Upgrading BIOS to support new CPU

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.msi-microstar (More info?)

Hi,

I was wondering how, generically, to upgrade the BIOS on a motherboard
to support a new CPU type?

The reason for my question is that of building a new system with one of
the MSI RS480M2-IL motherboards, but I also want to use one of the new
"Venice" core AMD 64 CPUs.

Assuming that the board comes with a BIOS that does not currently
support the Venice core CPU, and assuming that MSI has, or will have a
BIOS version that does support the Venice core CPU, how do I do the BIOS
upgrade?

Do I have to have two different CPU chips (an older non-Venice core CPU
and a Venice core CPU) to do this?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[Spajky]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.msi-microstar (More info?)

On Thu, 28 Apr 2005 17:09:08 -0400, ohaya <ohaya@cox.net> wrote:

>I was wondering how, generically, to upgrade the BIOS on a motherboard
>to support a new CPU type?
>
>The reason for my question is that of building a new system with one of
>the MSI RS480M2-IL motherboards, but I also want to use one of the new
>"Venice" core AMD 64 CPUs.
>
>Assuming that the board comes with a BIOS that does not currently
>support the Venice core CPU, and assuming that MSI has, or will have a
>BIOS version that does support the Venice core CPU, how do I do the BIOS
>upgrade?
>
>Do I have to have two different CPU chips (an older non-Venice core CPU
>and a Venice core CPU) to do this?

IMHO no, will boot anyway with a new core revision & IMHO will work
w/o problem even if you will not uppgrade Bios (no need to if before
everything was working Ok ...
--
Regards , SPAJKY ®
mail addr. @ my site @ http://www.spajky.vze.com
3rd Ann.: - "Tualatin OC-ed / BX-Slot1 / inaudible setup!"

 

[nOm]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.msi-microstar (More info?)

ohaya wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I was wondering how, generically, to upgrade the BIOS on a motherboard
> to support a new CPU type?
>
> The reason for my question is that of building a new system with one
> of the MSI RS480M2-IL motherboards, but I also want to use one of the
> new "Venice" core AMD 64 CPUs.
>
> Assuming that the board comes with a BIOS that does not currently
> support the Venice core CPU, and assuming that MSI has, or will have a
> BIOS version that does support the Venice core CPU, how do I do the
> BIOS upgrade?
>
> Do I have to have two different CPU chips (an older non-Venice core
> CPU and a Venice core CPU) to do this?

It depends whether it will POST or not !

If you can actually get it to boot with the Venice core onboard, then you
can perform the flash, and all will be well.

But if it won't POST at all, then yes, you need two different CPU chips to
do it. Pick up an old chip from eBay, and then sell it back on there when
you're done - you shouldn't lose out.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.msi-microstar (More info?)

Most newer MSI boards allow you to flash the bios directly from a floppy.
The instructions for doing so are in the manual. You will need to download
a Venice-compatible bios from the MSI site. Warning - from my experience,
the success rate is only 50/50. If the floppy flash is unsuccesssful you
will need to borrow an older CPU (preferably a 130 nm) from somebody in
order to perform a standard flash routine. Most PC repair shops will do
this for you, charging anywhere between $10 and $100.

"ohaya" <ohaya@cox.net> wrote in message news:427150F4.2F63748C@cox.net...
> Hi,
>
> I was wondering how, generically, to upgrade the BIOS on a motherboard
> to support a new CPU type?
>
> The reason for my question is that of building a new system with one of
> the MSI RS480M2-IL motherboards, but I also want to use one of the new
> "Venice" core AMD 64 CPUs.
>
> Assuming that the board comes with a BIOS that does not currently
> support the Venice core CPU, and assuming that MSI has, or will have a
> BIOS version that does support the Venice core CPU, how do I do the BIOS
> upgrade?
>
> Do I have to have two different CPU chips (an older non-Venice core CPU
> and a Venice core CPU) to do this?
>
> Thanks,
> Jim

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.msi-microstar (More info?)

On Wed, 04 May 2005 22:32:42 GMT, "John McDonnell"
<jmcdonne@verizon.net> mangled uncounted electrons thus:

>Most newer MSI boards allow you to flash the bios directly from a floppy.
>The instructions for doing so are in the manual. You will need to download
>a Venice-compatible bios from the MSI site. Warning - from my experience,
>the success rate is only 50/50. If the floppy flash is unsuccesssful you
>will need to borrow an older CPU (preferably a 130 nm) from somebody in
>order to perform a standard flash routine. Most PC repair shops will do
>this for you, charging anywhere between $10 and $100.

Better yet, d/load the new BIOS to your boot drive, boot into DOS
and flash from the HDD. It's much safer than relying on a floppy.

It may only be for Award BIOS, though.

It worked flawlessly for me recently...

Martin D. Pay
MSI actually put instructions on the process on their website.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.msi-microstar (More info?)

"Martin D. Pay" wrote:
>
> On Wed, 04 May 2005 22:32:42 GMT, "John McDonnell"
> <jmcdonne@verizon.net> mangled uncounted electrons thus:
>
> >Most newer MSI boards allow you to flash the bios directly from a floppy.
> >The instructions for doing so are in the manual. You will need to download
> >a Venice-compatible bios from the MSI site. Warning - from my experience,
> >the success rate is only 50/50. If the floppy flash is unsuccesssful you
> >will need to borrow an older CPU (preferably a 130 nm) from somebody in
> >order to perform a standard flash routine. Most PC repair shops will do
> >this for you, charging anywhere between $10 and $100.
>
> Better yet, d/load the new BIOS to your boot drive, boot into DOS
> and flash from the HDD. It's much safer than relying on a floppy.
>
> It may only be for Award BIOS, though.
>
> It worked flawlessly for me recently...
>
> Martin D. Pay
> MSI actually put instructions on the process on their website.


Martin,

I think that you may be "missing the point/concern" of my question. I
have the impression, as John has commented on, that sometimes when a new
CPU core comes out, the motherboard won't boot/run with the new CPU core
because the older BIOS may need to have altered code to support the new
CPU core. If this is the case, this becomes a bit of a conundrum,
because you wouldn't be able to even boot the new CPU with the old BIOS
so that you could do the flash.

I know how to flash a BIOS, but assumes that the motherboard will boot
in the first place .

I guess the question that I have is whether anyone has tried booting a
Venice core CPU with the MSI board and the existing BIOS?

Jim

 

[nOm]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.msi-microstar (More info?)

Martin D. Pay wrote:
> On Wed, 04 May 2005 22:32:42 GMT, "John McDonnell"
> <jmcdonne@verizon.net> mangled uncounted electrons thus:
>
>> Most newer MSI boards allow you to flash the bios directly from a
>> floppy. The instructions for doing so are in the manual. You will
>> need to download a Venice-compatible bios from the MSI site.
>> Warning - from my experience, the success rate is only 50/50. If
>> the floppy flash is unsuccesssful you will need to borrow an older
>> CPU (preferably a 130 nm) from somebody in order to perform a
>> standard flash routine. Most PC repair shops will do this for you,
>> charging anywhere between $10 and $100.
>
> Better yet, d/load the new BIOS to your boot drive, boot into DOS
> and flash from the HDD...

But you can only do that if you're running FAT32. And nobody runs FAT32 over
NTFS, for obvious reasons.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.msi-microstar (More info?)

Am Fri, 6 May 2005 09:14:19 +0100 schrieb Nom:

> Martin D. Pay wrote:
[...]

>> Better yet, d/load the new BIOS to your boot drive, boot into DOS
>> and flash from the HDD...
>
> But you can only do that if you're running FAT32.

You're right.

> And nobody runs FAT32 over NTFS, for obvious reasons.

A small FAT32-Partition is a fine thing. I always create such a partition
(about 8 GB) on my systems. It is a good place to store images of the
system partition there, especially if the software used doesn't support
NTFS properly.

Michael

 

[nOm]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.msi-microstar (More info?)

Michael Paul wrote:
> Am Fri, 6 May 2005 09:14:19 +0100 schrieb Nom:
>
>> Martin D. Pay wrote:
> [...]
>
>>> Better yet, d/load the new BIOS to your boot drive, boot into DOS
>>> and flash from the HDD...
>>
>> But you can only do that if you're running FAT32.
>
> You're right.
>
>> And nobody runs FAT32 over NTFS, for obvious reasons.
>
> A small FAT32-Partition is a fine thing. I always create such a
> partition (about 8 GB) on my systems. It is a good place to store
> images of the system partition there, especially if the software used
> doesn't support NTFS properly.

Agreed.
I was under the impression you were using FAT32 exclusively

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.msi-microstar (More info?)

Just registered to address this question

I just purchased a new motherboard / RAM / CPU / video card (MSI K8N
Neo4 with Venice-core 3000+). I'm getting to the BIOS splash screen
and freezing there without error.

Having swapped out the RAM, and disconnected everything I can, I'm of
the belief that it is indeed the BIOS not recognizing the CPU.

I'm gonna try to get my hands on an older-core CPU to find out. Will
let everyone know if I meet with success.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.msi-microstar (More info?)

JerryLove wrote:
>
> Just registered to address this question
>
> I just purchased a new motherboard / RAM / CPU / video card (MSI K8N
> Neo4 with Venice-core 3000+). I'm getting to the BIOS splash screen
> and freezing there without error.
>
> Having swapped out the RAM, and disconnected everything I can, I'm of
> the belief that it is indeed the BIOS not recognizing the CPU.
>
> I'm gonna try to get my hands on an older-core CPU to find out. Will
> let everyone know if I meet with success.

Jerry,

You didn't mention how much (how many sticks) RAM you had. If you have
more than one installed, you might want to try with just a single stick
and see if the mobo will boot.

Jim

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.msi-microstar (More info?)

On Sat, 07 May 2005 20:56:51 -0400, ohaya <ohaya@cox.net> wrote:

>
>You didn't mention how much (how many sticks) RAM you had. If you have
>more than one installed, you might want to try with just a single stick
>and see if the mobo will boot.

Also removing all connected USB devices could be worth a try.

--
Jens G
IP telefoni med www.musimi.dk - slet ikke så svært

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.msi-microstar (More info?)

ohaya wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I was wondering how, generically, to upgrade the BIOS on a motherboard
> to support a new CPU type?
>
> The reason for my question is that of building a new system with one of
> the MSI RS480M2-IL motherboards, but I also want to use one of the new
> "Venice" core AMD 64 CPUs.
>
> Assuming that the board comes with a BIOS that does not currently
> support the Venice core CPU, and assuming that MSI has, or will have a
> BIOS version that does support the Venice core CPU, how do I do the BIOS
> upgrade?
>
> Do I have to have two different CPU chips (an older non-Venice core CPU
> and a Venice core CPU) to do this?
>
> Thanks,
> Jim


Hi,

New BIOS (3.4) for the MSI RS480M2-IL:

http://216.158.218.35/edoc/bios_uploads/7093v34.zip

1. This is Award BIOS release
2. This BIOS fixes the following problem of the previous version:
- Support AMD K8 reversion E stepping CPU.
3. 05/13/2005


The "Rev. E" is the Venice core CPUs.

I guess I'm out of excuses to build an AMD64 system now !

Jim