BIOS problem

dannyjebb

Good evening all, I have an oldish computer that I rarely use so gave to my sister at uni, I bought some new RAM (2 x 8GB) since learnt that VISTA 64 bit will only recognise 8GB but thats fine. It would only recognice 4GB though so had a look online and seems that flashing the BIOS was necessary so I downloaded the latest version and then downloaded asus update utility (mobo is an asus m2n mx se plus. ) I did the update but it said verification failed. I tried again and again and then downloaded the file again but still no luck. When i restart the computer it now comes up saying bad BIOS checksum....checking floppy...failed...checking CD.....failed then continues with this.... I have tried things I could think of like removing the CMOS battery for a few mins and also switching the jumper to clear the CMOS but none of this worked. I don't have the original CD as I believe this can be used to reset the BIOS and my macbook pro doesn't have a CD drive lol. I have read you can use a USB drive to put the BIOS file on and it will load from that? Does anyone know if this is correct before I go and buy one? Or is there another simple way to get into the BIOS menu to reload the default settings?

Thanks

Neil_Jones

Vista 64-bit will actually recognise up to 128Gb of RAM. It's only Home Basic that is capped at 8Gb. Home Premium can see 16Gb, same as 7 Home Premium.

The M2N-MX SE Plus only supports 4Gb of memory, no amount of upgrading the BIOS will change this:

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/M2NMX_SE_Plus/specifications/ wrote:

2 x240-pin DIMM, Max. 4 GB, DDR2 1066/800/667/533 Non-ECC,Un-buffered Memory

dannyjebb

Doh. thanks for that, I am sure it showed up as 8GB previously but just checked the site and it says max 4GB RAM. ah well. should be fine for writing essays and surfing the net. thanks

esuhl

It looks like your board supports "EZ Flash" and "CrashFree BIOS". Have a look at these features in the motherboard manual. They should explain how to restore a corrupt BIOS.

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/M2NMX_SE_Plus/

dannyjebb

Thanks, but I can't even access the BIOS to do this. I think for the EZ flash you press alt + f2 to enter it but it doesn't let me get to this point. the first thing that loads is a screen saying bad BIOS checksum....then it checks for a floppy and CD to load BIOS from but I no longer have the recovery CD and don't have a floppy drive.

Have tried loading the the bios file onto a usb drive and doing it this way but no luck...the manual is quite confusing as it says the mobo has crashfree bios 2 but then goes on to say crashfree bios 3 allows you to use a USB drive to load bios settings in the case of corrupt bios......so I am not sure if the mobo actually has usb compatibility lol.

Danny

patman99

What gets me is that having failed the first time to update the BIOS, you tried to do it several more times instead of checking that the PC would still boot.

There is now a high chance that the BIOS is now so corrupt that the only way out is to burn the oldest available BIOS for that board to CD and try to see if the PC will find the file and fix the BIOS.

If it Does, leave it well alone.

TadleyBaggie

patman99 wrote: »

What gets me is that having failed the first time to update the BIOS, you tried to do it several more times instead of checking that the PC would still boot.

After a failed BIOS installation, rebooting the PC is the last thing you want to do. Almost certain to be toast. I know this from experience.

esuhl

Have you tried the steps here?
https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1012219

It's a bit ambiguous, but it says "the utility" (the CrashFree feature?) automatically checks all USB/DVD drives for a BIOS file.

You should be able to download a suitable BIOS file here:
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/M2NMX_SE_Plus/HelpDesk_Download/

(Oh, sorry -- I'm half asleep. I see you tried that already...)

NiftyDigits

You missed a step.

Download the latest version of your BIOS from your computer or motherboard manufacturer’s support site.
Rename the downloaded file to AMIBOOT.ROM. (NOTE: Please click here to make sure you pick the right name)
Copy the file to a floppy disk (or USB flashdrive).
Insert the floppy disk into the floppy drive.
Turn on the system.
The system should automatically access the floppy drive (indicator LED will light up). If no floppy access occurs, press Home to force update. Follow any on-screen instructions to restore the good BIOS from the floppy disk.
When the computer beeps four (4) times or a reboot prompt is displayed, you may remove the floppy disk.
Restart the computer.

https://www.bios-mods.com/bios-recovery/ami-bios-recovery/

agrinnall

NiftyDigits wrote: »

You missed a step.



https://www.bios-mods.com/bios-recovery/ami-bios-recovery/

How old are those instructions? "Copy the file to a floppy disk"! I imagine they still work but you'd think they might replace the floppy disk bit completely by now.

moneyman1295

buy the OS cd and use a software to create bootable USB drive which you can download for free. then go to the bios and select the usb as your primary boot device and let's see if it works.