K8V BIOS change list?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bob Petruska
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Bob Petruska

Anyone have a list of what changes occured on each K8V BIOS revision?

The ASUS web site gives very limited information and what I can locate on
the WEB is also minimal.

I'm running version 001 and my machine is running quite flawleslly. It
there any definite reason I should upgrade the BIOS to a newer version that
fixes something I'm not aware of and should be? Especailly down the road.

Also Asus presents 3 different techniques to upgrade the K8V BIOS. Which is
the most realiable, easiest?
 
Anyone have a list of what changes occured on each K8V BIOS revision?

The ASUS web site gives very limited information and what I can locate on
the WEB is also minimal.

I'm running version 001 and my machine is running quite flawleslly. It
there any definite reason I should upgrade the BIOS to a newer version that
fixes something I'm not aware of and should be? Especailly down the road.

Also Asus presents 3 different techniques to upgrade the K8V BIOS. Which is
the most realiable, easiest?
Click to expand...

Sometimes a new version may actually cause problems you don't have now,
so I say... if it's not broke, don't fix it!

I don't flash my bios just because they have a new one, my latest asus
has been running flawless for over a year now and there is 3 or 4 new
BIOS updates for it, I ain't touching it unless a new BIOS supports
newer CPUs or fixes a problem with Win64, etc, etc.

Ed
 
"Bob Petruska" said:
Anyone have a list of what changes occured on each K8V BIOS revision?

The ASUS web site gives very limited information and what I can locate on
the WEB is also minimal.

I'm running version 001 and my machine is running quite flawleslly. It
there any definite reason I should upgrade the BIOS to a newer version that
fixes something I'm not aware of and should be? Especailly down the road.

Also Asus presents 3 different techniques to upgrade the K8V BIOS. Which is
the most realiable, easiest?
Click to expand...

If the machine is quite flawless, there really isn't a reason to update.
The 1003 BIOS lists new supported CPUs, and you can see the BIOS
dependency on a page like this:

http://www.asus.com.tw/support/cpusupport/cpusupport.aspx

For the K8V, it says a 2800+, or a 3700+ is supported by BIOS 1003.

As for update method, a Windows update utility is the easiest,
but the LEAST reliable. The reason a floppy based method is
more reliable, is because there are no other pesky programs
running at the same time, to upset the programming process. You
want as simple and as stable a platform as possible, before
flashing, and the floppy based methods are better from that
perspective.

And, any flash operation that updates the Boot Block, will leave
you with virtually no option if there is a problem with the
flash. The Asus Crashfree feature, relies on code in the Boot Block,
so when a flash update changes the Boot Block, you are "working
without a net", in circus parlance. Sometimes you are given no
choice, but if you do have a choice, then not updating the Boot
Block the first time, could allow you to recover from a bad
flash. Many flash problems are caused by downloading the wrong
file to flash with, or not reading any special instructions in
the "More" link, next to the flash file download link.

HTH,
Paul
 
Ed,

That's what I was getting at. If Asus doesn't tell us what all has changed
it's not worth updating to cause new additional problems one didn't haave
before.

This is why I believe it would be nice to know changes related to each BIOS
rev change.
 
Paul,

Thanks for that information, especially the flashing perspective. I will go
with the floopy method when I need to flash.

But on the BIOS revision there must be more than support w new CPUs. Rev
1003 must also include what was in 1002. It definitely would be nice is
Asus would furnish a list of changes on each rev.
 
"Bob Petruska" said:
Paul,

Thanks for that information, especially the flashing perspective. I will go
with the floopy method when I need to flash.

But on the BIOS revision there must be more than support w new CPUs. Rev
1003 must also include what was in 1002. It definitely would be nice is
Asus would furnish a list of changes on each rev.
Click to expand...

While Asus has improved, over the time I've been posting in this
newsgroup, they just don't "get" what release notes are all
about. I've always done release notes and change logs for
everything I've designed, and it even helps the designer
and the design staff remember what has been modified.
Why it is so difficult to reliably include this info
escapes me, unless in actual fact the BIOS work is being
done completely external to Asus. I'm sure the body of the
BIOS code is owned by AMI/Award/Phoenix, and at least some
of the BIOS changes have to come from them. Any little customizations,
like AI Booster and the like, could come from Asus or from the
BIOS provider. I can see the info being lost in the handoff
between companies, but there must be a bug tracking system
in the organization somewhere, because customer reported problems
do get fixed (eventually).

Obviously, Asus doesn't want to put anything in print, that would
cause a wave of RMAs. Most of the board specific info provided,
over and above the contents of the manual, is tersely worded,
to say the least. The so-called FAQ page makes me laugh some
times - they shouldn't even have bothered with one, as again,
they just don't get it. It is like someone told them to do it,
and they didn't understand the concept. They could always write
a full explanation in Taiwanese, and then get someone to translate
it. They do know a hell of a lot, about the quirks of their
boards, as some people have reported when talking to Asus Tech
Support. But I guess they just don't want to put that info into
print. (Like if they admitted that the P4S8X had a bad Vcore
regulator design, all the customers would want to swap for a
board with an improved Vcore design :-)

Paul
 
What you just said makes some sense. It's too bad they can't comply to our
needs. Maybe we don't send them enough emails complaining. I shall send
one in a few minutes.....
 
What you just said makes some sense. It's too bad they can't comply to our
needs. Maybe we don't send them enough emails complaining. I shall send
one in a few minutes.....
Click to expand...

Maybe we buy too many, so they don't care.

btw, Asus ain't the only one who knows how to make a decent mobo.

Ed
 
Hi,

from past experience when ASUS did give minimal information about the bios
updates most of the changes were

- Support for newer CPUs
- Support for newer/faster ram
- Fixes for bugs in ram timing issues

What was interesting was that the latest set of beta's for the K8V Deluxe
(the 1008d) series, came out just after AMD anounced the fix for the
Athlon/Opteron bug, but ASUS have now pulled those beta's. I've been running
the 1008d.006 for about 3 weeks and so far so good, but I am a little
concerned they pulled it so quick.

Craig
 
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