Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (
More info?)
And the USB hdd/zip option with 1005.001
update went a bit further.
On USB HDD, it doesnt stop at the screen, where it listed the devices.
It now says this is no operating system, which
it didnt say before with the 1004 BIOS.
It just stopped.
Thats OK, coz this USB drive, hasnt got an OS
on it, just files for DOS. At least the USB hdd
option MAY work, if I ever have to boot from one.
(BUT the USB hdd option may work, IF I created a MS-DOS disk in 98/ME).
As the format tool that came with the USB drive, only lets u format it as a
USB zip in XP.
BUT the USB zip option still doesnt work.
BUT I got a reply from transcend, saying it isnt
compat (the USB drive), with the mobo.
So, I'll have to buy another USB drive that does.
"Paul" <noone@myhouse.com> wrote in message
news:deggob$vu$1@lust.ihug.co.nz...
> LOL.
>
> Well, I figured out WHAT the prob was.
>
> I use Powerarchiver, and one of its options
> under file formats, is, you guessed it:
>
> rar spanned archives (*.001,*.01).
>
> This bloody option was ticked, and it ASSUMED
> that the file within the downloaded zip file
> (1005.001) was some kind of archived file.
>
> And PART of a spanned rar archive.
>
> It wasn't / isn't.
>
> The file within the main zip file was the actual BIOS update (called
> 1005.001).
>
> This was 256k
>
> Having 001 in the extracted file, confused
> Powerarchiver, since the 001 option was
> ticked under its file formats.
>
> I unticked this last night and I finally got the
> 256 1005.001 file. And finally got it to flash
> the BIOS to 1005.001
>
> "Paul" <nospam@needed.com> wrote in message
> news:nospam-2308050227070001@192.168.1.178...
>> In article <dearn3$rq$1@lust.ihug.co.nz>, "Paul" <noone@myhouse.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Dont trust ASUS update.
>>>
>>> Seen too many posts on systems dying completely
>>> using the Windows based update.
>>>
>>> Using EZ-flash,
>>>
>>> On loading the file system.rom, it says
>>> **WARNING* lol
>>>
>>> It showed P4S8x-x, BUT not P4S8x-x boot block
>>> like it shows in the mobo manual.
>>>
>>> So, I decided to flash it anyway, and it killed
>>> it. So, luckily this mobo has Crashfree BIOS 2.
>>>
>>> I had to put the mobo cd in, it booted, it brought
>>> up a message saying the BIOS was corrupted, and
>>> it re-flashed the BIOS back to 1002 beta 1 BIOS.
>>>
>>> (default version on the mobo CD).
>>>
>>> I have a feeling this 1005.001 file hasnt been
>>> fully coded/written. As 1004 and 1003 are 256k
>>>
>>> This 1005.001 file is ONLY 128k.
>>>
>>> And both 1003 and 1004 end with AWD.
>>>
>>> 1005 is just called SYSTEM.ROM.
>>>
>>> And if u extract this 1005 file, it creates a folder
>>> with 1005 in it (256k) and when u extract this
>>> 1005 file (if u dont extract it within Powerarchiver, which
>>> I use here), - You right mouse on this file/extract.
>>>
>>> It says "Please open first volume of this spanned set".
>>>
>>> I've never seen this before with BIOS 1003 or 1004.
>>>
>>> So, it looks like ASUS created 1005.001, spanned
>>> the zip file for some reason, and left 1/2 the code out,
>>> (since its only 128k the other BIOS'es are 256k),
>>> and forgot to join them together.
>>>
>>> Umm yer well the USB drive must have been trying to do something. (As it
>>> looks like it was booting from the USB drive)
>>>
>>> Because it didnt boot into XP, it didnt show the XP
>>> logo, it only brought up the screen where it lists the devices and
>>> stopped!
>>>
>>> So, I think this 1005.001 is screwed, it is for this mobo, but its not
>>> all
>>> there, and 1/2 the code for it is missing
>>>
>>
>> OK. I know what is happening now. You'll get a chuckle out
>> of this. Thanks for taking the time to post the details -
>> that is why it "rang a bell'.
>>
>> The BIOS has a bunch of modules inside it. Each module is
>> compressed and begins with the identifying string "-lh5-".
>> There are multiple modules contained inside the BIOS file,
>> and after the end of those modules, comes the boot block,
>> DMI, ESCD areas and the like. The first module is named
>> "SYSTEM.ROM", as you've discovered
>>
>> Many decompression tools support multiple file formats.
>> They are also "greedy", and they will hierarchically
>> decompress everything they find. My decompression tool does
>> this too. If you feed it blog.zip, out comes 1005.001
>> (a 256KB file), and then the stupid decompressor starts
>> decompressing the 1005.001 file (which we don't really
>> want it to do). It finds the first BIOS module, which
>> is SYSTEM.ROM and decompresses it. That is the 128KB file
>> you are seeing. Do not try to burn SYSTEM.ROM, as it is
>> not a BIOS file - it is only a single BIOS internal module.
>> And the BIOS modules are never decompressed until the BIOS
>> decompresses them at POST.
>>
>> So, grab the more aptly named "1005.001", check the size
>> is 256KB (as you've already so ably done), and give the
>> flash update process another try. I hope your decompression
>> tool is not deleting the 1005.001 file.
>>
>> I find that decompression feature really annoying, and
>> fortunately it only happens with Award BIOS. (As an aside,
>> the internal format of AMI BIOS doesn't seem to be recognized
>> by decompression tools, so their "greedy" nature won't work.
>> The only way to decompress the innards of an AMI BIOS
>> is with "mmtool". So, at least half the Asus customers won't
>> be getting the surprise you got.)
>>
>> Post back whether the 256KB 1005.001 file works...
>>
>> Paul
>
>