Help a Newb

[concernedsophist]

I have a Jetway A210GDMS-Pro motherboard. I need to update the bios in order to move to a dual core cpu (my current bios does not support dual core). As of now I have Phoenix awardbios v6.00pg, V. A210GDMS-PRO A03 7-13-05. I have a floppy disk drive installed and ready to go.

I have never done this before and am a bit intimidated. I have downloaded the BIN file as well as the bios update utility (as a ZIP file). Unfortunatly, the instructions given by Jetway are somewhat cryptic:



How To Update BIOS:
If your BIOS is earlier that Aug/1998.You can only update the BIOS: The mother board must using either "Winbond" or "SST" EPROM (Underneath of Award label. In order to avoid crash EPROM chip, you must check it before you update the BIOS)
Before update your BIOS,please wirte down the information on thrid line when your turn on your computer (it should look like V.NNNNN VV. MM/DD/YY,When NNNNN indicates motherboard model , VV indicates the date of BIOS released.)
Make a Boot Diskette (Do Not Contain EMM386.exe or Similar) , You Can Download Awdflash.exe and BIOS (*.BIN) File to Diskette From Website
Boot From Diskette , Run Awdflash.exe file Update Your Mother Board BIOS Device=Awdflash [driver:] [path] [filename (*.bin)] /SN /PY /CC /R Example : Awdflash a:\tx98-a22.bin /SN /PY /CC /R PS : /SN (No Save) , /PY (Program BIOS) , /CC (Clear CMOS) , /R (Restart) ,/F (Always Flash)
Finish Auto Program BIOS , Going to "BIOS SETUP" , Select "LOAD SETUP DEFAULTS" , SAVE AND EXIT SETUP
PS1 : If Appear Any Error Message , Please Check File is Ready or File Type Name is Right
PS2 : You Can Use Awdflash /? Know How to Command
How To Save BIOS:
Run Awdflash.exe file Save You Mother Board BIOS Device=Awdflash (Type Awdflash)
When the " File Name to Program " Appear Type " Enter " Key
When the Ask " Do you want to Save Bios (Y/N) " Appear Select " Yes "
When the " File Name to Save " Appear Type You Want Save Name Example : File Name to Save : a:\tx98-a22.bin (If You Want Save to A Disk) ( *.bin File)

I do not really understand what they are trying to say here. I am sure my lack of experiance does not help. I am not clear on how to make the boot disk, and I do not want to screw this up. Can anyone explain these instructions in plain english?

 

[moosey]

I'm guessing this is the page you found everything on...
http://download.jetway.com.tw/download.asp?sorder=BIOS&sword=A210GDMS%2DPRO

Basically, what it seems to be saying, although the English isn't good, is that you'll need to make a bootable floppy and flash off of that. When I've done it this way, I've formatted a disk with drdflash
http://www.ts.nu/Components/CPU/drdflash.html
and then copied the necessary BIOS files over to the disk.

Then when you boot off that disk (make sure boot priority is set to floppy 1st in BIOS), you'll have to run the awdflash program off of it. Then you'll have to give then name of the new BIOS file so it can flash to that. Just from what I've seen on the site, it looks like the BIOS file is "A1GMPA04". It should then finish by itself and prompt you.

When you do this, make sure you have all the settings in the BIOS for maximum stability and no o/c (basically like default settings).

 

[concernedsophist]

Yes, that Jetway site is where I found everything. Is it sufficient to extract the entire zip file onto the floppy? I have extracted it onto the desktop and it is basically a folder that has a number of files as subfolders named for different operating systems. Should I just copy the contents of the folder named for my operating system (Win XP 32 bit) or copy the whole folder? The poorly translated instructions make it sound like I should just have an .exe file.

Thanks for the reply Moosey.

 

[Heckler 5th]

yeah copy just the .exe and the one bios file for xp 32-bit to your floppy. make sure your floppy is in a good state cuz if something goes wrong while flashing, you'll most likely hose your motherboard.

so, just one .exe file and one bios file (.bin?) is all you need. but i would also have a copy of your current bios file on the floppy as well, just to be safe.

 

[concernedsophist]

OK, thanks Heckler. I am still confused about these lines of the poorly translated instructions, though:

Boot From Diskette , Run Awdflash.exe file Update Your Mother Board BIOS Device=Awdflash [driver:] [path] [filename (*.bin)] /SN /PY /CC /R Example : Awdflash a:\tx98-a22.bin /SN /PY /CC /R PS : /SN (No Save) , /PY (Program BIOS) , /CC (Clear CMOS) , /R (Restart) ,/F (Always Flash)
Finish Auto Program BIOS , Going to "BIOS SETUP" , Select "LOAD SETUP DEFAULTS" , SAVE AND EXIT SETUP
PS1 : If Appear Any Error Message , Please Check File is Ready or File Type Name is Right
PS2 : You Can Use Awdflash /? Know How to Command

Anyone have a clue what is going on here?

 

[concernedsophist]

I just finished the upgrade. No problems. Thanks for the help guys.