Updating BIOS
in [Asus]
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From: David on 21 Jul 2005 17:25 I had all sorts of problems after "Updating" XP Home with SP2. Now MS support suggest that I should update the BIOS on an Asus A7V-133. The BIOS version is Award Rev 1007, I believe that's correct. When I went to the Asus site I found 2 methods, one seemingly quite complicated, the other using ASUS EZ Flash. Well the second one seems easier so I followed the instructions:- "1. Download the latest BIOS file from the ASUS Website. Save the file to a floppy disk." Okay, I downloaded UltraWinDrvB29.zip. When unzipped I find 3 files in the XP folder Ultra.inf, Ultra.sys & Ultra.cat Which of these is the file that has to be copied to a floppy disk? Four days ago I asked Asus support this seemingly simple question. So far all I've heard from them is an acknowledgement saying that I'll get a response in 48 hours. Hmmm! Time moves slowler in Taiwan? I know it's an old board, but the machine does everything I need so I'm reluctant to scrap it and get into the expense of new memory etc. Any suggestions and help greatly appreciated since I've never done this before? David
From: Bob Knowlden on 21 Jul 2005 19:00 David, Those are not the correct files; they are driver files. The latest non-Beta BIOS is: http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/socka/kt133a/a7v133/AVU1009.zip The unzipped file is AVU1009.awd. Regards, Bob Knowlden Address may be scrambled. Replace nkbob with bobkn. "David" <rhinds_no_spam_(a)cwnet.com> wrote in message news:ms30e1lgbolnh2umsnt3727ebdbrhf3nti(a)4ax.com... >I had all sorts of problems after "Updating" XP Home with SP2. Now MS > support suggest that I should update the BIOS on an Asus A7V-133. The > BIOS version is Award Rev 1007, I believe that's correct. When I went > to the Asus site I found 2 methods, one seemingly quite complicated, > the other using ASUS EZ Flash. Well the second one seems easier so I > followed the instructions:- > > "1. Download the latest BIOS file from the ASUS Website. Save the file > to a floppy disk." > > Okay, I downloaded UltraWinDrvB29.zip. When unzipped I find 3 files in > the XP folder > > Ultra.inf, Ultra.sys & Ultra.cat > > Which of these is the file that has to be copied to a floppy disk? > > Four days ago I asked Asus support this seemingly simple question. So > far all I've heard from them is an acknowledgement saying that I'll > get a response in 48 hours. Hmmm! Time moves slowler in Taiwan? > > I know it's an old board, but the machine does everything I need so > I'm reluctant to scrap it and get into the expense of new memory etc. > Any suggestions and help greatly appreciated since I've never done > this before? > > David
From: Paul on 21 Jul 2005 19:07 In article <ms30e1lgbolnh2umsnt3727ebdbrhf3nti(a)4ax.com>, David <rhinds_no_spam_(a)cwnet.com> wrote: > I had all sorts of problems after "Updating" XP Home with SP2. Now MS > support suggest that I should update the BIOS on an Asus A7V-133. The > BIOS version is Award Rev 1007, I believe that's correct. When I went > to the Asus site I found 2 methods, one seemingly quite complicated, > the other using ASUS EZ Flash. Well the second one seems easier so I > followed the instructions:- > > "1. Download the latest BIOS file from the ASUS Website. Save the file > to a floppy disk." > > Okay, I downloaded UltraWinDrvB29.zip. When unzipped I find 3 files in > the XP folder > > Ultra.inf, Ultra.sys & Ultra.cat > > Which of these is the file that has to be copied to a floppy disk? > > Four days ago I asked Asus support this seemingly simple question. So > far all I've heard from them is an acknowledgement saying that I'll > get a response in 48 hours. Hmmm! Time moves slowler in Taiwan? > > I know it's an old board, but the machine does everything I need so > I'm reluctant to scrap it and get into the expense of new memory etc. > Any suggestions and help greatly appreciated since I've never done > this before? > > David First of all, step away from the keyboard :-) The file you've downloaded is not a BIOS file. So don't do anything you'll regret later. There are in fact, certain BIOS from-to combinations that you have to be very careful with. There is no need to rush the BIOS upgrade process, no matter how much Microsoft support wants you to trash your motherboard. The www.a7vtroubleshooting.com site has some warnings for various A7Vxxx models of motherboards. The same information is on the Asus site, but it is harder to piece together. I think it would be better if you described what is happening to your SP2 update. And perhaps try to explain the thinking of the Microsoft support people, as to why a BIOS upgrade is necessary. On SP2, there were problems with boards having a Prescott and needing a microcode update, but that doesn't apply to your AMD board. And give us a few minutes to research how risky the BIOS upgrade will be... http://www.a7vtroubleshooting.com/info/bios/index.htm#133 Paul
From: David on 21 Jul 2005 20:04 On Thu, 21 Jul 2005 19:07:56 -0400, nospam(a)needed.com (Paul) wrote: >In article <ms30e1lgbolnh2umsnt3727ebdbrhf3nti(a)4ax.com>, David ><rhinds_no_spam_(a)cwnet.com> wrote: > >> I had all sorts of problems after "Updating" XP Home with SP2. Now MS >> support suggest that I should update the BIOS on an Asus A7V-133. The >> BIOS version is Award Rev 1007, Ipreciated since I've never done >> this before? > >First of all, step away from the keyboard :-) > >The file you've downloaded is not a BIOS file. So don't do >anything you'll regret later >I think it would be better if you described what is happening >to your SP2 update. Thank you both very much for the words of warning. I'll look at the links and see if I can make sense of it all. I still have 2 problems, both started after updating with SP2. 1. My DVD burners are not recognized as burners, only CD ROM's. The drives are Memorex DVD+/- Dual X1 and Sony DVD RW DW022a When I try to burn anything, CD or DVD, I get the same warning: "K:\ (or J:\) is not accessible Incorrect function." The only option is OK. In Device Manager for both drives it says "This device is working correctly." 2. I sometimes cannot install software, although this problem didn't materialize until some later date than the DVD problem. In other words I was able to install some software before this happened. None of the software was anything less than "main stream," (Photoshop V7, Premier 6, Eudora 6, Forte Agent 2.0, MS Word & CA Antivirus & Adaware spyware etc) Now when I try to install anything I get the first window as the program "unpacks" itself (sorry for the terminology) then up comes, Windows Installer "Preparing to Install" The system hangs for maybe 2 minutes then a Windows Installer warning: "The Windows installer service could not be accessed. This can occur if you are running Windows in Safe Mode, or if the Windows Installer is not correctly installed. Contact your support personnel for assistance" This all started way back in January and at that time MS suppport said it would be solved by getting an XP installation disk updated with SP2 which they said they would send. A couple of weeks later, before it arrived, I left the country for 5 months. I don't know what happened to the CD but have only just received a copy yesterday. MS support said it would have been better if I had done a clean install of XP before adding SP2. However this is exactly what I did so the next suggestion was that probably I needed the BIOS update. One other problem has manifested itself just recently, I get a warning when I try to defrag drive E. "Defragmentation of E: has been cancelled due to inconsistencies that were detected in the file system. Please run CHKDSK on E: to repair these inconsistencies then run Diskeeper again." I have tried to run CHKDSK with and without switches, nothing happens. I'd very much like to sort out the mess before re-installing everything. David
From: Bob Horton on 21 Jul 2005 21:01
"David" <rhinds_no_spam_(a)cwnet.com> wrote in message news:0nc0e1hcgu0pstq2ltvu4gf17nb4jsfpm7(a)4ax.com... > On Thu, 21 Jul 2005 19:07:56 -0400, nospam(a)needed.com (Paul) wrote: > >>In article <ms30e1lgbolnh2umsnt3727ebdbrhf3nti(a)4ax.com>, David >><rhinds_no_spam_(a)cwnet.com> wrote: >> >>> I had all sorts of problems after "Updating" XP Home with SP2. Now MS >>> support suggest that I should update the BIOS on an Asus A7V-133. The >>> BIOS version is Award Rev 1007, Ipreciated since I've never done >>> this before? >> >>First of all, step away from the keyboard :-) >> >>The file you've downloaded is not a BIOS file. So don't do >>anything you'll regret later >>I think it would be better if you described what is happening >>to your SP2 update. > > Thank you both very much for the words of warning. I'll look at the > links and see if I can make sense of it all. > > I still have 2 problems, both started after updating with SP2. > > 1. My DVD burners are not recognized as burners, only CD ROM's. The > drives are Memorex DVD+/- Dual X1 and Sony DVD RW DW022a > When I try to burn anything, CD or DVD, I get the same warning: > > "K:\ (or J:\) is not accessible > Incorrect function." > > The only option is OK. In Device Manager for both drives it says "This > device is working correctly." > > 2. I sometimes cannot install software, although this problem didn't > materialize until some later date than the DVD problem. In other words > I was able to install some software before this happened. None of the > software was anything less than "main stream," (Photoshop V7, Premier > 6, Eudora 6, Forte Agent 2.0, MS Word & CA Antivirus & Adaware spyware > etc) Now when I try to install anything I get the first window as the > program "unpacks" itself (sorry for the terminology) then up comes, > Windows Installer "Preparing to Install" The system hangs for maybe 2 > minutes then a Windows Installer warning: > > "The Windows installer service could not be accessed. This can > occur if you are running Windows in Safe Mode, or if the Windows > Installer is not correctly installed. Contact your support personnel > for assistance" > > This all started way back in January and at that time MS suppport said > it would be solved by getting an XP installation disk updated with SP2 > which they said they would send. A couple of weeks later, before it > arrived, I left the country for 5 months. I don't know what happened > to the CD but have only just received a copy yesterday. MS support > said it would have been better if I had done a clean install of XP > before adding SP2. However this is exactly what I did so the next > suggestion was that probably I needed the BIOS update. > > One other problem has manifested itself just recently, I get a warning > when I try to defrag drive E. > > "Defragmentation of E: has been cancelled due to inconsistencies that > were detected in the file system. Please run CHKDSK on E: to repair > these inconsistencies then run Diskeeper again." > > I have tried to run CHKDSK with and without switches, nothing happens. > I'd very much like to sort out the mess before re-installing > everything. > > David Is there any chance that you could wipe the HDD and start all over? This really doesn't seem like a BIOS issue to me. -- Bob Horton |