BIOS upgrade for Shuttle AK35GTR

[David D.]

I have been searching for a BIOS upgrade to support >137 GB drives on both
my Shuttle AK35GTR mobo's main IDE controller and its RAID IDE controller.

What is the correct BIOS image, and where can I find it?

I have found different version BIOS images at various sites. The Shuttle
site appears to be no longer maintained and up-to-date for older mobos. I
have found various versions of BIOS images on various sites, but have not
been able to ascertain which is the correct one. I have emails into
Shuttle and into eSupport.com,. but have not received any replies yet. I
also do not know how much eSupport would charge for their BIOS image. I
also do not know whether or not the onboard HighPoint controller can be
upgraded independently of a system board upgrade. Some postings suggest
that I would need a different BIOS for support under Windows vs. under
Linux. There is a lot of info out there, but I have found no consensus.

Driverscollection.com lists drivers for three different versions of my mobo,
and I am not sure which is the correct version (or whether or not they have
the correct BIOSs). eSupport's web-based Bios Agent utitlity reports the
following information about my system board:

BIOS Date: 12/26/01
BIOS Type: Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG
BIOS ID: 12/26/2001-VT8366-8233-6A6LVH2DC
OEM Sign-On: (AK35S00D) VIA KT266A VT8366A+VT8233
Chipset: VIA 82C3099 rev 0
Superio: Winbond 697HF rev 6 found at port 2Eh
OS: Win2000 SP4
CPU: AMD Athlon(tm) XP 1666 Mhz
BIOS ROM In Socket: Yes
BIOS ROM Size: 256K
Memory Installed: 1024 MB
Memory Maximum: Unknown
Memory Slot 01: 512 MB
Memory Slot 02: 512 MB
Memory Slot 03: 0 MB

Any suggestions on finding the right BIOS version would be appreciated.

- David

 

[JAD]

ftp://ftp.shuttle.com/BIOS/ak35/

 

[David D.]

ftp://ftp.shuttle.com/BIOS/ak35/

Thanks, JAD. That has them all (17 BIOS revisions).

I assume that I should pick the release that specifically addresses the
">137 GB hard drive support", even though it is only the first revision past
my original BIOS? My CPU is an Athalon 1700+.

- David

 

[JAD]

Thanks, JAD. That has them all (17 BIOS revisions).

I assume that I should pick the release that specifically addresses the
">137 GB hard drive support", even though it is only the first revision past
my original BIOS? My CPU is an Athalon 1700+.

- David

most will be prior version inclusive E.G. version 9 would contain 1-8
versions also

 

[David D.]

most will be prior version inclusive E.G. version 9 would contain 1-8
versions also

Thanks, JAD,

Some of the BIOSs mention support for specific CPUs, so they could be
special purpose.
See http://davidd.home.comcast.net/AK35GTR_v.1.x_readmeak35.htm
and http://davidd.home.comcast.net/AK35GTR_v.2.x_readmeak35.htm

Also, I do not know whether "v. 2.x" refers to the same BIOS series as "v.
1.x" or to a different version of the mobo.

On the FTP site, each BIOS version is available in three file formats: .bin,
..zip, and .exe
The .zip is simply the .bin + awdflash.exe. I do not know what the .exe
is. It does not appear to be a self-expanding zip file (at least Windows
Explorer does not recognize it as such). Just curious; I will use awdflash
from a DOS floppy, anyway.

- David

 

[Bob Knowlden]

David,

the v.1.x and v.2.x ought to be mainboard revision numbers.

Finding the rev. of your system may be a bit of a trick: it may be on a
sticker on the board, or silk-screened directly onto it. I doubt that a
software utility (Everest Home, or SiSoft SANDRA) would show it. I wonder
whether the BIOS flash utility is smart enough to prevent the wrong update
from being applied? (Probably so, but it would be best to know for certain.)

BIOS updates are cumulative: the latest version includes all earlier
updates. The version histories that you link to don't indicate that a BIOS
version is specific to a particular CPU, but rather that it *adds* support
for it. (All older CPUS would continue to be supported.)

The .exe file is some sort of self-extracting archive. Put it in a folder,
and execute it. (I have no idea what to do with the .exe file that is
extracted.)

HTH.

Bob Knowlden

Address may be scrambled. Replace nkbob with bobkn.

 

[David D.]

Bob,

Thanks.

My mobo has a sticker on its serial port that says "AK35S00D", which is
the name of the earliest BIOS for the v. 1.x mobo. It also has the number
"11" on the sticker (perhaps referring to mobo version 1.1). Note that
eSupport.com's web-based "Bios Agent" utility also picked up "AK35S00D" as
part of the "OEM Sign-On" string.

I think that it is fairly safe to assume that I have a v. 1.x mobo, and
that I should used the latest BIOS for that mobo.

So I will flash that BIOS, and assuming that the computer still boots,
check the hard drive sizes on the two controllers. It will be interesting
to see whether or not the onboard HighPoint RAID IDE controller also then
supports large drives. If not, that will be my next challenge.

- David