Getting Ready to Flash New Bios BE6

[Beezer]

OK, I'm getting ready to flash my ancient BE6 Bios for the first time. I'm a little unclear on some of the instructions, so I'd like a little clearification please...

1)I downloaded be6qv.exe, but I need to execute it to create a .bin file, right? Can I execute this in Win98 environment, or must I be in DOS? I assume after I get the .bin file, I copy it to a floppy....

2)I will have a floppy with system files, abitfae.bat, awdflash.exe, and Be6_qv.bin on it. Do I boot up in DOS mode or DOS Safe mode?

3)Do I need to record any of my current BIOS settings, or will they stay in tact after the update?

4)Just what do I need to do after the flash is complete?

[DuRaNgO[MU]]

hey beez,
#1 yes, you can do it under windows

#2 from a cold boot, have the disk in and make sure to boot sequence set to a,c,scsi

#3 you should check your bios settings and record them and be sure to shut off ALL shadowing and clock processor to default speed for good luck

#4 after flash, reboot, go into bios and load setup defaults, then adjust to match your old settings

good luck!
jim

------------------
Abit BE6-2 with P3 700(cb0) @ 7*150=1052 using an MC-1000!
15.3 gb Maxtor ata66 and Twinmos 128mb pc-133 ram
G400 vanilla 32mb @ 168/210 @ 2x
Sblive with Altec Lansing speaker combo
384k DSL and Realtek nic
Windows 98se with DX7a
Worn out reset button :O)

[Beezer]

Thanks for the advice, DuRaNgO.

[Beezer]

I just completed the BIOS update and everything seems to have gone well. In checking my settings some things have changed and I'm not really sure if I should keep them or change them to my original settings. Here they are:

BIOS Feature Setup...
CPU L2 Cache ECC: was Disabled now Enabled
Video BIOS Shadow: was Disabled now Enabled

Chipset Features Setup...
SDRAM CAS Latency: was 2 now 3
System Bios Cacheable: was Enabled now Disabled
Video RAM Cacheable: was Enabled now Disabled

PNP/PCI Config....
PnP OS Installed: was Yes now No
IRQs seem to still be OK though.

Any recommendation would be appreciated.

[fds]

Disable the Video BIOS Shadow (afaik that's the recommended setting for a G400) and set PNP OS Installed back to Yes (if you use Win9x/2k).

The rest you can keep but setting them back to their old value could possibly make things a tiny bit faster.

[DuRaNgO[MU]]

leave video and system cache off
ecc off and latency 3 are good for o/c'ing
jim

[Beezer]

Your suggestions have been implemented -- thanks. Of coarse, when I changed PnP to Yes, my Matrox card went to IRQ 5. I manually moved it back to IRQ 9 (PIRQ_0) and all is well.

By the way, whenever I make a BIOS Setup change, the system fails to boot. Requires me to turn off power and then back on with a cold start. It's always done this, but it seems it shouldn't. Thought the new BIOS would fix that...

[Brian R.]

Beezer - Neither one of my two ABIT boards require me to cold boot after BIOS changes. (BE6 and BE6-2)