P4S800-MX (revision 2) and Celeron D

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Son of Blahguy

Hi all new to Asus boards,

I am about to use a Celeron 2.4 Ghz D in a P4S00-MX
The Asus site says it is supported, but only after BIOS 1009.

Does this mean
A) it won't POST out of the box if I use this CPU?
or
B) it will POST, but won't function properly.

I don't have access to an older 478 CPU that would function so I would like
to know before I try.
If the answer is B then I could flash the BIOS at first boot.

Just looking closer at the mobo there is a long thin sticker on the board
near the FDD header, with a bar code and a series of numbers on it. The last
number is 1009, could/does this refer to the BIOS?


On using EZ Flash. Are there 2 methods or is one wrong.
In the manual it says to download the BIOS (*.awd, yes?) file and rename the
file to P4S800MX.BIN and the mobo will find it automatically.

On the Asus website it says to just put the new BIOS on a floppy and type
the name when prompted.

I didn't find any information on the Asus website regarding these questions.

Cheers

TIA.
 
Son of Blahguy said:
Hi all new to Asus boards,

I am about to use a Celeron 2.4 Ghz D in a P4S00-MX
The Asus site says it is supported, but only after BIOS 1009.

Does this mean
A) it won't POST out of the box if I use this CPU?
or
B) it will POST, but won't function properly.

I don't have access to an older 478 CPU that would function so I would like
to know before I try.
If the answer is B then I could flash the BIOS at first boot.

Just looking closer at the mobo there is a long thin sticker on the board
near the FDD header, with a bar code and a series of numbers on it. The last
number is 1009, could/does this refer to the BIOS?


On using EZ Flash. Are there 2 methods or is one wrong.
In the manual it says to download the BIOS (*.awd, yes?) file and rename the
file to P4S800MX.BIN and the mobo will find it automatically.

On the Asus website it says to just put the new BIOS on a floppy and type
the name when prompted.

I didn't find any information on the Asus website regarding these questions.

Cheers

TIA.
Click to expand...

The experience from some users, when Celeron D first showed up,
was a black screen at POST. That implies you might not be able to
flash your way out of trouble.

If you don't have an older processor, to boostrap your way out of
trouble, either contact Asus and buy an EEPROM from them with
a later version of firmware, or contact badflash.com and buy one
from them. It is possible someone in your town has an EEPROM
flasher, or could hot flash an EEPROM for you, but don't count
on it.

I have some boards here, where there was a sticker on the socketed
flash chip itself, indicating the revision of code. My A7N8X-E didn't
have a sticker, and the other labels didn't correlate with the
release that was in there. Based on that, there is no way of
predicting what the BIOS release might be.

Crashfree (when a bad checksum is detected) is looking for a particular
named file, so renaming the file would be necessary for that to work.
Typically, the motherboard CD that came with the product, has an
appropriately named file on it, but the version of the firmware
on the CD could be a lot older than the one currently in the
flash chip. The other methods will probably allow you to type
an arbitrary file name, to find the file.

Sometimes the download web page will have special notes for a
particular release of BIOS, saying not to use particular methods
to burn the new firmware. Always check the release notes (the
"more" link on the download page) for details, if there are any.

If you need to remove the socketed flash chip, Radio Shack has a
nice tool, for $10, that will aid in removing the chip without
messing up the pins. Take note of the orientation of the chip,
before removing it. There could be an indentation (a dot) on the
top of the chip, indicating pin one. It will line up with a
triangle on the socket. The cheapest version of the removal tool is
just a U-shaped piece of metal, and sometimes that tool is included
with a new BIOS chip, if you buy one from the web. Removal is
more difficult than insertion, and for insertion, just pushing it
into place with your thumb is enough. When pushing on the chip,
always make sure the motherboard is supported so that no excessive
bending stresses are placed on the motherboard.

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog_name=CTLG&product_id=276-2101

HTH,
Paul
 
always make sure the motherboard is supported so that no excessive
bending stresses are placed on the motherboard.

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog_name=CTLG&product_id=276-2101

HTH,
Paul
Click to expand...

LOL, thanks for that, but I don't want to go through that hassle in the
first place - which is why I was seeking those answers. I might see if the
store I bought it from has an idea about the BIOS version as I think they
use them to build thier base PCs.
The PC I am building is supposed to be a cheap (quick!) PC for my sister to
replace her Pentium 133.
I haven't touched the board yet so hopefully I have the option of
returning/swapping or maybe they could perform the BIOS update if need be.
I am so accustomed to providing my own support that it didn't occur to me to
call the store and ask - I just called them. They did say it should be OK,
but I really hate salemen in all thier incarnations so we shall see!
 
FYI the board comes with the 1009 BIOS, which supports most CPUs, up to 3.4
Ghz.

Cheers
 
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