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#1
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BIOS Update ?
Mainboard: GA-M55plus-S3G When I boot my computer, the first screen of the BIOS claims: "Award v6.00PG". On the website for this board, I see BIOS revisions up thru F15B. I assume the "B" is for beta, but there is no mention of this on the page. I've been trying to update to the F14 version using @BIOS, but it seems to be looking for a .bin file, not a .exe or a ..F14. I made a boot floppy and put flash895.exe, autoexec.bat, and m55s3g10.f14 on it and rebooted. A screen came up that seemed to have the .f14 file pre-entered. I hit enter a couple of times, and it appeared that the floppy was being read. I exited out and rebooted the machine, but the Award page still reads v6.00PG. Can somebody point me to good instructions on how to update this BIOS? -- Thanks, croy |
#2
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BIOS Update ?
On Sat, 23 Mar 2013 11:30:43 -0700, croy
wrote: Hello Croy, When I look at the web site for your board I see there are 3 revision levels: GA-M55plus-S3G GA-M55plus-S3G (rev. 2.1) GA-M55plus-S3G (rev. 3.0) The labels above are from the cover page of the user's manual. If you don't have a user's manual handy then you can determine the revision level of the mainboard by looking immediately to the left of the HDD connector in the bottom corner. It will be "blank" for rev 1.0 boards, else "2.1" or "3.0". The reason for mentioning this is that the numbering system for the bios is not quite as clear as we might hope. For example: Rev 1.0 bios range is F1 - F14 (F15B is beta) Rev 2.1 bios range is FA - FH (FIB is beta) Rev 3.0 bios range is F1 - F7 (F9A I presume is beta). The F1 - F7 bioses for Rev 3.0 are not the same as the Rev 1.0 bioses. So firstly, we need to know the revision level of your motherboard. CHeers, Mainboard: GA-M55plus-S3G When I boot my computer, the first screen of the BIOS claims: "Award v6.00PG". On the website for this board, I see BIOS revisions up thru F15B. I assume the "B" is for beta, but there is no mention of this on the page. I've been trying to update to the F14 version using @BIOS, but it seems to be looking for a .bin file, not a .exe or a .F14. I made a boot floppy and put flash895.exe, autoexec.bat, and m55s3g10.f14 on it and rebooted. A screen came up that seemed to have the .f14 file pre-entered. I hit enter a couple of times, and it appeared that the floppy was being read. I exited out and rebooted the machine, but the Award page still reads v6.00PG. Can somebody point me to good instructions on how to update this BIOS? |
#3
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BIOS Update ?
On Sun, 24 Mar 2013 15:51:27 +1100, Monty
wrote: On Sat, 23 Mar 2013 11:30:43 -0700, croy wrote: Hello Croy, When I look at the web site for your board I see there are 3 revision levels: GA-M55plus-S3G GA-M55plus-S3G (rev. 2.1) GA-M55plus-S3G (rev. 3.0) The labels above are from the cover page of the user's manual. If you don't have a user's manual handy then you can determine the revision level of the mainboard by looking immediately to the left of the HDD connector in the bottom corner. It will be "blank" for rev 1.0 boards, else "2.1" or "3.0". The reason for mentioning this is that the numbering system for the bios is not quite as clear as we might hope. For example: Rev 1.0 bios range is F1 - F14 (F15B is beta) Rev 2.1 bios range is FA - FH (FIB is beta) Rev 3.0 bios range is F1 - F7 (F9A I presume is beta). The F1 - F7 bioses for Rev 3.0 are not the same as the Rev 1.0 bioses. So firstly, we need to know the revision level of your motherboard. Thanks for the reply. This is a rev 1.0 mainboard. -- croy |
#4
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BIOS Update ?
On Sat, 23 Mar 2013 11:30:43 -0700, croy
wrote: Mainboard: GA-M55plus-S3G When I boot my computer, the first screen of the BIOS claims: "Award v6.00PG". The following description is not comprehensive but it attempts to provide a guide to how a BIOS module is created. Think of the BIOS as a set of routines that support the variety of features which are installed/included on your motherboard. These routines are written by Phoenix and supplied to motherboard manufacturers. The manufacturer then selects the routines which are appropriate for a given motherboard and compiles these into a BIOS module using "Award v6.00PG". If one or more routines are rewritten, for whatever reason, this may trigger a new BIOS revision being released by the motherboard manufacturer. These are typically labelled ga-p35-ds4_f1.exe thru ga-p35-ds4_f14.exe or similar. The names used here are applicable for my spare PC. (Croy, It is getting late for me and I will continue tomorrow.) On the website for this board, I see BIOS revisions up thru F15B. I assume the "B" is for beta, but there is no mention of this on the page. I've been trying to update to the F14 version using @BIOS, but it seems to be looking for a .bin file, not a .exe or a .F14. I made a boot floppy and put flash895.exe, autoexec.bat, and m55s3g10.f14 on it and rebooted. A screen came up that seemed to have the .f14 file pre-entered. I hit enter a couple of times, and it appeared that the floppy was being read. I exited out and rebooted the machine, but the Award page still reads v6.00PG. Can somebody point me to good instructions on how to update this BIOS? |
#5
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BIOS Update ?
On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 21:59:58 +1100, Monty
wrote: On Sat, 23 Mar 2013 11:30:43 -0700, croy wrote: Mainboard: GA-M55plus-S3G When I boot my computer, the first screen of the BIOS claims: "Award v6.00PG". The following description is not comprehensive but it attempts to provide a guide to how a BIOS module is created. Think of the BIOS as a set of routines that support the variety of features which are installed/included on your motherboard. These routines are written by Phoenix and supplied to motherboard manufacturers. The manufacturer then selects the routines which are appropriate for a given motherboard and compiles these into a BIOS module using "Award v6.00PG". If one or more routines are rewritten, for whatever reason, this may trigger a new BIOS revision being released by the motherboard manufacturer. These are typically labelled ga-p35-ds4_f1.exe thru ga-p35-ds4_f14.exe or similar. The names used here are applicable for my spare PC. (Croy, It is getting late for me and I will continue tomorrow.) Thanks for the lessons! One problem has been solved--failure to keep the hard drive boot order after a power-off. I put a fresh CMOS battery in, and that seems to have fixed it. The old one measured about 2.6v, whereas the new one was about 3.3v. Maybe more due to contacts than battery strength--the spring in the contacts seems very light. But still curious about BIOS versions, and how to update. It seems like the methods I tried should have worked. But maybe the version isn't reported in the bootup screen (?). -- Cheers! croy |
#6
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BIOS Update ?
croy wrote:
On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 21:59:58 +1100, Monty wrote: On Sat, 23 Mar 2013 11:30:43 -0700, croy wrote: Mainboard: GA-M55plus-S3G When I boot my computer, the first screen of the BIOS claims: "Award v6.00PG". The following description is not comprehensive but it attempts to provide a guide to how a BIOS module is created. Think of the BIOS as a set of routines that support the variety of features which are installed/included on your motherboard. These routines are written by Phoenix and supplied to motherboard manufacturers. The manufacturer then selects the routines which are appropriate for a given motherboard and compiles these into a BIOS module using "Award v6.00PG". If one or more routines are rewritten, for whatever reason, this may trigger a new BIOS revision being released by the motherboard manufacturer. These are typically labelled ga-p35-ds4_f1.exe thru ga-p35-ds4_f14.exe or similar. The names used here are applicable for my spare PC. (Croy, It is getting late for me and I will continue tomorrow.) Thanks for the lessons! One problem has been solved--failure to keep the hard drive boot order after a power-off. I put a fresh CMOS battery in, and that seems to have fixed it. The old one measured about 2.6v, whereas the new one was about 3.3v. Maybe more due to contacts than battery strength--the spring in the contacts seems very light. But still curious about BIOS versions, and how to update. It seems like the methods I tried should have worked. But maybe the version isn't reported in the bootup screen (?). The "Award v6.00PG" is the development stream of the Award software. You would hope, that all the BIOS created for a particular motherboard, are developed using the same tool flow. Changing BIOS tools mid-stream is not a good idea, as it can introduce more bugs. Award is a BIOS company. They provide core code, to make motherboards work. The motherboard manufacturer writes less of the code as a result. In fact, a large number of companies contribute code. So it's not like a single developer sits in the basement at Gigabyte, and cranks out custom code from nothing. To a large extent, it's like conducting a symphony - the BIOS developer is a "conductor", assembling the parts, and tuning stuff. The "Award v6.00PG" then, isn't a revision. You will see a BIOS string printed on the screen 05/19/2004-VT8623-8235-CLE26I01C-00 and the date there might be indicative of the release. Since the BIOS image is a small file system, you can also take the BIOS all apart, into its constituent parts, uncompress it, then view the results as a series of plaintext strings. And figure out stuff from that. With older Award BIOS, the internal compression method is LHA. This package can help with the disassembly, and if you look for posts discussing this package, you'll find worked examples of how to do the disassembly of it. ftp://ftp.heise.de/pub/ct/ctsi/ctmc10.zip If you use your BIOS flashing tools, to make a "backup copy" of the current BIOS contents, you can analyse that and decide what is resident inside the machine right now. Or, take a photo of the first BIOS screen, and figure it out using the "BIOS string" printed on the screen. A "legal" BIOS, should have a unique BIOS string value, so no two motherboards should use the same BIOS string. There were cases in the past, where counterfeit motherboards just copied the BIOS file from another machine. If you see reference on a motherboard manufacturer site to "legal" BIOS, they're trying to claim they didn't steal the code they're providing :-) Paul |
#7
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BIOS Update ?
On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 08:40:32 -0400, Paul
wrote: The "Award v6.00PG" is the development stream of the Award software. You would hope, that all the BIOS created for a particular motherboard, are developed using the same tool flow. Changing BIOS tools mid-stream is not a good idea, as it can introduce more bugs. Award is a BIOS company. They provide core code, to make motherboards work. The motherboard manufacturer writes less of the code as a result. In fact, a large number of companies contribute code. So it's not like a single developer sits in the basement at Gigabyte, and cranks out custom code from nothing. To a large extent, it's like conducting a symphony - the BIOS developer is a "conductor", assembling the parts, and tuning stuff. The "Award v6.00PG" then, isn't a revision. You will see a BIOS string printed on the screen 05/19/2004-VT8623-8235-CLE26I01C-00 and the date there might be indicative of the release. Since the BIOS image is a small file system, you can also take the BIOS all apart, into its constituent parts, uncompress it, then view the results as a series of plaintext strings. And figure out stuff from that. With older Award BIOS, the internal compression method is LHA. This package can help with the disassembly, and if you look for posts discussing this package, you'll find worked examples of how to do the disassembly of it. ftp://ftp.heise.de/pub/ct/ctsi/ctmc10.zip If you use your BIOS flashing tools, to make a "backup copy" of the current BIOS contents, you can analyse that and decide what is resident inside the machine right now. Or, take a photo of the first BIOS screen, and figure it out using the "BIOS string" printed on the screen. Thanks Paul. From the first screen of the BIOS, I see: 09/04/2006-C51-MCP51-6A61HG0LC-00 That's at the very bottom line on the screen. Is that the "BIOS string" you were referring to? -- croy |
#8
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BIOS Update ?
croy wrote:
On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 08:40:32 -0400, Paul wrote: The "Award v6.00PG" is the development stream of the Award software. You would hope, that all the BIOS created for a particular motherboard, are developed using the same tool flow. Changing BIOS tools mid-stream is not a good idea, as it can introduce more bugs. Award is a BIOS company. They provide core code, to make motherboards work. The motherboard manufacturer writes less of the code as a result. In fact, a large number of companies contribute code. So it's not like a single developer sits in the basement at Gigabyte, and cranks out custom code from nothing. To a large extent, it's like conducting a symphony - the BIOS developer is a "conductor", assembling the parts, and tuning stuff. The "Award v6.00PG" then, isn't a revision. You will see a BIOS string printed on the screen 05/19/2004-VT8623-8235-CLE26I01C-00 and the date there might be indicative of the release. Since the BIOS image is a small file system, you can also take the BIOS all apart, into its constituent parts, uncompress it, then view the results as a series of plaintext strings. And figure out stuff from that. With older Award BIOS, the internal compression method is LHA. This package can help with the disassembly, and if you look for posts discussing this package, you'll find worked examples of how to do the disassembly of it. ftp://ftp.heise.de/pub/ct/ctsi/ctmc10.zip If you use your BIOS flashing tools, to make a "backup copy" of the current BIOS contents, you can analyse that and decide what is resident inside the machine right now. Or, take a photo of the first BIOS screen, and figure it out using the "BIOS string" printed on the screen. Thanks Paul. From the first screen of the BIOS, I see: 09/04/2006-C51-MCP51-6A61HG0LC-00 That's at the very bottom line on the screen. Is that the "BIOS string" you were referring to? Yes, that's the BIOS string. If I Google that, I can sometimes find a reference to it. http://www.wimsbios.com/biosupdates/gigabyte.jsp Gigabyte GA-M55PLUS-S3G Athlon 1100 rev 0 FIB GA-M55PLUS-S3GV2 09/04/2006-C51-MCP51-6A61HG0LC-00 So even without looking up the date of the BIOS, on the Gigabyte web site, I can guess at what release it might be (F1B). One reason for using BIOS strings, is for tracing down motherboards which have no labels on the motherboard surface. Some of the PCChips branded motherboards, they have no label on the motherboard. For those motherboards, you use the BIOS string to try to figure out the motherboard information. Every little bit of information helps. Paul |
#9
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BIOS Update ?
On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 04:47:46 -0700, croy
wrote: On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 21:59:58 +1100, Monty wrote: On Sat, 23 Mar 2013 11:30:43 -0700, croy wrote: Mainboard: GA-M55plus-S3G When I boot my computer, the first screen of the BIOS claims: "Award v6.00PG". The following description is not comprehensive but it attempts to provide a guide to how a BIOS module is created. Think of the BIOS as a set of routines that support the variety of features which are installed/included on your motherboard. These routines are written by Phoenix and supplied to motherboard manufacturers. The manufacturer then selects the routines which are appropriate for a given motherboard and compiles these into a BIOS module using "Award v6.00PG". If one or more routines are rewritten, for whatever reason, this may trigger a new BIOS revision being released by the motherboard manufacturer. These are typically labelled ga-p35-ds4_f1.exe thru ga-p35-ds4_f14.exe or similar. The names used here are applicable for my spare PC. (Croy, It is getting late for me and I will continue tomorrow.) Thanks for the lessons! One problem has been solved--failure to keep the hard drive boot order after a power-off. I put a fresh CMOS battery in, and that seems to have fixed it. The old one measured about 2.6v, whereas the new one was about 3.3v. Maybe more due to contacts than battery strength--the spring in the contacts seems very light. But still curious about BIOS versions, and how to update. It seems like the methods I tried should have worked. But maybe the version isn't reported in the bootup screen (?). Croy, firstly an apology for a typo; When I told you where to find the motherboard revision number, I said next to the HDD connector. I meant to type FDD connector. I have uploaded a drawing of the motherboard (from the user manual) and highlighted the location of the revision number. You can see this drawing at http://preview.tinyurl.com/d7qn4vf I have also uploaded a photo of the first page of my Gigabyte BIOS which shows the BIOS revision - F14. On Sunday, I upgraded my BIOS from F12 - using Q-Flash. This photo may be viewed at http://preview.tinyurl.com/cl7gy7n If you want to view the BIOS revision on your PC as it flashes past, just note where the F14 is on the screen on the photo mentioned above and try to watch that spot on your monitor. Failing that, you can always install Belarc Advisor, which will tell you the BIOS revision level. At the moment, I don't think you can update your BIOS to a later level. If my guess is correct, it is already at the latest level for your motherboard which current evidence (the BIOS rev FIB mentioned by Paul) suggests that your motherboard is rev 2.1. I still haven't spelt out the steps that I used to upgrade my bios level from F12 to F14. It basically involves using Q-Flash, a flash drive to hold at least 2MB (1MB for a backup file, 1MB for the update file) and about 5-10 minutes of your time. This writeup will not happen for a couple of days. Cheers for now, |
#10
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BIOS Update ?
On Tue, 26 Mar 2013 21:59:48 +1100, Monty
wrote: Croy, firstly an apology for a typo; When I told you where to find the motherboard revision number, I said next to the HDD connector. I meant to type FDD connector. That wasn't a problem until I read your correction. I hadn't actually looked for the revision because I "knew" it was a rev 1.0 board. But your note, above, prompted me to get down and look, just to verify, and what do I see? 1.2! I have always thought this was a 1.0 board--but now I can't remember why I thought that. This poses a new problem, as the Gigabyte pages don't even mention a rev 1.2. Only 1.0, 2.1, and 3.0. I bought this board myself, and have the manual. The manual is rev. 1001, which I vaguely remember being told is not the same as the board rev. I have uploaded a drawing of the motherboard (from the user manual) and highlighted the location of the revision number. You can see this drawing at http://preview.tinyurl.com/d7qn4vf That link didn't work for me. When I click on the "proceed to this site", I get a message stating, "Invalid or Deleted File". I'm assuming that in that file, you were indicating the very corner of the board, very close to a mounting or tooling hole. I have also uploaded a photo of the first page of my Gigabyte BIOS which shows the BIOS revision - F14. On Sunday, I upgraded my BIOS from F12 - using Q-Flash. This photo may be viewed at http://preview.tinyurl.com/cl7gy7n If you want to view the BIOS revision on your PC as it flashes past, just note where the F14 is on the screen on the photo mentioned above and try to watch that spot on your monitor. Failing that, you can always install Belarc Advisor, which will tell you the BIOS revision level. That page came up fine, but I in the photo I took of that screen on my machine the other day, it shows: "GA-M55plus-S3G FA" At the moment, I don't think you can update your BIOS to a later level. If my guess is correct, it is already at the latest level for your motherboard which current evidence (the BIOS rev FIB mentioned by Paul) suggests that your motherboard is rev 2.1. I looked at that page that Paul referenced, and just get more confused. The first GA-M55plus-S3G listed, carries no revision, and has a Athlon 1100 chipset, and has the same date referenced in the BIOS string, but what's that "V2" on the end of the BIOS Id? My board has the nVidia GE-Foce 6100 chipset, which matches the "rev. 1.x" version, 3 lines down, but the BIOS date doesn't match. It appears that it might be time to send a query to Gigabyte. But I now see they only list phone numbers on their page--no email address. Something to think about when I'm on the hunt for another MB! I still haven't spelt out the steps that I used to upgrade my bios level from F12 to F14. It basically involves using Q-Flash, a flash drive to hold at least 2MB (1MB for a backup file, 1MB for the update file) and about 5-10 minutes of your time. This writeup will not happen for a couple of days. I've watched a you-tube video that shows what looks like the process, and it looked pretty straight-forward. Last night I actually used Q-Flash to make a backup, and saved it to a floppy. I copied it over to a HDD after that, and used CTMC to tear it apart and examine all the pieces, but couldn't find anything the looked like a BIOS rev. Maybe the current rev actually is "FA", but I don't see that on the list for rev. 1.0 boards. Fortunately, this box is now running well enough that I can take my time with updating the BIOS. Thanks for the help and the time you've put in on this. -- croy |
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