A computer components & hardware forum. HardwareBanter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » HardwareBanter forum » Motherboards » Gigabyte Motherboards
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

BIOS Update ?



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old March 23rd 13, 07:30 PM posted to alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte
croy
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 11
Default 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  
Old March 24th 13, 05:51 AM posted to alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte
Monty[_3_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 21
Default 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  
Old March 24th 13, 05:10 PM posted to alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte
croy
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 11
Default 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  
Old March 25th 13, 11:59 AM posted to alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte
Monty[_3_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 21
Default 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  
Old March 25th 13, 12:47 PM posted to alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte
croy
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 11
Default 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  
Old March 25th 13, 01:40 PM posted to alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte
Paul
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 13,364
Default 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  
Old March 26th 13, 01:12 AM posted to alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte
croy
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 11
Default 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  
Old March 26th 13, 01:52 AM posted to alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte
Paul
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 13,364
Default 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  
Old March 26th 13, 11:59 AM posted to alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte
Monty[_3_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 21
Default 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  
Old March 27th 13, 01:34 AM posted to alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte
croy
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 11
Default 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
 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
bios update? Borked Pseudo Mailed Homebuilt PC's 8 February 16th 09 06:32 PM
GA-k8NXP-9 BIOS update failed - BIOS Write Protection Error! Heribert Huber Gigabyte Motherboards 4 August 18th 05 11:33 PM
$50 for a BIOS update? [email protected] Gigabyte Motherboards 8 April 12th 04 09:48 AM
Bios update? philo Homebuilt PC's 14 January 22nd 04 02:04 AM
My computer cant update ESCD at startup! I can't Flash the bios update! Iorón:rote Asus Motherboards 0 January 19th 04 01:29 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 05:25 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 HardwareBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.