Plz read and try to help

[hoodlum80]

i have a giga-byte mobo "GA-8N-SLI" so the story goes i entered gigabyte site to search for drivers and so i choose my mobo in the site and now i see list of specs drivers and more but the bios cought my eye so i entered the link and now i see this :


Download Version Date Description
Download from ... F5 2006/03/14 Update SMI code and Flash part SST49LF040B-CA support

Download from ... F4 2006/01/06 Update CPU microcode

Download from ... F3 2005/11/15 Update CPU microcode

Download from ... F2 2005/10/28 Fix if RAID mode enabled, Windows® XP cannot be installed on SATA HDD

Download from ... F1 2005/10/03 First Release

so my Qustion is what is the mining of the F1 F2... is it for flashing? and every one of the "F" is a diffrent flash or is it like drivers that i should update??

 

[qhorque]

Yes, the F1, F2, etc. are the version numbers of each BIOS. When you boot up your machine, you will see the line with your motherboard model and F# which will tell you what the current BIOS is. Such as GA-8N-SLI F3. That means you have F3 and will need to update to F4 or F5, whichever has fixes for issues you may be having.

Note that if you are not experiencing any of the items listed in the BIOS description, it's generally not necessary to update. If it's not broken, don't fix it!

In a way, a BIOS update is like a driver but it's not really a driver in the strictest software sense. You can think of it that way though and not get into trouble.

Hope this helps.

 

[bilbat]

The BIOS does two things:
It enables the CPU chip itself 'talk' to the other hardware (memory, disk controller, USB ports, etc.) on the motherboard;
it lets programs 'call' standardized functions to perform hardware and computational functions, without the programs having to know (or care) exactly what chip, memory, etc., is really there...
http://www.htl-steyr.ac.at/~morg/pcinfo/hardware/interrupts/inte1at0.htm
Usually, the first rev or two are to 'fix' these hardware issues; the remainder are generally for support of new chips, or 'steppings' of chips (i.e., same chip number and specs, but different internal organization - often known as 'masks', after the photolithography masks used to create the chip); I predict there will be several with the i7/X58s to accomodate the new three channel RAM scheme as it's perfected; if you don't have one of the chips listed in the BIOS release doc (or, look in the 'CPU support list), you probably won't care. There is always some risk in 'flashing' a new BIOS (comprehensive instructions here
http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/bios-flashing-how-qflash-guide-27576/
so some people recommend only doing it when required - and some people flash whenever a new BIOS becomes available, just to be up to date;
WHATEVER - DO NOT use the GB @BIOS feature to flash your BIOS

 

[hoodlum80]

why shouldnt i us GB bios feature to flash???

 

[hoodlum80]

why shouldnt i us GB bios feature to flash???

 

[bilbat]

The @BIOS feature might work once; it might work a second time; but, eventually it will 'brick' your board - i.e., turn it into a brick, useful only for propping open a door... It's like playing Russian roulette - the first 'click' might not get 'ya, and the second click, the same; but if you keep pulling the trigger, you will blow your brains out! You don't want an operating system, and an internet connection involved in the already peril-fraught business of 'flashing' a BIOS - there are already enough risks to go around; if I have to flash, I go in the basement, move the uninterruptable power supply off my home server, and put it on the system to be flashed, just to remove the power company (and every bad driver and squirrel between here and the substation) from the equation...

 

[hoodlum80]

The @BIOS feature might work once; it might work a second time; but, eventually it will 'brick' your board - i.e., turn it into a brick, useful only for propping open a door... It's like playing Russian roulette - the first 'click' might not get 'ya, and the second click, the same; but if you keep pulling the trigger, you will blow your brains out! You don't want an operating system, and an internet connection involved in the already peril-fraught business of 'flashing' a BIOS - there are already enough risks to go around; if I have to flash, I go in the basement, move the uninterruptable power supply off my home server, and put it on the system to be flashed, just to remove the power company (and every bad driver and squirrel between here and the substation) from the equation...

so u are saying that its better to forget about the flashing or when you say dont us GB you mean only GB and ther is diffrent and better way to do it

another one (?) if i do want to install the bios update do i need to choose one of the F's or it is like driver and install all the F's and get all the benefts for example if i have ud4p mobo F3-Enhance system stability
F4-Make QPI over voltage range more wider (up to 2.0V)
F5-Enhance DDR compatibility

so i install all of them(F3,F4,F5) and i get all of D above

by the way 10x to all the helpers

 

[qhorque]

There used to be only one method to flash a BIOS and that was with the motherboard manufacturer's utility you put on a floppy disk along with the new BIOS file and boot to that. The utility runs and flashes the BIOS. You reboot without the floppy and you are generally done.

Gigabyte has a new way to do this using a tool IN WINDOWS that goes onto the internet, finds the BIOS file, and flashes it while IN WINDOWS. Bilbat is referring to that method as being bad and to not use it.

I am sure he's being overly cautious as this method is new and could be prone to failure. However, EVERY flashing mechanism for every electronic device is riddled with possible failure points so you have to be careful if and when you flash. Anything can be bricked like a GPS, PDA, cell phone, iPod, etc. Not just motherboards.

However, if you were to flash your BIOS, it's likely best to do it the more proven way and that's by using a tool on a bootable floppy disk.

As for the versions of each BIOS, you do not have to flash them sequentially. You merely need to use the latest one which rolls up the previous changes. I will stand by my comment, however, that if it's not fixing anything, there's generally no need to flash. ONLY flash if the new file fixes a problem you actually have or it has a feature you absolutely can not live without.

An example is if you are overclocking your CPU and you don't have an option to select a particular setting that will do that. A new BIOS might have that setting unlocked or have a larger range of values from which to select. Flashing to the new one so you can better overclock is worth it.

Good luck.

 

[bilbat]

If you think I'm being overly cautious, give this a read first:
http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/bios-flashing-how-qflash-guide-27576/
then try a search there for "'can't/won't/doesn't/not' boot BIOS'", and "'can't/won't/doesn't/not' post BIOS'", and tell me how many MOBOs you count that have been ruined (and RMAd) due to @BIOS? Or, come to think of it, just search for '@BIOS' and read the whole ruinous tale...

 

[qhorque]

Bilbat,

There are many many things out there that won't work for some but will for others. Your mileage may vary. I can't tell you the number of times I have read that something does not work only to find that, for me, it worked fine (having multiple packet writing software on one computer for example...)

In 15 years I've never had a flash go wrong on any device I've owned in that time regardless of method used even though every single flash was done on pins an needles. However, I still recommend that the tried and true method of a regular old boot floppy be used instead of any newfangled "high tech" method.

For what it's worth...

 

[bilbat]

There are many many things out there that won't work for some but will for others

the problem here is that it will work sometimes, maybe even most times - but all it takes is one misfire, and your MOBO is 'bricked'...

 

[qhorque]

Which is why you really should only flash the BIOS if it fixes something that's actually broken.

 

[bilbat]

LOL - or you can try every one that comes along just to see if it breaks something...

 

[hoodlum80]

ok so now i want do update my bios ther is somthing new with the cpu code i dont know what it will do and in a month i will have a new mobo so i dont mind i still wont use @bios i will use the q-flash the problem is it asks for floppy and i dont have nor floppy drive or disk so how can i do this by hard disk or disk on key i try to find in google but no body say how i get the pc to search the hard drive or flash disk

 

[qhorque]

If you don't know what the update will do, that's a perfect example of what I said earlier - if it's not broken, don't fix it. So why do it? If the motherboard is functioning fine as it is, there's no reason to flash the BIOS at all.

When you boot your PC, what does it tell you the BIOS version is?

 

[hoodlum80]

actually i cant see the bios mmm thats odd i see only the first screen which its ask me for q-flash or enter bios after this the table (when u see the usb load and all that) after this the windows... Im sure the bios is original i bought the mobo when it was new in market and i never flashed it why do you ask???

P.S: i cheke the bios in SIW (great software bye the way) and i found out that my bios is F3-updated microcode what does it mean??

 

[qhorque]

I asked what you see when you turn on the PC so you can tell me what BIOS revision your board is because almost all motherboards tell you this information on the very first screen when you turn it on. No need to run any other utility.

Make sure your monitor is on and boot up the PC. The very first screen you should see is the screen that tells you what your board is and what revision BIOS it's running. For example, mine says GA-EP-45-UD3R F3 which indicates my BIOS is version F3.

However, you've already found out the BIOS is F3 on your board by using the software anyway so that question is answered.

Looking at the Gigabyte site here:

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/BIOS_List.aspx?Keyword=GA-8N-SLI

It looks like there are 5 different versions of your board. Which one you have only you know. There are several BIOS updates for each one. You'll have to figure out on your own which one is appropriate.

As for updated "cpu microcode", you can read this here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcode

More than I care to read but it might answer your questions.

If you are running huge Excel spreadsheets that have lots of critical calculations that just can't be wrong and it's possible a microcode change will fix some possible errors, then yes, you might need to flash the BIOS to take care of this. Again, if you don't notice anything wrong, you probably don't need to flash.

I only do this if the new BIOS provides me some extra settings I can change that make a difference to me such as increasing the range of voltages I can select when overclocking or unlocking a frequency setting that wasn't available before. If it's a so-called microcode change and none of my data is wrong or nothing crashes, I don't flash at all.

 

[hoodlum80]

10x for the answer