Updating BIOS

Spitfir3 · 16 Sep 2007 at 23:11

Hey all..

I've been having trouble with my USB PCI card (internal USB ports do NOT work) recently and i've tried a lot.. its really random stuff like: not recognizing anything then after 5/10 replugs it'll recognise it.. iTunes seems to think my ipod's corrupt etc.. cant update it.. constantly reconnects the ipod...

So after looking on the internet I thought it could be the BIOS... this right?

ive got a utility that came with my mobo (its an epox one - website hasnt worked for ages) so im going to use it... although the manual is a bit vague and its not in particulary good english.

so anyway, is this the right thing to do? will it have any side effects?

cheers

Teaf · 16 Sep 2007 at 23:15

If your USB PCI card is having trouble, then I doubt it'll be related to the motherboards BIOS in any way, although I may be wrong. Might want some extra confirmation on that before you proceed. If you do proceed however, I would strongly advise against using a Windows based utility to flash a motherboards BIOS.

Could it not be some issue with the USB PCI card being incompatible with the devices you are using? Maybe something to do with USB1.1 and USB2.0 ?

V|per · 16 Sep 2007 at 23:19

as above, do not update bios in windows...

Also, do the devices work on the onboard usb sockets?

Spitfir3 · 16 Sep 2007 at 23:19

flibby said:
If your USB PCI card is having trouble, then I doubt it'll be related to the motherboards BIOS in any way, although I may be wrong. Might want some extra confirmation on that before you proceed. If you do proceed however, I would strongly advise against using a Windows based utility to flash a motherboards BIOS.

Could it not be some issue with the USB PCI card being incompatible with the devices you are using? Maybe something to do with USB1.1 and USB2.0 ?

Thanks for replying... I have been using it for ages though (even worked in vista) so I doubt its got anything to do with the different speeds/versions. Weird thing is that my joystick + printer have no problems.. whilst my ipod + card reader just dont work.. and yep, ive tried it on a laptop - no problems.

Spitfir3 · 16 Sep 2007 at 23:20

V|per said:
as above, do not update bios in windows...

Also, do the devices work on the onboard usb sockets?

nope - never have since I got it.. just get a "usb device cannot be recognized" on all 4/6 of them.. tried.. well.. countless things.. definatley dead.

And btw, why shouldnt I update it through this windows utility.. high chances of it not working?]

cheers

V|per · 16 Sep 2007 at 23:22

what os are you running?

Teaf · 16 Sep 2007 at 23:23

Is it only your iPod that is causing trouble? Could be a driver issue.

Spitfir3 · 16 Sep 2007 at 23:25

V|per said:
what os are you running?

Win XP. Worked fine on vista 64 + Win XP on a previous err format/time.

Is it only your iPod that is causing trouble? Could be a driver issue.

nope, my card reader wont work either.. same issues - either 'cannot be recognised' or it works but then after trying to access the files it just stops and it comes up with corrupt file messages.

ty again for your replies

stoofa · 16 Sep 2007 at 23:56

Windows based BIOS upgrades are just fine - don't let anyone tell you differently.
I cannot remember the last time I did a BIOS upgrade from outside of Windows.
With Gigabyte motherboards you use the @BIOS utility - me and the wife have Gigabyte boards which have been upgraded this way numerous times.
At work we mainly use Intel motherboards - download the Windows BIOS upgrade and run, I haven't had one fail yet.
All of our Dell server BIOS updates are done from within Windows and before I defected to Gigabyte at home, all of my ASUS updates were done from within Windows.

Honestly - the last time I saw a "from Windows" BIOS update fail was back in the days of Pentium 2 systems.

C64 · 17 Sep 2007 at 00:07

Really? i got one a few months back depends on the software used and hardware anything can suddenly freeze up floppy is only way to go imo.

V|per · 17 Sep 2007 at 00:42

Acrually, to be fair, it's only ever been asus boards that have failed in windows on me (3 times) gigabyte and the 100% of ibm pc's/servers i've dealt with have been fine...

Only ever had 1 go wrong from the bios, but that's what happens when you try and update your bios in the middle of an electrical storm

Spitfir3 · 17 Sep 2007 at 12:18

okay I flashed it through this utility... but..

it asked to "clear CMOS?".. so I put No thinking it would go back (stupidly) then on reboot it said "CMOS checksum error".. it's booted okay..

er help?

also hasnt fixed my damned USB ports -.-

edit

it's like its forgotten everything... itunes songs' need reauthorzing... loads of programs on the menu bar are highlighted as if theyve just been installed... and its come up saying USB controller found etc.... and it wont recognised my sound card although it plays okay..

I havent ruined my PC have I?

cheers

Teaf · 17 Sep 2007 at 13:23

[SpItFiRe-Ace];10106607 said:
I havent ruined my PC have I?

Heh, no. When you've flashed it, it's redid everything for the system and the OS needs to pick everything back up again.

Regarding the "CMOS Checksum error", that means there is a issue with the BIOS and it needs reseting, which is where you should have said yes to reseting it, but no harm done as you can just manually reset it. Just take out the battery out of the motherboard for 10 minutes, and put it back in and try again, should fix the error. If not then just go into the BIOS and "Load Default Settings".