ASUS P5Q Deluxe...three BIOS flash options.

[Beetle559]

Most of my parts have arrived for my first build and I'm feeling confident that I'm as prepared as I can be with exception of flashing bios. I went with the Asus P5Q Deluxe which offers three methods for updating the bios.

1. Asus Update which runs from the OS. (Vsta 64bit in this case)
2. EZ Flash2 accessed from setup (or <ALT> + <F2>during POST.)
3. By using a boot floppy and DOS with AFUDOS.EXE

ASUS Update or EZ Flash would be the preferred methods due to simplicity but I would be comfortable using AFUDOS. ASUS Update has some bad press out there from the user end of things so I thought I'd see if you guys have a preferred method or had encountered any problems with the two 'easy' options.

 

[pinaplex]

Definitely go with option #2. It is the best way to flash your bios. No need to invovle floppy disks. That is the only method i use to flash my P5Q-E and it has never failed.

DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT use Asus Update in vista 64 to update your bios, it's pretty much guaranteed to brick your motherboard, rendering it useless. I made that mistake once, and the bios update failed, and I had to send in my board for RMA. I looked on the forums regarding this issue, and it seemed that using Asus Update in windows vista 64 had practically a 100% FAIL rate. So now, EZ Flash2 is the only method i'll trust for updating my bios.

 

[wickedsnow]

Well, not everyone has that problem. I too use vista64 both buiness and ultimate versions, and I have ONLY ever used the OS updating method. And after doings this on 32 asus motherboards, I have never had any problems what-so-ever.

It is a good rule of thumb not to flash via the OS, I just do it because it has never failed on me once, and i'm too lazy to do it any other way.

But take all advise with a grain of salt, just because I have never had any problems, does not mean you won't. A non-OS method is more advisable.

Pinaplex, do to my success with vista64-bit OS's, i would have to say that 100% fail rate is not completely valid. So far, i've had 100% success

 

[MRFS]

ASUS Update has always worked for us under XP, UNLESS
we want to revert to a prior BIOS version.

In the latter case, ASUS Update will generate an
error message and a recommendation to use
a different BIOS update method.

The floppy method works AOK also, PROVIDED
that you follow the directions exactly as written:

You must download and decompress the desired
BIOS version; then, you must change its name
to the exact text shown in the User Manual;
finally, if everything is in order, <ALT> <F2> during POST
will search for that one filename on your floppy disk
and flash that BIOS version into the motherboard's
EPROM.

We had to revert to a much older BIOS version
on an older ASUS motherboard that was gifted to us,
in order to achieve the desired overclock from 3.2 to 3.6 GHz
with a Pentium 4 540 and the LGA775 bolt-thru-kit from
Sidewinder Computer Systems, Inc.

(We are stable now using Manual overclocked settings
and the older BIOS version that supported such overclocks.)


Depending on which method and which option(s)
you select, you may need to boot into the BIOS
to re-set all of your preferred options e.g.
Boot Priority, CPU and RAM settings, etc.


p.s. We power all of our workstations with APC
battery backup units, to prevent catastrophes
during such sensitive tasks.


MRFS

 

[Beetle559]

Thanks for the info guys, all these replies were useful

With the information given I'll go with EZ Flash2 as it doesn't seem any more difficult than ASUS Update and even someone who's had great success with A Update recommends flashing from BIOS.