Flashing my BIOS

[mrees]

Hello all, i'm new to this forum so be gentle!

I have recently inherited an old PC (PIII 500MHz with an MSI 6166 motherboard) that came without a hard drive. I am trying to add a brand new 40gb drive to it so that I can install an OS and use this has some kind of file server for music/pictures etc.

It seems that as my motherboard is crica 1999, it will only support HDDs up to 32gb and I need to update my BIOS - am I right?

I have found an update but now I'm at a loss as to how to apply it. As I said there is no OS on the PC, and I'm limited to working with CD's as my other machine is a laptop without an FDD.

Could someone give me some tips on how to achieve this?

Cheers

mrees

 

[mrees]

I've had a more thorough search of these boards and found references to creating a boot disk with W98 then adding the BIOS update exe file.

My laptops' OS is XP, how would I do something similar?

 

[stduc]

I guess you could build a bootable CD with the required exe file on it. Alternatively your old PC/BIOS should see enough of of your hard drive to allow you to build the OS, build the floppy, flash the BIOS and then reformat the hard drive and rebuild an OS.

 

[mrees]

stduc,

Thanks for that, thats what I initially hoped, but on boot up, my system hangs when the HDD is being detected. And I seem to lack the brain power to create a boot disc that has the required exe file. Some hand holding is needed I think!

mrees

 

[garebo]

Your mobo will boot up, that is established.
Heck, just find a buddy who has win98 running and have him make a boot disk for you.
I always keep a folder with a win 98 boot disk on my hard drive, i can send the files, via email, to your friend or some machine that is now working and with that machine you can put the files on a floppy, then put the floppy in the floppy drive on your system you are building, then start it up, then go to your bios and set the boot order to floppy first, then save and exit the bios and your floppy will boot to your a: drive.

Then you have to flash the bios. I will put that in the next post as i got ahead of myself.
Maybe you might want to cut and paste all this post to a text doc.

Once you have the bios flashed, all you have to do is boot to the floppy with the win 98 boot disk and type these words:

fdisk

answer Y or yes to the next question and you end up in fdisk. From there you just partition the drive and make it active and fdisk will ask you if you want to make it active and you just press the "Y' on your keyboard.
After that you reboot and type this:

format c:

keep pressing enter if you get a message and sooner or later it will start formatting.

However, first you have to install the new bios.





Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[garebo]

Flashing your bios.

Go to your mobo mfgr website, in this case its MSI.
find the EXACT bios for your mobo, get the newest one if there are more than one, which should be the case.
Usually the newest date, lol.
Download that.
Download the bios program, it may be award, phoenix, or ami, one bought out the other lately, but you are talking older bios here, so its one of the 3.
Download the bios and the instructions for how to perform the bios flash, they are always there. Or print the instructions out right from the website!

Once you download all you need, you can print out the instructions, or you printed them from the website, follow them. It goes something like this:

Put the bios program on a floppy and put the exact new bios update on that same floppy.
Use your boot disk to boot to a:, then take boot disk out and put in this new bios update floppy disk you made.

Your instructions will tell you how to type the flash command, but its something like

awdflash r19.bin
then hit enter and it all updates by itself. Dont touch it at all until you see a message on screen to do something, if not just let it go until it says its done.

Where i typed awdflash, it could be another name, so read the instructions. And you do have a space in between like i did. Make sure whatever the new bios update's name is,you type it in full and include the ending of the file name, in this case i put .bin. Read the instructions from MSI.

Also, you can google all this, but i think if you print out all the info you have here, and info from MSI, you will get thru the bios update and partition and format, and we will help you.










Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[mrees]

Thanks garebo, that all nearly worked just fine! It seems that my motherboard is so ancient that even the latest bios update I dared to try (The latest was something to do with Coppermine compatability - which doesn't mean a thing to me, so I didn't like to give it a go), wouldn't let me use a 40gb hdd. I've read things about overlay programs but these are completely out of my comfort zone.

Would it be easir/cheaper to find a new(ish) motherboard that would support my PIII 500 chip and a large drive?

mrees

 

[garebo]

Coppermine is a cpu

Did you do the bios update or not? Sounds like you didnt.
I think you should try the bios update, especially since you are willing to upgrade your mobo anyway, you have nothing to lose.
Why not give it a try.
On the other hand, i could sell you a newer mobo for your P3 500. Is is a socket or slot 1? Probably slot 1 i imagine.
You can email me at kron123 (at) cogeco (dot) ca, if you want another mobo, but again, all you have to do is flash the one you have. Up to you of course.




Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[Wxguesser]

Drive overlays are not complicated. All they are is a way of tricking your BIOS into thinking the drive is smaller than it is. If you bought you drive new, the install software came with the drive and it is just a simple matter to install the drive overlay. In fact, it's much simpler that flashing your BIOS!! MSI has a habit of abandoning its older mobos as soon as new stuff comes out. I have an older MSI for a Pentium 233MMX that only supports 8Gb HDs. No bios flash that is published by MSI will make it support the Int13h required for the larger HD support so a drive overlay was the only way to go.
All of the major drive manufacturers have drive overlay software available. If you got your drive second hand, it can usually be downloaded from their websites for free. It usually fits on a floppy and is bootable. Just follow the onscreen prompts and you will be up and running without the expense of a newer mobo.
If your drive is new, the CD or floppy is also bootable and the same applies. The printed instructions for the drive will also detail how to install the overlay.

Jim W. A+
You CAN teach an old dog new tricks!!

 

[garebo]

I would still try a bios update. Cpu and hard drive updates are the thing that bios include the most, although there are other reasons, but bios do them all, including hard drive updates.
Still, i strongly suggest you go that way.
I'm sure others will back me up when they say that overlay software is the last thing to do, ONLY when there is no other choice! And i mean no disrespect to Wxguesser, its only my opinion.
If you cant get a bios update then a new mobo or the overlay software would do the job, just that software overlay is prone to failure down the road, i think of overlay like adding a virus thats gonna hit me later.




Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[mrees]

From what i've read elsewhere, many other people share the view that an overlay is a last resort and that they can cause trouble.

I succesfully updated to the latest BIOS version this morning - but didn't have time to check the drive...watch this space....

mrees

 

[garebo]

Great news on the bios. Knew you could do it!
Hope it includes support for your hard drive.


Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[BaudKarma]

On a tangent, I've had occasions where I needed to make a boot floppy and didn't have access to a machine running an older version of Windows.

http://www.bootdisk.com

has a variety of .exe files that you can download for free. Running them will make a boot disk for virtually any flavor of DOS/Windows you want, even if you're running Win2K or XP.




I try not to let my ignorance prevent me from offering a strong opinion.

 

[mrees]

I think its time to close this thread - I haven't managed to get the 40gb HDD to work and I tried all the updates I could find.

I think i'll save my cash and buy a new mobo,chip etc. I'm not fussed about cutting edge equipment so it shouldn't take too long, and I'm sure the wife will look forward to having the dining table back for a while...

Thanks again to all, i've learnt a great deal.

 

[mrees]

HAHA! I'm one step closer - I eventually went to the BIOS manufacturer (Award) rather than the mobo maker. They have given me an update that seems to get me somewhat closer. With this applied the larger drive autodetects correctly. But when I save and exit all lights on the box go off but fans continue to turn and the monitor goes into standby mode. On subsequent reboots the power goes on (fans turn), but no lights or monitor. There are no POST beeps (is that right? Power On Self Test or summat??).

The only way I can breathe life back into it, is to remove the battery for a moment and stick in the smaller drive again.

After each step forward I seem to come across a bigger hurdle...it will not beat me though!

mrees

 

[garebo]

Okay, first off, you probably have to re-set the bios. All mobos are different, do you have your manual? There may even be info in your new bios that you got, if you got a doc or text file along with the bios updated.
If not then the safest way to do this would be to unhook all possible sources of power to the mobo. Then go to the 3 pin setup nearest your coin battery and move the jumper from pins 1 and 2 to pins 2 and 3. Leave it that way for about 15 min then put jumper back where it was, on pins 1 and 2 and then hook up and boot.
Some mobos will have you boot when the pins 2 and 3 are covered and others warn it will damage your mobo, so i cant suggest you do that without reading the manual.


Good advice + great people = tek-tips