Flash problems

[cpl_tunnel]

I tried to flash the BIOS on my Jaton 3DForce2 MX-64 (GeForce2 MX-400), and when it rebooted, the display was distorted...characters were missing, graphics shifted, etc. I tried erasing the ROM and re-flashing, but the same thing happened. The thing that really burns my butt is that once the flash completed the first time, it said the new BIOS version was the same as the old one. So I didn't need to flash in the first place...hindsight is 20/20. Anyhow, question is does anyone one know how to repair such a problem? My first instinct is to find a verified working BIOS flash for the card and re-flash it. But, I don't know where to find one, besides Jaton's website...and the one they have there is the one that fubar'ed the card in the first place. I didn't backup my BIOS beforehand (sigh...once again, hindsight's 20/20), so no luck there. I've got a GeForce3 Ti200 on the way to replace it, but if I can get the old one working I'm going to sell it cheap to someone I know. If anyone has any ideas I'd appreciate hearing them.

-=Cpl. Tunnel, IT Special Forces. Putting the "combat" back in computers.=-

 

[phsstpok]

You could try a BIOS from another manufacturer. Make sure it's for a MX-400, though.

For future reference, there is a utility called VGABIOS which lets you test a video BIOS without flashing your card. It works by loading the new BIOS to memory prior loading Windows.

On the otherhand, there is usually little to be gained by flashing a video BIOS if there are no bugs in the current release. Consider that 3D graphics speed is controlled by your video card's GPU and the speed of memory not the BIOS. The BIOS only needs to initialize the card, provide a software API, have fonts, and perform the video mode selecting including legacy text-based modes. Most of what the video BIOS does is just table lookups all the real processing is done by the GPU.

You can find a link to VGABIOS at <A HREF="http://www.geforcefaq.com" target="_new">http://www.geforcefaq.com</A>



<b>We are all beta testers!</b><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by phsstpok on 12/09/01 10:46 AM.</EM></FONT></P>