Q: Should I Update My BIOS?
A: I would say to someone “on the fence” – if your machine is running OK and the updates are not offering anything you need, then NO you don’t have to flash. But on the other hand – let’s say (like the new BIOS update) you want to throw a PIII 500 into the BH6 – you can’t unless you flash! I would suggest you look at the updates that are offered – if you are having issues such as crashes, IDE problems, wrong CPU naming, overclocking problems, etc – then YES a flash is needed!
If you follow these steps carefully, you will successfully flash your BH6 BIOS:
1) Make a Boot Disk. My preferred method is to make a “pure” DOS boot disk – “Pure” meaning that you do not use Win95/98 DOS – you need to boot using a DOS 6.22 disk. Next at the A: Prompt type the following: sys a: This will make a “Pure” boot disk. It will then ask you to insert another floppy – do so with a new, formatted floppy – then once completed you will now have a “Pure” DOS boot disk. If you don’t have a DOS 6.22 disk, you can make a WIN95/98 Startup Disk and delete all the files except COMMAND.com, MSDOS.sys and IO.sys. Test the disk by rebooting the computer with it – you should get to the A: Prompt.
2) Edit Config.sys to make sure you are not running HIMEM.SYS and EMM386.EXE – if you see these, place a rem in front of each line containing these statements.
3) Go to ABIT’s website and download the latest flash*.exe (as of this memo it is: FLASH702.exe). You will also need to download the latest BIOS Binary file (as of this memo it is BH6_KG.bin). The BIOS file is in the form of BH6KG.EXE; you extract the BH6_KG.bin file by running it.
4) Once BOTH files are downloaded and you have the BH6_KG.bin file – copy them BOTH to the DOS floppy you just made.
5) **Remember to write down or print out your present BIOS settings – you will LOSE them ALL during this update.**
6) EDIT the AUTOEXEC.BAT and insert the following line exactly (spaces / CAPS – EVERYTHING!!) as typed below:
A:FLASH702 BH6_KG.bin /py /cc /cp /cd /sn
These commands mean the following:
/py: Program new BIOS – YES
/cc: Clears CMOS data
/cp: Clears PnP data
/cd: Clears DMI data
/sn: Save old BIOS – NO
(replace the BH6_KG.bin for whatever BIOS update you are going to be using)
7) Remove this disk, reboot the computer and DISABLE Video BIOS Shadow.
8) Save this change, EXIT BIOS and shut down the computer.
9) Insert the “Pure” DOS floppy and reboot.
10) This will run the FLASH utility – follow any/all instructions it may ask you to do – MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT REBOOT OR POWER DOWN WHILE FLASHING!! It will tell you when it is done!
11) Once FLASH is complete – remove the pure DOS floppy and reboot. Upon reboot, immediately go into the BIOS and set the LOAD DEFAULT SETTINGS option – this will clear any/all conflicts between the old BIOS and the new BIOS. Save the settings after ALL the defaults are set and reboot again!
12) Now you will notice that the BIOS says 3/11/99 (if you use the latest BH6_KG.bin)
13) Go into the BIOS and reset all the settings back to where you had them – be sure to pay attention to the IDE settings – you may have to have the BIOS re-find your IDE devices (i.e. – CDROM, Hard Drive, etc.)
14) The latest BIOS update (BH6_KG.bin) will give you the following updates (some are included from other updates – but all are included when new BIOS updates are released):
Supports the PIII CPU Processor Serial Number function
Supports assigned manual PCI IRQ in the PCI & Onboard section
Supports Socket 370 Celeron 433 MHz CPU
Supports correct naming of Pentium III CPU
Fixes the NEC ATAPI ZIP drive incompatibility problem
Supports the Intel Pentium III 450 and 500 MHz Katmai CPU
Supports the Intel Celeron 366 MHz CPU option, up to 400 MHz compliance
Supports the clock multiplier up to 8 times
Fixes Windows98 not being able to shut-down properly due to ACPI
Updates the K/B default setting to 8Mhz to fix Micorsoft Elite K/Bs
Changes the ACPI default setting to disable
Supports the Celeron 300a & 333a
If you lose power – there is a 95% chance that you will need to buy a new BIOS chip – there are warnings all over the ABIT site that states if a shut-down occurs, you may lose your BIOS.
Mark Dressel
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