What is a FlashBIOS ?
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FlashBIOS The B.I.O.S. (pronounced "bye-ose") is an acronym for Basic Input / Output System. The B.I.O.S. is built-in software that determines what a computer can do without accessing programs from a disk. On PCs, the BIOS contains all the code required to control the keyboard, display screen, disk drives, serial communications, and a number of miscellaneous functions. The B.I.O.S. is typically placed on a ROM chip that comes with the computer (it is often called a ROM B.I.O.S.). This ensures that the B.I.O.S. will always be available and will not be damaged by disk failures. It also makes it possible for a computer to boot itself without any outside peripherals. Most modern PCs have a FlashBIOS, which means that the B.I.O.S has been recorded on a flash memory chip, which can be updated by software if necessary. PC BIOSes that can handle Plug-and-Play (PnP) devices are known as PnP BIOSes, or PnP-aware BIOSes. These BIOSes are always implemented with flash memory rather than ROM. How do I determine if my system has a FlashBIOS ? Peel the sticker of the BIOS chip back to identify the brand and part number. Some of the more common part numbers are: (xxx is a 3-digit number designating capacity of the chip)
Do I really need a BIOS upgrade ? First lets say this, if your system is running well do NOT flash your FlashBIOS just to have the latest and greatest, there many good reasons to update your BIOS but if you don't need it don't do it. While the flash procedure is fairly safe there is the possibilty of rendering your system inoperable. That said one of the most important reasons for upgrading you BIOS is your operating system compatibility. It's possible that without the latest FlashBIOS that your OS may not function properly or crash. Most hard drives sold today are more then 528 megabytes, to support these larger hard drives the BIOS must have LBA (Logical Block Addressing) support. If your BIOS doesn't support LBA and you have a drive greater than 528 Mb you have to use a software driver that fools the BIOS. Some operating systems will take a performance hit when using these software drivers. With the advent of drives greater than 8.4 Gb you again need a new BIOS that supports INT 13 extentions in order to fully utilize the these large drives. To let Windows 9x utilize the advantages of Plug 'n Play you also need a PnP-BIOS. This is a very important reason to update your BIOS. Another important reason to upgrade your BIOS is if there is a bug fix for a problem you have been expereincing. Other reasons for upgrading are for new settings in the BIOS that you require such as booting from CDROM, LS120, ZIP or SCSI, or new memory timings. How do I flash my BIOS ? To flash your BIOS you'll need to boot your computer with no memory manager or TSRs and run FlashBIOS program. The software 'flashes' a new BIOS image into the BIOS chip after which you'll have to reboot your computer.
Most flash software will ask you to save the current BIOS. Choose Yes, so that you can always flash back to the original version if you're having problems with the new one. Disable the System BIOS Cacheable option in the BIOS before flashing. Why doesn't AMI and AWARD have BIOS upgrades on there web sites? Award and AMI give system board manufacturers a BIOS designed for the specific chipset controlling that board. Then the manufacturer, using software tools from AMI or Award, makes final modifications to the BIOS for I/O and other BIOSs that may be required (such as built in video, audio etc.) before shipping the system board. In other words, the system board manufacturer knows more about that particular BIOS than AMI or Award does and is better able to provide a working upgrade. |
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