• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

How do you update a mobo bios without a CPU?

B

benbronco

n00b
Joined
Jan 17, 2008
Messages
30
I was thinking of buying a AM2+ mobo plus a Phenom II processor. I have read that certain mobos need to be bios updated in order to recognize the new Phenoms.
So my questions is, in the case where my new mobo needs to be flashed with an update, how do i do this without a recognized CPU?

Thanks,
 
you cannot update bios without at least another motherboard or cpu.

But most am2+ mobos should accept phenom out of the box, so dont worry.
 
You buy the cheapest, oldest AM2 CPU that will work and then keep it around. This happened with the C2D's. If you got a board that needed a bios revision, you needed to have an old CPU on hand to flash the motherboard so you could use your new CPU.
 
Or borrow a friends AM2 cpu :)

Most boards sold new now should be updated enough to boot a AM2+ cpu though.

You cannot boot without CPU / RAM / MOBO / VIDEO, all are necessary for POST.
 
hey, thanks for all the quick replies. Do you also need a loaded OS...and god forbid, a floppy drive?
 
benbronco said:
hey, thanks for all the quick replies. Do you also need a loaded OS...and god forbid, a floppy drive?
Click to expand...
You never need an OS. Floppy drive depends on the board, but generally not. Pretty much all newer boards will let you update from a CD or USB drive.
 
This is the motherboard that I am interested in
ASUS M3A78-T AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX
paired with a Phenom II X4 940.

The flashing sounds pretty straightforward given that you have all the right tools on-hand. However, I would prefer it to work straight out of the box with my intended CPU.

My concern is that the latest bios revision was released on Jan 11, 2009. Specifically the bios revision from the asus website states that the update is:

Version 0802

Description M3A78-T BIOS 0802
01. Support ACC for AM2+ 45nm CPU
02. Fix the problem that the system may show boot fail message if ACC enabled.
03. Fix the problem that AM2 CPU Vcore voltage may be incorrect if change CPU voltage in AI Suite.
04. Improve the system performance when use certain CPU.
05. Support new CPUs. Please refer to our website at: http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/cpusupport.aspx
(ACC is a overclock technique which can adjust the voltage and frequency for AMD CPU directly under OS)

More than likely, a bios flash is required.
Should I take my chances or look at another mobo that will be guaranteed to work with the new Phenom?
 
It will work with a P-II since the 0502 bios

I nice feature of the M3A78-T is that it can be flashed from the bios, you don't need AFUDOS, or ASUS Update to do it.

You just put the 0802.ROM file on a usb stick of floppy, during post hit <ALT>+<F2>, then from there a screen will come up for showing current bios and you just need to point to the new 0802.ROM bios and flash away. Always save a backup of the original though.
 
RogueTrip said:
It will work with a P-II since the 0502 bios

I nice feature of the M3A78-T is that it can be flashed from the bios, you don't need AFUDOS, or ASUS Update to do it.

You just put the 0802.ROM file on a usb stick of floppy, during post hit <ALT>+<F2>, then from there a screen will come up for showing current bios and you just need to point to the new 0802.ROM bios and flash away. Always save a backup of the original though.
Click to expand...


wow more boards need to have this feature!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top