Technical Reference

Upgrading the BIOS

CAUTION

Not updating the system boot block when updating the BIOS may result in an untested system configuration. Some BIOS upgrade releases may require updating the system boot block. To find out if you need to update the boot block, go to the Intel website at:

http://www.developer.intel.com/design/motherbd

1.Boot the computer with the BIOS upgrade diskette in drive A. Press <Enter> to go to the Main menu. The flash memory update utility screen appears.

2.Select Update flash memory area from a file. Press <Enter>.

3.Select Update System BIOS. Press <Enter>.

4.Use the arrow keys to select the correct .bio file. Press <Enter>.

5.When the utility asks for confirmation that you want to flash the new BIOS into memory, select Continue with programming. Press <Enter>.

6.When the utility displays the message Reboot Warning, remove the diskette. Press

<Enter>.

7.As the computer boots, check the BIOS identifier (version number) to make sure the upgrade was successful. If a logo appears, press <Esc> to view the POST messages.

8.To enter the BIOS Setup program, press <F2> when you see the message:

Press <F2> to Run SETUP

9.For proper operation, load the BIOS Setup program defaults. To load the defaults, press <F9>.

10.To accept the defaults, press <Enter>.

11.In Setup, enter the settings you wrote down before beginning the BIOS upgrade.

12.To save the settings, press <F10>.

13.To accept the settings, press <Enter>.

14.Turn off the computer and reboot.

Recovering the BIOS

It is unlikely that anything will interrupt the BIOS upgrade; however, if an interruption occurs, the BIOS could be damaged. The following steps explain how to recover the BIOS if an upgrade fails. The following procedure uses recovery mode for the Setup program. See Chapter 3 for more information on Setup modes.

NOTE

Because of the small amount of code available in the boot block area, there is no video support. You will not see anything on the screen during this procedure. Monitor the procedure by listening to the speaker and looking at the diskette drive LED.

1.Turn off the computer, disconnect the computer’s power cord, and disconnect all external peripherals.

2.Remove the computer cover and locate the configuration jumper block (J7A1) (see Figure 1).

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