need help flashing BIOS on Gigabyte mobo!

[kef7]

I'm having difficulty flashing the BIOS on a Gigabyte 6wmmc7 mobo. This mobo must have been a pull from a Systemax computer because their name and logo shows up prior to the boot post.

Anyways, I've got the latest bios from the gigabyte support page (bios 6wmmc7.f8) and the award program I'm using is called "AF797c".

So, boot to DOS, switch to hard drive and run the AF797c program. Screen says flash memory writer blah blah etc. and then says:
For i810-47B27X-GA6WMMC7C-0 DATE: 01/16/2001
Flash Type -

File Name to Program: (here I type in "6wmmc7.f8&quot

It then says next to Flash Type - SST 49LF004 /3.3V and on bottom of menu it by Error Message "Do you want to save BIOS (Y/N)" reply "Y" and then below the file name to program it says "File Name to Save:"; I'm unsure what this means; is it saving the old BIOS in case the flash goes bad or what? So not knowing what to do I retype "6wmmc7.f8"
and hit return, it comes back with a checksum value and asks "are you sure to program" and I say yes and then it appears to take about 20 seconds to flash and doesn't give me any error messages only F1 to reset or F10 to exit; do either and reboot the system and the BIOS still says it version 1 and I continue to get them Systemax screen.

I assumed the new gigabyte bios would replace the old bios and also get rid of the Systemax screen but the flash isn't working. What am I doing wrong? Instructions with the manual on how to flash are poor so I came here.

thanks for reading long post,
kef7

 

[Mingon]

Is it the Dual bios board ? if so their might be a option in the bios to enable bios flashing.

 

[kef7]

no, there doesn't appear to be anything in the BIOS options to do this.

another weird thing is that I cannot adjust the dates in the BIOS. It keeps defaulting back to Jan 1 1999.

kef7

 

[pfell]

Check out the page http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/products/pro_new1.htm, which has your bios on it. Your bios zip file includes flash840.exe, which is the flash program...not the "af797c" that you refer to. The bios update file is 6wfz7.f4. I think there is also an updated flash846.exe on Giga-bytes web page if you want the very latest.

Most importantly, go to www.gigabyte.com.tw/support/procedure1.htm. Here are the details you note are missing from your manual. Note on this page the section "If you decide to save the old bios, please make sure you do not save it to the same file as the new bios....the old file with be written ofer the new file with no warning...." I would say you just flashed your board with the old bios (hence the re-appearing logo, etc.)

Also I think it is fairly important that you ensure you make a boot disk (as they identify on the web site)....do not try to shell out to dos from Windows or re-boot to dos mode. Do a clean boot with no autoexec.bat / config.sys on the floppy (e.g. no memory managers being loaded or anything of the like).

Do a detailed search of the motherboard to ensure no jumpers you have to set (Asus is famous for this). Check your manual for any jumpers or download one from the web site (if available).

The message "Flash type - SST 49LF004 /3.3V" refers to the type and voltage of the bios chip itself. Some older motherboards (99% sure would not be the case here) may have either 5v or 3.3v flash bios chips and possibility of separate jumpers to set to match the chip type and even separate flash software to utilize.

Often in the process leading up to the actual flashing I seem to get an error message indicating the checksum was not correct, or some other issue. I stop and doublecheck everything (even going back to the web site to ensure I have not skipped a digit or letter in getting correct model number or VERSION number for the board). Taking a deep breath I usually forge ahead and so far (knock on wood) everything has been fine.

If you feel that your attempt at a flash failed, do not turn off your machine or hit the reset button. Attempt a reflash with the old bios you saved to the floppy.

I do not know for sure on the issue of your clock but would hazard a guess that your reflash of the old bios scrambled something.

 

[kef7]

pfell,

Thanks for all the info. However, you mention using bios file 6wfz7.f4 but that bios file is for a GA-6WFZ7 mobo instead of the GA-6WMMC7 that I'm trying to flash.

According to the support page link in your mail it does appear that I was renaming the old bios file to the new file and thus just re-flashing the old BIOS.

Just re-flashed it and it worked!

thanks for your help,
kef7

 

[pfell]

I stand corrected on the bios file name and flash program name. I must have opened the wrong file on the web site (too much coffee while operating a mouse). Sorry for any confusion...great to hear it worked out.

 

[kef7]

I can definitely relate to making mistakes from drinking certain "beverages" while working on hardware. When I first started putting this system together it was after a 1/2 bottle of red wine. Made two mistakes:
1.) didn't latch the little lever for the CPU. took me two days to figure that out and only saw the problem when I was pulling the mobo off of the tray to replace it with another system pull mobo I'm now working on.

2.) plugged mouse into keyboard and vice-versa; caused really long POST times leading me to believe I had bad BIOS

I can just see it now, one of those pithy little sayings .........
"friends don't let friends drink and assemble pcs!"

thanks again,
kef7