Upgrading the BIOS

Upgrading the BIOS
  • The following list shows some of the primary functions of a ROM BIOS upgrade:
  • Support for newer and faster processors
  • Support for bootable optical drives
  • Support for bootable USB drives
  • Fast POST for quicker booting
  • Support for Serial ATA (SATA) drives
  • Plug and Play (PnP) device support and compatibility
  • Support for temperature and fan speed monitoring and control
  • Support for Wake On Lan (WOL) and network boot

Most BIOS upgrades must be downloaded from the system or motherboard manufacturer’s website. When seeking a BIOS upgrade for a particular motherboard, we need to know the following information
§  The make and model of the motherboard (or system)
§  The version of the existing BIOS
Before updating a BIOS, save a backup copy of the existing BIOS. That is because some motherboard manufacturers only offer the latest BIOS for a given motherboard, and sometimes a newer BIOS may cause problems or have consequences. By having a backup we will be able to go back to the previous version. To make the backup, run the BIOS upgrade program for motherboard, and check to see if there is an option to save the existing BIOS to a file. If that option is not available, check to see if motherboard manufacturer offers older versions for download. If there is no option to backup and no older versions can be downloaded, there may be other ways to make a copy of the BIOS.
Upgrading a Flash BIOS
Flash ROM enables to load the upgrade into the flash ROM chip on the motherboard without removing and replacing the chip. Normally these upgrades are downloaded from the manufacturer’s website. Depending on the design, some update programs require that we place the software on a bootable floppy or optical disc, while others will configure the program to run on the next startup (before Windows loads), while others will actually run in Windows as a windows application.
Some systems allow the flash ROM in a system to be locked (write-protected). In that case you must disable the protection before performing an update-usually by means of a jumper or switch. Instead of a physical write-protect lock, some flash ROM BIOS have a security algorithm that prevents unauthorized updates.
Most downloadable flash ROM upgrades fit into four main types:
  • Windows executable upgrades
  •   Automated images of bootable media
  • User-created bootable media
  • Emergency recovery media


Windows executable upgrade
The windows executable is generally the easiest and most popular method. It might not be available for older motherboards, but most new boards offer this type of procedure. Download the executable upgrade program and run it. The program either runs directly in windows, or it runs an install routine that temporarily installs the flash upgrade software so it will automatically run on the next startup and then automatically reboot the system and begin the upgrade. In either case, once the upgrade is finished, the system reboots again, and the upgrade is complete. The only drawback to this procedure is that it requires that Windows 2000 or later be installed on the system.
Automated bootable media images
This is ideal for non-Windows systems or new systems where the OS hasn’t yet been installed. In the case of a floppy, you download the floppy image creation program from the motherboard manufacturer. When we run it, the program prompts you to insert a blank floppy disk into the drive, after which it overwrites the disk with a bootable image containing the bootable OS (most likely DOS or DOS variant) plus all of the files necessary to perform the upgrade. Then to perform the upgrade, ensure that floppy drive is set first in the boot sequence and then restart the system with the upgrade floppy disk in the drive. The system should then boot from the floppy, and the upgrade procedure should start and run automatically. Follow any on-screen prompts to complete the upgrade and then when the upgrade is complete, remove the floppy and reboot the system.
Many motherboard manufacturers now offer downloadable images of bootable CDs for BIOS upgrades. These are normally in the form of an *.ISO file, which is a CD-ROM image file containing a sector by sector copy of a CD. In order to perform the upgrade, write the ISO bootable image file to a blank CD-R or RW disc. Then to perform the upgrade, first ensure that the optical drive is set first in the boot sequence and then restart the system with the upgrade disc in the drive. The system should boot from the CD and the upgrade procedure should start automatically. Follow the prompts to complete the upgrade and then, once the upgrade is complete, remove the CD and reboot the system.

User created bootable media
Many motherboard manufacturers also offer BIOS upgrades in the form of a raw DOS-based flash utility combined with an image file, which can run manually from any DOS bootable media. Using this technique, the upgrade can be performed from a bootable floppy, CD, or even a USB flash drive, regardless of whether the system hard drive is running Windows, Linux or even if it has no OS at all. The necessary files are normally contained in an archive that can be downloaded from the motherboard manufacturer. For creating bootable CD some free utilities like Clean Boot CD package are used. Download the self extracting executable package into a new folder and run it, which extracts files for your motherboard into the proper folder. After the files are in place, run the build clean command which automatically builds and creates an ISO image of a bootable CD, completes with an OS and files needed. Then use a third party CD/DVD burning program to copy the ISO image to an actual CD-R or RW disc. After we have burned the CD, boot from it, navigate to the folder where the flash utility and image files are located, and enter the appropriate command to execute the upgrade.
Emergency Flash BIOS Recovery
Most motherboards with soldered-in flash ROMs have a special BIOS recovery procedure that can be performed, which restores the contents of the chip. This hinges on a special protected part of the flash ROM that is reserved for this purpose, called the boot block. The boot block holds a recovery routine that can be used to restore the main BIOS code. Different motherboards and BIOS versions may have different recovery techniques. Most motherboards that support BIOS recover incorporate a BIOS configuration jumper, which can set several modes, including a built in recovery mode.
In addition to moving the jumper, the recovery requires that either a floppy or optical drive containing media with the BIOS image file is attached to the system and properly configured.
To recover the BIOS using the floppy/optical drive recovery method, perform the following steps:
  • Copy only the proper recovery image file (*.BIO) to a blank formatted floppy disk/CD.
  •  Place the disk in the primary drive attached to the system to be recovered.
  •  Power off the system and remove the BIOS configuration jumper to enable BIOS recovery mode.
  •  Power on the system; the recovery should begin automatically.
  • The recovery should complete in 2 to 5 minutes, after which the system will remain running, turn off automatically, or prompt you to turn it off manually.
  • With the system powered off, remove the disk and restore the BIOS configuration jumper to enable normal operation.

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