Friends,
I've spent the better part of three days hashing out a problem and rather than ask the question I will relate the problem along with its cure so that others might have a resource to refer to if they encounter the same difficulty.
SCENARIO
I take second hand machines, clean them up, upgrade them as best I can and donate them to kids, elderly, single moms, etc. It's not really all that do-good BS, but provides a constructive outlet to the hobby of rebuilding computers and keeps the old hulks from crowding me out of my own living space.
HARDWARE
Micron Client Pro CS, PII 500Mhz, 128MB
Motherboard: DR737, Presto
Award BIOS V4.51PG, Micron BIOS 2.71, BIOS Version (7/23/1999-i440BX-W977TF-2A69KB3FC-00). Motherboard silkscreened part number (MBD001111-01)
OS's - Win98_se and Win_2000
PROBLEM
Win2000 was freezing halfway through the Device installation screen and would not respond to manual reboot button nor Ctrl-Alt-Del rebooting. It froze dead in the water and only budged when the power cord was pulled.
The reason I am loading both OS's is that, along with the old Hardware, I have quite a few games that are of the same generation. Since the machine is going to a young kid, he or she will get the games and can run them in Win98.
When he or she needs more up to date applications or peripheral devices, they can boot to 2000.
As noted above the BIOS was quite old.
WHAT DIDN'T WORK
Tried searching DriverGuide.com for an updated BIOS Flash as well as the Micron Support page. None of those BIOS's worked.
GVC Driver Summary awdflash BIOS failed! I learned how to recover but it didn't work! - Virtual Dr Forums-Computer Tech Support Notes, Manuals and FAQs
Manuals
ftp://ftp.micronpc.com/Support/Deskt...als/Mas001562/ ftp://ftp.micronpc.com/Support/Desktop/
WHAT DID WORK
Then went to WIMSBIOS and found the answer:
60GB: i440BX-W977TF-2A69KB3FC-00 - Wim's BIOS Page Finding The Right BIOS Flash
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Joined: 20 Mar 2002
Posts: 3122
Location: Slovakia
Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2003 10:37 am
Post subject: Found this:
10/22/1999-i440BX-W977TF-2A69KB3FC-00
MICRON BIOS VERSION 2.8
http://www.otcomp.com/support/dr737/otcomp_bios-2.8.zip http://www.otcomp.com/support/dr737/otcomp_bios-2.8.zip
unpack the zip file with winzip.
rename the otcomp-2.8.awd file to newbios.bin
Edwin posted this:
edwin / The Hardware Archivist
Joined: 20 Mar 2002
Posts: 4191
Location: Netherlands
use the flash.exe inside the zip file.
flash /Pn backup.bin /Sy
flash newbios.bin /Py /Sn /CC /CP /CD
Supports HDDs up to 64GB, should be patchable up to 128GB.
60GB: i440BX-W977TF-2A69KB3FC-00 - Wim's BIOS Page
I should note that "newbios.bin" was actually "otcomp.bin"
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MAKING BIOS FLASH BOOT DISK
And that I used a PCDOS v. 7 Flash boot disk that just had very rudimentary files.
http://www.biosmods.com/download/bootdisk/pcdos700.exe
Created from that file a bootable floppy.
Then unzipped the following file:
http://www.otcomp.com/support/dr737/otcomp_bios-2.8.zip
copied the Flash.exe and otcomp.bin onto the Flash Boot Floopy
Booted the machine.
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This also was a very helpful page in understanding BIOS Flash utility switches:
Flashing AWARD BIOS's
Particularly in
preparing the machine for flashing, that is disabling all shadowing int the BIOS along with power management.
I followed the instructions to the T.
BIOS flashing proceeded flawlessly.
I rebooted the machine, went back into BIOS setup and restored defaults and re-identified the IDE devices.
Rebooted.
Windows 2000 now installed without a hitch.
Sorry if it's a little messy. Use the links though and it ought to save you a great deal of time.
Hope this helps.
Kopfjaeger
hardware
prices 
