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From: Ian D on 30 Nov 2007 10:13

"RobV" <robv(a)nowhere.invalid> wrote in message
news:474fb69c$0$8889$4c368faf(a)roadrunner.com...
> Kent_Diego wrote:
>> Hi All,
>> I tried to upgrade my BIOS using the latest version of ASUS
>> Update on Vista x64 system. The first try erased present BIOS and
>> flashed 100%. The checksum verification failed at 0% as seemed unable
>> to read from motherboard. The status screen instructions said to try
>> again. So I tried again and erase said 100% but nothing else
>> happened. No matter how many times I clicked. On re-boot motherboard
>> is dead. PS and fans come on but nothing else happens.
>>
>> Anyone have any ideas?
>
> Sorry, but my P5B-Plus has no socketed chips at all, BIOS or otherwise
> (except the CPU, of course). This was one of the first things I noticed
> when installing it.
> The manual does not point out, or otherwise give any information, as to
> the whereabouts of the BIOS IC.
>
> Paul would be more knowledgeable about the specifics, as he has already
> provided helpful, detailed info regarding possible BIOS ICs.
>
> I did update the original BIOS to 0804 with some difficulty using a
> floppy. I was able to complete the flash using EZ Flash2 and, if I
> recall, a USB flash drive.
>
>
>
I have a P5B Dlx WiFi and the manual shows that the little square
chip to the left of the ICH8R is the 8MB BIOS. The diagram is
in chapter 2 of the manual.


From: RobV on 30 Nov 2007 16:16
Ian D wrote:
> "RobV" <robv(a)nowhere.invalid> wrote in message
> news:474fb69c$0$8889$4c368faf(a)roadrunner.com...
>> Kent_Diego wrote:
>>> Hi All,
>>> I tried to upgrade my BIOS using the latest version of ASUS
>>> Update on Vista x64 system. The first try erased present BIOS and
>>> flashed 100%. The checksum verification failed at 0% as seemed
>>> unable to read from motherboard. The status screen instructions
>>> said to try again. So I tried again and erase said 100% but nothing
>>> else happened. No matter how many times I clicked. On re-boot
>>> motherboard is dead. PS and fans come on but nothing else happens.
>>>
>>> Anyone have any ideas?
>>
>> Sorry, but my P5B-Plus has no socketed chips at all, BIOS or
>> otherwise (except the CPU, of course). This was one of the first
>> things I noticed when installing it.
>> The manual does not point out, or otherwise give any information, as
>> to the whereabouts of the BIOS IC.
>>
>> Paul would be more knowledgeable about the specifics, as he has
>> already provided helpful, detailed info regarding possible BIOS ICs.
>>
>> I did update the original BIOS to 0804 with some difficulty using a
>> floppy. I was able to complete the flash using EZ Flash2 and, if I
>> recall, a USB flash drive.
>>
>>
>>
> I have a P5B Dlx WiFi and the manual shows that the little square
> chip to the left of the ICH8R is the 8MB BIOS. The diagram is
> in chapter 2 of the manual.

On page 2-3 of the P5B-Plus manual, there is a motherboard layout
drawing, 2.3.3, which points out connectors and other chips (ICH8R, for
example).

No mention of, or identity of the BIOS chip. There is a "Super I/O"
chip and a VIA VT6307 chip near the bottom of the board, but that is all
that is shown and neither one is mentioned in the text.


From: daytripper on 30 Nov 2007 18:47
On Fri, 30 Nov 2007 18:02:25 -0500, "RobV" <robv(a)nowhere.invalid> wrote:

>RobV wrote:
>> Ian D wrote:
>
>[snip]
>
>>> I have a P5B Dlx WiFi and the manual shows that the little square
>>> chip to the left of the ICH8R is the 8MB BIOS. The diagram is
>>> in chapter 2 of the manual.
>>
>> On page 2-3 of the P5B-Plus manual, there is a motherboard layout
>> drawing, 2.3.3, which points out connectors and other chips (ICH8R,
>> for example).
>>
>> No mention of, or identity of the BIOS chip. There is a "Super I/O"
>> chip and a VIA VT6307 chip near the bottom of the board, but that is
>> all that is shown and neither one is mentioned in the text.
>
>After opening the computer and finding that the "super I/O" chip is a
>Winbond W83627DHG, I looked through the data for the chip at Winbond's
>web site and found that the chip does almost everything, from sensing
>CPU temp, Fan speeds, voltages, and 8Mbits of flash memory that is the
>BIOS.

Yes, that chip provides the SPI *interface* ("supports SPI flash interface")
to which an actual SPI-compatible seeprom is to be connected. The Winbond chip
does the deserialization and pushes the resulting data, four bits at a time,
up through the LPC interface to the ICH8.

The Winbond chip - like every other super-IO chip before it - does not contain
the actual storage for the bios...which appears to be contained within the
very same 8-pin chip that the OP fingered, sitting next to a header which is
also connected to the SPI. That header can be used for manufacturing
programming of the flash, or reflashing the bios if the board is RMA'd back
home.

Hard-soldering of bios flash devices is a rather unfortunate paradigm shift,
but there we are...

/daytripper
From: RobV on 30 Nov 2007 19:05
daytripper wrote:
> On Fri, 30 Nov 2007 18:02:25 -0500, "RobV" <robv(a)nowhere.invalid>
> wrote:
>
>> RobV wrote:
>>> Ian D wrote:
>>
>> [snip]
>>
>>>> I have a P5B Dlx WiFi and the manual shows that the little square
>>>> chip to the left of the ICH8R is the 8MB BIOS. The diagram is
>>>> in chapter 2 of the manual.
>>>
>>> On page 2-3 of the P5B-Plus manual, there is a motherboard layout
>>> drawing, 2.3.3, which points out connectors and other chips (ICH8R,
>>> for example).
>>>
>>> No mention of, or identity of the BIOS chip. There is a "Super I/O"
>>> chip and a VIA VT6307 chip near the bottom of the board, but that is
>>> all that is shown and neither one is mentioned in the text.
>>
>> After opening the computer and finding that the "super I/O" chip is a
>> Winbond W83627DHG, I looked through the data for the chip at
>> Winbond's web site and found that the chip does almost everything,
>> from sensing CPU temp, Fan speeds, voltages, and 8Mbits of flash
>> memory that is the BIOS.
>
> Yes, that chip provides the SPI *interface* ("supports SPI flash
> interface") to which an actual SPI-compatible seeprom is to be
> connected. The Winbond chip does the deserialization and pushes the
> resulting data, four bits at a time, up through the LPC interface to
> the ICH8.
>
> The Winbond chip - like every other super-IO chip before it - does
> not contain the actual storage for the bios...which appears to be
> contained within the very same 8-pin chip that the OP fingered,
> sitting next to a header which is also connected to the SPI. That
> header can be used for manufacturing programming of the flash, or
> reflashing the bios if the board is RMA'd back home.
>
> Hard-soldering of bios flash devices is a rather unfortunate paradigm
> shift, but there we are...
>
> /daytripper

I knew someone would be able to discern what the chip did and where the
BIOS actually resided. After page 120 of the specs, my eyes glazed
over. So, that tiny, soldered chip holds the BIOS. I'm not sure I
would have purchased this MB had I known that fact, but since flashing
should be a very rare thing, maybe it's okay.

Thank you, daytripper!


From: Andy on 1 Dec 2007 02:52
On Thu, 29 Nov 2007 19:54:22 -0800, "Kent_Diego" <None(a)no.way> wrote:

>>I was hoping to see a BIOS chip socket but no luck! Not sure which chip. I
>>can do simple soldering but the chips on the motherboard have very small
>>leads. There is no way I going to get the chip out. I am hoping option 3
>>below involves sending the entire motherboard back to ASUS for repair.
>> ...
>
>OK, I am sure is see the EEPROM chip. It is a little 8-pin DIP between the
>ICH8R southbridge and the last PCI slot. It has part number X80VIG and seems
>to have marker ink X or A written across top. It has an undocumented 7-pin
>connector by it labled J1_SPI. I guess a small 8-pin chip could be within my
>soldering abilities. I seem to recall even old cheap motherboards had
>sockets for the EEPROM chip. I wish the ASUS would have indicated the chip
>location in the manual. Maybe I can get out of this for $5.00 I will keep
>everyone posted to progress.
>
Page 2-3. It says SPI BIOS.
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