Bootable CD to flash BIOS.

[Itoao]

Hi,

 

I have Vista 64 and a BFG 680i SLI motherboard. I am trying to flash my BIOS. I don't have a floppy drive in my system.

I was having issues with USB drive on boot-up. I was going to use a USB drive to flash the BIOS however it not working.

I was wondering if I could make an .iso out of the files, (their flash utility and .bin file) make the CD bootable and use that to flash.

Is that possible? and how do I make the CD bootable? I see the tab but do not know where to get the files to make it bootable. If anyone could help me out or point me to a guide that would be great.

Thanks in advance for any info.

[Itoao]

Ok so I know I can make an .iso out of the flash utilities. I just need to know how to make it bootable, Can anyone help me out with that?

Just need it to boot to a command prompt to I can flash.

[mmalves]

I've done that for a lot of laptops using this Win98SE floppy image: WIN98SE.zip

In the Bootable Disc tab, enable Make Image Bootable, set Emulation Type to Floppy Disk (1.44 MB), click the folder icon and choose the WIN98SE.IMG file then click OK. Now add your BIOS binary and flasher to the source list, choose ISO9660 filesystem in the Options tab and burn to a rewritable disc with Verify enabled (this is important). You may need to set your storage controller to IDE mode in the BIOS for this to work.

 

After the disc boots you should see the drives' letters shown by MSCDEX

[Itoao]

I've done that for a lot of laptops using this Win98SE floppy image: WIN98SE.zip

In the Bootable Disc tab, enable Make Image Bootable, set Emulation Type to Floppy Disk (1.44 MB), click the folder icon and choose the WIN98SE.IMG file then click OK. Now add your BIOS binary and flasher to the source list, choose ISO9660 filesystem in the Options tab and burn to a rewritable disc with Verify enabled (this is important). You may need to set your storage controller to IDE mode in the BIOS for this to work.

 

After the disc boots you should see the drives' letters shown by MSCDEX

 

ok Thanks I will try this and see if I can get it to work. Don't have any RW discs at the moment. I will update when I get some.

[mmalves]

Using a rewritable disc isn't a requirement, you can burn it to write-once media without problems. I just said rewritable so that you wouldn't waste a disc for burning just a few kilobytes

[Itoao]

Using a rewritable disc isn't a requirement, you can burn it to write-once media without problems. I just said rewritable so that you wouldn't waste a disc for burning just a few kilobytes

 

Ok, The fact that I am using a 64 bit OS wont make a difference will it?

[mmalves]

It won't make a difference

[Itoao]

It won't make a difference

 

ok about to try it. Wish me luck!

[Itoao]

Ok, I was able to get it to boot and emulate the floppy. Could not get to the files. A:> prompt only.

When I went to burn the image it said I only selected one folder and did I want that info to be in the root directory. I said no but should I be saying yes?

 

Also I only have SATA devices. So I am not sure if that will make a difference? When you told me about changing the storage controller to IDE mode.

[mmalves]

Yes, if you only have SATA devices then you'll need to use IDE compatibility mode in your BIOS. That way the drive(s) will be detected and available (look for MSCDEX's status saying the drive letters).

[Itoao]

Yes, if you only have SATA devices then you'll need to use IDE compatibility mode in your BIOS. That way the drive(s) will be detected and available (look for MSCDEX's status saying the drive letters).

 

Ok, problem for me is I don't see any IDE compatibility mode. Not sure my mobo has this ability or not. BFG 680i SLI.

[Itoao]

Yes, if you only have SATA devices then you'll need to use IDE compatibility mode in your BIOS. That way the drive(s) will be detected and available (look for MSCDEX's status saying the drive letters).

 

Ok, problem for me is I don't see any IDE compatibility mode. Not sure my mobo has this ability or not. BFG 680i SLI.

 

 

I was wondering if I told it to put the info into the root would I need to have the CD drivers?

[mmalves]

Their P33 BIOS is already in bootable ISO format ready to burn:

http://www.bfgtech.com/CMDocs/BFGTech/691N1P33.iso.zip

Isn't this what you're looking for?

[Itoao]

Their P33 BIOS is already in bootable ISO format ready to burn:

http://www.bfgtech.com/CMDocs/BFGTech/691N1P33.iso.zip

Isn't this what you're looking for?

 

Almost, problem for me is that the .iso is version 33 the most current. I am on v25 and they recommend I update to v28 first as it is not stable to go from anything before v28 to v33.

I downloaded the .iso and I am thinking I could just edit it to be v28 but not sure if that is advisable.

[mmalves]

Try this one: 691N1P28.zip

Made it from the P33 bootable ISO image, just replaced the files with the ones from P28

[Itoao]

Try this one: 691N1P28.zip

Made it from the P33 bootable ISO image, just replaced the files with the ones from P28

 

Lol thats what I thought I could try. I will give it a go. Then let you know. Thanks

 

One thing, Should I extract that then use imgburn to make an .iso. Or is it already one?

Edited August 18, 2009 by Itoao

[mmalves]

Just extract and burn.

[Itoao]

Just extract and burn.

 

Thank you Sir, I am now at V28. I thought that was all it would have taken but I didn't know how to do it.

Worked like a charm.

 

This has been very valuable info.

Thanks again.

Question, did you have to alter any of the batch files or did you just replace the versions of the .bin file?

[mmalves]

I've removed the P33 binary, the nvsc flasher and flash.bat and replaced them with those from the P28 BIOS archive.

[Itoao]

I've removed the P33 binary, the nvsc flasher and flash.bat and replaced them with those from the P28 BIOS archive.

 

 

Gotcha, now I will know in the future.

 

Thanks again.