AWARD BIOS FLASH

ImAgeekNEway · April 22nd, 2003, 10:29 PM

Hey all,

Long time no post. Well, at least not to this section.

I have a question regarding the flashing of a BIOS. I looked through the threads andsome of the supplied links from some of the readers and I almost got an answer but didn't see exactly what my system is ailing from.

My system is some what old, about 4 years old, I upgraded the HD, RAM, CD burner, and the OS to XP.

Since the new HD was only able to have almost half of its' true capacity read due to an old BIOS, I opted to upgrade the BIOS just so that I can get full usage of the HD.

I downloaded the BIOS flash program from esupport.com last night and followed all the instructions to the "T". Now after that has been done, the memory counts twice, then it goes to boot up Windows XP, where upon loading of XP (at the status screen where you see the status bar) it is JUST about to load up, and freezes.

I've tried all the FAQ's and troubleshooting techniques on the esupport website, all to no avail. Anyone have any ideas?

The thing that sucks is that according to this company, since I placed my order online I am only opted for support via e-mail. When I am at work I can't call them and stay on hold for a while because it's not toll free. Also when I get home from work they are closed (they're open 9-4).

Any good advice is welcomed and appreciated.

-Mike

wju425 · April 22nd, 2003, 10:39 PM

How was your drive installed? Was it partitioned to match the old bios? Maybe a reformat and reinstall will fix it. Interesting thing is that when the bios don't see all the drive windows can. Maybe the parameters didn't match.

\o/ Billy

ImAgeekNEway · April 22nd, 2003, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by wju425
How was your drive installed? Was it partitioned to match the old bios? Maybe a reformat and reinstall will fix it. Interesting thing is that when the bios don't see all the drive windows can. Maybe the parameters didn't match.

\o/ Billy

Well yeah it was put in when the old BIOS was there. I will be DAMNED if I am going to reformat almost 40 gigs worth of information when in fact all I need to do is "this or that" to make it work. NO WAY JOSE`!

Thank you anyways.

I'm looking for a solution to repairing what has been done. NOT starting over. I would wait months to save the money for a new PC before I would reformat that hard drive.

-Mike

DoctorReno · April 22nd, 2003, 11:29 PM

As far as the memory counting up twice that is a BIOS setting. I Can't tell you exactly offhand where its at.... it will be on the same page as where you set things like numlock and detect floppy on start up etc. It will be something like fast POST or Express POST. You want to set it to the fast mode and then it will only check the memory once.

And Billy is correct that even if your old BIOS dosen't recognize the full HDD capacity and let you format it that XP will recognize it and let you format the entire drive.

And depending on the MoBo mfg and how they modified the BIOS to suit themselfs it is probably NOT going to be a just do this or do that solution.

Let me see, you would rather have this system dead for months while you stubbornly wait for a nonexistent solution rather then facing the facts and spending a couple hours watching TV while you reinstall XP?

Inflamitory comment deleted.
I think you mis read the post because your comment was uncalled for.

surreal

DoctorReno · April 22nd, 2003, 11:33 PM

If you have data that you want to recover simply configure this drive as the slave drive. Install your old drive and OS as the master. You can then access the info on your new drive and copy it.
Once you have recovered what you want reverse the configurations and reformat your new drive and reinstall XP under the new BIOS and then copy back the data.
It's simple.

youngqd · April 22nd, 2003, 11:52 PM

Is your new BIOS set for ACPI power management? That will cause Windows failure. It's unlikely your 4 year old setup had it. Shut off all power management and see if it won't boot.

ImAgeekNEway · April 23rd, 2003, 01:39 AM

-Mike Your profanity was deleted along with you derogatory remarks. TechIMO FAQ

Quote:

You will not use profane, vulgar, or obscene language nor post content that is vulgar, obscene, profane, sexually oriented or sexually suggestive, nor will you link to sites or pages with related content. Said language or content will be removed without notice.

I understand you are frustrated, but if someone posts something you do not like you let moderator know.
surreal
Moderator

beppodmime · April 23rd, 2003, 04:04 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ImAgeekNEway
Hey all,

Long time no post.

Maybe that's a good thing.

And if you are entirely too frustrated with this issue, and are flying off the handle like you are now, might I recommend one of two options.

One: Take a day or two away from the problem, put it out of your mind. If you're anything like me, you won't get anything constructive done with any kind of problem if you're a little huffy-puffy about it.

Two: Let someone else handle it. If you're at wits end, there's no trouble asking someone more knowledgeable than yourself for help. Let them do it, let them deal with the headaches.

Or bite the bullet and reformat like the others recommended. I am not aware myself of any other solution. But, you could wait and see if anyone else replies to this thread, although considering that outburst, you'll probably just get a boot from the forum.

OuTpaTienT · April 23rd, 2003, 05:37 AM

Quote with language deleted
surreal

Sorry Mike, but if you aren't old enough or just don't have the common sense to realize that comments like that are not acceptable under any circumstances around here, then I can guarantee you won't be getting much help around here either.

Adjust the attitude, or find another forum that will put up with it.

youngqd · April 23rd, 2003, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by youngqd
Is your new BIOS set for ACPI power management? That will cause Windows failure. It's unlikely your 4 year old setup had it. Shut off all power management and see if it won't boot.

I repeat - If you installed XP without power management that is what XP expects to find. ACPI power management assigns very low level hardware interrupts to control all sorts of things. An old BIOS version from 4 years ago most likely didn't handle ACPI. Turn off all BIOS power management, turn on PNP power management ala Window98 only. IF this is so then you would not need to reformat nor reinstall.