of this BIOS worked on my board. The problem is always the same: the board comes up, but no IDE drive is seen (...yes, also a small -540MB- boot drive, nor CDROM drive). Even entering setup, and launching an IDE drives scan, no drive can be detected. I also tried to connect just one drive (a 20GB drive, master on first IDE... it's my usual boot drive, and with the original BIOS it works perfectly); but nothing changed. No drive detected.
The "good new" is that, everytime, the downgrade to the original BIOS (I saved it, before first upgrade...) was succesful; in other words, turning back to the original BIOS... the drives are back too.

...Do you have any idea...?

Again, thank you in advance for your help

Regards

Sorry... my mistake. The problem was really poor
I didn't check it... after the upgrade, both IDE controllers were disabled
Enabling them, everithing is going fine

Regards

Pierro please if you can send me the original bin file from your board i have one just the same but i do need that file to put it to work again.

Here it is:

h++p://rapidshare.com/files/27695305/OLDPCSAT.BIN.html

(+ = t)

It will be available for 45 days only (...cause I haven't a premium account on rapidshare).

Regards