- Joined
- Aug 28, 2003
- Location
- California
after my asus's bios went out, i searched the net for a few links that can help with the recovery of bios's.
here are some links. i think these were posted before.
For Asus a7n8x.
http://www3.telus.net/agentsmith/articles/article1.html
http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15104
Procedure for AMI and Award bios's. (from amptron by David Oakley). Should work universally.
http://www.amptron.com/documents/Recover.pdf
Clips from above PDF.
RECOVERING A CORRUPT AMI BOOTBLOCK BIOS (Cont.)
file is found it is then loaded into the SYSTEM BLOCK of the BIOS to replace the missing
information.
NOTE: Make sure that the PC speaker inside your computer is working before you proceed.
When the BIOS has been restored your system will beep four times to let you know.
To restore an AMI BootBlock BIOS follow these steps:
1) Format a good working 1.44MB floppy diskette.
2) Copy a working BIOS ROM file for your motherboard onto the floppy disk. BIOS ROM
files can usually be downloaded from the motherboard manufacturer’s web site. If you
cannot locate a BIOS ROM file for your motherboard then call the motherboard
manufacturer for technical support.
3) Rename the BIOS ROM file ‘AMIBOOT.ROM’
4) Turn the system on and insert the disk into drive A:
5) After about 3 ~ 4 minutes the system will beep four times. Remove the disk from the
drive. The computer will then restart.
At this point your BIOS should be restored and the system should startup normally.
RECOVERING A CORRUPT AWARD BOOTBLOCK BIOS
With AWARD BIOS the process is similar but still a bit different. To recover an AWARD BIOS you
will need to create a floppy diskette with a working BIOS file in .BIN format, an AWARD flash
utility and an AUTOEXEC.BAT file. AWARD BIOS will not automatically restore the BIOS
information to the SYSTEM BLOCK for this reason you will need to add the commands necessary
to flash the BIOS to the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. The system will run the AUTOEXE.BAT file at
startup, which will in turn flash the BIOS. This is fairly easy. Here are the steps you need to take.
1) Create a bootable floppy disk. If you use Windows 95, 98 or DOS, this can be done by
going to the DOS prompt and typing the command. (Be sure to insert a disk first)
FORMAT A: /S
The /S switch specifies that the system files should be copied to the diskette to make it
bootable. If you are using Windows ME, Windows NT or Windows 2000 then you can not
use the /S switch with the FORMAT command. If you are unable to create a bootable
diskette because of the operating system you are using then you may download a
bootable diskette image from the BootDisk.com web site at (http://www.bootdisk.com)
2) Copy a working BIOS ROM (.BIN) file for your motherboard and an AWARD flash utility
to the floppy disk. You can usually download these files from the motherboard
manufacturer. If you need help finding these files call the motherboard manufacturer for
technical support.
3) Use a text editor or the ‘edit’ command at the DOS prompt to create a text file named
‘AUTOEXEC.BAT’ and save it on the floppy disk. Make sure that the file name is
AUTOEXEC and that the extension is .BAT (nothing else). If you create this file from
4) within Windows using a program such as NOTEPAD, you may need to change the file
extension from .TXT to .BAT
5) With the text editor add the following commands to the AUTOEXEC.BAT file on the
floppy disk and then save the changes.
@ECHO OFF
@AWDFLASH BIOSFILE.BIN /py
NOTE: The ‘/py’ switch will cause the flash utility to automatically reprogram the BIOS
without any user intervention. Be sure to change the ‘AWDFLASH’ to the name
of the flash utility that you are using and change the ‘BIOSFILE.BIN’ to the name
of the BIOS ROM file you are using.
If you are not sure what the command line switch to automatically flash your
BIOS is, type the name of the flash utility with the ‘/?’ switch after it at a DOS
prompt and a list of the available switches will be displayed.
6) Insert the diskette you created into the floppy drive A: on the system that you need to
restore the BIOS on. Turn on the system. The computer should startup, read the floppy
disk, run the commands in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file and restore the BIOS.
At this point if everything went well then the BIOS should have been restored and the
computer should restart normally. If your system still did not restart normally then go to
the TROUBLESHOOTING PROBLEMS section below.
There are also hotswapping methods discussed in the PDF that are alternatives to the boot floppy methods, however, they are much more risky and take much more time.
If you are confused, click the ASUS a7n8x dlx link w/ agent smiths article, it shows pictures and more detailed procedures to follow if you are confused.
Good Luck.
here are some links. i think these were posted before.
For Asus a7n8x.
http://www3.telus.net/agentsmith/articles/article1.html
http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15104
Procedure for AMI and Award bios's. (from amptron by David Oakley). Should work universally.
http://www.amptron.com/documents/Recover.pdf
Clips from above PDF.
RECOVERING A CORRUPT AMI BOOTBLOCK BIOS (Cont.)
file is found it is then loaded into the SYSTEM BLOCK of the BIOS to replace the missing
information.
NOTE: Make sure that the PC speaker inside your computer is working before you proceed.
When the BIOS has been restored your system will beep four times to let you know.
To restore an AMI BootBlock BIOS follow these steps:
1) Format a good working 1.44MB floppy diskette.
2) Copy a working BIOS ROM file for your motherboard onto the floppy disk. BIOS ROM
files can usually be downloaded from the motherboard manufacturer’s web site. If you
cannot locate a BIOS ROM file for your motherboard then call the motherboard
manufacturer for technical support.
3) Rename the BIOS ROM file ‘AMIBOOT.ROM’
4) Turn the system on and insert the disk into drive A:
5) After about 3 ~ 4 minutes the system will beep four times. Remove the disk from the
drive. The computer will then restart.
At this point your BIOS should be restored and the system should startup normally.
RECOVERING A CORRUPT AWARD BOOTBLOCK BIOS
With AWARD BIOS the process is similar but still a bit different. To recover an AWARD BIOS you
will need to create a floppy diskette with a working BIOS file in .BIN format, an AWARD flash
utility and an AUTOEXEC.BAT file. AWARD BIOS will not automatically restore the BIOS
information to the SYSTEM BLOCK for this reason you will need to add the commands necessary
to flash the BIOS to the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. The system will run the AUTOEXE.BAT file at
startup, which will in turn flash the BIOS. This is fairly easy. Here are the steps you need to take.
1) Create a bootable floppy disk. If you use Windows 95, 98 or DOS, this can be done by
going to the DOS prompt and typing the command. (Be sure to insert a disk first)
FORMAT A: /S
The /S switch specifies that the system files should be copied to the diskette to make it
bootable. If you are using Windows ME, Windows NT or Windows 2000 then you can not
use the /S switch with the FORMAT command. If you are unable to create a bootable
diskette because of the operating system you are using then you may download a
bootable diskette image from the BootDisk.com web site at (http://www.bootdisk.com)
2) Copy a working BIOS ROM (.BIN) file for your motherboard and an AWARD flash utility
to the floppy disk. You can usually download these files from the motherboard
manufacturer. If you need help finding these files call the motherboard manufacturer for
technical support.
3) Use a text editor or the ‘edit’ command at the DOS prompt to create a text file named
‘AUTOEXEC.BAT’ and save it on the floppy disk. Make sure that the file name is
AUTOEXEC and that the extension is .BAT (nothing else). If you create this file from
4) within Windows using a program such as NOTEPAD, you may need to change the file
extension from .TXT to .BAT
5) With the text editor add the following commands to the AUTOEXEC.BAT file on the
floppy disk and then save the changes.
@ECHO OFF
@AWDFLASH BIOSFILE.BIN /py
NOTE: The ‘/py’ switch will cause the flash utility to automatically reprogram the BIOS
without any user intervention. Be sure to change the ‘AWDFLASH’ to the name
of the flash utility that you are using and change the ‘BIOSFILE.BIN’ to the name
of the BIOS ROM file you are using.
If you are not sure what the command line switch to automatically flash your
BIOS is, type the name of the flash utility with the ‘/?’ switch after it at a DOS
prompt and a list of the available switches will be displayed.
6) Insert the diskette you created into the floppy drive A: on the system that you need to
restore the BIOS on. Turn on the system. The computer should startup, read the floppy
disk, run the commands in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file and restore the BIOS.
At this point if everything went well then the BIOS should have been restored and the
computer should restart normally. If your system still did not restart normally then go to
the TROUBLESHOOTING PROBLEMS section below.
There are also hotswapping methods discussed in the PDF that are alternatives to the boot floppy methods, however, they are much more risky and take much more time.
If you are confused, click the ASUS a7n8x dlx link w/ agent smiths article, it shows pictures and more detailed procedures to follow if you are confused.
Good Luck.
