procedure to use a flash writer

Sayang · Post by **Sayang** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 3:52 am

Hi lads,

My bios is screwed-up

However, I have access to a flash writer

Q: I dump the RV bios file (256ko) directly to the flash?

Thanks.

Dave Rave · Post by **Dave Rave** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 3:22 am

while i'm looking for more info ....
if you can use a flash writer, you must be able to extract your bios chip.
if you can get access to another bp6 board, you can, ....
boot the good board..
take out it's chip..
put in bad chip..
run bios flash program...
all better bow

Dave Rave · Post by **Dave Rave** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 3:27 am

http://www.amptron.com/documents/Recover.pdf

Sayang · Post by **Sayang** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 5:35 am

The pdf says:

Remove the BIOS ROM and manually reprogram it on an EEPROM programmer.

It's not too much helping though

Sayang · Post by **Sayang** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 5:36 am

Thanks for the link, the pdf says:

Remove the BIOS ROM and manually reprogram it on an EEPROM programmer.

It's not too much helping though

Sayang · Post by **Sayang** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 5:36 am

Thanks for the link, the pdf says:

Remove the BIOS ROM and manually reprogram it on an EEPROM programmer.

It's not too much helping though

Dave Rave · Post by **Dave Rave** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 5:07 pm

try the auto-boot load options mentioned first.
then, if you're going to write the chip in the writer, it won't matter how you do it.
if you can, you can re-do it if it's wrong.
===
hint, hit the submit button, do something else while it posts.
hit submit again, it will repost!

InactiveX · Post by **InactiveX** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 1:18 pm

Hi Sayang,

If you have had a bad BIOS flash, you can start your BP6 with an old ISA video card and get a rudimentary display. From there you can flash the BIOS again with a boot floppy in the usual way.

I have done this before on my BP6 when a flash went pfffft. Nowadays I always keep an ISA video card in case it happens again.

Sayang · Post by **Sayang** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 5:45 am

InactiveX wrote:Hi Sayang,

If you have had a bad BIOS flash, you can start your BP6 with an old ISA video card and get a rudimentary display. From there you can flash the BIOS again with a boot floppy in the usual way.

I have done this before on my BP6 when a flash went pfffft. Nowadays I always keep an ISA video card in case it happens again.

Indeed my ROM checksum is incorrect.
I can start and flash without an ISA card: my AGP card works.
But flashing fails writing for the first 14 blocks of flash using awdflash (see my post here: http://www.bp6.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=2119)

Do you think the ISA card solves the flash write error?

Sayang · Post by **Sayang** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 7:47 am

Sayang wrote:Do you think the ISA card solves the flash write error?

I can't wait for other's input to I tried:
Great... it worked without my AGP card, I get rid of the write errors
and without any graphics card at all!
I used the autoexec.bat to automatically flash at boot.

You can throw away your (old) ISA card

InactiveX · Post by **InactiveX** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 8:56 am

Glad to hear of your success.

davd_bob · Post by **davd_bob** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 10:40 pm

Sayang,
congrats on your sucess.

Sayang wrote:
Sayang wrote:Do you think the ISA card solves the flash write error?
I can't wait for other's input to I tried:
Great... it worked without my AGP card, I get rid of the write errors
and without any graphics card at all!
I used the autoexec.bat to automatically flash at boot.

You can throw away your (old) ISA card

I did throw away all my old ISA video cards...along with most of my floppy drives. Now I know to keep some of that "vintage" stuff around because its so old that in some cases you can use it to as backdoor access when the front door is locked.

Personally I hate flashing BIOS. It scares my hair grey.

InactiveX · Post by **InactiveX** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 11:31 am

davd_bob wrote:I did throw away all my old ISA video cards...along with most of my floppy drives. Now I know to keep some of that "vintage" stuff around because its so old that in some cases you can use it to as backdoor access when the front door is locked.

I know what you mean. I had to buy a box of floppies last time I wanted to do a BIOS flash. I've removed the floppy drives from both my PCs, but still keep one in the cupboard along with my ISA vid card.

davd_bob wrote:Personally I hate flashing BIOS. It scares my hair grey.

I know that feeling as well!