BIOS update problem

"Bobby" wrote in message
...
Paul - The BIOS software does have a facility for recovering a corrupt
BIOS - but my BIOS is not corrupt. My PC boots OK - well, OK for 2 minutes
before it resets. So the repair facility does not work for me.

I think that something went wrong with my BIOS upgrade since neither my
new nor old hard drives now work correctly (I'm getting constant resets
and BSDs using either drive). So I plan to reload my old BIOS.

So which is it - both your first and second paragraph cant be correct -
either there was a problem with flashing the BIOS (corruption) or there
wasn't? If your not sure, then what makes you think that reloading your old
BIOS (or for that matter flashing it originally) will fix it? After all its
not as if an original motherboard BIOS would fail to detect SATA HDDs
altogether (the problem you claimed to experience). A quick test of whether
the problem is hardware or software related would be whether its stable
booting off a Win XP MS-DOS start-up floppy disk - do you know how to make
one of these and how to setup the machine to boot from it?

If you want to progress this issue, the answers to my questions (including
those at the bottom of the email) will be needed. If you don't know the
details or how to find them, perhaps the best bet is to take it to a
computer shop for them to repair it before your efforts damage it. Flashing
a BIOS is not something to be undertaken unless you really know what your
doing (assuming that's what's required and from what I've read its not). If
you want to cooperate then the reply should be BELOW the relevant post in
this case, as when the thread was started the original respondents replied
with bottom posts. It just makes things unduly difficult if you choose to
top post when everyone else is bottom posting because people have to scroll
to both the top and bottom of the email to figure out what's going on. Now,
are you going to answer my questions?

Paul


Bobby

"Paul Murphy" wrote in message
...
"Bobby" wrote in message
...
As some of you will know, I've been having problems with the new SATA
hard disk.

So I tried to upgrade the BIOS of my Asus K8 SE Deluxe motherboard. I
used the flash update tool and everything appeared to work perfectly -
but now my PC doesn't work at all.

It resets either during boot or at login or shortly after boot. This
happens constantly. Safe mode is the only cure.

I solved my SATA problem by reverting to my old IDE drive and this
invariably gave me a stable machine - until I did this BIOS update. Now
no mater which drive I try to use (SATA or IDE) I get constant resets. I
tried removing all mention of RAID/SATA/Promise from Control Panel but
the problem persists.

I can't even restore the BIOS to its old settings (I saved an image
before updating it) since the PC resets before I have time to do this.

Now I have an unusable PC.

Help!

Bobby
Ah so these are the motherboard details! When you say the flashing
appeared to work perfectly, how do you know - did a message pop up saying
so? The only Asus boards I've flashed have been using a Win98SE system
formatted disk and a progress bar was shown. At the end I've always reset
the BIOS by doing the shorting the jumper trick for a few minutes (have a
read of the manual) - that's essential, have you done that?

If the machines a new build, what are the PSU details (make/model and
power rating)? FYI often OS's will need to be reinstalled after a BIOS
flash - especially if it involved a disk controller, that's why its
always best to do the job when the drive is still empty.

Paul

So which is it - both your first and second paragraph cant be correct -
either there was a problem with flashing the BIOS (corruption) or there
wasn't?

There wasn't.The upgrade went perfectly (according to the upgrade program
which even verifies the BIOS installation).

If your not sure, then what makes you think that reloading your old BIOS
(or for that matter flashing it originally) will fix it?

Because I thought something weird might have happened during the upgrade.
But I did reload the original BIOS and I am still having problems. So that
didn't fix it.

After all its not as if an original motherboard BIOS would fail to detect
SATA HDDs altogether (the problem you claimed to experience).

The original mobo would have detected the SATA drive if I had configured the
BIOS correctly.

A quick test of whether the problem is hardware or software related would
be whether its stable booting off a Win XP MS-DOS start-up floppy disk -
do you know how to make one of these and how to setup the machine to boot
from it?

No I don't know how to create this. I do know how to get the machine to boot
from a floppy. But the machine appears to be fine in DOS mode (I was messing
around with the recovery console for 10 minutes and the machine was OK).

At the end I've always reset
the BIOS by doing the shorting the jumper trick for a few minutes (have
a read of the manual) - that's essential, have you done that?

I have now. I did this first thing this evening. It made no difference.

If the machines a new build,

It was a new (home made) build about three months ago. And it worked
*perfectly* until I messed about with my new SATA drive.

what are the PSU details (make/model and
power rating)?

550W no-name PSU.

FYI often OS's will need to be reinstalled after a BIOS
flash - especially if it involved a disk controller, that's why its
always best to do the job when the drive is still empty.

I can't do a clean install on either HD (SATA or PATA drives) without the
thing resetting.

I'm at a complete loss.

Did you enter bios and load setup defaults? Try clearing
CMOS too.

I've now done both.

You're lucky it boots at all,

It may as well not since it stays up for max. 2-5 minutes. It even resets
sitting at the log-in screen.

but did you save a
copy of the original bios? It would be better to reflash
the known-good version you were using first to get system
back to state it was in first, before trying some other
method to flash the bios which (can't even be known to work
regardless of flash method, yet).

The BIOS has a built-in recovey utility (Asus EZ Flash) which restores the
BIOS to its original state (I presume) by loading an image off the CD.

Whatever drive you installed XP on, you should leave that
drive as boot drive and in same IDE and/or SATA position as
it started out, until you get this resolved.

I have now restored the original BIOS and using the original HD (the IDE
one) I still get constant resets.

What do you mean you can't restore it?
If you saved the bios and/or have another copy of it (for
example, downloaded from manufacturer) simply boot to DOS
floppy and reflash the known good bios, then load BIOS
defaults in the bios menus and/or clear cmos, finally making
any changes you needed per your specific parts, like raising
the FSB per CPU if applicable, etc.

Don't know what this last bit means. I've tried everything that I can think
of. If the BIOS is OK then could it have upset something when I flashed it?

I'm getting desparate.

"Bobby" wrote in message
...
So which is it - both your first and second paragraph cant be correct -
either there was a problem with flashing the BIOS (corruption) or there
wasn't?

There wasn't.The upgrade went perfectly (according to the upgrade program
which even verifies the BIOS installation).

If your not sure, then what makes you think that reloading your old BIOS
(or for that matter flashing it originally) will fix it?

Because I thought something weird might have happened during the upgrade.
But I did reload the original BIOS and I am still having problems. So that
didn't fix it.

Not likely to fix anything going back to the previous version if the
original flash to the new version went well (and you mentioned the upgrade
verified the installation). It's clear that the BIOS version has nothing to
do with this and had the question been asked before you attempted to flash
it in the first place I would have advised against it.

After all its not as if an original motherboard BIOS would fail to detect
SATA HDDs altogether (the problem you claimed to experience).

The original mobo would have detected the SATA drive if I had configured
the BIOS correctly.

That's what I suspected. So have you read the manual or had someone explain
it to you? That would go a long way towards you understanding things better.

A quick test of whether the problem is hardware or software related would
be whether its stable booting off a Win XP MS-DOS start-up floppy disk -
do you know how to make one of these and how to setup the machine to boot
from it?

No I don't know how to create this. I do know how to get the machine to
boot from a floppy. But the machine appears to be fine in DOS mode (I was
messing around with the recovery console for 10 minutes and the machine
was OK).

OK, no need to do the DOS boot test then but in future its just the same as
formatting a floppy disk but there's a "tickbox option" in XP which reads
"create an MS-DOS startup disk" this will copy across the required files.
Note: I would advise against using one of these disks for BIOS flashing
though because it loads various extras unlike (for example) a Windows 98
boot disk.

Given that the machine is stable in a non-windows environment your challenge
will be to find exactly which part of the Windows XP installation on the
fresh SATA disk causes instability. Perhaps the point at which it
spontaneously reboots will give you a clue.

At the end I've always reset
the BIOS by doing the shorting the jumper trick for a few minutes (have
a read of the manual) - that's essential, have you done that?

I have now. I did this first thing this evening. It made no difference.

OK fair enough - at least that's ruled out as a possible cause now. After
all the settings were erased using this process do you know what to set them
to (or what each one is all about? If, like most people, some of them have
you baffled then there's this excellent reference here which explains BIOS
options: http://www.rojakpot.com/default.aspx?location=1

If the machines a new build,

It was a new (home made) build about three months ago. And it worked
*perfectly* until I messed about with my new SATA drive.

Ok that would imply that all of the hardware is up to the task then. In
terms of "messing about" with hardware, I advise you to read up on what it
is that you intend to do *before* you do it, you could also attend some
computer hardware courses. That way your actions will be informed and you
wont end up wasting your time (so much) not to mention reducing the chances
of damaging anything e.g. Anti static precautions and the golden rule of
checking all peripherals are disconnected from the motherboard (particularly
USB devices) before flashing BIOS's etc.

what are the PSU details (make/model and
power rating)?

550W no-name PSU.

Since you've mentioned the system was working perfectly before the new drive
came along and the PSU is still nearly new, its unlikely to be a
contributing factor, although I must say I've never seen a "no-name" PSU
(and I used to work as a computer tech), its just that some are more
reputable and reliable than others.

FYI often OS's will need to be reinstalled after a BIOS
flash - especially if it involved a disk controller, that's why its
always best to do the job when the drive is still empty.

I can't do a clean install on either HD (SATA or PATA drives) without the
thing resetting.

At what point does it reset and does it consistently occur at exactly the
same spot irrespective of how long the machine has been running? Have you
reviewed what the manual contains about Windows installation. Finally, have
you got hold of newer SATA controller drivers from the Asus website for your
motherboard?

That would be a few things I'd try, along with checking ALL the BIOS
settings (according to that reference website I posted a link to above).
After that, if there's no developments, I suggest you take it to a computer
shop for attention. Am I right that you can no longer even install XP on the
original IDE HDD while the SATA one is out of the machine/unplugged fully
(even after rechecking the BIOS settings) without it rebooting?

Paul

"RBM" rbm2(remove wrote in message
...
If all else fails, contact these folks:
http://www.badflash.com/flashprep.html
"prankster" wrote in message
...
"Bobby" wrote in message
...
As some of you will know, I've been having problems with the new SATA
hard
disk.

So I tried to upgrade the BIOS of my Asus K8 SE Deluxe motherboard. I
used
the flash update tool and everything appeared to work perfectly - but
now
my PC doesn't work at all.

It resets either during boot or at login or shortly after boot. This
happens constantly. Safe mode is the only cure.

I solved my SATA problem by reverting to my old IDE drive and this
invariably gave me a stable machine - until I did this BIOS update. Now
no
mater which drive I try to use (SATA or IDE) I get constant resets. I
tried removing all mention of RAID/SATA/Promise from Control Panel but
the
problem persists.

I can't even restore the BIOS to its old settings (I saved an image
before
updating it) since the PC resets before I have time to do this.

Now I have an unusable PC.

Help!

Bobby
Ah so these are the motherboard details! When you say the flashing
appeared
to work perfectly, how do you know - did a message pop up saying so? The
only Asus boards I've flashed have been using a Win98SE system formatted
disk and a progress bar was shown. At the end I've always reset the BIOS
by
doing the shorting the jumper trick for a few minutes (have a read of
the
manual) - that's essential, have you done that?

If the machines a new build, what are the PSU details (make/model and
power
rating)? FYI often OS's will need to be reinstalled after a BIOS flash -
especially if it involved a disk controller, that's why its always best
to
do the job when the drive is still empty.

Paul

OS needs te be reinstalled after a BIOS update ? that's bull

bobby have you tried to set de bios defaults in your BIOS ?



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I had a similar problem and traced it to the disk settings in the bios hard
disk set up area, the disks were being identified correctly but if you
hilighted the disk and pressed enter to go to the addressing mode that had
been reset to chs, resetting to lba or large solved the boot problem.

Not likely to fix anything going back to the previous version if the
original flash to the new version went well (and you mentioned the upgrade
verified the installation).

It didn't.

It's clear that the BIOS version has nothing to do with this and had the
question been asked before you attempted to flash it in the first place I
would have advised against it.

I was advised (on this newsgroup) to upgrade the BIOS to make it recognise
the SATA drive.

Given that the machine is stable in a non-windows environment your
challenge will be to find exactly which part of the Windows XP
installation on the fresh SATA disk causes instability. Perhaps the point
at which it spontaneously reboots will give you a clue.

It reboots at different stages.

Ok that would imply that all of the hardware is up to the task then.

I agree.

Since you've mentioned the system was working perfectly before the new
drive came along and the PSU is still nearly new, its unlikely to be a
contributing factor,

I agree.

At what point does it reset and does it consistently occur at exactly the
same spot irrespective of how long the machine has been running?

No. It resets at different stages during installation and also different
stages when I try to boot Windows.

Have you reviewed what the manual contains about Windows installation.

Yes.

Finally, have you got hold of newer SATA controller drivers from the Asus
website for your motherboard?

Asus does not provide the VIA driver. You have to get this from the VIA
website - which I did.

That would be a few things I'd try, along with checking ALL the BIOS
settings (according to that reference website I posted a link to above).

I will try a different graphics card this evening and recheck my BIOS
settings. The behaviour makes me think that it could be an escoteric BIOS
setting (something to do with voltage or timing). But I don't know what
these should be for my system (DDR 3200 RAM, Athlon 3000+ CPU).

After that, if there's no developments, I suggest you take it to a
computer shop for attention.

Cheaper the buy a new mobo (£50).

Am I right that you can no longer even install XP on the original IDE HDD
while the SATA one is out of the machine/unplugged fully (even after
rechecking the BIOS settings) without it rebooting?

I haven't tried that since I wanted at least one working drive when I got my
system working. Which I haven't. So I'll try that this evening.

Thanks for trying to help.

"Bobby" wrote in message
...
snip
Given that the machine is stable in a non-windows environment your
challenge will be to find exactly which part of the Windows XP
installation on the fresh SATA disk causes instability. Perhaps the point
at which it spontaneously reboots will give you a clue.

It reboots at different stages.

Ok that would imply that all of the hardware is up to the task then.

I agree.

Since you've mentioned the system was working perfectly before the new
drive came along and the PSU is still nearly new, its unlikely to be a
contributing factor,

I agree.

At what point does it reset and does it consistently occur at exactly the
same spot irrespective of how long the machine has been running?

No. It resets at different stages during installation and also different
stages when I try to boot Windows.

In this case all the BIOS settings will need to be rechecked to make sure
everything is running at default speeds, voltages and frequencies (that may
mean a bit of research first with regards to the CPU and memory settings).
Additionally, it would help if you attempt the install with a minimum
configuration - i.e. just one memory module, a VGA card, one HDD, floppy
drive and CDROM or DVD drive plugged in. Any built in functions on the
motherboard can be turned off prior to commencing the install e.g. audio and
LAN. Once its working OK in a minimal configuration, then each item can be
progressively reenabled/installed noting which brings instability back.

Have you reviewed what the manual contains about Windows installation.

Yes.

Finally, have you got hold of newer SATA controller drivers from the Asus
website for your motherboard?

Asus does not provide the VIA driver. You have to get this from the VIA
website - which I did.

I'm not familiar with this board but according to the Asus website here
there's more than just VIA 4 in ones available and individual SATA drivers
(of different types) are listed - are they not applicable?
http://www.asus.it/support/download/...eluxe&Type=All
Are you sure that the SATA controller isn't a Promise brand one (and the VIA
chip is for IDE controller)?

That would be a few things I'd try, along with checking ALL the BIOS
settings (according to that reference website I posted a link to above).

I will try a different graphics card this evening and recheck my BIOS
settings. The behaviour makes me think that it could be an escoteric BIOS
setting (something to do with voltage or timing). But I don't know what
these should be for my system (DDR 3200 RAM, Athlon 3000+ CPU).

The internet is your friend - you could also try asking the shop that sold
you the gear what the settings should be. Generally BIOS default settings
are very conservative and least likely to cause instability so would be a
good starting place.

After that, if there's no developments, I suggest you take it to a
computer shop for attention.

Cheaper the buy a new mobo (£50).

Or you could take it back to the shop you got it all from and explain the
problem - they may be willing to configure it for less.

Am I right that you can no longer even install XP on the original IDE HDD
while the SATA one is out of the machine/unplugged fully (even after
rechecking the BIOS settings) without it rebooting?

I haven't tried that since I wanted at least one working drive when I got
my system working. Which I haven't. So I'll try that this evening.

That would narrow it down to whether its a SATA related issue or more
general.

Thanks for trying to help.

Paul

Bobby, I hate to ask the obvious, but by any chance in your attemt to resolve
this problem could you somehow have dislocated the CPU coo;er or knockes its
power
connestion loose thus causing thermal resets?

John
prankster wrote:

"Bobby" wrote in message
...
As some of you will know, I've been having problems with the new SATA hard
disk.

So I tried to upgrade the BIOS of my Asus K8 SE Deluxe motherboard. I used
the flash update tool and everything appeared to work perfectly - but now
my PC doesn't work at all.

It resets either during boot or at login or shortly after boot. This
happens constantly. Safe mode is the only cure.

I solved my SATA problem by reverting to my old IDE drive and this
invariably gave me a stable machine - until I did this BIOS update. Now no
mater which drive I try to use (SATA or IDE) I get constant resets. I
tried removing all mention of RAID/SATA/Promise from Control Panel but the
problem persists.

I can't even restore the BIOS to its old settings (I saved an image before
updating it) since the PC resets before I have time to do this.

Now I have an unusable PC.

Help!

Bobby
Ah so these are the motherboard details! When you say the flashing appeared
to work perfectly, how do you know - did a message pop up saying so? The
only Asus boards I've flashed have been using a Win98SE system formatted
disk and a progress bar was shown. At the end I've always reset the BIOS by
doing the shorting the jumper trick for a few minutes (have a read of the
manual) - that's essential, have you done that?

If the machines a new build, what are the PSU details (make/model and power
rating)? FYI often OS's will need to be reinstalled after a BIOS flash -
especially if it involved a disk controller, that's why its always best to
do the job when the drive is still empty.

Paul

OS needs te be reinstalled after a BIOS update ? that's bull

bobby have you tried to set de bios defaults in your BIOS ?

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