User manual ASUS P4SP-MX

[. . . ] P4SP-MX User Guide Motherboard E1530 Checklist First Edition V1 January 2004 Copyright © 2004 ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. No part of this manual, including the products and software described in it, may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language in any form or by any means, except documentation kept by the purchaser for backup purposes, without the express written permission of ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. Product warranty or service will not be extended if: (1) the product is repaired, modified or altered, unless such repair, modification of alteration is authorized in writing by ASUS; or (2) the serial number of the product is defaced or missing. ASUS PROVIDES THIS MANUAL "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. [. . . ] This utility only works in DOS mode. Copying the original motherboard BIOS To copy the original motherboard BIOS file: 1. Copy the AFLASH utility from the support CD to the boot disk you created. AFLASH does not work in the DOS prompt within Windows®, and does not work with certain memory drivers that may be loaded when you boot from the hard drive. Reboot the computer from the floppy disk. The BIOS setup must specify "Floppy" as the first item in the boot sequence. 3. The Save Current BIOS To File screen appears. If the word "unknown" appears after Flash Memory, the memory chip is either not programmable or is not supported by the ACPI BIOS and therefore, cannot be programmed by the Flash Memory Writer utility. 5. Type a filename and the path, for example, A:\XXX-XX. XXX, then press <Enter>. 2-4 Chapter 2: BIOS information Updating the BIOS Update the BIOS only if you have problems with the motherboard and you are sure that the new BIOS revision will solve your problems. Careless updating may result to more problems with the motherboard! To update the BIOS: 1. Download an updated BIOS file from the ASUS website (www. asus. com) and save the file to the bootable floppy disk you earlier . Type the filename of your new BIOS and the path, for example, A:\P4SPMX. BIN, then press <Enter>. This minimizes the possibility of boot problems in case of update failures. When updating is done, the message "Flashed Successfully" appears. ASUS P4SP-MX motherboard user guide 2-5 8. Follow the screen instructions to continue. If you encounter problems while updating the new BIOS, DO NOT turn off the system because this may cause boot problems. Just repeat the process, and if the problem persists, load the original BIOS file you saved to the boot disk. If the Flash Memory Writer utility is not able to successfully update a complete BIOS file, the system may not boot. If this happens, call the ASUS Technical Support for assistance. 2. 1. 4 Recovering the BIOS with CrashFree BIOS The CrashFree BIOS auto recovery tool allows you to restore BIOS from a floppy disk that contains the BIOS file, in case the current BIOS on the motherboard fails or gets corrupted. · To use the CrashFree BIOS feature on this motherboard, install a VGA card in one of the expansion slots before rebooting the computer. On motherboards with onboard VGA, such as the P4SP-MX, you will not see the screen display when the BIOS crashes even if you reboot the computer. Prepare the floppy disk that contains the motherboard BIOS (P4SPMX. BIN) before proceeding with the BIOS update process. If you have saved a copy of the original motherboard BIOS to a bootable floppy disk, you may also use this disk to restore the BIOS. See section "2. 1. 1 Creating a bootable floppy disk. " · · To recover the BIOS from a floppy disk: 1. When a corrupted BIOS is detected, the following message appears. Bad BIOS checksum. Insert a floppy disk that contains the original, or the latest, BIOS file for this motherboard (P4SPMX. BIN). If the BIOS file that you downloaded from the ASUS website has a different filename (e. g. The BIOS update process continues when the P4S800MX. BIN is found. 2-6 Chapter 2: BIOS information Bad BIOS checksum. [. . . ] Configuration options: [APIC] [PIC] ASUS P4SP-MX motherboard user guide 2-27 2. 7 Exit menu After configuring the BIOS save your changes and exit Setup. Select Exit from the menu bar to display the following menu. Pressing <Esc> does not immediately exit this menu. Select one of the options from this menu or <F10> from the legend bar to exit. Exit & Save Changes Once you are finished making your selections, choose this option from the Exit menu to ensure the values you selected are saved to the CMOS RAM. The CMOS RAM is sustained by an onboard backup battery and stays on even when the PC is turned off. [. . . ]