EZ Flash Bios: P4S800

  • Thread starter Thread starter 1stgrandpa
  • Start date Start date
1

1stgrandpa

Hello,

Following the manual, I've tried and tried to get the EZ Flash to work, no
joy. The latest update is 1006 in a ZIP file. I've extracted the file to a
floppy to see if it will work...it won't! I tried to update the bios without
extracting, that doesn't work either. Does anyone have any suggestions on
how to get this bios updated???

Thanks,

Curt.
 
[email protected] said:
Hello,

Following the manual, I've tried and tried to get the EZ Flash to work, no
joy. The latest update is 1006 in a ZIP file. I've extracted the file to a
floppy to see if it will work...it won't! I tried to update the bios without
extracting, that doesn't work either. Does anyone have any suggestions on
how to get this bios updated???

Thanks,

Curt.
Click to expand...

The download file I see is P4S800_06.zip (214251 bytes). It contains

Group2.ROM 35696 bytes
P4S800_06.AWD 262144 bytes (256KB exactly)

The AWD file is the one that you use to program the flash. I have no idea
what the Group2.ROM file is doing in there. That file corresponds to a
subsection of the .AWD file, but I don't think that has anything to do
with flashing the BIOS. The manual claims the board has a 2Megabit
flash chip, so a 256KB file just exactly fills it.

I would rename the file, to fit a DOS 8.3 naming convention, like
P4S80006.AWD .

So, first off, have you verified that your floppy works ? If you have
a utility that can do a checksum on a file, you might check that the
checksum of the file, as copied to the floppy, matches the checksum
of the file where is was unzipped on your hard drive.

If you cannot get EZFLASH to work, there is always AFLASH221, which
is listed on the download page:

http://www.asus.com.tw/support/download/item.aspx?ModelName=P4S800&Type=All

There are instructions in the manual for that, and the toughest part
will be getting your OS to make a bootable floppy diskette. Make sure
to back up (make an archival copy of) the BIOS currently stored in the
flash, in case there is a problem with the flashing operation, you
can immediately try to reflash with the original flash file. There
should be room on your bootable floppy for both the archived flash file
and the new flash file at the same time.

HTH,
Paul
 
The download file I see is P4S800_06.zip (214251 bytes). It contains

Group2.ROM 35696 bytes
P4S800_06.AWD 262144 bytes (256KB exactly)

The AWD file is the one that you use to program the flash. I have no idea
what the Group2.ROM file is doing in there. That file corresponds to a
subsection of the .AWD file, but I don't think that has anything to do
with flashing the BIOS. The manual claims the board has a 2Megabit
flash chip, so a 256KB file just exactly fills it.

I would rename the file, to fit a DOS 8.3 naming convention, like
P4S80006.AWD .

So, first off, have you verified that your floppy works ? If you have
a utility that can do a checksum on a file, you might check that the
checksum of the file, as copied to the floppy, matches the checksum
of the file where is was unzipped on your hard drive.

If you cannot get EZFLASH to work, there is always AFLASH221, which
is listed on the download page:

http://www.asus.com.tw/support/download/item.aspx?ModelName=P4S800&Type=All

There are instructions in the manual for that, and the toughest part
will be getting your OS to make a bootable floppy diskette. Make sure
to back up (make an archival copy of) the BIOS currently stored in the
flash, in case there is a problem with the flashing operation, you
can immediately try to reflash with the original flash file. There
should be room on your bootable floppy for both the archived flash file
and the new flash file at the same time.

HTH,
Paul
Click to expand...

I figured out where the Group2.ROM file comes from. My unzipping tool
is unzipping the LHA compressed AWD file :-) That won't happen to you.
After you unzip, you should be able to use P4S800_06.AWD and
AFLASH221 on a MSDOS bootable floppy just fine.

Paul
 
Paul,

Thanks for the excellent advice, but I was able to update the bios using
AsusUpdate found on the support disk. It was a much easier process than
using EZFlash. I was mistakenly under the impression that AFlash or EZFlash
were the only ways to update. Glad I snooped around on the support CD.

Thanks again,

Curt.
 
"Curt" said:
Paul,

Thanks for the excellent advice, but I was able to update the bios using
AsusUpdate found on the support disk. It was a much easier process than
using EZFlash. I was mistakenly under the impression that AFlash or EZFlash
were the only ways to update. Glad I snooped around on the support CD.

Thanks again,

Curt.
Click to expand...

I'm not a great fan of Windows level flashing, because occasionally
someone will get burned by it. The DOS level of doing things is safer,
assuming you get your hands on the right BIOS file before updating.
If you wish to continue using the Windows method, be aware that sometimes
a newer version of Asusupdate is needed than the one on your CD. The
release notes for the BIOS will mention this, if it is an issue.

Paul
 
Back
Top