Flashing with a Floppy Disk from DOS
You will need 2 blank floppy disks to flash using this method. Using Qflash is advised if you do have a Floppy Installed, and you will need only one floppy disk with Qflash.
If you do not wish to use Qflash with a floppy or otherwise, please continue to follow the below directions for flashing in DOS with a floppy
1. Format a Floppy disk, and choose "Create MS-DOS Startup disk as shown below. (Must be Windows XP SP 1 or greater to use this method)
2. Remove the MS-DOS bootable Floppy disk you just created from the floppy disk drive.
3. Insert a new floppy disk, and format it in the normal manner.
4. Copy the 3 extracted (.Fxx, Autoexec.bat, and Flash895.exe/flashSPI.exe) BIOS files onto this second floppy
5. Reboot to the BIOS
6. Load Optimized Defaults, set the ram voltage to the specified Voltage for your ram
7. Go into the Hard Disk Boot Priority Option In Advanced BIOS Features Page and select your Floppy drive as the first bootable device.
8. Save and Apply (F10)
9. Reboot the system with the MS-DOS boot disk inserted in the floppy drive
10. Once it boots to the Floppy, you will see a Windows 98 screen, and then the DOS prompt.
11. Remove the MS-DOS floppy disk and Insert the BIOS floppy disk you created in step 4
12. Run flash utility by typing "flash895 p35ds4.fxx" without the quotes at the DOS prompt
*NOTE*
You will need to change the ^^ p35ds4.fxx ^^ in the above command to the exact name of the BIOS file you have.
Clearing the CMOS
CMOS is a Acronym for "Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor"
Clearing the CMOS will erase the settings stored in the CMOS. It does not remove or change the BIOS itself, it only clears the user defined settings within the CMOS.
This is a very useful thing to do, that everyone needs to know how to properly use . It can often help if you are having overclock issues, if your PC will not stop the booting cycle, Or some people choose to clear CMOS when they plan to flash. All of the above are normal times for you to use this function
When you clear the CMOS you will often likely see the error message "CMOS Checksum Error" on the next reboot. Do not worry this is a normal thing, please enter BIOS at this stage and Load Optimized Defaults, set your DDR2 voltatge and reboot again to the BIOS. The error will be gone after that.
Incase anyone is confused by that error message statement above, the Corrupt BootBlock/Scanning for BootBlock Error is the one you do not wish to see, the checksum error is fine and will be gone on a reboot or with one setting change in the BIOS as the board will update the DMI pool to match the CMOS and the checksums will then be matched
First thing to do is to shut down your System, and let it rest for 30 seconds to a minute.
Then it is wise to unplug the Power Supply from the wall. Be sure to also Unplug the USB cables of any powered USB devices!
Open your case and find the "Clear CMOS" jumpers. It is a 2-pin jumper normally located just under the or between the PCI-E slots in P35 boards and under the last PCI-R Slot in P45 boards. Once you have found these jumper pins you will need to get a Hard Drive or Optical Jumper (The same type you used to use on IDE Drives) and place this jumper on the "Clear CMOS" pins. Then press and hold the Case Power on switch for a minute.
Boards with A Clear CMOS button you may also Press and hold this for a minute as well after you do the power button. Sometimes this Clear CMOS button alone will work, other times it will not. So this FULL method is just to BE SURE it gets cleared for those users who have issues with other methods
You may also want to remove the CMOS battery. This is optional and not Always necessary, but you may want to try it if you are having issues getting the CMOS Cleared.
Below is a Example from P45-DS4P & P35-DS3R Gigabyte Manuals
Now let the computer rest with this jumper on for 10-20 Minutes, this will ensure that the battery gets drained, and the CMOS is cleared. Some people will tell you it will only take a few seconds or a minute or two, but I find that to be false and it may indeed lead to a corrupt BootBlock and or a Bricked motherboard.
So best to not try to cut corners when it comes to Clearing the CMOS, wait the full 20 Minutes
When the 20 minutes is up, remove the jumper from the "Clear CMOS" pins, put the battery back in if you removed it, and close your case up. Plug the Power Supply back into the wall and restart the system. Then please follow above advice and Load Optimized Defaults, set DDR2 Voltages and Reboot.
Attempting to Recover From a Bad Flash or Corrupt BootBlock
Corrupt BIOS BootBlock? It can happen to the best of us!!
There is but only a FEW things you can try to do before you will have to RMA your board if you get a Bad BootBlock or Scanning Hard Drive for BIOS error message.
This can be causes by any number of things, @BIOS, a Bad Flash, a Flash to the incorrect BIOS, a Power interruption during a flash... The list goes on.
Here is a few things you can try in a attempt to recover your BIOS.
*NOTE*
You
MUST have a Floppy Disk Drive installed and set as First Boot Device,
BEFORE your system failure. It will not help you at all to try to install one after a BIOS error in a attempt to fix it with these methods.
1. Make a bootable floopy disk by formatting a floppy disk and choosing Create a MS-DOS startup disk in the format options
2. Copy the Award flash utility (Flash895) & BIOS file (.Fxx) to the floppy disk
3. Create an autoexec.bat with “flash895 bios_file_example_name.Fxx” in the content of the batch file, (without the quotes “ ”).
Yes the space is there and is necessary!
(Example: flash895 gap35ds4.F12)
4. Boot the system with the floppy (it will take a few minutes before screen comes out)
5. Re-flash the BIOS & reboot.
Here is how to create an autoexec.bat File
1. In Windows, open NotePad
2. In NotePad, write “flash895 gap35ds4.F12″ (without the quotes “ ”)
3. Save the file as autoexec.bat
Or
The AWARD BIOS does not automatically restore the BIOS information to the BootBlock. You will need to write the commands necessary to flash the BIOS into the Autoexec.bat file.
The system will run the Autoexec.bat file, which contains the flash instructions.
How To:
1. Create a bootable floppy disk as noted above
2. Copy the BIOS file (.Fxx) and flash utility (Flash895) to the disk
3. Create an text file with any standard text editor and add the following lines (Name it Autoexec.bat after editing)
@ECHO OFF
flash895 gap35ds4.F12 /py/sn/f/cc/r
The AWDFLASH.EXE (Flash895) command switch modifiers used above are explained below:
/CC = clear CMOS data after programming.
/CD = clear DMI data after programming.
/CP = clear PnP (ESCD) data after programming.
/QI = use BIOS I.D. string from BIOS .bin file.
/R = reset system after programming.
/PY = program flash memory.
/F = Flash BIOS
/SN = don't save existing BIOS.
To view all of the modifiers for AWDFLASH.EXE, type the following at a DOS prompt:
AWDFLASH.EXE /?
And finally, if all of that fails here is one last page, with similar but more in depth methods, keep in mind you will need to change some of the commands listed on this page to match the files you will be using. Change them similar to th above ones. Like if .BIN is discussed it means use .Fxx in it's place, if awardflash is discussed use Flash895 in it's place. The page was written for older BIOS's but all of the same still applies in this instance of Flash Recovery
(*Note* I have this webpage on my hard drive should it ever go down, if so someone please PM me and let me know)
Award 6.0 BIOS - BootBlock Recovery
Suggestions are more then welcome if you guys think I missed anything or need to address something further.
Hope this at least will help some people a bit, and HOPEFULLY save a few from a BAD @BIOS Flash or Otherwise!