HP Brio system bios unlocking???

[rockr001]

How do I unlock the bios on a HP Brio system with the award medallion bios???

[JaY_III]

what mothereboard is it?
is it even a "REAL" motherboard or a HP only board?

*WARNING do not try this next idea unless you know what you are doing*

IF you find out what board it is you could FLASH the BIOS with the motherboard makers BIOS... But i woulnt unless you know how to "HOT FLASH" just incase something goes wrong

[rockr001]

It says that it is a FIC board from the bios string but I cant find the board anywhere in the FIC database.

Here is the bios string from the system.

1-29-2001 8605-686A-6A6LLF09C-00

it is a jumperless board and the cpu clock settings are greyed out so I cant change them. I am running a celeron PIII 800 (370), 196Mg PC-133 ram, 20G seagate, 40G maxtor and onboard audio/video
It has an Award medallion bios IO.07.08

any help to you?

[William]

Search Google for a program called SoftFSB. It allows you to change the Front Side Bus speed in the bios from windows. It might work and certainly won't be the hassle of flashing the bios.

[rockr001]

thanks..I'll try that...

do you know of any way of unlocking the bios though so I can actually overclock the 800??

[jazztrumpet216]

I know Dell has some secret BIOS unlocking utility that they use to repair their computers... but it's kept top-secret from us end-users. I'd assume HP has one for the same reasons, though I'd have no idea how you'd get one. You'd be better off with SoftFSB. I believe www.cnet.com (http://www.cnet.com) has that in it's download section if you haven't already gotten it.

[rockr001]

I tried SoftFSB on my system but it is useless unless you have one of the boards that it lists in the motherboard list or the clock timer...I have exhausted all my resources on this one...so if you have any ideas...just keep posting them and I'll keep trying them...thanks everyone for the help :)

[jazztrumpet216]

If you know your clock generator serial, you can use that too (most boards I've seen use Winbond, but not sure on FIC). You could also try CPUFSB but I'm not sure if that'd be any better. Most branded computers are not OC friendly, if at all.

[rockr001]

it is a celeron 800 (370) which the bios says is a FIC board
Award medallion bios.
VIA 82C686A chipset
PM-133 ProSavage onboard video
VIA Crystal WDM onboard sound
Bios serial #- 1-29-2001 8605-686A-6A6LLF09C-00

I really need to find out the model of the board as I cant find it on the FIC site anywhere.
there are a few that look similar but they are not the same board
any help is appreciated...