Well, I have a Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L, default BIOS version is F4.
I don't have any problems with it now but the motherboard didn't detect my processor's speed correctly when I first installed it. It has been set as 1.9Ghz by default, but my processor (E5200) is 2.5GHz. I easily changed it on the bios settings, but I'm going to get a Q9550 soon (maybe June) so I think I would probably need to flash the bios anyway, and decided to try it today.
First I tried to save the files on a floppy to use Q-FLASH on the bios (people say that's the easiest way), but my floppy drive isn't working (it refuses to detect any floppy) and I gave it up.
Then I went to the gigabyte website, downloaded the latest BIOS that is not a beta (G31MS2L.F9), and downloaded @BIOS from the same website, and I tried to flash the bios for a newer one (F9 and F10d) using this program but... it failed... four times...
I have a backup of my original BIOS (F4), but @BIOS failed to flash with it too.
And I'm here now
Kind of... desperate? I don't know.
I didn't restart or shut the PC down after that, and I don't feel like doing that any soon. I really hope it didn't damage anything, but could anyone help? Any advices of what should I do now, how to flash the BIOS, programs you use, etc?
Thank you
I wouldn't use a BIOS utility that runs in Windows personally. I'm not familiar with Gigabyte but I would use their BIOS update feature from within the BIOS itself. ie Q-FLash. (Personally I have a small partition on my HDD that I put my dowloaded BIOS files on).
Check section 4-2-1 in your manual:
4-2-1 Updating the BIOS with the Q-Flash Utility
A. Before You Begin:
1. From GIGABYTE's website, download the latest compressed BIOS update file that matches your
motherboard model.
2. Extract the file and save the new BIOS file (e.g. g31ms2l.f1) to your floppy disk, USB flash drive,
or hard drive. Note: The USB flash drive or hard drive must use FAT32/16/12 file system.
3. Restart the system. During the POST, press the <End> key to enter Q-Flash. Note: You can
access Q-Flash by either pressing the <End> key during the POST or pressing the <F8> key in
BIOS Setup. However, if the BIOS update file is saved to a hard drive in RAID/AHCI mode or a hard
drive attached to an independent IDE/SATA controller, use the <End> key during the POST to
access Q-Flash.
- 65 - Unique Features
3. Select the BIOS update file and press <Enter>.
Make sure the BIOS update file matches your motherboard model.
Step 2:
The process of the system reading the BIOS file from the floppy disk is displayed on the screen. When
the message "Are you sure to update BIOS?" appears, press <Enter> to begin the BIOS update. The
monitor will display the update process.
B. Updating the BIOS
When updating the BIOS, choose the location where the BIOS file is saved. The follow procedure
assumes that you save the BIOS file to a floppy disk.
Step 1:
1. Insert the floppy disk containing the BIOS file into the floppy disk drive. In the main menu of QFlash,
use the up or down arrow key to select
Update BIOS from Drive and press <Enter>.
•
The Save Main BIOS to Drive option allows you to save the current BIOS file.
•
Q-Flash only supports USB flash drive or hard drives using FAT32/16/12 file system.
•
If the BIOS update file is saved to a hard drive in RAID/AHCI mode or a hard drive
attached to an independent IDE/SATA controller, use the <End> key during the POST to
access Q-Flash.
2. Select Floppy A and press <Enter>.
•
Do not turn off or restart the system when the system is reading/updating the BIOS.
•
Do not remove the floppy disk, USB flash drive, or hard drive when the system is updating
the BIOS.
Step 3:
When the update process is complete, press any key to return to the main menu.
Q-Flash Utility v2.02
Flash Type/Size.................................MXIC 25L4005 512K
Keep DMI Data Enable
Update BIOS from Drive
Save BIOS to Drive
Enter : Run
����:Move ESC:Reset F10:Power Off
!! Copy BIOS completed - Pass !!
Please press any key to continue
Q-Flash Utility v2.02
Flash Type/Size.................................MXIC 25L4005 512K
Keep DMI Data Enable
Update BIOS from Drive
Save BIOS to Drive
Enter : Run
����:Move ESC:Reset F10:Power Off
0 file(s) found
Floppy A <Drive>
HDD 0-0 <Drive>
Total size : 0 Free size : 0
GA-G31M-S2L/S2C Motherboard - 66 -
Step 6:
Select
Save & Exit Setup and then press <Y> to save settings to CMOS and exit BIOS Setup. The
procedure is complete after the system restarts.
Press <Y> to load BIOS defaults
Step 4:
Press <Esc> and then <Enter> to exit Q-Flash and reboot the system. As the system boots, you should
see the new BIOS version is present on the POST screen.
Step 5:
During the POST, press <Delete> to enter BIOS Setup. Select Load Optimized Defaults and press
<Enter> to load BIOS defaults. System will re-detect all peripherals devices after a BIOS update, so we
recommend that you reload BIOS defaults.
CMOS Setup Utility-Copyright (C) 1984-2008 Award Software
��
Standard CMOS Features
��
Advanced BIOS Features
��
Integrated Peripherals
��
Power Management Setup
��
PnP/PCI Configurations
��
PC Health Status
��
MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)
ESC: Quit ��������: Select Item F11: Save CMOS to BIOS
F8: Q-Flash F10: Save & Exit Setup F12: Load CMOS from BIOS
Load Optimized Defaults
Load Fail-Safe Defaults
Load Optimized Defaults
Set Supervisor Password
Set User Password
Save & Exit Setup
Exit Without Saving
Thanks a lot, I didn't know I could use a pen drive to flash it. It makes it a lot better and easier really.
I restarted the system with the pen drive, quickly went to Q-FLASH and in less than 4 seconds it finished updating. My new BIOS is now F9 version and everything is working perfectly.
Looks like @BIOS hasn't done anything, I think it didn't even start flashing the bios and sent me that message.
I didn't think it would be so easy. It scares me actually
Updating the BIOS with modern motherboards is a lot less complicated and risky than it used to be. But, just a word of warning however. There is still some risk involved and the newer BIOS versions aren't neccessarily better. If your machine is stable and you're not suffering from BSODs or OS hangs, (that can't be solved by updating driver software etc), then it's better to leave the BIOS alone and not take the risk of updating it.
