Asus P5N-E SLI can't flash bios

Hayley-K · 21 Feb 2007 at 15:46

Got my new rig at the weekend built it up and decided to have a go overclocking my processor. I managed to get my E4300 to 2.65ghz but felt I could get it higher so I decided to flash the BIOS

It wouldn't let me as Asus update didn't think I had an asus board, so today I reformatted in the hope I would be able to flash it but still no luck. I get the following two error messages:

Unable to create NT driver service for BS_DEF.DLL

Unable to get get BIOS information

After pressing OK windows sends an error report and the asus update program shuts down.

Please help :confused:

Hayley

Hayley-K · 21 Feb 2007 at 16:09

Found out it was a driver incompatibility with my x-fi

http://www.overclock.net/intel-motherboards/90742-calling-all-asus-motherboard-owners.html

so its all sorted now and im gunna try push that processor to 3ghz

Jumping · 22 Feb 2007 at 13:32

Thats really weird as I flashed my p5n-e sli from windows with an x-fi card and it worked fine.

Well I say fine it made it lose the settings I wanted for overclock everytime the machine rebooted, but a re flash booted from a floppy solved that and its now rock solid.

So for me I think I will keep doing floppy flashes with awd tool on the p5n-e sli as the Windows flash just seems a bit iffy with this board.

Yellowbeard · 22 Feb 2007 at 21:03

It seems the issue is solved but, I would recommend NEVER flashing a bios using an OS based utility. I have had 1 bios flash fail in my career (knock on wooden head) and it was with ASUS Update.

mattme79 · 22 Feb 2007 at 22:10

The ASUS flash program leaves a lot to be desired, I tried over the weekend and during the process my pc just turned off. So am now with a P5N-E with a corrupt BIOS chip. Gonna cost me around £25 to have it replaced. Will stick to the bootable floppies in future.

Yellowbeard · 23 Feb 2007 at 01:00

mattme79 said:
The ASUS flash program leaves a lot to be desired, I tried over the weekend and during the process my pc just turned off. So am now with a P5N-E with a corrupt BIOS chip. Gonna cost me around £25 to have it replaced. Will stick to the bootable floppies in future.

If it did not corrupt the boot block you may be able to recover. Remove all power, remove the battery, and reset CMOS for about 10 min and see if it will boot and start asking for a floppy disk or CD.

WJA96 · 23 Feb 2007 at 07:09

mattme79 said:
The ASUS flash program leaves a lot to be desired, I tried over the weekend and during the process my pc just turned off. So am now with a P5N-E with a corrupt BIOS chip. Gonna cost me around £25 to have it replaced. Will stick to the bootable floppies in future.

Why? Take it back to where you bought it, explain the position and ask them/ASUS to supply a new board. I certainly wouldn't expect to have to pay for a new BIOS in a board less than 12 months old. After all, it was ASUS decision to save a fraction of a penny by not using a socket that means they can't just send you a new BIOS chip which is what they always used to do. It would put me off buying another ASUS board if they're taking that attitude.

mattme79 · 23 Feb 2007 at 09:32

WJA96 said:
Why? Take it back to where you bought it, explain the position and ask them/ASUS to supply a new board. I certainly wouldn't expect to have to pay for a new BIOS in a board less than 12 months old. After all, it was ASUS decision to save a fraction of a penny by not using a socket that means they can't just send you a new BIOS chip which is what they always used to do. It would put me off buying another ASUS board if they're taking that attitude.

Good point! I'll get onto the retailer this morning, I was just unsure as to where I stood in regards to updating the BIOS, might they say its my own fault for "messing" about with it in the first place?

WJA96 · 23 Feb 2007 at 10:01

mattme79 said:
Good point! I'll get onto the retailer this morning, I was just unsure as to where I stood in regards to updating the BIOS, might they say its my own fault for "messing" about with it in the first place?

A BIOS upgrade using the manufacturer's own software is hardly messing about - is it?

clv101 · 23 Feb 2007 at 10:09

I updated my BIOS using the BIOS - very fancy. There's a option in the BIOS to update itself, just point it do the file on your HDD.

pegasus1 · 23 Feb 2007 at 10:56

Ive used Asus Update on several Asus mobo including the PsN-e SLI and never had a single issue.

WJA96 · 23 Feb 2007 at 11:01

pegasus1 said:
Ive used Asus Update on several Asus mobo including the PsN-e SLI and never had a single issue.

With Vista? I'm really not that sure about ASUS/NVidia's commitment to supply good Vista support at the moment.

Jumping · 23 Feb 2007 at 11:13

I like to keep my system as clean as possible when flashing, and having a UPS saves me from the worry about a possible power cut as you flash

Thats why any option to flash without involving Windows is imho better. Usually windows flashing programs tells you to kill all running program etc. But there is always a number of windows serivces etc that still runs. So if its that important to close down all applications, it makes sense to be flashing without Windows running.

Never tried the BIOS flash from BIOS itself but sounds like a pretty sure way to make sure you don't have ANYTHING running. Still trusty awdflash from a dos boot disk is a well tried and tested method that I will use aslong as my floppy drive works

WJA96 · 23 Feb 2007 at 11:23

Jumping said:
I like to keep my system as clean as possible when flashing, and having a UPS saves me from the worry about a possible power cut as you flash

Thats why any option to flash without involving Windows is imho better. Usually windows flashing programs tells you to kill all running program etc. But there is always a number of windows serivces etc that still runs. So if its that important to close down all applications, it makes sense to be flashing without Windows running.

Never tried the BIOS flash from BIOS itself but sounds like a pretty sure way to make sure you don't have ANYTHING running. Still trusty awdflash from a dos boot disk is a well tried and tested method that I will use aslong as my floppy drive works

It's all true, and yet, you know it's just you and I doing this - everyone else is just flashing from Windows!

Jumping · 23 Feb 2007 at 11:55

The day I buy a mobo without floppy drive connector I really hope that booting from a USB stick to flash from there is as easy as the floppy drive method. Or that all mobo's come with the flash from within BIOS.

Flashing the BIOS has come a long way from when I started messing about with computers in that its not a lot easier and safer and more options available, but please remember that if anything goes wrong there is a VERY high risk that you will be without a computer for some time depending on if you can get a new chip or RMA of the board.

So unless you know what you are doing and REALLY need to flash the bios, don't do it. IF your box is running sweet and dandy don't just flash to a new bios for the sake of getting a newer bios. Only do it if you have the need and can live without a puter if something goes wrong.

Yellowbeard · 23 Feb 2007 at 14:16

WJA96 said:
After all, it was ASUS decision to save a fraction of a penny by not using a socket that means they can't just send you a new BIOS chip which is what they always used to do. It would put me off buying another ASUS board if they're taking that attitude.

The bios chip is removable, I'm not sure what your point is here. If he can revive the system using the method I described, that saves time and a trip and is as good as a new bios chip. And, if the MOBO is not defective, there is certainly no reason to remove or exchange it if you can restore it easily.

Keep in mind that ASUS has the flash utility built in on this MOBO and you can flash from virtually any media including a USB drive. And, they do not have to be bootable drives as the utility gets you to DOS. Then, you simply browse the media and flash.

If you follow a few simple steps, flashing a bios is not dangerous. The safest way I know to do it is:

Clear CMOS, reboot, hit F5 to load setup defaults.
Reboot, go to bios, select ASUS flash utility, flash, etc, etc.

I avoid flashing from Windows like the plague. The ONLY bios flash I have ever had fail was using ASUS Update from Windows.

IMO, try to revive this MOBO. It will take 10 min of your time and you certainly have nothing to lose at this point. The bios has a built in function specifically for recoveries like this, why not use it :confused:

esoteric · 23 Feb 2007 at 15:19

When BIOS becomes corrupt from a failed Flash on Asus mobo's, jus stick in the motherboard disk and it will fix the problem, I did this just yesterday when I failed an O/C and my BIOS became corrupt.

WJA96 · 23 Feb 2007 at 15:40

Yellowbeard said:
The bios chip is removable, I'm not sure what your point is here.

Not on any P5N-E SLi I've ever seen (although that's only 5 of them, plus all the review photos). The BIOS chip is soldered directly onto the motherboard I'm afraid (definitely on the rev 1.01D, E and G boards).

I agree that taking the battery out, disconnecting from the mains and leaving the board overnight usually does the trick for me and the 0401 BIOS is massively better at recovering from a failed boot than the 0202 but if the guy says his BIOS is fubar'd as a result of a bad ASUS update flash then I tend to take him at his word and hence I say send it back.

If he can boot into the bootstap then yes, he can flash in several ways. In the past I have reflashed chips myself as I have a programmer, but if it's soldered on, there's not much you can do.

pegasus1 · 23 Feb 2007 at 15:51

WJA96 said:
With Vista? I'm really not that sure about ASUS/NVidia's commitment to supply good Vista support at the moment.

From XP, i'l keep clear of Vista until SP1 i think.