Have you tried reflashing the BIOS?
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Flashed BIOS freezes at "Update DMI information"
Hi,
In trying to add an 80GB hdd to a Pentiium II-300 on an ASUS P2L97 mobo, discovered the BIOS couldn't do anything over 32 gb.
So downloaded the latest (1999) BIOS which was supposed to work with over 32GB drives. Flash was successful - it said - but on first boot, after reloading "BIOS defaults" and "Setup Defaults" it froze at "Update DMI information".
Left it overnight, after trying to clear CMOS by removing battery (with power off) - it did clear the settings, but still freezes.
I removed ALL components - hdd, fdd, cards etc and set to none, cleared CMOS, still freezes. Turned off all caches and anything I could think of, read all sorts of stuff found via Google etc. Still freezes at "Update DMI information".
I'm out of ideas!
anyone?
thanks, Grant
(I'd like to give extra points but can't!! Sorry!)
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Answers
RE
try methods
1)Select Reset Configuration Data in BIOS. or clear NVRAM etc
Reboot
2)Disable both the Internal and External CPU Cache.
Save the BIOS changes and restart the PC to a System Boot Diskette. After this reEnable the External & INTERNAL Cache.
3)Removing the "Clear CMOS" Jumper and resetting the system BIOS;
4)Remove the Bios and insert another Bios chip of the same make. Or Flash a BIOS from another motherboard of the same model and insert into this motherboard
shaineerken - already did 1 2 3 as noted - except for getting to the boot disk - doesn't get that far no matter what!!!
haven't done 4 cause I can't find a BIOS chip to insert - would if I could.
Slink9 - if I could get it to boot as far as being ABLE to reflash the BIOS I'd not need to.
sigh....
any more ideas anyone? Anyone at all?
SOme of the Info below may help !!
-----
http://www.scservices.co.u
http://active-hardware.com
AWARD and Phoenix BIOS upgrades.
http://www.unicore.com/bio
Also download any new drivers for your motherboard !
i shipped it to badflash.com for a reprogramming job.
This is from ASUS's WEB site for you:
Q9. My BIOS chip is dead! What do I do?
IF BIOS EEPROM can still be flashed :
Please find a working PC.
Download BIOS flash utility (aflash21.exe is recommended) and BIOS image file for your motherboard from ASUS web site, save them into a
bootable floppy disk without AUTOEXEC.BAT & CONFIG.SYS files.
Boot the system into DOS mode with the floppy disk.
CAREFULLY take out the BIOS EEPROM from the motherboard.
Plug the faulty BIOS EEPROM into the socket.
Proceed with bios flashing procedure.
After the BIOS is successfully flashed into the EEPROM, take it out and put the original EEPROM back.
To obtain a new BIOS EEPROM (If you are certain that your BIOS EEPROM can not be flashed any more), simply
Send us a letter with your name, address, and telephone number.
List which BIOS you would like (and for reference, what board you have, it's revision number, and your current BIOS revision).
Enclose a cheque made out to ASUS Computer International for $25 USD. This will cover the cost of the BIOS chip, the flashing, and shipping via
US Post Office Priority Mail.
Credit cards are not accepted. Rush orders will reflect the difference in shipping costs.
Orders from users outside of USA are no longer accepted. The postage address is
6737 Mowry Ave.,
Mowry Business Center Bldg 2,
Newark, CA 94560, USA.
From: dew_associates Date: 06/12/2001 10:44PM PST
Can you use a floppy to recover from a bad bios flash, yes, however there are some caveats here though:
If the motherboard was manufactured before 1996, in all probability it uses a programmed bios prom chip that can only be flashed on a machine designed for that purpose.
Motherboards manufactured from 1996 and later used a flashable prom chip, however some used a boot block routine that requires the movement of a jumper to permit the bios to be read and then written to. Some more popular examples are Asus, Abit, SuperMicro and the like.
In 1997 most manufacturers moved to a dual inline prom chip that has both a dynamic and well as hard programmed bios area. These are the most prevalent today as they are usually resistent to virus infections.
Micro Firmware provides a number of diskettes for Bios recovery for a number of popular machines, such as Gateway, Micronics, Micron etc.
http://www.firmware.com/su
Bios recovery is usually a simple procedure and usually only requires that you hold a specific keyboard key down while you boot the machine with the floppy recovery disk in place. Intel/AMI boards are probably the easiest as you just stick the floppy in and boot the machine and their software handles everything.
http://www.angelfire.com/z
http://www.firmware.com/su
http://www3.giga-byte.com/
http://support.intel.com/s
http://support.neccomp.com
http://web.tiscali.it/acor
---------------
I hope this helps !
Well, no luck so far.
I ended up buying a used mobo - US$22 - unknown manufacturer, only id on it was 637AWIQ7, and I440LX, so it's an intel 440lx chipset, but that's all I know. Anyway, I installed it's BIOS chip (both are Award, and same vintage) in the ASUS board to see if that would boot so I could reflash it - nope - beeped it's little heart out... and nada.
Swapped boards, Win2k recognised a 1000 or so new components, and we're up and running.
I may send my bad BIOS to badflash.com, unless someone has a bad ASUS P2L97 mobo with a good BIOS chip??
Sysexpert definitely came up with some of the best links to info, good onya!
Thanks for all the info. No success, but not for lack of trying!
Grant
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by: shaineerkenPosted on 2002-10-26 at 02:58:56ID: 7372184
try methods
1)Select Reset Configuration Data in BIOS. or clear NVRAM etc
Reboot
2)Disable both the Internal and External CPU Cache.
Save the BIOS changes and restart the PC to a System Boot Diskette. After this reEnable the External CPU Cache.
3)Removing the "Clear CMOS" Jumper and resetting the system BIOS;
4)Remove the Bios and insert another Bios chip of the same make. Or Flash a BIOS from another motherboard of the same model and insert into this motherboard.