ID Mainboard and BIOS Upgrade on PB Platinum 4001 -...

is there any way to recover from a bad flash BIOS?

In article <qso4JCAQhKN8E @longley.demon.co.uk>, David Longley
<D @longley.demon.co.uk> writes



--
David Longley

In article <a12gug$sf @news6.svr.pol.co.uk>, Unununium
<M @arms4.fsnet.co.uk> writes

Well, it went a bit worse than that. Some of the notes on the MSI site
are a little hard to follow when alternating between AMI and AWARD
loaders - I'm pretty sure the .txt file which accompanies the AWARD
files is wrong here.

Anyway, my problem was solved by just clearing CMOS by the board jumper.
However, there is a waqy of recovering from corrupt BIOS:

Boot Recovery Feature
For AMI BIOS:

Rename the desired AMI BIOS file to AMIBOOT.ROM and save it on a floppy
disk. e.g. Rename A569MS23.ROM to AMIBOOT.ROM

Insert this floppy disk in the floppy drive. Turn On the system and
press and hold Ctrl-Home to force update. It will read the AMIBOOT.ROM
file and recover the BIOS from the A drive.

When 4 beeps are heard you may remove the floppy disk and restart the
computer.
For Award BIOS:

Make a bootable floopy disk
Copy the Award flash utility & BIOS file to the said floppy disk
Create an autoexec.bat with "awdfl535 biosfilename" in the content e.g.
awdfl535 a619mj21.bin

Boot up system with the said floppy (it will take less than 2 minutes
before screen comes out)

Re-flash the BIOS & reboot.

There's an FAQ on the MSI board about what to do with the 6119 board and
40GB maxtor drives.... use AWARD 2.8 it says. Alas, that doesn't seem to
work with the PB board. Like all the rest of the AWARD bios images and
my board (at least), I get the red warning that the hardware is not
standard or something. It may just be that the user had a more
fundamental problem when his drive blew (the ASIC on the controller
board of the drive is literally blown. It may have been a short down the
cable from the motherboard I guess, and maybe there's something odd
about the mainboard now. Anyway - looks like I have tried all the
options available so unless someone knows of a BIOS that works with 40GB
drives like the Maxtor without these red warnings, I'll leave it here.



--
David Longley

Hi David,

Have you tried posting at alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.msi­-microstar. You never know.

I also found this

Rob

Hi David,

Its a Microstar 6119 V2 motherboard, a.k.a "Tacoma" board by PB. It uses AMI (American Megatrends) BIOS.

Go here for specs on the board http://www.uktsupport.co.uk/pb /mb/tacoma.htm

Go here for BIOS upgrades (PB Site) I've included both 1.83 and 1.90 versions. Just choose which one you think is best.
http://support.packardbell-eur ope.com/support/download/itemn r/REFBIOS...

http://support.packardbell-eur ope.com/support/download/itemn r/REFBIOS...

If OE truncates any of the provided links just cut and paste the whole thing into your browser.

If you'd prefer to use MSI's BIOS's then go here
http://www.msi.com.tw/support/ bios/bios.php?model=MS-6119

As you can see there are also AWARD BIOS available, and IMO they give more options over the AMI BIOS's, especially the ability to upgrade to larger HDD's. By the looks of it anyway all the AMI BIOS's look dated so if you specifically wanted the AMI BIOS then I would use the ones from the PB site above. However, If you decide to change to the AWARD BIOS then follow the instructions on this page http://www.msi.com.tw/support/ bios/note.htm Look right at the bottom of that page for the specific instructions on changing from AMI to AWARD. There you will also find the utility for flashing the BIOS.

If you need anymore help post back here.

Rob

Many thanks,

Before reading your note I downloaded the AMI utility which purports to
identify your motherboard - it came back saying it was an NEC BIOS. Odd
that as it clearly announces itself as AMI A6119P2. I'll go and have a
look at the upgrades, but I'm still puzzled as to why the AMI utility
reports it as NEC....

In article <a11rqi$eo @news8.svr.pol.co.uk>, Unununium
<M @arms4.fsnet.co.uk> writes



--
David Longley

Thanks - that explains that.

I have, since last posting, downloaded the latest AMI and AWARD BIOS
images and tried both.

The 1.90 AMIBIOS makes no difference re recognition of the 40GB drive
without it being jumpered to limit the cylinders.

The two latest AWARD BIOS images load OK, even see the larger drive as
its full capacity *BUT* there's a series of bleeps accompanied by red
warning that there is a hardware problem. It continues to boot OK, and
seems to run OK, but the message doesn't go away regardless of what you
do  in SETUP.

Looks like one is stuck with 1.90 and rejumpering the drive to less than
the full capacity. Anyone made any more progress?

In article <a121tj$i5 @news8.svr.pol.co.uk>, Unununium
<M @arms4.fsnet.co.uk> writes



--
David Longley

Hi David,

NEC / PB same people

Rob