Question about flashing bios

[mikeny]

I need to update the bios on my x58 EVGA 3x SLI (A1) motherboard. Kinda nervous because I know what happens when something goes wrong. Is is the correct procedure: (Im using the burn image steps)

<already downloaded image and burned to disc)
1. restart system and go into bios
2. Save defaults and exit
3. restart computer and press escape to boot from image on disc
4. flashing should start and wait for it to finish
5. Shutdown system completely, reset cmos to empty it (On this mobo, the cmos button is at the back , sticking out)
6. Turn on PSU, turn system on and go into bios
7. In Bios, load optimized or no optimized; load defaults
8. save and exit
9. All done!

Will the flashing let me know when it's done? Also, if I download the latest update, does that include all the other updates or do I have to download each and every one of them and flash one at a time? Im going to do the flash bios later tonite. But how does this look?

 

[rodney_ws]

While I'm not familiar with your particular board's procedure for flashing the BIOS, I have done this on numerous occasions on numerous boards over the years so I do have some experience on this topic. Here are some general pointers...

Reset your board to its default state.

If you have access to a battery backup, I would have your computer running from it... just in case the power blinks. I don't have that luxury so I just avoid doing something like this when there is bad weather out, but if I did... I would totally take advantage of it.

Don't flash a BIOS from within a live operating system... at work I'll do that, but that's because I'm paid to fix the crap when it breaks... at home? Hell no... totally not worth the risk. Boot from a USB drive or a CD-ROM and flash from there.

Every flash that I've done has completed with a message stating it was successful... except that one time back in the 90s I flashed an AMI BIOS with an AWARD BIOS... whoops! Bricked that board... but don't worry! Modern boards actually do a check on the BIOS you're about to flash to make sure you're not doing something stupid like I did.

Don't flash if you don't have a specific reason to do so. There is a risk associated with BIOS flashing... and if you can avoid doing it, well... avoid doing it. However, there will inevitably be a time when you REALLY need to do it... well, in that case go for it! Flashing a BIOS can resolve hardware problems or add support for newer processors... so clearly it exists for a reason.

And to answer your question... BIOS updates are cumulative... so just flash the most recent one... you can skip all the others in the middle.

 

[mikeny]

While I'm not familiar with your particular board's procedure for flashing the BIOS, I have done this on numerous occasions on numerous boards over the years so I do have some experience on this topic. Here are some general pointers...

Reset your board to its default state.

If you have access to a battery backup, I would have your computer running from it... just in case the power blinks. I don't have that luxury so I just avoid doing something like this when there is bad weather out, but if I did... I would totally take advantage of it.

Don't flash a BIOS from within a live operating system... at work I'll do that, but that's because I'm paid to fix the crap when it breaks... at home? Hell no... totally not worth the risk. Boot from a USB drive or a CD-ROM and flash from there.

Every flash that I've done has completed with a message stating it was successful... except that one time back in the 90s I flashed an AMI BIOS with an AWARD BIOS... whoops! Bricked that board... but don't worry! Modern boards actually do a check on the BIOS you're about to flash to make sure you're not doing something stupid like I did.

Don't flash if you don't have a specific reason to do so. There is a risk associated with BIOS flashing... and if you can avoid doing it, well... avoid doing it. However, there will inevitably be a time when you REALLY need to do it... well, in that case go for it! Flashing a BIOS can resolve hardware problems or add support for newer processors... so clearly it exists for a reason.

And to answer your question... BIOS updates are cumulative... so just flash the most recent one... you can skip all the others in the middle.

Thank you for the advice. I was reading it before I did it. I just completed the flashing. You're right, pretty easy for the initial start; it asked for location/file but it automatically found it (.bin file) and did it's think (weird, it looked like DOS lol). It said to not restart or power down. When it was done it said to take disk out and press f1. When it shut, It actually loaded but I shut it down and pulled the plug and reset CMOS. I went into bios and loaded defaults. When i turned it back on, it showed the bios update (11/09) and it loaded to my OS. So it looks like I was sucessful. Thanx It seemed idiot proof