New bios MSI P965

**ariddon** · 04-03-2009

Trying to flash a new bios in my MSI P965 Neo-f V2. I have a Q8200 and the present bios doesn't support Quad or dualcore. It only start and then reboot after like 5 seconds. Bios is AMI and latest bios version is 3.8. I tried to rename my new bios file to AMIBOOT.ROM and boot from a diskette but it won't work. Any ideas? Plz help!

**gygabite** · 04-03-2009

When the computer boots, go to BIOS setup and chabge your boot priority to Floppy or CD whichever you are using to boot from. Now save the settings and quit BIOS setup utility and your computer will reboot. Now boot from your device it should boot. BIOS setting is necessary...
All the best...!

**Amd Athlon** · 04-03-2009

There is another way to flash AMI BIOS without the need for a bootable floppy disk. Rename your new BIOS flash file to "AMIBOOT.ROM" then copy it to a floppy disk (that will contain only this file). Insert it into your FDD and reboot. Hold down "CTRL"+ "HOME" to launch the flashing process.

You'll notice that the floppy LED (or the light on the optical device) is going to report that it's reading. Your system will boot up in MS-DOS and then the flashing process will start. Don't expect anything to appear on your screen; you need to wait until you figure out yourself that the LED isn't blinking anymore and it completed its task; you can wait up to a few minutes maximum to be sure that the process is finished.

Eject the CD or get the floppy disk out and reboot your system. If everything goes all right it is going to POST correctly and work as usual; what a relief. You've just saved your system from a bad flash.

But what if this doesn't help? Or what if you've flashed corrupt data also on the boot-block? What can you do then? Well, there are a few ways to flash a new and correct version of BIOS onto the chip. The most popular technique is "hot-swapping." You are going to need another ROM chip that is flashed with the correct BIOS, meaning that it's taken out of a working motherboard which is exactly like yours.

You borrow that chip for a half an hour (from a friend, neighbor, etc), install it in your motherboard and boot up; your system will POST if the data on the new chip is correct. As soon as you've booted up into MS-DOS, you take out the BIOS ROM chip on-the-fly and replace it with your chip (which has corrupt data on it). Then you proceed to flash.

As a side note, please be very cautious and aware that fiddling with components without turning the PC off is very dangerous; you can do more harm than good. Then again, this technique is tried and tested; it works but it's recommended only as a last resort when everything else fails. Basically you're taking out a chip that is powered on, so there is a slight chance of screwing up the entire motherboard's circuitry along with the chip.

**T.J.** · 04-03-2009

Flashing [i.e upgrading] your bios should be the last resort to solve a problem. Most people flash to gain the use of larger hard drives although recently, many are flashing to get all the features of XP to work. Other people have to upgrade their bios just to get XP to work properly with some specific hardware.

First. Make sure the updated bios addresses the issue you are trying to solve. eg many motherboard makers update their bios's for many different reasons. A reason may simply be to get a certain big name brand of pc to work correctly with a new cd writer big brand pc is selling.So you really have to read the docs so see if the upgrade addresses your specific niggle or concern.

Secondly. Try your motherboard maker first to see if they have the files you need. Bios's upgrades are best had, if available, from the company that made your motherboard or pc. In most cases these are free.

Thirdly. READ THE DOCS CAREFULLY AND FOLLOW THEM TO THE LETTER. Dont skip any steps, especially the backup option if available.

Fourth. If the upgrade calls for a clean bootdisk, use one. The disk I made especially for bios flashing is the one you can download above. It's a DrDOS bootdisk with NO drivers loading up in config.sys or autoexec.bat which is very important. My bios flash bootdisk is recommended by the most popular motherboad makers.

If you dont have a 1.44 drive I also created a utility to use to flash from a CD which you can add the new bios and flash utility to and then burn it.

It should have room to add your new bios, the flash utility, and also have room for the backup. If not one can always use another disk for the info. Always use BRAND NEW MEDIA when dealing with flashes.

In order to locate the correct bios upgrade for your motherboard you need to know who made it AND you need to know the model number. If your PC was made locally perhaps you have the manual. If not, then you need to find out the maker and model. Or, and very common with major brands, your computer maker will/may have the updated bios's on their website.

I have one windows and three dos utils that find your motherboard maker and model number. One of them should work for you. The DOS utils are on my DOStools Page under Diagnostics, and are called CTbios, MBID, and HW iNFO. The windows utility is called BIOS Agent and is on my Utilities Page under Hardware .

Once you ID your motherboard and model go the the manufacturers website and see what they have available. Note that some upgrades will come with their own bootdisk/utility.

On the other hand, if you have a more modern pc that cant see lets say a 180 gig drive and but all else is working properly then you may want to consider a PCI hard drive controller card which has an onboard bios that will see your new large hard drive and also come with 2 more IDE channels you can use in addition to the 2 channels you already have. This is safer than flashing the bios.