Is my Bios corrupted? Please advise ....

[Sham]

Dear All, I'm using the Asus P4S533E motherboard and
have just installed a 1 GB DDR module which works
well with all of my programs.
My problem is, the 1.44 Mb 3.5inch floppy ( set correcty
in Bios ) is recognised as a 1055.2 Mb floppy in Win'98SE
and Win XP !!
The computer won't even boot in DOS to a system disc
in the floppy drive.
I've tried 3 different Floppy drives (and connecting cables)
with the same result.
For these reasons, I think maybe the Bios is corrupted.....
I need help in locating the latest Bios files to flash the BIOS
chip on the Net and would be grateful for any help as I am
new to this ....
Also, I am wondering how I can go about flashing the BIOS
from DOS prompt with no access to the Floppy drive? Can
Bios flashing be done from Windows?
Thanks for any help/ suggestions.

 

[HF]

Is it set to boot from floppy - what does it look at first.

 

[Sham]

Yes, it looks @ floppy ... followed by 1st HDD and
finally, the CDRom.
If HDD is disabled in BIOS, the bootup after POST
fails after attempting to read off the floppy.....

 

[Ken]

Yes, it looks @ floppy ... followed by 1st HDD and
finally, the CDRom.
If HDD is disabled in BIOS, the bootup after POST
fails after attempting to read off the floppy.....

Have you tried clearing your CMOS with the jumper? It does look like
it might be a bios problem, but CLEAR CMOS first. You might want to
write down the settings you have in CMOS so that critical ones can be
reset if that is where your problem lies.

Also, do you have any other RAM to try? If I am not mistaken, the bios
is written in RAM and if there was corruption there it might be why your
floppy is screwed up.

 

[HF]

Go into bios and load the defaults.

 

[here_and_there]

Have you tried clearing your CMOS with the jumper? It does look like
it might be a bios problem, but CLEAR CMOS first. You might want to
write down the settings you have in CMOS so that critical ones can be
reset if that is where your problem lies.

Also, do you have any other RAM to try? If I am not mistaken, the bios
is written in RAM and if there was corruption there it might be why your
floppy is screwed up.

BIOS settings are not written in RAM - they are written into a
specific memory separate from the motherboard RAM. I agree the OP
should try using other RAM - such as the RAM used before. And reset
BIOS to default

 

[Sham]

Thanks everyone..... I followed "HF's" advise and cleared CMOS,
reseating the 1 GB module, and finally, by setting up everything
from scratch in BIOS and the 1.44Mb floppy is back ! .....
Would still appreciate a link to the most revision of BIOS to reflash
though ..... cos there are still ( longstanding and intermittent )
problems ( conflicts ) when hotswapping USB devices like HDDs,
thumb-drives, digital cameras, etc. ......
Perhaps someone could point me to the relevant Asus page .....
Thanks again.....

PS: Can BIOS be flashed from within Windows?

 

[Ken]

BIOS settings are not written in RAM - they are written into a
specific memory separate from the motherboard RAM. I agree the OP
should try using other RAM - such as the RAM used before. And reset
BIOS to default

You are not thinking of CMOS settings are you? I was talking about the
BIOS data being written to RAM. Perhaps I am mistaken, but I thought
the bios data was read and written to RAM, and then it sought the
settings for it saved in CMOS. The settings in CMOS are what is saved
with the help of the battery on the MB. If the data is written in RAM
and it is corrupt, then the settings in CMOS would not be meaningful.

 

[Ken]

Thanks everyone..... I followed "HF's" advise and cleared CMOS,
reseating the 1 GB module, and finally, by setting up everything
from scratch in BIOS and the 1.44Mb floppy is back ! .....
Would still appreciate a link to the most revision of BIOS to reflash
though ..... cos there are still ( longstanding and intermittent )
problems ( conflicts ) when hotswapping USB devices like HDDs,
thumb-drives, digital cameras, etc. ......
Perhaps someone could point me to the relevant Asus page .....
Thanks again.....

PS: Can BIOS be flashed from within Windows?

How about


http://www.asus.com.tw/support/download/item.aspx?ModelName=P4S533&Type=Latest

 

[here_and_there]

You are not thinking of CMOS settings are you? I was talking about the
BIOS data being written to RAM. Perhaps I am mistaken, but I thought
the bios data was read and written to RAM, and then it sought the
settings for it saved in CMOS. The settings in CMOS are what is saved
with the help of the battery on the MB. If the data is written in RAM
and it is corrupt, then the settings in CMOS would not be meaningful.

The CMOS settings are the BIOS data. WHen first you boot, the BIOS is
read in conjunction with the data in CMOS. That defines the basic
paramaters for the computer operation - such aas peripheral devices,
boot order, CPU frequency. In effect, the BIOS (Basic Input Output
System) is a loader program to prepare the computer. Then, according
to what device is specified, a bootstrap routine looks for the
beginning of the operating system i.e. Windows or Linux or whatever.

 

[Sham]

Thanks Ken ..... you've been a great help with the advise
on the original problem ...... and now, the link to Asus..... tq!

 

[Chaos Master]

here_and_there wrote:

The CMOS settings are the BIOS data. WHen first you boot, the BIOS is
read in conjunction with the data in CMOS. That defines the basic
paramaters for the computer operation - such aas peripheral devices,
boot order, CPU frequency. In effect, the BIOS (Basic Input Output
System) is a loader program to prepare the computer. Then, according
to what device is specified, a bootstrap routine looks for the
beginning of the operating system i.e. Windows or Linux or whatever.

And if the BIOS was corrupted, the system most likely wouldn't even boot
up. (would fail with a BIOS checksum error. Been there, seen that, after
lightning blew a motherboard)

[]s
--
Chaos Master®, posting from Canoas, Brazil - 29.55° S / 51.11° W

"Now: the 2-bit processor, with instructions:
1. NOP - does nothing, increase PC.
2. HLT - does nothing, doesn't increase PC
3. MMX - enter Pentium(r) emulation mode; increase PC
4. LCK - before MMX: NOP ; after MMX: executes F0 0F C7 C8 "