Need a program to make a bootdisk for BIOS flashing

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Germz

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 14, 2007
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Hey, Guys, i need to make a DOS bootdisk for BIOS flashing, this will be my first time doing it and i'm understably nervous about the procedure. It doesn't have to be for floppy, it could be for a CD also, i guess recomend the better way. Basically i'll be using 2 floppies, or 1 Cd & 1 floppy, one to boot up into DOS and once there i'll put in a the floppy with the BIOS and flash. I don't want to use Windows-based flashing method since, in the case of my Abit board, there is a 50% chance of failure rate. I'd appreciate any responses.
 
I've been doing Windows-based BIOS/firmware flashing for over 5 years now, I've never had an issue with any of them, yet.

To be honest, I would actually trust a Windows-based solution more than a floppy these days as floppies are so damned unreliable. A possible bootable CD might be an option, as you noted. Use a CDRW so you don't waste a blank CD, and run with it.

The biggest question would be this:

Does this BIOS update you're thinking about applying actually resolve a known issue you're having, or does it add features or CPU support for something that makes it an absolute must, or are you just trying to update to be current? If it's the latter, and you just want to be current, I'd say if your machine is fully functional and working just fine, leave it alone.

http://www.nu2.nu/bootcd/

That's the best - no, really, it is - guide for creating a bootable CD/DVD for most any purpose you'll find on the Internet. Even has a specific section about creating a bootable CD just for BIOS flashing too.

Good luck...
 
The best way, if you refuse to use the Windows flash program, is to make a bootable USB flash drive. It will boot to DOS and will allow you to run your BIOS flash program. It also will happpen to boot much much faster than either a floppy or a CD.

As for Windows based programs, I can't save I've had an issue doing that on a myriad of systems over the past couple of years.
 
Thnx for all the replies guys. First i'd like to address the isuue of Windows flashing. There is a reson why im not doing it this way. On my mobo, ABit IP35 Pro, both the Abit tech support and Abit Forum recomend avoiding the Windows flashing method, 50% chance of a failed update is way too high for me. They all say use a floppy, CD or USB. Thats what i intend to do. If it were an Asus board, i wouldnt mind flashing in Windows but in this case i'll be playint it safe, afterall, if something happens i'll be the one stuck with a dead board not you.

Second, I need to flash to not to be current, but because the BIOS ver. 17 offers enhanced support for my CPU -- e8400.

And finally, a question for DeaconFrost, in case of USB flashing do i create a bootdisk the same way as for CD/floppy or there is a special program for that?
 
There is a program, actually several, that will format a USB boot drive to be DOS bootable. If you do a google search for HP Boot Drive Utility, you'll find tons of links. Then you just copy the files needed to do the BIOS flashing over to the USB drive, and you are set to go. I keep an old 32 MB USB flash drive around just for booting to DOS.
 
Does it have to be 32MB or similar size? I only have a 4 gig Corsair Flash Voyager.
 
Germz said:
Does it have to be 32MB or similar size? I only have a 4 gig Corsair Flash Voyager.
Click to expand...

That will work fine. He just keeps that old 32mb since it's better to use it than to throw it away. I keep a 128mb for exactly this reason, and you can pick them up on clearance for little of nothing.
 
You may have issues with that large of a drive, because I was thinking FAT only likes 2 GB or smaller partitions.
 
If the USB drive is working fine as a FAT partition already, then it is fine to use.
 
I just did this yesterday to flash a an abit motherboard and i followed the instuctions on this post http://forum.uabit.com/showthread.php?t=121953

There is a link there to a nice HP USB disk storage format tool. Which will format your USB drive to be a boot disk. There is also some instructions there on going into your bios to alter the boot disk order so your usb is called on first.

For DOS to boot to a command prompt you need only three files, whether from memory stick or diskette: IO.SYS and MSDOS.SYS (which are hidden system files) and COMMAND.COM
 
Guys, I'm having a problem flashing the BIOS, i made a bootable floppy with a program i found on the web called DrDos 7.03 (the drdflash bootdisk program didnt work). It booted me up to the A:\ prompt fine but when i insert the floppy with the BIOS on it and excecute the batch file i get through the first 2 steps OK but then i get a "physical media error", what the hell does that mean? Bad floppy? I tried another one and get the same error.

In regards to why i used the floppy as opposed to CD and USB is because the Cd instructions are too complex and USB wouldnt work because it uses FAT32 format. I simply found floppy to be easiest to use and dont want complicate things more.


How do i get past that error? Anyone?
 
Use the USB method, it's not as bad as it looks. In fact, if you want to PM me with your email address (please don't post it in the forums!) I will email you the HP tool to format it and the DOS system files.

Really, all you have to do is open the HP tool. You choose the drive you want to format (your flash drive, of course), then you check the box that tells it to copy the system files to this drive when it's done formatting. You then browse to the directory that has the system files and click ok...

thats it.

Now, to flash your bios, you'll want to copy the flash utility and the BIOS files to the freshly formatted flash drive and you're good to go.

BTW: That error message would lead me to believe it's a bad floppy disk, which is very very common.
 
Thank you for your generous offer of help but as i explained i cant use the USB method because my flash drive is over 2 gig and doesnt support FAT format, only FAT32. Someone explained above that FAT32 format cannot be used for this. I dont own a USB flash drive that supports one, but if all else fails i'm gonna look for one and order it.
 
Well, problem solved, it was a bad floppy like i suspected and like Demon10000 said. I succesfully updated the BIOS to the latest version with another floppy.
 
thnx Kyle, i added that guide to favorites for future reference. I still have to pick up a smaller size USB key for future updates.

Thnx to all who contributed :)
 
Germz said:
Thank you for your generous offer of help but as i explained i cant use the USB method because my flash drive is over 2 gig and doesnt support FAT format, only FAT32. Someone explained above that FAT32 format cannot be used for this. I dont own a USB flash drive that supports one, but if all else fails i'm gonna look for one and order it.
Click to expand...

You can still use the flash drive by formatting it to Fat32. If you get a Windows 98 bootdisk, Fat32 is supported and you will have no problems.

I have a 2GB flash drive that I use to store my data and the programs that I most commonly use. I have it formatted as Fat32 instead of FAT and it works perfectly. I keep my documents on it, but I always have a drive that I can boot with for flashing my bios, or whatever I may need to jump into DOS for....

If you'd like help setting it up with Fat32, I would be more than happy to walk you through it. It would take about two minutes, and it would be very, very easy to do! :)


On a side note -- you can even format your flash drive as FAT16 and still keep a 2GB partition. 2GB is the limitation for FAT16, and 4GB is the limitation for FAT32. Here is an article that outlines the limitations of the file system.

FAT16 volumes larger than 2GB are not accessible from computers running Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me), Windows 98, Windows 95, or MS-DOS. The size limit for FAT16 volumes in these operating systems is 2 GB.
Click to expand...
 
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