Hp pavilion a1250n bios update without os?

[astarts]

Can't install OS on clean hard drive. Tried to use CDs with Windows XP and Ubuntu 10.04 LTS. They all stop installing at some point. XP gives all the loading messages on the blue Windows setup screen for a few minutes but then stops with the last message "Setup is starting Windows". Ubuntu gives black screen with blinking cursor shortly after displaying the initial window. Thinking of flashing BIOS before looking at the possibility of hardware failure. There is an update file sp26713.exe available for download at HP site http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=pv-39428-1&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&product=1127366&tmp_track_link=ot_search but it only runs with windows. The only option available is to use the floppy made on another computer. Is there a way to download this floppy version to update BIOS? Any other ideas on how to resolve the situation?

 

[nna2]

if your heart is set on a flash, put it on a cd, and try it that way, it should work

 

[astarts]

Dear nna2. Thank you for your prompt response. I tried the CD as you suggested. It was spinning for a while but BIOS version remained 3.35. Should there be any indication of it being updated? Another question is how to prevent the disk with updated BIOS to be treated as a plain boot disk? Thank you in advance.

 

[nna2]

whats your motherboard manufacturer/model, usually if you look in the BIOS settings you can find a flashing utilitly of sorts

and one question, have you ever overclocked, if you bought it second hand, plz check for overclocking , and before you flash, try clearing the cmos via jumper pins, or removing the CMOS battery if you havent already

 

[astarts]

whats your motherboard manufacturer/model, usually if you look in the BIOS settings you can find a flashing utilitly of sorts

and one question, have you ever overclocked, if you bought it second hand, plz check for overclocking , and before you flash, try clearing the cmos via jumper pins, or removing the CMOS battery if you havent already

Motherboard
Manufacturer: MSI
Motherboard Name: MS-7184
HP/Compaq motherboard name: AmethystM-GL6E
never been overclocked
Took it to Memory Express for diagnostics. They said that "south bridge" is bad and that the whole motherboard has to be replaced. new one is not available. Those sold on line are not reliable. It has a unique socket for CPU. Not sure what to do yet.

 

[nna2]

hey, your canadian ... tbh i would trust them, but when i bought mostve my parts, the guy seemed to be a bit of an idiot

but if they say the SB is gone bad... and you dont have a local store that sells one with that socket... then thats going to be a bit of a problem

 

[astarts]

hey, your canadian ... tbh i would trust them, but when i bought mostve my parts, the guy seemed to be a bit of an idiot

but if they say the SB is gone bad... and you dont have a local store that sells one with that socket... then thats going to be a bit of a problem

My son bought a lot of things in that store so I took his old computer there for diagnostics.. Chinese sell this kind of motherboards for $65-70 online and shipment is cheap as well. They probably pull those from the junk that goes from Canada to China for recycling. Could work but I was told it is too risky as there will be no money back. Would be better to find an old HP Pavilion a1250n here..

 

[nna2]

if you want to, you could try looking up ebay for one with socket 939... but if you want to purchase another one, it couldnt hurt too bad...